For the record; No, Orson Welles did not dislike the role of Unicron, nor did he not understand it. The quote attributed to him cannot be found anywhere or has been confirmed to be truly from him. There's a few things to know about Orson Welles. First off, he wasn't lenient on doing voice work. He did some advertising as well as giving his voice to narrate certain things. After all, he did work on the radiophonic adaptation of the War of the Worlds that would later make him famous. It would kind of moronic for him to then not do voice work and diss it. He was very ecstatic about animation, wishing he had done some himself. Of course, he didn't like the way Disney practically gave it the reputation it has in the West of being solely for children, but he did love the craft. Matter of fact, on multiple occasions, he gladly jumped on the occasion of voice acting in some cartoons. Even if it meant parodying himself. And hell, even if it was just for children, he still loved it. Remember that he had a role in the Muppets movie and he absolutely loved it. As for Transformers... The director sheds some light onto it. He gladly took on the role of Unicron, being convinced that he'd play a giant, power-hungry god of destruction. He didn't quite understand the plot, but he did admire the animation. He found it surprising that animators were willing to go as such lengths to sell toys. At no time did he complain about the role, and he did in fact gave his own insight on his own performance, trying to really nail it for the movie. So, no. He did not hate Unicron.
@@TheGuzeinbuick Agreed, sources would be wonderful. I had always heard the narrative he hated being a toy. Would be glad to know he appreciated such as a great role
it's kinda ironic, that doleful and sick voice makes Welles sounds actually more frightening, feels like he's calm and secure at some point, remembers me of Hal 9000 a little.
“Your bargaining posture is highly dubious“ ...I heard that line in the theater back in '86 as a 9 year old & have been using it on the reg ever since. Classic shit
Orson Welles' last role was certainly a memorable one. His voice is so commanding and chilling here. Every time I watch this I get goosebumps. RIP Orson
I know James earl jones is iconic as darth Vader, but hearing orson Welles voice as unicron makes me wish there was a cut of the original trilogy with his voice, just to hear lol
@@hoonterofhoonters8881 Lucas have always intended to use a voiceover to dub Vader's actor's thick Scottish accent. He originally wanted Orson Welles, but he thought Welles' voice would be too recognisable. So he looked for similar voice & got James Earl Jones.
I can't believe this fucking shitty toy commercial was Orson Welles' last role. What a disgrace, he probably died of a hard attack after he realized what a shitty movie he was in
Hearing this makes my heart tug. Deep down you can hear the pain in his voice. Orson Welles even on death's door you bring an amazing voice out. Now I wish they didn't change the pitch of your voice. May you rest in peace.
The director said that when Orson did the recordings, he was wheezing, and the recordings were unusable which is why they ran them through a synthesizer.
Jacob M. Keene AKA Dr. Pepper King then why was he acting if he was on deaths door step. Maybe money for the family or I heard that he liked animation.
Besides Wells' commanding voice, can we appreciate the screenplay writers for this dialogue? Unicron is mastering "twitter savagery" decades before it was a thing. And understand this isn't like '00s Pixar movies where the script plays at one level for the 5 year olds and another for their grown parents to enjoy. Back in the '80s there were no middle-aged geek culture enthusiasts lining up for this - it was made purely for elementary school boys. Respect to the writers that I can enjoy this again some 35 years later.
"You know what I did this morning? I played the voice of a toy. Some terrible robot toys from Japan that changed from one thing to another. The Japanese have funded a full-length animated cartoon about the doings of these toys, which is all bad outer-space stuff. I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I'm destroyed. My plan to destroy Whoever-it-is is thwarted and I tear myself apart on the screen." -Orson Welles' biography
Unicron: And with the autobots destroyed, I shall dominate the universe's supply of Mrs. Pell's Fishsticks! *eats fishsticks* Yes! They're even better when you're a robot!!
No it should go like this: Unicron: And the autobots destroyed, I shall devour the universe's supply of Mrs. Pell's Fishsticks! *eats fishsticks* Yes! They're even better when you're a giant robot planet
@@Robert_Douglass Unicorn has already conquered that, moving on, the next thing on his "To Do List" is to conquer the universe's supply of Twinkies, isn't good to have life goals?
This actually isn't what Welles's unaltered voice sounded like; only an attempted recreation. By all accounts, his voice was incredibly weak and laboured at the time, with the resulting takes being virtually unusable. When they ran his recordings through a synthesiser, they did more than just alter the pitch; they amplified the bass and power in this voice, and that's how Unicron got the sound we hear in the movie. Welles's performance is still the heart and soul of Unicron in the film, but without the synthesiser, it wouldn't have worked.
I haven’t even seen the movie, but based on this one scene alone, it looks interesting… I used to watch Transformers as a kid (I’m in my 40’s now), & found it rather entertaining!
