Voice Compare » Transformers » Optimus Prime

Peter Cullen's voice is so awesome his lines make the movies worth at least one watch. I don't mind the movies that much anyway, (although I they aren't good enough to watch more than once in a blue mood) but Peter Cullen's voice is the most epic thing about them.

Naturally, he's the best. I can't imagine anyone surpassing him, heck, even matching his iconic status as Optimus Prime. One of the most iconic voices of all time.

Optimus Prime...

1. Cullen (Movies/Games)
2. Chalk (Energon/Beast Wars)
3. Edwards
4. Kaye
5. Cullen (G1)
6. Kaplan

Peter Cullen obviously. He is Prime. But whenever he decides to retire I feel like Clancy Brown would be a very suitable replacement.

peters awesome overall
kaye's good as orion pax
chalk's voice sounds like a great leader but fits primal more than prime

Except for David Kaye there aren't really any new takes on this character. Everyone just sounds like they're doing an impression of Peter Cullen. Garry Chalk and Neil Kaplan are rather good impressions, the others are horrible.

1. Peter Cullen (G1)
2. Garry Chalk (Beast Wars/Machines)
3. Garry Chalk (Unicron Trilogy)
4. David Kaye (Animated)
5. Neil Kaplan (RID)

The best are Cullen(original) Chalk(SECOND BEST AND HE REALLY SOUNDS LIKE A LEADER) Neil Kaplan(Great voice for a lousy series)

Cullen maybe the original but Chalk has this very firm military like voice for the character. Chalk sounded like he meant business when someone messed up as you can hear in his clip while Cullen was just too forgiving mostly.

The odds of someone surpassing Peter Cullen as the voice of Prime are about as high as Michael bay making a good movie. David, Garry, and Daniel are pretty good too. Robert Belgrade is probably the weakest.

1. Peter Cullen (movie)
2. Peter Cullen (WFC)
3. Peter Cullen (Prime)
4. Peter Cullen (G1)
5. Garry Chalk (unicron trilogy)
6. Neil Kaplan
7. David Kaye

Beast Wars Optimus Primal, while great, is a separate character.

The rest aren't anything special.

# 1 - Peter Cullen (Movie version).
# 2 - David Kaye.
# 3 - Garry Chalk (Beast Wars version).
# 4 - Neil Kaplan.
# 5 - Peter Cullen (G1 version).
# 6 - Garry Chalk (Energon version).

David Kaye's Optimus is no Peter Cullen, but he does sound manly enough as the voice of reason and authority. Not as experience or rough as other incarnations, but still a calm, tactical leader.

Cullen is the best though; his character exudes authority, even with the silliest of lines.

I'm currently watching Beast Wars, and I gotta say that Garry Chalk's doing a really good job as Optimus Primal. It reminds me a little of Tim Daly's Superman.

Peter Cullen FTW !!!!

Peter Cullen is the best!!

Peter Cullen is the best Optimus Prime.Eric Edwards and David Kaye are fine too.

Cullen first, Edwards second. Chalk would be in there, but he seems to have trouble enunciating at times, and that really bugs me.

Peter Cullen is the only Optimus Prime to me. I noticed in the Transformers 2007 clip Peter is doing Optimus Prime which is great.. but while it sounds the same it is all so slightly different different from the original Cartoon.

Peter Cullen defined the role, but Gary Chalk is a close 2nd, followed by everyone else. Now what we really need is Ron Perlman as Optimus Prime.

Peter Cullen always was and always will be Optimus Prime in my book.

Peter Cullen: He's good as the original voice, I really prefer him as Optimus in his later roles though. (Movie, Prime, WFC, FOC)

Garry Chalk: I like both his Primal and Prime voices, but are good as a younger, military leader like Optimus would be.

Neil Kaplan: He's a nice balance between Chalk and Cullen.

David Kaye: Who knew that he could pull off a Megs and a Prime? He's great as the younger, more inexperienced Optimus.

Robert Belgrade: Stiff and weak. Not completely horrible, but definitely the worst.

Ron Hayden: Good Garry chalk impression, really sounds similar.

Eric Edwards: He really nails the Peter Cullen impression. If for some reason, Cullen could not make an episode of Prime or something, Edwards is the one to call.

Overall Cullen is still the best although really only for his more recent voices, then Edwards for nailing Cullen’s voice, then Chalk, Kaplan, Hayden and finally Belgrade last.

Peter Cullen IS Optimus Prime.

Peter Cullin is the best, but Garry Chalk was pretty good too (especially in Energon)!

David Kaye to voice an Optimus as well as Megatron(s)...well, good lawrd.

Instantly voted for Peter Cullen. He is just amazing. I can listen to his Optimus Prime voice all day. xD

Peter Cullen Hands down. He revolutionised and perfected the role.

Garry though was also downright awesome and I'm surprised (even a bit disturbed) that Neil doesn't have any votes :|. He was a bloody awesome Optimus too.

Peter Cullen FTW! :) But I also gotta give it to David Kaye as well as Garry Chalk and Neil Kaplan.

Peter Cullen wins by 30 country miles in my book.

Gary Chalk is pretty good, though his voice is different than I remember. He still sounds like Optimus though.

Neil Kaplan is OK. I think he was a little miscast, made Optimus sound a little too gruff for my liking, but it's not terrible or anything.

David Kaye isn't too bad either, considering his is younger version of Prime.

Robert Belgrade sounds incredibly stiff to my ears. His voice doesn't seem to fit the character at all.

Ron Hayden sounds like a weaker version of Belgrade's Prime. Definitely my least favorite of the bunch.

