Thoughts on Brian Drummond's Vegeta?

[MasenkoHA]

I don't know, Sabat's Vegeta still sounds incredibly forced. It's a lot better than when he started, of course, but it's not great. I think that Sabat's PIccolo and non-surfer Yamucha sound a lot more natural than Vegeta. Team Four Star's Vegeta sounds a lot more natural than Sabat's, to be honest. And I'm not one of the fanboys that rips off TFS jokes, I'm just sharing my opinion. I think that TFS's approach to Vegeta and PIccolo in particular, are great.

You should watch the DBZ dub against because TFS's Vegeta and Piccolo are pretty much spot on, if slightly exagerrated, impersonations of Sabat's voices.


The high praise for Lanipator is his ability to sound like Sabat's characters not because he does it better.

[TheGreatness25]

I don't care what he's praised for. I genuinely believe that there is better delivery than Sabat's Vegeta. For example, when TFS Vegeta does something silly, it comes off as pretty funny and natural. Sabat's "bingo" scene sounded like Vegeta was about to take a dump in his pants. Sabat's Vegeta is great when he's yelling or powering up, but regular scenes where he's just speaking (and now in Super, Vegeta has a lot more of these scenes), he just sounds so out of place. Yeah, "ha-ha," I get it, Vegeta is out of place, but it just sounds like he constantly has a cold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hKlJcp_f0o

Ugh, so freaking brutal.

[ABED]

I'm not hearing this "has to take a dump" delivery. His delivery is over the top because the scenario is over the top.

[TheGreatness25]

I'm just saying that Sabat's Vegeta does not know how to not yell. The only delivery that Vegeta ever has in the dub is yelling. Even when it's a speaking scene, it's delivered angrily and almost in a yell. If I recall, it's not like Vegeta was constantly yelling in the Japanese version. I find that the dub's Bulma and Chichi had the same issues.

Whatever, it's my opinion. I just can't stand the Vegeta dub voice. I think that Sabat did a lot better with Piccolo and newer Yamucha.

[ABED]

I never got that from the dub. I don't think it's Sabat's delivery as much as the sound of his voice which makes it sound angrier. It's still within character as Vegeta's not a happy person. The sound of Horikawa's voice as Vegeta is a bit smoother and I think he plays up Vegeta's hubris a little more. Both are valid takes. Drummond plays up Vegeta's evil, so it's more cartoony, but it's a cartoon so it works. Over the top is fine in certain contexts. Bill Paxton's character in Aliens was out there, but it worked because he fully committed. You picked a terrible example with the video as it's such an over the top moment, it calls for an over the top performance.

Regarding Chichi and Bulma, Vollmer was just not a good actress and played up the airheaded quality of the character. Cranz is good in certain roles, but she wasn't right for Chichi. For one, she was older and she played up the shrew aspect.

[TheGreatness25]

Brian Drummond did a great job as evil Vegeta. I know that the voice would not match the character as the character evolved, but Drummond has shown that he can change it up. Regardless of how he was in the Westwood dub, he definitely could have used better direction. Drummond's Vegeta had potential to sound pretty close to the Japanese portrayal.

Anyway, that's my opinion. I think that overall, the Ocean cast did a much better job than the later dub, regardless of how seasoned and experienced they became. It's a shame that Funimation had to move away from the Ocean cast. I can watch the Ocean dub to this day and it will hold up. I rather enjoy it more than the Funimation one. I wish I could see the Westwood dub in its entirety, but low budget, rushing, and lack of direction ruined that.

[MasenkoHA]

^Yeah like I said I wish Pioneer had picked up distribution rights after Saban dropped it beyond the 3 movies. The Ocean cast with the Japanese score and Pioneer's lax standards? Yes please.


DBZ Kai is the only way to watch the in-house Funi dub imho.