This is absolutely OUTSTANDING work. I've wondered for years what his voice would've been like without the studio tweaks. This answers it to my complete satisfaction. Thank you for your hard work.
Wow! They could've kept his voice as is in the final cut and still have a awesome performance. The pain clearly heard in his voice could've been easily been translated as fustrated hunger pangs for another planet to consume but the matrix was holding his character at bay.
This actually isn't what Welles's unaltered voice sounded like - only an attempted recreation. By all accounts, his voice was incredibly weak and laboured, and the resulting recordings were virtually unusable. When they ran his takes through a synthesiser, they did more than just alter the pitch; they amplified the bass and power in this voice, and that's how Unicron got the sound we hear in the movie. Don't get me wrong, Welles's performance is still the heart and soul of Unicron in the film, but without the synthesiser, it wouldn't have worked.
Orson Welles was gravely ill at the time of recording his role as Unicron according to Nelson Shin on the then-20th anniversary of TF the motion picture. If I'm not mistaken, the movie came out after he died. He was a very talented thespian and writer.
JFC- Welles’s voice in this brilliant attempt at un- editing his already demonic voice gives you a different view of Unicron- and it’s bloody terrifying. Respect to the man behind the planet- he could’ve sh*t on this role- but instead put literally his heart and soul into playing Unicron in his final days. And utter respect to the editor of this video. You gave us the closest we’ll ever have to Welles iconic voice none-synthesized. To myself and countless others all around the world, Unicron will always be the magnum opus of a brilliant character of a man that deserved more time on this mortal plain. Sorry, I got a little carried away there Xx
I still find it rather interesting that despite Orson Welles really didn't have much fun playing this character, and from what's been thrown around by the voice actors who worked in the movie that he was difficult to work with. I'm rather interested to know how Welles landed the part of Unicron to begin with, considering that his involvement in the movie and as Unicron really made the character so iconic.
+Skullgrin140 -If only he had lived to see the phenomena TF has become,Welles would have easily changed and talked about how much he loved the role of Unicron.
Jason Palacios I think it certainly would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on it. Considering how popular and important this franchise has become 30 years later I'd easily see him play the role again if the opportunity had came around.
Fun fact: Orson Welles was one of the candidates to do the voice of Darth Vader; we could have potentially had Orsen Welles in Star Wars, and when I hear him as Unicron, I can absolutely hear what his Darth Vader would have sounded like.
Yep, that's Orson alright. I was blown away as a teen when I heard Leonard Nimoy voiced over for Galvatron too. This will always be my "Transformers, the Movie". :-)
This actually isn't what Welles's unaltered voice sounded like - only an attempted recreation. By all accounts, his voice was incredibly weak and laboured, and the resulting recordings were virtually unusable. When they ran his takes through a synthesiser, they did more than just alter the pitch; they amplified the bass and power in this voice, and that's how Unicron got the sound we hear in the movie. Don't get me wrong, Welles's performance is still the heart and soul of Unicron in the film, but without the synthesiser, it wouldn't have worked.
“I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I’m destroyed. My plan to destroy Whoever-it-is is thwarted and I tear myself apart on the screen.” - Orson Welles
So fucking awesome to hear this again.. and not the remastered version. It's my understanding he passed during the making of the movie, and certain parts are from another voice actor but I saw this in theaters, and it is so great to hear HIM along with Frank Welker! Thank you!
Megatron: "State your business!" Unicron:"Megatron, do you know of a remote farm in Lincolnshire where Mrs. Buckley Lives? Every July, peas grow there..."
I’m 41 years old and I know I should be more familiar with Olson Welles’ work, but this is all I know. This and the champagne commercial where he was drunk as shit.
Wow... listening to Alduin speak in Skyrim made me think of Unicron so I came here and listened to this... it really is a close match! Such chills... amazing voice work. Both gentle and yet unimaginably powerful at the same time.
This is a man so great with his voice that created a panic with a radio broadcast even though he said it was a play before doing it. He had thousands believing martians were invading lol
Orson Welles was supposed to be the voice of Darth Vader. Quite frankly, while James Earl Jones was absolutely phenomenal, i wouldn't have a problem with Mr. Welles becoming known as the voice of the Sith Lord.
Wow Totally blown away hearing person Welles real voice compared to what I’ve heard when watching this movie for the last 30+ years They got the right voice for unicron
I remember getting to go to the theater to see this when I was a kid, Transformers was just the coolest thing ever. The cartoons that were on TV were always so good and I just remember being in awe of seeing this on the big screen. I remember being very upset at the death of Optimus but by the end of the movie when Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime and handed Galvatron his ass, all was redeemed. This simply just DO NOT make things like this anymore and it boggles my mind how far the quality has fallen over the past 15 years.