Eric Edwards was also surprisingly good, mind you not Cullen good, but darn close.

Fun fact: Garry Chalk's voice for Optimus is actually his normal speaking voice.

I Think Clancy Brown should be the Next Voice of Optimus Prime.

I can't say anyone else but Peter Cullen, Chalk and Kaye were ok the other were pretty medicore.

Peter Cullen-- end of story the BEST.

"DinoBots Destroy Devastator!!!!!

Peter Cullen is and always will be "Optimus Prime". Hands down one of my favourite voice actors and my all time favourite Transformer.

"Autobots... Transform and ROLL OUT!!!!!"

Tie between Cullen and Chalk. I grew up on Beast Wars so Chalk is etched in as the voice of optimus. However, in the movie, I loved his deep peaceful voice. I never knew till now that it was the same as the original though.

i will be up there someday

Like everyone else said, Peter Cullen, hands down for Optimus, no question. That said, David Kaye does suit the still-new-to-the-game Optimus in Animated.

PETER CULLEN AS THE VOICE OF OPTIMUS PRIME THE LEADER OF THE AUTOBOTS GARRY CHALK AS THE VOICE OF OPTIMUS PRIMAL THE LEADER OF THE MAXIMALS

wait what? I've always thought Peter Cullen was Optimus' human disguise.

Peter Cullen is the best Prime.

Garry Chalk is the best Primal.

David Kaye does make for a good young Prime surprisingly.

Neil is alright, a little generic, but not bad.

Robert Belgrade and Ron Hayden are pretty bad.

Eric Edwards sounds pretty good to me, not my favourite, but there's nothing really outright bad about it.

I just started watching Transformers Animated and no offense to David Kaye because he is an excellent Voice Actor but his Optimus Prime voice does not fit the character at all!

fun fact : Peter Cullens made his Prime voice like a tribute to his brother who did in the Vietnam war(I can't remember what the article listed it) that makes his version even more epic.

I'm definitely going with Peter Cullen, though I also like Garry Chalk and (to an extent) David Kaye.

Unlike the Megatron voice compare I'm totally agreeing with the most popular. PETER CULLEN IS OPTIMUS PRIME!
Now Garry Chalk is a second to Cullen. He's voice just seems to fit and I always thought if, heaven forbide, Cullen couldn't make it then Chalk should be the guy to call.
Kaye's voice is...well...he is a different version of Optimus and I can't farily compare him to the others. I'll just say he's a decent version of that character.
Also Belgrade, Edwards, and Hayden are my leasts favorites. Some had voices that were forced while others just had bad voice acting.
Neil is...in the middle. Not bad but far from great.

alright understandable

why is Optimus Primal on this list isn't he a different character?

I really hope to make this list one day. :)

The best are Cullen(original) Chalk(SECOND BEST AND HE REALLY SOUNDS LIKE A LEADER) Neil Kaplan(Great voice for a lousy series)

Cullen maybe the original but Chalk has this very firm military like voice for the character. Chalk sounded like he meant business ewhen over someone messed up as you can hear in his clip while Cullen was just too forgiving.

Peter Cullen. MOST MEMORABLE PRIME OF THEM ALL!

Re-Post:

My Thoughts (RELOADED):

1) Peter Cullen: He is Prime!!!!!!

2) Gary Chalk: Yep, he's great.

3) Robert Belgrade: Not bad, one of the best performances on that game.

4) Neil Kaplan: He makes a great Peter Cullen impression, making him memorable.

5) David Kaye: He sounds too young, but fitting for that version of Prime.

I get what you are saying but in all fairness G1 did have some legendary voice actors. I would put Gilvezan, Ross, Cullen, Welker and Bell not to mention a few others against anybody nowadays. I agree that some G1 voices werent as good but those guys are pretty solid. Have you checked out my top ten list for 80s male voice actors?

Didnt you just say though that G1 was quote 'the ONLY good Transformers series."?? You confuse me yet again haha

Peter Cullen voiced him in G1 not Garry Chalk so not sure what the heck you are talking about @optimusprime86

The artist is Don Figueroa, who is IMO one of the best Transformers artists.

I disagree with youbig time @wiiztec. I can't stand Chalk's Prime voice.

I disagree, in essence they are basically the same character. I would agree with you if you made a similar argument on the Inferno compare where those two are nothing like the same character but here I think most TF Fans agree that Prime and Primal are basically the same character even if 'technically' they are not

All I can hear is the Toonami announcer when I hear Cullen's Optimus.

It is called Transformers: Prime

there has to be. with TF Animated canned they gotta bring in something to keep the TF in kids minds between now and the next movie.

Can't wait to see who voices him in the new Series. Glad to see it wont be Kaye!

Great to see you stop by TFG1 - I am jealous I didn't get in on all the Beast Wars interviews like I did with Lion-O!!! We will get on changing that spelling ASAP!

First off before I even say what I'm gonna say personally for Optimus Prime Peter Cullen all the way.

Secondly the following is not a advertisement:

My friend Steve and I recently interviewed David Kaye, Mr. Kaye told us that the Transformers Animated crew wanted a younger sounding Prime. He did do the voice younger, but they didn't like it very much. So they had him use pretty much his own voice with a slightly higher pitch.

Thirdly to the web admins: Just so ya know it's spelled Garry with 2 R's for Chalk. He told me so. Also keep up the excellent work.

I think that's it for Prime from me lol

mobray im not sure you understand how voice compares work?? This is only for people who did Optimus Prime...

Shadow, Chalk did the voice in both Beast Wars and Beast Machines...

he sure was. wot a full circle career. its not often u get to play both arch enemies :)

be sure to check out the Megatron page.