Bill Ratner's Animation Voice on Blu-Ray/DVD Release of Original GI Joe Movie July 2010

July 26, 2010 - PRLog -- BillRatner.com  
Media contact:  WJ Carrel

Premiere Voice-Over Talent and Master Storyteller Bill Ratner is Introduced To A New Generation of Fans with Release of the Original Animated GI Joe: A Real American Hero – The Movie, on Blu-ray & DVD July 27, 2010

Los Angeles - “Getting the part of Flint in G.I. Joe was huge for me. And doing the movie was a kick. We all had a terrific time. They flew a crew to Miami to record Don Johnson while on-set of Miami Vice. But here in Hollywood big bunches of us were in the studio for every session, pulling practical jokes, lighting each other’s scripts on fire, having a great time. Don’t try that at home,” comments raconteur Bill Ratner about the Blu-ray release of his 1987 voice-performance as Flint on GI Joe: A Real American Hero – The Movie.  The release is planned by The Shout Factory, whose principals are from Rhino Records, for Tuesday, July 27, 2010 with DVD/Blu-ray dealers worldwide.

Ratner, together with the voices of Don Johnson, Burgess Meredith, and the regular cast of G.I. Joe the Series, protect the world from total obliteration by Cobra, an underground race of snake people who plan to release deadly spores into the atmosphere to destroy all humans.  The Joe Team will stop Cobra and Cobra’s evil army.  

The inspiration for the movie was the immense success of G.I. Joe the animated series - hugely popular in its long syndicated TV run which has spawned over three thousand G.I. Joe fan websites. According to Rhino Home Video which originally released the series on DVD, Ratner’s character Flint was the most popular character on the series.

In 2007 when Fox-TV decided to bring the popular TV cartoon Family Guy back, creator Seth MacFarlane called Bill Ratner’s voice-over agent, Cunningham, Escott, Slevin, Doherty, which represents Hollywood’s top animation/character voice talents, and asked, “Do you know if the guy who did the voice of Flint in G.I. Joe is still alive?”

CESD agent Pat Brady answered, “Yes, not only is he still alive, but we represent Bill Ratner for voice-overs.”  MacFarlane hired Ratner to reprise his role of Flint for the Fall Premier episode of Family Guy. Later in the season MacFarlane’s collaborator, actor Seth Green, hired Ratner to do the same for his animated series Robot Chicken on Adult Swim

Ratner, aside from being one of American’s most recognized and versatile voices is also a professional speaker, veteran storyteller, and five-time winner of The Moth Story Slams.  Currently, he is the voice on numerous movie trailers, TV networks, and affiliate stations around the U.S.  His short stories and essays are published in Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing, Cheng Kung Literary, Southern Journal, Papier Mache, Nightblade, Spork, Marquee, and Coast Magazine.  He lives in Los Angeles, CA, and owns three bicycles in various states of disrepair.  More about Bill Ratner can be found at billratner.com.