Let's talk Frank Welker! I mean, this man is a legend! With over 800 characters roles to his name, Frank is the most notable voice actor I know!
Frank Welker has been an active voice actor since 1962 when he voiced Orbity and Cosmo Spacely (as a child and teenager) in The Jetsons. In 1969, he took on the role of Fred Jones in Scooby-Doo! Where Are You! and he has voiced Fred ever since, with the exception of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, the live action movies and SCOOB! Frank has also voiced Scooby-Doo since 2002 and he has done additional voices for the series through the years.
He is the original voice actor for Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, which has me asking why wasn't he voicing Dynomutt in SCOOB!? They had him right there in the studio and yet they let someone else voice him. Big name actors aren't worth the money to me if they have the person that voiced the character in the beginning. Sometimes I wonder what WB is thinking. Oh, right, $$$.
Some other notable characters Frank Welker has voiced are Jabberjaw, Hefty Smurf, Megatron, Slimer, Abu and so many more. I know I am missing some of his key roles, but you can find all of his credits on Behind the Voice Actors.
I recently was able to watch the Scooby-Doo! and Guess Who? episode A Haunt of a Thousand Voices and it was a fantastic episode. I'm not going to do a review at the moment because I know a lot of people haven't seen it yet and all of the pictures that people posted online gave a lot of the episode away, which was a little disappointing.
Anyway, I loved this episode, but it really made me think that maybe Frank Welker is looking to retire. (I mean, he is 75.) I say that because I felt like the episode was a tribute to him. There were so many amazing things said about Frank in the episode and it just felt like we were saying goodbye to the only Fred we have really known! It will be a sad, sad day when he announces his retirement.
So what happens if Frank Welker does retire? Who would voice Fred? Scooby is easy, they could bring back Scott Innes. But Fred has been voiced by Frank for over 50 years and I can't think of anyone that could take over the role.
I don't think Robbie Amell made a good Fred. He wouldn't even dye his hair or wear a wig. No offense to Robbie, but I have to say he doesn't fit the role for me. I didn't buy him as Fred in the movies.
Zac Efron was just ok, but I don't think I'd want him to voice Fred either. It was hard for me to get used to his voice in the movie, but I guess that is normal because I'm so used to Frank.
Would Freddie Prinze Jr. come back to voice Fred, much like Matthew Lillard took over for Casey Kasem as Shaggy? I guess I could live with that, though I'm not sure if he is the best person for the job either.
Fifty years of voicing a character is a long time. Frank put his heart and soul into Fred, he has a strong connection to the character and you can hear that in the series. Frank understands Fred. Anytime you bring in someone new, that connection is missing and the character isn't as lively. I felt that way with SCOOB! The voices sounded so off and I didn't feel like the actors really put much effort into the voices. I mean, WB only hired them for their names to draw in more of an audience and more money to the box office (which ended up being everyone's couch as the pandemic caused the movie to be released digitally.)
So what do you think? Do you think Frank Welker is going to announce his retirement soon? Who would you want to hear voice Fred?
Given how long Frank has been doing this job, he must truly love it. And for that reason, I don't think we'll see him formally retire, maybe ever, TBH. There are so many people in other jobs who get up in age and don't WANT to retire. They're always looking for something to do, something to keep them busy. And I think voice acting is the perfect job to allow you to -- quite literally -- work until the day you die!
ReplyDeleteFrank has always struck me as the kind of man who enjoys making other people happy. And he's certainly done that for the past 60 years, in a way that none of us ever could. I kinda picture him being that guy who'll say, "You'll have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming, or wheel me out in a body bag!" Lol.
I'm not super picky about who will voice Scooby (Frank never made sense to me until I considered the other famous dogs he had voiced), but Freddy? Ugh, that one will hurt. I can't even think of an actor who could pull it off. Though a small part of me wonders how Jared Padalecki would do as Freddy.....? Hmm, I could maybe get behind that idea!
I agree that Frank seems to really enjoy what he does and voice acting does make him marketable well after retirement age. I do hope he stays on as Fred for many more years to come. Jared Padalecki could be a good choice. We should hold auditions for the next Fred before WB casts someone that won't be acceptable lol
Delete"Sometimes I wonder what WB is thinking. Oh, right, $$$." HAHAHA this comment is so sassy (and true!), I love it :)
ReplyDeleteI loved "A Haunt of a Thousand Voices" but I didn't get the sense from it that Frank's retiring immediately or anything. I think they would have made a bigger deal out of it if they knew Frank was retiring. However, I agree that Frank's time as Fred is probably coming to an end relatively soon, within the next 10 years. I like the idea of Freddie Prinze Jr. becoming Fred, and I also think Wendy's idea of Jared Padalecki voicing thread would be fun! Like you said though, I don't feel anyone could replace Frank Welker and still be as good as him in the role. Frank Welker always will be the iconic voice of Fred, even someday after he's gone.
It is possible that they complimented Frank so much in the Guess Who episode just to show him the respect he deserves as the only voice actor that has been around since the beginning. My mind just went to retirement I guess. He won't be easily replaced. Fred is Frank's normal voice for the most part so that makes it a little more difficult too.
DeleteDo you know when new episodes of Guess Who will be on Boomerang?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't :( I thought they were going to be released in May/June, but nothing yet. Hopefully soon!
DeleteThe entire series has aired in most other countries at this point, so I'm really hopeful we get them soon!
DeleteIn regards to at least his Scooby Doo roles, I think Frank Welker will probably still be the voices of Scooby and Fred for the foreseeable future. I think he could take a route that Carroll Spinney did on Sesame Street, and have understudies for his characters while he still voices them officially before fully handing over the roles. As for who could replace him, it's been years since Scott Innes voiced Scooby. I'm not sure if he could do it again. I think it would help to have 1 voice actor do both, and I pick Eric Bauza. He's a versatile voice actor, and shows like DuckTales 2017 (where he voices the Beagle Boys), Muppet Babies 2018 (where he voiced Fozzie, Bunsen, Statler, Robin, and Sam), as well as the Looney Tunes (where he started with just Marvin before eventually getting roles like Bugs, Daffy, and Tweety) help show his range. For more animal like sounds, there's that 2015 Flintstones/WWE movie where he voiced Dino and Hoppy in addition to Bamm Bamm.
ReplyDeleteI think Frank having understudies could work. They could train under him and transition smoother than just Frank retiring and WB having to find someone else. I'll have to look up some of Eric Bauza's work.
DeleteEric Bauza entry into voiceover work starting with John Kricfalusi at Spumco, first doing voices on The Ripping Friends then replacing Billy West as Stimpy on Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon.
DeleteHis filmography can be found two places.
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Bauza#Filmography
IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1082823/
Frank Welker is a great actor and going as long as he has just shows that he really must enjoy it. I could even go with Jared Padalecki doing the voice for Fred, and Scott Innes could back to voicing Scooby. but I remember another voice that Frank Welker did in the early '80's: He was the voice of Iceman on "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends", and it just sounds like Fred speaking as another character. Just funny to me.
ReplyDeleteWendy mentioned Jared Padalecki too. I think I could be on board with him voicing Fred. It is weird when the voice actors use the same voices for different characters. I think he did that with another character too, I just can't think of who at the moment.
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ReplyDeleteHi ScoobAddict, First very nice article about Frank but just a minor correction, Frank was never on The Jetsons during its original run 1962, Cosmo Spacely was voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc and Orbity didn't come into existence until the reboot episodes starting in 1985 until 1987.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll have to figure out where I got that from.
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