Back in 2009, Dragon Ball Kai — perhaps you know it as “Dragon Ball Z Kai” outside of Japan — began airing on Fuji TV, ostensibly as a 20-year celebration of the original work, but actually a stop-gap (due to no new Toriyama content) and new indoctrination product. The “refreshed” version of the Dragon Ball Z television series was being “updated with new technology” and broadcast in a widescreen aspect ratio, keeping the “filling the screen” fandom litigation fresh after FUNimation’s faux-remastered “orange brick” season sets that were still actively releasing.

Some of these updates were redrawn frames or scenes — a notable example comes in episode 3 of Kai, which “corrects” the coloring on Nappa and Vegeta’s first major appearance to match that of their later coloring:

Particularly early on in Kai, additional effects were layered on top of the original animation (or added to redrawn scenes) to amplify attacks, or in some cases, do the exact opposite to reduce flickering and flashing.

One such example is Tenshinhan’s Kikōhō against Nappa, which is teased in the next-episode-preview at the end of episode 9 (previewing episode 10):

The checkerboard area is an effect layer in video editing/production software that has been accidentally turned off. It’s brief, but it’s funny!

This scene was corrected and properly rendered for the final broadcast of episode 10 the following week:

…and is likewise correct on the series’ home video release (which itself was mastered in the full 4:3 for its Blu-ray release in Japan, although it was strangely still cropped to 16:9 for its Japanese DVD release):

This wasn’t the first (and certainly wouldn’t be the last) time a next-episode-preview or trailer “corrected” or otherwise altered something before final broadcast.

A notable example of this situation from Dragon Ball Z itself is where Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation is “downgraded” from episode 194’s next-episode-preview for episode 195 (with the fandom presumption that the Super Saiyan reveal to Paikuhan that comes later on starting in episode 198 was meant to be the real impactful moment):

The 2013 theatrical film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods had a notable Super Saiyan correction as well, when it was brought to the attention of the film’s scriptwriter and producers that at this specific point in time, Gohan has eschewed the transformation in favor of his “Ultimate” form. A notable scene of Gohan charging forward into Super Saiyan — present in early promotional shots, as well as its first trailer — was adjusted accordingly in the final version of the film.

Even Dragon Ball Daima, the most recent production for the franchise, had a wealth of animation changes and adjustments between its initial trailer and final episode broadcasts — be sure to check through the individual pages in our “Episode Guide” for a complete gallery!

If you’re a long-time reader/visitor/listener here at Kanzenshuu, there’s a good chance you remember FUNimation’s “You Don’t Know GT!” promotion: a commercial that begins with (intentionally and exaggerated) faded, jumpy footage from the original “DAN DAN Kokoro Hikarte ‘ku” opening theme of the series, which then cuts to the company’s new rap song set to various energy blasts and hard hits.

“You Don’t Know GT” Trailer

This piece alone wasn’t FUNimation’s complete marketing strategy, though! When their official Dragon Ball GT website opened at the beginning of 2003, it was accompanied by various talking heads promoting the upcoming release, audio files (of various lengths) of the aforementioned new rap song, and most notably a contest for fans to send in their best performance art set to this song.

The timeframe here is particularly funny to think about in retrospect — this was only one month into the big Daizenshuu EX relaunch (which came the prior month in January), and so we were just finding our footing in terms of modern (dare we say “more mature”) reporting style. We didn’t have positive things to say, that’s for sure!

Here are a variety of items that we’ve either kept online this whole time, dug up again from old website installs, or are just freshly ripping and sharing even if they are somewhat widely available. When placed all alongside each other, it really tells a story — one that continues the retrospective humor, considering the fact that Barry Watson left to found anime distribution competitor Illumitoon just a few years later in 2006, and the company ceased operations entirely just the following year after that.

The transition from dolling-up GT, to dolling up “The Ultimate Uncut Special Edition,” to dolling-up the faux-remastered cropped widescreen season sets, to Watson being out of the picture entirely… all of this was one after another, year after year, across an extremely compact period of time.

The GT Rap

While the “full-length” version obviously made the rounds, FUNimation did actually put up 30- and 60-second versions alongside the longer version. These are the exact MP3 files as-is from 2003.

