Adult Swim recently began airing a new series called JJ Villard's Fairy Tales. To support the new show, we have interviewed the creator JJ Villard (King Star King), Robert Englund (Nightmare On Elm Street), and now we've had the chance to talk with Alan Oppenheimer (He-Man, Neverending Story) about his role in the series.
Fairy Tales is far from the first time Oppenheimer has lent his voice to a character. The actor has been performing in all facets of media for the past eighty years, from theater, to music, to acting and more. Among his most notable roles are Skeletor from He-Man and Falcor from The Neverending Story.
Since The Neverending Story was one of my favorite films growing up, I made sure to ask him about voicing Falkor. During our chat I learned that he not only voiced the adorable luck-dragon, but he also narrated the movie in addition to voicing the gargantuan Rockbiter and the evil Gmork.
Alan spoke about which of those roles he liked best, and revealed how director Wolfgang Peterson managed to get him to do four voices for the price of one!
Joe: The Neverending Story was a classic and a favorite amongst countless fans. You played multiple roles in the film, including everybody’s favorite luck-dragon, Falcor. Which of these roles was most important to you?
Alan: Well, Falcor was more important and I loved doing it, but I also grew to love the Rockbiter. Someone asked me to do a voicemail on their phone as the Rockbiter because I do so many voicemails as Skeletor so I said you betcha, I love the Rockbiter.
Joe: Do you feel like Skeletor is what you’re best known for or Falcor from The Neverending Story?
Alan: I would say about 80 percent are Skeletor fans and about 20 percent are Falcor fans and the characters from The Neverending Story.
I was signed to do one character with Falcor. And so afterwards he said “oh, by the way, I have this character, the Rockbiter, you think you can do that?” And I said sure and I did it and then I said thank you very much and headed for the door and then he said “wait a minute, can you do Gmork?” So now we’ve done three voices and he says “oh, one more thing, can you do the Narrator?"
So he got four voices out of me for the price of one, but after all he did fly me and my wife to Germany so I think I owed him something more (Laughs). And I think the movie is spectacular. I was only in the first one, and I'm glad that's all they asked me to do because that's all I wanted to do. And I heard that the other ones weren't very good, but I haven't seen them for myself. It's just what I've been told.
What do you think of these comments from Oppenheimer? Which of his characters is your favorite? Let us know your thoughts below, and be sure to check out the trailer and synopsis for Alan Oppenheimer's newest series, JJ Villard's Fairy Tales.
JJ Villard’s Fairy Tales is a new, twisted, fun take on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White. The charm and cuteness of the original stories remain, but now they've been updated and packaged into a ball of raw, visceral, gross weirdness. The animated quarter hour series is created, and executive produced by JJ Villard (King Star King) and produced by Cartoon Network Studio.
JJ Villard's Fairy Tales airs on Adult Swim on Sunday nights at 12:15 am (Sunday into Monday).