…and then there was the time I got to chat with the Voltron Force. Well, not all of the voice cast of the legendary 80’s series, but a nice chunk of it including Neil Ross (Commander Keith, the Black Lion), BJ Ward (Princess Allura, Blue Lion), and Michael Bell (Lance, the Red Lion, Sven the Blue Lion, Pidge, the Green Lion), who were on hand with Team Unicorn to talk about the gateway drug for many of you into the world of anime near the release of the downloadable game from THQ, Voltron: Defender of the Universe. The game represents a reunion, of sorts, for the trio, bringing back classic scenes from the 1984 series and inserting them as pre- and post-mission cutscenes as they fend off the forces of the villainous King Zarkon.
Between the three of them, these voice actors represent a solid chunk of animation history, handling roles in any and everything from G.I. Joe, to Harvey Birdman, to Darkwing Duck, to Samurai Jack. In our pretty expansive (and lengthy) chat, we covered the legacy of Voltron, the unorthodox manner in which the cast had to handle their dialog, getting banned from working alongside Peter Cullen due to pranksterism, and the changing landcape for VO talent in an increasingly CG animation industry.
What follows is an edited transcript of an interview conducted last week. Enjoy some of the best bits of our conversation after the jump.
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