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Peter Cullen, the iconic voice of Optimus Prime, held a small but important place in anime history
By voicing countless Toonami promos over the years, Peter Cullen introduced a whole generation to their favorite anime.

The death of Peter Cullen was a shock to many people. His work on the Transformers series, where he famously played the heroic and noble Optimus Prime for decades, gave him an undeniable place in the history of animation. While he didn’t take on many roles in anime dubbing over the years, he was the voice of anime for a whole generation of fans. Not because of any specific role but because he narrated the promotional bumps for many of the classic anime on the Toonami block, including Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and, weirdly enough, Hamtaro.
These promos are never going to be what Peter Cullen is known for. He’ll always be Optimus Prime to many fans around the world; it is a role he played starting in the original The Transformers animated series in 1984 all the way through to the Michael Bay films.
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