30 seconds

60 seconds

2 minutes 30 seconds

Promo Videos

FUNimation shared four promotional/informational videos on their new Dragon Ball GT website: one each with FUNimation co-founder Gen Fukunaga, producer Barry Watson, writer Jeremy Carlile, and voice actor Stephanie Nadolny.

Gen Fukunaga

Barry Watson

Jeremy Carlile

Stephanie Nadolny

“Be a Star” Contest

The final piece of the GT launch celebration/ambush in 2003 was the contest asking fans to act out and perform alongside this great new theme song:

The FUNimation producers are looking for bright new talent. Now’s your chance to shine and give it all you got. This could be your big break. Send in a three (3) minute VHS video tape of you singing karaoke to our new Dragon Ball GT theme song. Get in costume, make a stage, whatever it takes, but make it good. Remember this is your chance to shine.

Winners will be featured in a DVD extra in an upcoming FUNimation video release.

To participate in this contest, performers must submit an audition on VHS format video tape no longer than three (3) minutes in length. All video tape auditions must be postmarked no later than Friday May 16, 2003 at 5:00pm CST. One entry per person.

Send your VHS tape and entry form to the following address:

P.O. Box 48610
Fort Worth, TX 76148-0610

The Review Process:
Finalists will be chosen by the following merits:
» Originality
» Best Voice
» Personality
» Accuracy

The deadline was originally set for March, but was later extended to May — was this because there was overwhelming positive response, or because they weren’t receiving enough entries yet? Alongside the content deadline extension, the company shared a short video with two examples of entries:

“Be a Star” Contest Examples

… and wouldn’t you know it, the second of these ended up being the winner! This video was included shortly thereafter as a DVD extra on the July 2003 release of Dragon Ball GT: Preparation.

“Be a Star” Contest Winner

Corporate anthems — upbeat pop tracks celebrating the culture and products of a specific company — are inherently cheesy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great time with them… especially decades removed from relevancy.

As a bit of background for the kids, a company called Infogrames secured the sub-license to distribute Dragon Ball video games in North America back in 2000. In May 2002, this partnership truly kicked off as Infogrames released the first western-produced (non-Japanese-developed) video games for the franchise: Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game (developed by ImaginEngine) and Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku (developed by Webfoot Technologies), both for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. That same year, Infogrames also released an English version of Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors for the Nintendo Game Boy Color (which released earlier that year in Japan from Bandai). From here, it’s off to the races with distribution of the rebranded “Budokai” and “Budokai Tenkaichi” video games, followed by countless sequels and spin-offs. Amidst all this in May 2003, Infogrames reorganized all subsidiaries under the Atari banner (notably “Atari Interactive, Inc.” for its Dragon Ball content), the overall branding and title for which it became owner of back in 2001.

The Infogrames/Atari license ran through to 2009, at which point Bandai (then “Namco Bandai Games”) took back full control, putting an end to this interesting chapter in American Dragon Ball release history.

And that brings us to today’s archeological session:

I remember this song making the rounds on early gaming podcasts circa 2007 (notably IGN’s Game Scoop), but the main source of the song’s propagation seems to be a September 2007 post on the website gaygamer.net (which unfortunately seems to be lost to time and now hosts gambling scam content) — indeed, this is where my own file’s ID tag points to, dating it back perfectly here.

Infogrames Company Anthem

This song actually tracks back far earlier, though — the era of games it discusses should be a clear giveaway, and indeed it seems to have first been picked several years earlier, with its lyrics also being archived shortly thereafter, firmly placing it in time circa 2001-2002.

We’ve taken the liberty of updating this transcription from what you typically see online, but there’s one segment that we’re still not quite sure about — Loons was tossed out as a possibility, but something still doesn’t quite add up there.

Please enjoy, and hit us up with any theories on what you think that one small section might actually be saying!

There’s NASCAR Heat, Tonka Town,
Stuntman makes my hair spin round.
Beach-Head, TransWorld, Freddi 5,
Unreal Tournament, Test Drive.

Survivor, Civilization,
Superman saves the nation.
*NSYNC Hotline, Dragon Ball,
Alone in the Dark, and that’s not all…

Rocks my world, entertainment…
Rocks my world, Infogrames.

Infogrames is innovation,
The power of imagination.
Infogrames is entertainment,
That rocks my world!

Infogrames is innovation,
The power of imagination.
Infogrames is entertainment,
That rocks my world!

