People who have watched the interviews on Rhino's 2002 DVD release of the G1 Transformers 2.1 box set, may remember
voice actor Neil Kaplan talking about screwing around during the recording sessions of
Transformers: Robots In Disguise, who voiced Optimus Prime on the series, and turn the character into Optimoose Prime, by speaking the dialogue of Optimus Prime with the voice of classic cartoon character Bullwinkle.
In the years since the interview, Neil Kaplan has often been asked about bringing Optimoose to life. Through the magic of the internet, that day has come. The writer/voice actor, who is currently also involved with the graphic novel
I, of the Wolf, has opened a facebook group named
All Hail Optimoose!, where the future adventures of the Transformers spoof will be brought to life.
Aside from Kaplan's writing, the artwork for the stories will be provided by acclaimed Welsh artist Simon Williams. Williams has worked on the UK Transformers: Armada [urlhttp://www.seibertron.com/comics/index.php]comics[/url] and the current UK Transformers Movie comics as well as on IDW's Beast Wars Source book.
The following background info has been taken directly from the facebook group page.
"
By the way, in the real world his sidekick is William "Bitter" Beaver. Yes, he IS a beaver and YES he is very, very bitter. His saying is "DAM IT!"
In "Life with Optimoose" he and Bitter live in our world. They are both actors, though Optimoose is FAR more successful and beloved. Which of course angers Bitter, as Optimoose started as a bit player on "The Beaver Show." In subsequent years the show was also called "Beaver and Friends", "Beaver and Moose Comedy Hour", "Optimoose and Billy Beaver Show" and finally "Optimoose and Friends."
There agent is Super Agent SIMON WILLIAMS a bit of a snooty priss from the UK. He busts his hump for "Opti" and is, frankly the textbook agent. On the other hand, Simon is more of a "booker" for Bitter. Simon will take the calls for Bitter, but he won't make them.
Bitter - though working - plays bit parts. He is one of the "go to" guys for terrorists, victims, liquor store cashiers. In other words... Bitter is treated just like most other minority actors. In fact, when "A Moose and a Beaver Walk Into a Bar: The Motion Picture" was written by Hollywood Legends Kurtzman and Orci, the role of Beaver was originally written with George Clooney in mind.
In "Optimoose Chronicles" and "The Adventures of Optimoose" things are a LITTLE different. These two "titles" take place in the Optiverse, where ANYTHING is possible.
Optimoose is an intergalactic SuperAgent.
Bitter, is his stumpy sidekick.
Simon? Well, he is Q & M, combined! He gives Optimoose his assignments, but he also designs all of his cool gadgets, weapons and transformations. In the Optiverse, Optimoose can transform into ANYTHING metallic. The one teeny tiny caviot is, the moose head will ALWAYS be there.
Their nemesis???
It's Fanboy/Skele-Fat.
In the real world, fanboy is that always impossible to please perfectionist that claims to be a fan, right before ripping someone or something to shreds. Although he claims to be Optimoose's BIGGEST fan, his goal is to get the world to see that Optimoose is not an ordinary actor.
In the Optiverse... he is Skele-Fat. He is a blob of a man that wears tights and a purple leather straps he hides his face under a skelton mask which barely hides his face, let alone his triple chins. His ego is HUGE and yet, he not only thinks he looks good, but will maim, torture and kill anyone that points out how truly ridiculous he looks.
Neil Kaplan"
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