A brilliant day spent at TFNation 2026!
I got the chance to meet Vince DiCola, the original composer for The Transformers: The Movie, and compliment him on his music elevating the movie to another level. He was extremely humble and happily signed my DVD of the film. Then I got Daran Norris to sign my art of both Knock Out and J. Jonah Jameson from Spectacular Spider-Man. He loved it so much, he asked if he could take a picture of it on his phone before deciding instead to take a picture of me holding it!
Many of the cosplayers were brilliant as always (shoutout to that awesome Wheeljack, Galvatron, TFP Shockwave and Arcee)!
Managed to gather a pretty great haul of merch by the exceptionally talented David Cousen (lovely chatting with you), Claudovel, @shira-illustra, Artsenvys (loved her OCs, Drawback in particular!), the Battersea store, @lochdandloaded, Moor-Art Gallery, @overlordraax, PrimeTimeToyz, and @howgalling and @aktosage. Keep up the awesome work, everyone! I even bought my first Transformers figures in years: Hound, Smokescreen, Cheetor (all the way from 1996) and Blaster.
I even attended the Q&A panel hosted by Daran Norris. A few highlights:
He didn't have to go in to audition for Knock Out, he just got a phone call from Sue Blu saying: "We think we have a role for you."
He recorded episodes with the whole cast which prefers as it's not as exhausting as recording separately, but it's rare. He'd done work with Frank Welker in the past but hadn't worked with Peter Cullen before. The first session he did with Peter, Frank and Steve Blum, he thought "I have arrived".
When asked if there was any fun moments behind the scenes, he replied: "I don't know if they're shareable". He did, however, say that Frank was always making Peter laugh, and at one point Daran stuck string cheese up his nose to try distracting the voice director. XD
His favourite Knock Out moment? Like picking your favourite child. But there were specific lines he couldn't wait to record when he read them. The key one? "I've always admired your lustrous finish." Deliciously written, as he put it.
When asked if the cast had any opportunity to improvise, he said: "I wouldn't say opportunity, we ATTEMPTED to improvise". When you're recording for a cartoon, keeping within the assigned episode length is everything, whether it's 22 or 11 minutes, so there's not a whole lot of room for improv. Even little nuances like whether to say "merely" instead of "just" are important to the runtime.
When it came time for the interviewer to let the audience begin asking questions, he said in his Knock Out voice: "If you ask any questions Katrina's already asked me, you'll be kicked out of the room!"
What would happen if Knock Out met J.Jonah Jameson? "You're not parking here, mister!" "Well someone's missed their naptime."
Would he take the opportunity to voice Knock Out again? "Right now." He misses the recording sessions on the show; voice acting's not just some profession to him, it's something he loves doing.
He enjoyed playing Mr. Turner in the live action Fairly OddParents movie, especially given how rare it is to play the same character behind the mic and on camera.
What was the recording session like for the episode Thirst (the zombie one with Starscream)? He's known Steve Blum for a long time so recording anything with him is a hoot. They're like kids having fun when they get to record together.
How different was recording Team America compared to the more kid-friendly stuff? He originally didn't want to do it until he was told it was for Matt and Trey. The two days he was in the recording booth with them were the two funniest days of his life. I dunno about calling them "creative geniuses" but at least he had fun. Katrina the interviewer chimed in, asking if it ruined Thunderbirds. "Nothing can ruin Thunderbirds!"
One of his favourite gags from his VA career was any time he got to do the musical numbers on Fairly OddParents.
If he could play any villain from film or TV, who would it be? He doesn't think he's the right age for it but Hannibal Lecter, for him, would be "delicious fun". (badumtish)
A lot of voice actors prefer to go into recording sessions fresh but he likes to do a lot of preparation for any role, stage or onscreen, because he usually finds some good nuggets of comedy in there. Then by the time he gets to the recording session, he doesn't have to think too hard about it because he's got it in his mind and is ready to go.
The most difficult role he's played in his career, either voice acting or onscreen? For voice acting, Cosmo is very stressful vocally for him. Little bursts are okay, it's the large paragraphs of dialogue he dreads. For live action, it was Buddha Bob on Big Time Rush. Though it was more uncomfortable than difficult because of the beard, mustache and wig he had to wear, along with Paramount Studios being very hot.
What was his opinion when Breakdown died? Cue audience awww. "I think we got everybody's opinion on that."
If Knock Out could have a musical number, it would be Stormy Weather.
What was it like working on Clone Wars 2003? He said Tom Kane was one of the best humans he's ever known. He was already a huge admirer of Genndy Tartakovsky's work so he was happy to record Ki-Adi-Mundi, even he didn't play a massive role. It was also fun when he was also asked to record the laughs, grunts and other noises for Dirge.
If he could hang out with Knock Out for 24 hours, they'd just go back and forth through the car wash over and over and over. XD
Most voice actors don't watch their work but Daran likes to, not simply to hear his voice work but because he loves to see the finished project thanks to falling in love with animation, storytelling and TV as a kid. He finds it informs what you do next as a voice actor.
He paid a little tribute to Guy Moon and Jim Ward, the music producer and Dim Dimsdale on Fairly OddParents. "Great people who got to do what they loved for a living."
Did Daran intentionally make Knock Out gay-coded or think "sure why not" after the fact? "Again, they called me." He didn't go in vowing "I'm gonna make this character gay." His thought process was "I'm gonna try to bring this character to life as genuinely and as authentically as I can." And when it happened, it wasn't exactly like a giant rainbow-coloured sledgehammer whenever Knock Out walks into the room, but people still got it.
He liked reuniting with Mark Hamill for Comic Book: The Movie after their time on Time Squad, especially for this fun little side project while the cast were all at Comic-Con. He doesn't know if it's objectively a terrific movie but he still thinks it's a fun one for the right audience.
He loved playing X-49 on Samurai Jack, mainly for the noir quality of the episode. He doesn't know if he inspired John Wick like the questioner suggested but found it an interesting thought.
He tried out for one of the bad guys in the Disney movie Bolt but ended up landing Louie the pigeon instead, which he found fun.
If Breakdown was still alive, would Knock Out have still become an Autobot or stayed a Decepticon? "This is a hypothetical best answered by them (the show staff)."
How did he approach stepping into the role of J. Jonah Jameson, a famous character played by many others before him? He's been a Spider-Man fan since he was a kid so he always wanted to be part of that world. He got the chance with Venom in the PS1 game and then got the part of Jameson later because (he thinks) J.K. Simmons wasn't available. Daran didn't want to just copy him so he based his own performance on the gruffness from the original Spider-Man cartoon (Ed Asner, I think?).
Hope y'all enjoy the rest of the con (and it's not too hot)!
