A question for fans of the original inhouse Funimation dub..

[Ree]

Does it bother you that Chris and Sean have not only distanced themselves from the original Z dub but also brought down their old dub too?

We all know I'm not a fan but if I was I would be kinda ticked especially seeing as now almost everyone uses the above as an argument and doesnt address points. I can only imagine how it would feel to try and defend it just for someone to go "they hate their old dub they admitted it"

thoughts?

[VegettoEX]

If you're a reasonable person, I don't see the problem admitting and understanding how it was a flawed production while simultaneously still enjoying it.

I really like Smashing Drive on the Gamecube. It's not a very good game.

[Man-Child]

It was the smartest thing for either of them to do. If I was recognized for a dub that bad, I'd want to distance myself as far away from that product as possible too. As a fan of Z during that era, I can only watch it now for nostalgia and appreciating the "so bad it's good" aspect of it. I wont pretend the dub at the time was decent, and neither should the people who actually worked on it, if they want to be taken seriously.

[Ree]

Smashing Drive was good though I only rented it. I dont think its a bad game but then again its been a long time! It was pretty short from what I remember

[ABED]

They aren't distancing themselves from it, they simply put it into context.

[Ree]

When I say distance I mean they're fixing everything that was "wrong" with it before like how theres no new music, more accuracy and etc

[ABED]

When I say distance I mean they're fixing everything that was "wrong" with it before like how theres no new music, more accuracy and etc

That's not distancing. Distancing one's self from something is limiting one's association with something. The actors often admit the show's faults, but they also don't run from association with it.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Bringing something down doesn't automatically mean pointing out flaws. It's just being critical of something they thought could use a lot of work overall and they put their money where their mouths are by bringing about the changes they wanted with Kai.

[Ree]

Okay I admit I didn't use the best choice of words but my meaning is clear right?

[ABED]

But I still go with Mike's point, you can still enjoy something and admit its faults. Power Rangers is a very cheesy, silly show, but I enjoy it.

[Ree]

Some people may not care about the replaced music or changed lines or in some cases like them better

[VegettoEX]

Some people may not care about the replaced music or changed lines or in some cases like them better

OK...? And...?

That's what we're saying. You're allowed to like what you like independent of what other people like, up through and including the people who made it.

[ABED]

Some people may not care about the replaced music or changed lines or in some cases like them better

Agreed, and I like the Ocean dub in spite of those lines. It saddens me that anyone would prefer "look, you can see their parachutes."

[Metalwario64]

If you're a reasonable person, I don't see the problem admitting and understanding how it was a flawed production while simultaneously still enjoying it.

I really like Smashing Drive on the Gamecube. It's not a very good game.

Yes, exactly this.

I think the in-house dub is terrible, was absolutely appalling in Season 3, and is still pretty bad later on (even as late as GT, Goku is still a superhero). I still enjoy watching it, though entirely for nostalgia's sake. I have nostalgia for the Japanese version as well, even if not as much as FUNi's dubs, and it's definitely my preferred version, because it's simply better to me. I also love Kai's dub, because I can enjoy it now the way I enjoyed the original dubs when I was a kid. I can watch it with a straight face and think "this is good", whereas I can't with their old dubs at this point in life. When I watch the old dubs, it's for nostalgia, and usually for a laugh.

[garfield15]

If anything, I think it makes them better people for admitting serious mistakes were made.

[B]

When I say distance I mean they're fixing everything that was "wrong" with it before like how theres no new music, more accuracy and etc

Well, in regards to the original post asking about Sabat and Schemmel specifically, those things may not be entirely up to them. Justin Cook and Carly Hunter are the producers listed on just about every English Dragon Ball(and FUNimation) release, so they set the tone of how production goes while the director(Sabat) and all actors(Schemmel et al.) are essentially guns-for-hire. Considering DB is the biggest title on Earth and his longevity with the franchise, though, it's probably not insane to say Sabat is given some level of authority as well(all DB work is recorded at his OkraTron 5000 studio rather than the various studios at FUNi's main building).

Also, there have been rumblings and rumors for years that Justin Cook was the one responsible for moving FUNimation away from "reversioning" shows and abandoning the "Barry Watson" dubbing practices, starting with Fruits Basket and a chunk of YuYu Hakusho.

[TheBlackPaladin]

It doesn't bother me at all. If anything, I think their criticism of the old dub humanized them a bit.

I know I'm bringing up old, dated views that are no longer relevant in this day and age, but they got A LOT of criticism back in the day for their performances, and Chris Sabat got criticism on top of that for being involved as the director. By not publicly criticizing anything about the dub, it gave the impression to many fans that they were totally on board with everything in the dub, which was never the case. Every actor, no matter how good, has performances that they're not proud of and don't want people to focus on...but they initially weren't allowed to admit that. Nor were they allowed to publicly state that they didn't like some of the dub's creative liberties, such as the replaced musical score (actually, shortly before the Kai dub's premiere, Schemmel said on Facebook that he hated Bruce Faulconer's score from day 1).

Between the general maturing of fans, the departure of FUNimation personnel like Barry Watson, the production of the much better dub of Kai, and yes, the criticism of the old dub from some of the actors involved, I've only come to understand the situation more, and sympathize with the actors over what wasn't a good situation for either us or them. We didn't like listening to some of the stuff they were making, and as it turns out, they didn't like making some of the stuff we were listening to.

[Ree]

Did he really say he hated it? is it still there? Have a link?

[TheBlackPaladin]

Did he really say he hated it? is it still there? Have a link?

Alas, nope. He deleted his old Facebook page.

He did say it, though. He also said that he hated it in spite of going to the same music school as Faulconer.

[Fionordequester]

Hmm...personally, the only thing that bothers me nowadays is that there never seems to be any mention of all the hard work done by the men in Faulconer Productions. Like em' or hate em', Julius, Mike, and Scott worked EXTREMELY hard on what I believe was a very rushed schedule, they worked under a man who stole all the credit from them, AND they almost always had to do wall-to-wall throughout each and every 18-22 minute episode (which in itself is extremely hard, according to an interview with Mark Menza).

But even with ALL THAT against them, they refused to just phone it the same way the Westwood dub did. They were STILL passionate enough in their craft to produce what I believe is the very best DBZ soundtrack ever made, an atmospheric, emotional soundtrack with a feeling and tone that sets it apart from every other soundtrack I've ever heard, and with songs composed from just about every style of music under the sun (orchestral, rock, techno, and etc.)...

So, to hear all about how Sean, Chris, and all the others apparently disliked it from day one, and to have no one at those panels ever really offer a divergent opinion (even something as lighthearted as "aw really? Shucks ")...well, I'm not really mad or anything since there's nothing to be mad about, but it is a little disheartening. Can't feel terribly good for Scott at any rate.

Other than that though? I don't feel bad about any of their criticisms. I mean, it's not like they hate their original work (aside from stuff like "Motivational Piccolo"), they're just acknowledging that they made some mistakes back then.