In support of Adult Swim's new animated series JJ Villard's Fairy Tales, we've shared exclusive interviews with creator JJ Villard (King Star King), as well as voice actors Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Alan Oppenheimer (The Neverending Story). While speaking with the latter, we had the opportunity to pick his brain about his most celebrated role, Skeletor.
Although He-Man and the Masters of the Universe premiered nearly four decades ago, Skeletor is still a household name and revered as one of the best animated villains. Mark Hammill (Star Wars) was even brought in to give his own take on the character for the Netflix reboot, proving Oppenheimer left big shoes to fill.
During our interview, the actor goes into detail about Skeletor, talks about voicing multiple roles in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and shares information on his career trajectory prior to landing the role. He even used the Skeletor voice for me when discussing the voicemails he leaves for fans.
Take a look at what he had to say below!
Joe: You had multiple roles in He-Man and Neverending Story. Did your work on anything else inspire your performances?
Alan Oppenheimer: Not particularly, I’ve been doing multiple performances in shows for years. Back when I was in college and I was working at KDKA Pittsburg I was doing a radio show called Adventures In Research and I would play a different scientist every week, and usually a minor role along with it. And also, I’ve been doing voice-overs and voice acting since I was a kid. At least on radio - there was no T.V. then. I’m kind of an old guy.
But anyway, as a matter of fact when I would do He-Man, many times I would do all three voices at the same time talking to myself. Most people will do one voice all the way through then go back and pick up the second voice and I used to say to the producer “well let me just talk to myself.” So I would do Skeletor and I would do Man at Arms and Merman and I’d go back and forth and we’d have a lot of fun with it that way.
Joe: Do you feel like Skeletor is what you’re best known for or Falcor from Neverending Story?
Alan Oppenheimer: I would say about 80 percent are Skeletor fans and about 20 percent are Falcor fans and the characters from Neverending Story.
Joe: So I’m assuming Skeletor is your favorite then?
Alan Oppenheimer: Well at this point, Skeletor is the most creative because I can do these voicemails and heave insults upon insults to the owner of the phone, which gives me a lot of fun. And they love it, they love the voicemails.
First I find out what the occupation is of the owner of the phone. For instance if he was a plumber I’d say (in Skeletor voice) "Ehh, Joseph isn’t here right now. He’s out doing a plumbing job and I hope it isn’t your job because good luck! Ahahaha!"
Let us know what you guys think 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).