Terry Klassen.

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.
User avatar
Cure Dragon 255
Banned
Posts: 5658
Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 5:23 pm

Terry Klassen.

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Tue Feb 28, 2017 12:07 pm

Soooooo... Terry Klassen huh? I wanted to know what people thought of him, because he is never brought up at all when discussing the Ocean dub. Its always Scott McNeil as Piccolo, Brian Drummond as Vegeta and ALL of the Canadian Gokus. But what do you think of him both as a performer in Dragon Ball as well as out of it.

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2844
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:11 pm

On his work on Dragon Ball, I think he's inconsistent with his roles. There's good: Saban Krillin, Guldo, King Vegeta and there's the bad: Babidi, Westwood Krillin, and probably his worst of all, Master Roshi!

I'll say this though, although kind of unrelated to his Dragon Ball work: He's a much better voice director than a voice actor.

He should have just played one or two roles.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
90sDBZ
I Live Here
Posts: 2679
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:34 am
Location: UK

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by 90sDBZ » Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:39 pm

He was really good as Krillin during the Saban and Pioneer dubs which was when he spoke at a lower pitch, but dreadful during the Westwood dub. He ended up sounding constantly high pitched, whiny, exaggerated, and just pretty annoying in general. He was decent as Guldo and that henchmen from Dead Zone.

I know people complain about Sabat's characters sounding too similar in the old days, but I honestly think Klassen's were worse during the Westwood dub. For one thing he didn't voice as many characters as Sabat, but still struggled to sound distinct in his roles. His Krillin, Roshi, Babidi, and West Kai all sound more or less the same. I even remember a scene were Krillin and West Kai were onscreen together and one of them spoke in the background, and it wasn't until I later saw the Funimation dub that I knew which one of them was speaking.

User avatar
NitroEX
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1692
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:21 am
Location: Not America

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by NitroEX » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:41 pm

A fine actor with some great voices and a natural knack for comedic delivery. Much like Don Brown, I can usually get a laugh from Klassen's goofier roles as the two are seasoned actors in western animation, often having to play up goofy and exaggerated character quirks. Their experience in western animation clearly lends itself well to their dubbing/ADR work and gives them a dynamic quality that you just don't find among younger actors who only work on anime and video games.

I mostly enjoy his Krillin along with a few other side characters he did during Z. His krillin has a very subtle accent which I've never quite been able to pin down but nevertheless, I find it quite pleasing to the ear, it adds a layer of personality that I miss from the other English portrayals. I don't find the accent to clash much with Krillin's monk design either which probably has a lot to do with how neutral it sounds. Sonny Strait's early voice used to always remind me of Jimbo from South Park which irked me quite a bit, thankfully he shed that accent a bit in Kai though.

Klassen's Roshi get's a lot of hate but I don't think it's the worst version, it's at least entertaining to listen to whereas other portrayals like Dean Galloway & Ed Marcus frankly just put me to sleep with their monotone line reads. Under ideal circumstances, he probably wouldn't have had as many roles in Z as he did but at the end of the day playing Krillin, Guldo, Roshi & Babidi wasn't as egregious as Sabat playing the likes of Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, kami, Recoome, Zarbon, Popo, Shenron etc.

Overall I think it's a shame we don't hear him in anime anymore but he seems to be a great director now so I guess there's that.

User avatar
ABED
Namekian Warrior
Posts: 20497
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:23 am
Location: Sarasota, FL
Contact:

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by ABED » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:55 pm

NitroEX wrote:A fine actor with some great voices and a natural knack for comedic delivery. Much like Don Brown, I can usually get a laugh from Klassen's goofier roles as the two are seasoned actors in western animation, often having to play up goofy and exaggerated character quirks. Their experience in western animation clearly lends itself well to their dubbing/ADR work and gives them a dynamic quality that you just don't find among younger actors who only work on anime and video games.

I mostly enjoy his Krillin along with a few other side characters he did during Z. His krillin has a very subtle accent which I've never quite been able to pin down but nevertheless, I find it quite pleasing to the ear, it adds a layer of personality that I miss from the other English portrayals. I don't find the accent to clash much with Krillin's monk design either which probably has a lot to do with how neutral it sounds. Sonny Strait's early voice used to always remind me of Jimbo from South Park which irked me quite a bit, thankfully he shed that accent a bit in Kai though.

