“The choices are yours and yours alone.”
Yes, every child of the ’90s knows that phrase, but it only really rings true when it comes from one specific voice, and today Nickelodeon announced that we’ll again get to hear that sage wisdom from just that man….err, stone, as the original voice of Olmec will return for the upcoming Legends of the Hidden Temple movie.
Dee Bradley Baker, who voiced the talking head on the kid’s game show for all 120 episodes, will reprise his part for the live action-adventure TV movie reboot/relaunch set to premiere this fall. He’ll be teaming up again with the show’s host Kirk Fogg, whose return has already been announced.
“An entire generation grew up loving Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was my first television series, and it remains one of the most popular projects I’ve ever been lucky enough to have been involved with throughout my career,” said Baker in a release, “This rock is once again ready to roll!”
While Legends of the Hidden Temple‘s last episode aired in 1995, Baker has had a long and prolific career doing voiceover work for television since then. Just a small sampling of his resume includes American Dad!, SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventure Time, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as video games such as Halo and Gears of War.
Besides sounding right, Olmec is also going to look right. As the filmmakers told me, they had no intention of messing around with such a famous face, and that was true when I got to see the ancient one himself on set (though he wouldn’t grant me an interview).
The only main difference between the new Olmec and his original counterpart is that instead of having practical moving lips, they will be animated with CGI, along with his eyes. And if you don’t want your movie to look hokey, the choice makes sense.
In the movie, just like on the show, Baker’s Olmec will help guide the young visitors to his temple. In this case, though, it will be three siblings who left a boring tour and went off into the jungle, only to find themselves in an obstacle-filled adventure they have to finish to escape alive. And don’t worry, besides Olmec and Kirk Fogg, they will encounter all of your favorite elements from the show along the way, like The Steps of Knowledge, the temple entrance, a lost artifact, and plenty of colorful animals.
The inclusion of these classic Legends elements are also on display in three new posters for the movie that promise “the legend is real.”
Ooooh, that damn silver monkey just had to be involved, didn’t it? And would it kill the Pendant of Life to conveniently remain in one piece? You can’t get out of that damn temple with only half a pendant.
When I spoke with Kirk Fogg on the set of the film in Vancouver, I asked him what it was like working with Olmec (no, not what it was like working with Dee Bradley Baker, but what it was like working with Olmec, because in my goober brain Olmec is real), and Fogg said that they never knew what little quips Olmec was going to say before the Temple Run began (though he agreed with me that “Let’s rock” was the best).
Baker was backstage with a microphone, and while Fogg said there wasn’t that much riffing going on, occasionally during the “insanity” of the show (they would film five episodes over a twelve hour day) Baker would make him laugh with something ridiculous, especially when they were off-camera.
We doubt there will be any chance for Baker to riff as Olmec this time around, but having him return to voice to our favorite wise rock was Nick’s choice alone, but really, it was the only choice to make.
What was your favorite Olmec quip? Tell us in the comments below.
Images: Nickelodeon