[8000 Saiyan]

I am very well aware that Vegeta and Zechs are different characters. What I was trying to say is that had he used his Zechs voice in the Westwood dub, I don't think there would have been complaints about him sounding out of place. His Zechs voice is kind of like Horikawa's Vegeta voice, a smooth voice.

I see what you mean but what I'm basically saying is that the way he plays the character is bound to have an effect on the way the voice sounds. Unless his Vegeta changes personalities completely there are rarely going to be moments when he can sound as calm and as smooth as he does when playing Zechs.

Also, if you watched the Westwood dub he did actually start applying some similarities to that voice towards the end of his run:
https://youtu.be/tCJUYbRVj_0?t=4s

IMO, he should have gone way deeper than that.

[TheGreatness25]

He could have gone a bit deeper or maybe less sinister and slithery. Again, that's more of the directing.

[NitroEX]

IMO, he should have gone way deeper than that.

So you basically just want a Sabat impersonation then?... Thing is, if you actually had your way you'd then start to complain that he needs to sound less like Sabat. It's a never-ending cycle where no actor can win except Sabat, not to mention fans of Drummond's actual Vegeta voice are disappointed. In what world is this a good idea?

Vegeta doesn't even need a deep voice in the first place, he's a short warrior who's very prideful and quick to temper, nothing about his character screams "he must have a deep voice!", in fact, it's Nappa who should have a deep voice. This is just common sense!

I don't know, Sabat's Vegeta still sounds incredibly forced. It's a lot better than when he started, of course, but it's not great. I think that Sabat's PIccolo and non-surfer Yamucha sound a lot more natural than Vegeta. Team Four Star's Vegeta sounds a lot more natural than Sabat's, to be honest. And I'm not one of the fanboys that rips off TFS jokes, I'm just sharing my opinion. I think that TFS's approach to Vegeta and PIccolo in particular, are great.

The problem for Sabat is that he's playing multiple main characters with voices that are very close to one another, this isn't the case of Scott McNeil in Beast Wars where Dinobot, Rattrap, and Silverbolt all have distinctly different voices, Sabat's Piccolo, Vegeta and Yamcha are all rooted in his natural voice and only have a few minor tweaks to the accent, pitch and inflection when talking. Because of this he often can't just "sound natural" as Vegeta because then his voices would start to mix and sound less distinct. If he had cast another actor in some of these other roles he wouldn't have this problem and could start using more of his natural range but they missed that opportunity with Kai so it's too late now.

I agree with you about TFS Vegeta and Piccolo sounding a bit more natural but that often feels like a direction choice in order to enhance the comedy and make dialogue feel more "casual". The voices are obviously impersonations but there's something Lanipator brings to them that I prefer to the originals, his screams are also very impressive and far surpass Sabat's angry grunting & moaning in Z.

[8000 Saiyan]

IMO, he should have gone way deeper than that.

So you basically just want a Sabat impersonation then?... Thing is, if you actually had your way you'd then start to complain that he needs to sound less like Sabat. It's a never-ending cycle where no actor can win except Sabat, not to mention fans of Drummond's actual Vegeta voice are disappointed. In what world is this a good idea?

Vegeta doesn't even need a deep voice in the first place, he's a short warrior who's very prideful and quick to temper, nothing about his character screams "he must have a deep voice!", in fact, it's Nappa who should have a deep voice. This is just common sense!

I don't know, Sabat's Vegeta still sounds incredibly forced. It's a lot better than when he started, of course, but it's not great. I think that Sabat's PIccolo and non-surfer Yamucha sound a lot more natural than Vegeta. Team Four Star's Vegeta sounds a lot more natural than Sabat's, to be honest. And I'm not one of the fanboys that rips off TFS jokes, I'm just sharing my opinion. I think that TFS's approach to Vegeta and PIccolo in particular, are great.