Rocks my world
Rocks my world
Rocks my world

There’s Motor Mayhem, Risk, and Clue…
World of Outlaws, (???)
It’s not enough to love what we do,
With love I deliver magic!

Infogrames is innovation,
The power of imagination.
Infogrames is entertainment,
That rocks my world!

Yes you do!

Infogrames is innovation,
The power of imagination.
Infogrames is entertainment,
That rocks my world!

Rocks my world
(You rock my world!)
Rocks my world

Playing for keeps,
Means we’re here to stay.
We give adventure,
Phenomenal gameplay.
We gotta think out of the box,
To love and deliver magic!

Rocks!
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks my world!
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks my world!
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks my world!
(Infogrames – you rock my world!)
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks my world
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks my world
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks my world

Infogrames rocks my world!

About 18 years ago, I ran a brief column here on the site called “From the Past Friday” — over its three entries, I shared:

• Voice samples from an April 2001 poll by FUNimation with four different choices for a Shuu/Shao voice in the company’s re-dub and subsequent continuation of the Dragon Ball television series
• Voice samples from another poll by FUNimation that same month with four different choices for a Pilaf voice in the company’s re-dub and subsequent continuation of the Dragon Ball television series
• Voice samples from a 1999 prank we pulled on Daizenshuu EX (one of the predecessors to this website) with a friend doing an impersonation of Saffron Henderson’s Gohan, claiming that she was returning for the English dub (which, in a roundabout way, later actually happened)

At the time, I lamented the loss of (or, at least, the inability to dig up) the voice samples from one other critical poll that FUNimation ran before all these in March 2001: that of a new choice for a “little” Goku voice for productions of that same era.

I know those files are still kicking around on an ancient hard drive or CD-R somewhere, but as I was doing additional research and digging for the (very cool!) “Dragon Ball American Release Chronology” page on our wiki, I came across a semi-functional archived link to the Goku voice poll! To my dismay, none of the voice samples actually appeared to be archived… except for the WMA links, which did work!

So here we go, dug up from the depths of old web pages that largely no longer function even on their Wayback Machine versions due to the amount of Flash used and dynamic database calls (as was the style at the time), it’s the two Goku voice choices (which, if it wasn’t clear from the filenames of “gokustep” and “gokucecil” were indeed Stephanie Nadolny and Ceyli Delgadillo):

Goku Potential Voice #1 (Stephanie Nadolny)

Goku Potential Voice #2 (Ceyli Delgadillo)

The lines directed at Tao Paipai, and in particular “Wow… I just knocked his block off, and he’s still standing!” from the first voice sample here directed at Metallic, are also spoken during flashback footage in the English dub of Dragon Ball Z episode 128 (at the time episode “113” from the editing number) as the Turtle Hermit describes Goku’s past encounter with the Red Ribbon Army — Nadolny had already played this exact line during that episode’s broadcast just half a year earlier.

Incidentally, this same flashback scene was dubbed by adult Goku voice actor Peter Kelamis in the Westwood/alternate English dub primarily produced for the European market (with the occasional Canadian broadcast, as well).

The poll only seemed to run for about two weeks (an old Planet Namek post mentions its existence on March 20th; unfortunately, the majority of our own update records from 2001 are largely lost to time and server moves). The winner announcement posted by FUNimation on the 30th read:

The envelope please…and the winner is voice #1. Stephanie Nadolny, voice #1, will be the voice of Goku in Dragon Ball. FUNimation would like to thank everyone that participated in this, the first ever voice vote. We appreciate your help in making this an overwhelming success (Give yourselves a big pat on the back). We want you as fans to enjoy Dragon Ball and any show that FUNimation produces as much as possible.

Thanks again and stay plugged in here for more chances to vote on the upcoming characters.

Nadolny had of course already been playing Gohan as the in-house Texas cast version of the character since 1999, while Delgadillo had previously played Goku in the 1998 VHS release of the second Dragon Ball movie (“Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle”) as well as the 2000 VHS and 2001 DVD release of the third Dragon Ball movie (“Mystical Adventure”). Nadolny was replaced for various Gohan and Goku roles circa the Dragon Ball (Z) Kai English dub release in 2014, though she recently returned for the English dub of the Dragon Ball Daima series.