Klassen's Roshi get's a lot of hate but I don't think it's the worst version, it's at least entertaining to listen to whereas other portrayals like Dean Galloway & Ed Marcus frankly just put me to sleep with their monotone line reads. Under ideal circumstances, he probably wouldn't have had as many roles in Z as he did but at the end of the day playing Krillin, Guldo, Roshi & Babidi wasn't as egregious as Sabat playing the likes of Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, kami, Recoome, Zarbon, Popo, Shenron etc.

Overall I think it's a shame we don't hear him in anime anymore but he seems to be a great director now so I guess there's that.
Agreed about Klassen, but Sonny's early Kuririn was just high pitched like Popeye. He sorted it out over time by just pitching his voice down.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.

User avatar
Nightmare Wheel
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 240
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:46 am

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by Nightmare Wheel » Tue Feb 28, 2017 6:00 pm

Can't say I'm a fan of his Dragon Ball work. He plays several characters and the majority of them are done with variants on this high pitched voice that I find horribly obnoxious. I don't understand why this needed to happen either. He's not without range as seen by his work on other shows or even King Vegeta in Z itself.

User avatar
ecrockedboston
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 106
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:55 pm
Location: Boston
Contact:

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by ecrockedboston » Tue Feb 28, 2017 7:00 pm

Cure Dragon 255 wrote:Soooooo... Terry Klassen huh? I wanted to know what people thought of him, because he is never brought up at all when discussing the Ocean dub. Its always Scott McNeil as Piccolo, Brian Drummond as Vegeta and ALL of the Canadian Gokus. But what do you think of him both as a performer in Dragon Ball as well as out of it.
Say... The admins say your sig is too long. Maybe its time to change it up? Something from the ecrockedboston school of thought? XD
One who consciously devises memes, through meme-splicing and memetic synthesis, with the intent of altering the behavior of others. Writers of manifestos and of commercials are typical memetic engineers.
-Memetic Lexicon

User avatar
Cure Dragon 255
Banned
Posts: 5658
Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 5:23 pm

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Wed Mar 01, 2017 6:46 am

I shortened it already but it STILL says its too long! I dont know what to do!

User avatar
Ki Breaker
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6572
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 12:15 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by Ki Breaker » Wed Mar 01, 2017 9:47 am

Cure Dragon 255 wrote:I shortened it already but it STILL says its too long! I dont know what to do!
Try Putting the whole thing in a spoiler tag..
If the note can be removed by admin only it will happen in due time :thumbup:
The Lord moves in mysterious ways but you don't have to. Please use your blinker

User avatar
Robo4900
I Live Here
Posts: 4424
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:24 pm
Location: In another time and place...

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by Robo4900 » Wed Mar 01, 2017 3:15 pm

I've said it before, I'll say it again -- although Drummond and McNeil are definitely the standouts in the Ocean dubs, I think the whole cast was great in the two eras of Ocean's Z dubbing, and until Kai, I personally think Ocean's Z dub had always had far superior voice acting to Funimation's dub. Some of the casting was a little odd, and the direction did have its off days, but in general, it always delivered better than Funimation's.

Terry Klassen is no exception to this. In my head, Klassen's Krillin is Krillin.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

User avatar
8000 Saiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 2844
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:03 am

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sat Jun 10, 2017 3:58 pm

Oh, I forgot that the henchmen he played in Dead Zone was a good role for him, much better than Troy Baker.
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.

User avatar
Metalwario64
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6305
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:02 am
Location: Namek

Re: Terry Klassen.

Post by Metalwario64 » Sat Jun 10, 2017 4:08 pm

Terry Klassen is pretty good, but his performance never really "wowed" me like some of Ocean's real standouts have.

In my opinion though, Strait surpassed him when he stopped doing that raspy, nasally voice he used throughout Z's dub (which I suppose was when he worked on the Ultimate Uncut dub).
"Kenshi is sitting down right now drawing his mutated spaghetti monsters thinking he's the shit..."--Neptune Kai
"90% of you here don't even know what you're talking about (there are a few that do). But the things you say about these releases are nonsense and just plain dumb. Like you Metalwario64"--final_flash

Post Reply