The problem for Sabat is that he's playing multiple main characters with voices that are very close to one another, this isn't the case of Scott McNeil in Beast Wars where Dinobot, Rattrap, and Silverbolt all have distinctly different voices, Sabat's Piccolo, Vegeta and Yamcha are all rooted in his natural voice and only have a few minor tweaks to the accent, pitch and inflection when talking. Because of this he often can't just "sound natural" as Vegeta because then his voices would start to mix and sound less distinct. If he had cast another actor in some of these other roles he wouldn't have this problem and could start using more of his natural range but they missed that opportunity with Kai so it's too late now.

I agree with you about TFS Vegeta and Piccolo sounding a bit more natural but that often feels like a direction choice in order to enhance the comedy and make dialogue feel more "casual". The voices are obviously impersonations but there's something Lanipator brings to them that I prefer to the originals, his screams are also very impressive and far surpass Sabat's angry grunting & moaning in Z.

Iwouldn't want Drummond to do a Sabat impression. I would have liked him to do a much smoother voice.

[ABED]

NitroEX, I find your assessment about his performances to be a little off. Sure, they are rooted in his natural voice, but his Piccolo is his voice pitched lower, his Vegeta is slightly more raspy and guttural than his natural voice, and his Yamcha is more or less his natural voice if not pitched slightly higher. You can tell they are the same actor, but they are distinct voices and I don't know how anyone would be confused as to which character he was playing.

How can what I hear from TFS be that different from anyone else? I don't hear anything funny and I don't hear anything natural from any of their performances.

[WittyUsername]

Not too crazy about it. He's not terrible, but I don't necessarily think it fits Vegeta. He has some great screams, but the voice sounds too "reptilian" if that makes sense.

It probably doesn't help that he had some pretty bad dialogue to work with, such as his constant obsession with sending people "to the next dimension".

[MasenkoHA]

Next dimension didnt bother me since it was obvious they died. Just figured next dimension is fancy sci-fi talk for afterlife

[ABED]

Drummond had enough talent to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

[floofychan333]

Brian Drummond was pretty horrible. He sounded like the lovechild of Master Roshi and the bartender from Hearthstone.

Uh, not at all. Brian Drummond's voice has always been well received and popular.

Popular? God, I can't believe it. I don't know how anyone can endure that for any period of time.

[precita]

Brian Drummond was pretty horrible. He sounded like the lovechild of Master Roshi and the bartender from Hearthstone.

Uh, not at all. Brian Drummond's voice has always been well received and popular.

Popular? God, I can't believe it. I don't know how anyone can endure that for any period of time.

Have you been part of any Dragonball related forum where people watch the dub for years? Because even back in the early 2000's when the Ocean dub was still recent everyone loved him, and then when Season 3 came out and switched to Sabat everyone said they wanted Drummond back. Obviously part of that was Sabat didn't improve his voice as Vegeta until into the Cell arc and beyond, but besides that Drummond was always popular.

I've been in online Dragonball communities since the early 2000's, he has a huge chunk of fans.

[floofychan333]

Uh, not at all. Brian Drummond's voice has always been well received and popular.

Popular? God, I can't believe it. I don't know how anyone can endure that for any period of time.

Have you been part of any Dragonball related forum where people watch the dub for years? Because even back in the early 2000's when the Ocean dub was still recent everyone loved him, and then when Season 3 came out and switched to Sabat everyone said they wanted Drummond back. Obviously part of that was Sabat didn't improve his voice as Vegeta until into the Cell arc and beyond, but besides that Drummond was always popular.

I've been in online Dragonball communities since the early 2000's, he has a huge chunk of fans.

I've only been into DB since 2014 and I was a toddler in the early 2000's so I've never heard this anywhere. Personally I'm a Horikawa fan because, though Sabat does an exceptional job, it still sounds extremely strained and I can't piece together whether his Vegeta is supposed to have an accent or not, and if the accent is supposed to be British.

[MasenkoHA]

Sabat's Vegeta doesn't sound British in the slightest

[ABED]

I recall the first reactions to Drummond being mixed. He didn't get near universal praise until years later. I know because I've been a part of the online DB community since it aired in syndication.