Bringing Hasbro's most iconic characters to life

Developers and enterprises can now build with officially licensed Hasbro character voices.

Some characters escape the screen and become part of the cultural zeitgeist – shaping who we are long before we have the words to describe it. Mr. Potato Head. Cobra Commander. Optimus Prime. Megatron. Grimlock. From the toybox to the computer, these characters have delighted generations of fans, embedding themselves into our collective memory.

When Hasbro came to us to help bring these icons into the AI era, we understood exactly what was at stake. We know how much these characters mean to millions of fans.

Hasbro used ElevenLabs' voice AI to rebuild these characters from the ground up – trained on new studio recordings and precious archives, shaped by the people who know these characters best, and refined until they didn't just sound accurate, they felt true.

The resulting voices are now live on the Iconic Marketplace, available for developers and enterprises to build authorized, interactive experiences across games, apps, advertising, robotics, and more.

Here are the characters available to request today, or coming soon:

• Transformers: Megatron, Starscream, Grimlock
• GI Joe: Cobra Commander
• Mr. Potato Head
• Clue: Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Solicitor Peacock
• Coming soon: Optimus Prime, Mayor Green, Chef White, Mr. Monopoly

What character integrity actually means

For many people, these characters aren't just entertainment – they're a reminder of childhood, family, or a specific point in time. So giving a character a voice that holds all their personality requires careful craft.

Our in-house audio expert, Kamil Soldacki, describes the first listen as an execution scene: either the character lives or it doesn't, and there's very little middle ground, because people react emotionally before they react rationally.

Anything that breaks belief in the character is rejected. A voice can be technically impressive but emotionally wrong if it’s too polished or sounds the wrong age. You can match timbre, tone, pitch, and clarity, and still miss the rhythm, attitude, and many other small choices a voice actor makes that an audience absorbs without realizing it. If collaborators and long-time fans don't believe it in the first few seconds, you don't get a second chance.

You have it right when people stop analyzing the technology, and start following the story. As Kamil puts it, “Voice is a logo. It's the first thing people recognize and often the last thing they forget.”

Original talent, newly cast, and the difference it makes

Before any technical work begins, you need to understand a voice completely. Hasbro brought original talent into the studio, cast some brand new voices, and mined precious archives. 

For the Transformers characters, that meant going back to the original talent. Frank Welker has voiced Megatron since 1984, Gregg Berger originated Grimlock in the same series, and Frank Todaro brings Starscream and Cobra Commander to life, characters whose vocal legacy runs four decades deep. Optimus Prime, voiced by Peter Cullen, is coming soon. When the original actor is involved, there's a shorthand that comes with it -- they know who the character is in a way that's hard to teach.

The Clue characters took a different path. Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, and Solicitor Peacock don't have a single definitive vocal performance the way Megatron does, so the voice actors are building something new within a framework audiences already know. The characters are the same but what the actors bring to it is their own.

Built with permission, from the start

None of this works without trust. We partnered closely with Hasbro’s character experts, who own this incredible IP, and world class voice talent to bring these voices to the Iconic Marketplace. From there, enterprises, developers, and app builders can license these voices for their own products and experiences - with every deal going through Hasbro's review. Hasbro’s Behavioral Licensing governs everything from how a character sounds to how it thinks, speaks, and interacts, ensuring characters show up in the world the way Hasbro intends. 

We’re delighted to help bring them to life for fans who remember, and new generations still discovering them.

Find all your favorites here -- and don't miss the Peppa Pig cameo: https://elevenlabs.io/iconic-marketplace