Dragonball Z - Season 3 Set

[Li'l Lemmy]

Hey, wait a minute . . . maybe I did make an important discovery after all.

The choir music that plays when Vegeta dies-- isn't that the same music that was ommitted from Piccolo's death scene?


~Da Lemmy

[b_boult]

Yes, someone post the trailer please.

[Chuquita]

I think so. (That the music is from Piccolo's death)


As I listen to it, the parts where Goku talks over the music sound potentially like they could've been redubbed. Specifically "I'm the only one left.". It sounds different than the yell and the dialogue that comes afterward; but then again I could just be hearing things and the clip of Vegeta's original death stops before it gets to that part.



Is it odd that I prefer Mr. Sabat's Drummond-impression version of the death scene? There was only a couple tiny parts of the redubbed scene where I liked how he sounded.


I felt like I kept hearing Mr. Sabat's other characters in there when he was making the speech in the redub; specifically Piccolo and Armstrong; totally detracts from what's going on.

[Li'l Lemmy]

I think so. (That the music is from Piccolo's death)

Yeah, okay. Thought so. Then WTF?!

As I listen to it, the parts where Goku talks over the music sound potentially like they could've been redubbed. Specifically "I'm the only one left.". It sounds different than the yell and the dialogue that comes afterward; but then again I could just be hearing things and the clip of Vegeta's original death stops before it gets to that part.

Yeah. See, I went through this same exact thing.

It really does sound like Schemmel re-recorded some of his lines in this to me, but it's some sort of freaky illusion. I don't know what it is that creates that effect-- whether it be Sabat's renewed performance or perhaps even the addition of the Japanese BGM-- but I'm 99.9% sure that I was completely wrong and that Schemmel is the exact same 1999 recording in both versions.

The Death of Vegeta (1999 Version, With Added Dialogue)

That'll give you the audio you need for comparison, Chuquita. It was in fact that very same line I was convinced sounded so different-- "I'm the only one left"-- so I went looking for this in a mad rush to prove myself. But I ended up DISproving myself intstead. Unless you can listen to that and still hear a difference, then I'm pretty sure I was wrong from the beginning.

I felt like I kept hearing Mr. Sabat's other characters in there when he was making the speech in the redub; specifically Piccolo and Armstrong; totally detracts from what's going on.

Sabat voices so many characters nowadays that my ears have learned to tune out the occasional bleedthrough that happens where additional voices come out of Vegeta's mouth, though I don't notice it quite so much in this instance. But extra characters or no, I personally was blown away by the renewed performance.


~Da Lemmy

[Bomber Greek]

Do you think I will be able to find this at a Wal-Mart, even though it's not on the site? Did any of you purchase this set from Wal-Mart?

[Li'l Lemmy]

I just called on your behalf, and it turns out that at least my Wal-Mart has Season Three in stock.

But since I don't support the widescreen decision, I still need to find a way to get someone else to somehow gift it to me like I did with the first two sets-- this sucks because I thought I had another week still, and now knowing that it's there already will haunt me until I figure it out.


~Da Lemmy

[Cosmodious]

To start with I have a PAL PS2, a PAL DVD player and pretty much PAL everything since I'm in the UK.

YAY! I just brought Seasons 1 & 2 and I was playing them on my PS2 (With a region free cheat disc) and I loved them (it was the first time I have owned any DBZ episodes)

So then I pre-ordered Season 3 from Amazon.com.

Then I thought...hmm, it would be helpful if these played on my normal DVD player. Too bad they can't...

Then I decided to try one and it worked! YAY!!!

Sorry, it's pretty off topic but I hope the third paragraph (if you can call a single sentence a paragraph) makes it relevant enough.

[Li'l Lemmy]

Some things for Lavender Saiyan:

Vegeta's Death Scene in 2007 was far better than 1999. Sabat sounded much more emotional.

I agree. I was actually expecting that it would come up short of the 1999 recording and ended up floored by the renewed performance. You can even hear the tears in Vegeta's voice towards the end.

Also, isn't it odd how the let the Choir in the Dub when Vegeta died this time? Unlike with Piccolo's death.

M'sorry. Somehow this slpped past my attention in reading through the thread, causing me to think that I was the first to mention it later on. Lavender got to it first, everyone, and I just wanted to give the appropriate credit.


~Da Lemmy

[Castor Troy]

It still sounds like the 1999 dub to me. The lines are exactly the same.

Can anyone make a clip of the SSJ transformation?

[Lavender Saiyan]

I agree. I was actually expecting that it would come up short of the 1999 recording and ended up floored by the renewed performance. You can even hear the tears in Vegeta's voice towards the end.

Yeah, what makes it real good is the fact that Sabat doesn't fully stay in the Vegeta Voice (which some have said they do NOT like). But in reality, when we cry we don't sound like our natural voice. 1999 Sabat tried to stay in that Vegeta voice while crying, while 2007 Sabat did not. This made it seem more real.

[Li'l Lemmy]

It still sounds like the 1999 dub to me. The lines are exactly the same.

It's the same dub. I don't know how the hell I was tricked into thinking that it was different, and I apologize to everyone for having jumped to the wrong conclusion and raised false hopes-- particularly Chuquita, for whom the quasi-redub in the last set was her biggest complaint.

Can anyone make a clip of the SSJ transformation?

russ869 was good enough to oblige your request a few pages back:

Ok here's the sample I made of the Super Saiyajin transformation. It's an MKV file you can play with VLC Player, the filesize is about 87 MB. I included all 3 language tracks, too (because it didn't make a big difference in filesize whether I did or not.) You should be able to change between them under "Audio Track" in VLC Player:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3ES7EXWA

Enjoy!

Yeah, what makes it real good is the fact that Sabat doesn't fully stay in the Vegeta Voice (which some have said they do NOT like). But in reality, when we cry we don't sound like our natural voice. 1999 Sabat tried to stay in that Vegeta voice while crying, while 2007 Sabat did not. This made it seem more real.

It's quite vivid and even a little moving, IMHO. I can tell from just this that I'm going to really like listening through the rest of Vegeta's redubbed lines when I pick up this set, and even if some of them are the same stupid ones from 1999, I'm infinitely grateful to Sabat and Strait for having taken their redub this far regardless (while other VA's quit further back).


~Da Lemmy

[Lavender Saiyan]

Yep, some of the most emotional sounding lines are:

4:41-4:49

"He was scared of us. Scared that a Super Saiyan would be born. To rise up and overthrow him"

and

5:02-5:06

"Kakarot, please...destroy Freeza"

I really wish Schemmel came back and re-recorded his emotional lines. I would love to hear an updated Schemmel.

Also, on a side note. Isn't it odd that Z-Store hasn't shipped yet, all of these stores are getting stuff in early. Normally Z-Store is the first to ship out (being that they're FUNi's official store).

[Li'l Lemmy]

I really wish Schemmel came back and re-recorded his emotional lines. I would love to hear an updated Schemmel.

If you recall the original Jon Allen interview (The Schemmel Experience) from way back when, there's a lot about Schemmel's personal feelings toward his Freeza saga recordings-- he's apparently very, very proud of it despite having been so new to the character at the time, and I think that this is part of the reason why we haven't heard any re-recorded lines this far in.

Well, that and of course his claim that the Freeza episodes were not the best experience for him creatively.

Kinda contradictory, if you ask me.

~Da Lemmy

[Kaboom]

Kinda contradictory, if you ask me.

~Da Lemmy

Not necessarily. Stored away somewhere, I have a bunch of old drawings of Spider-Man I did when I was about 10. I can draw the webhead a WHOLE lot better now, but I'm not just gonna throw the old ones out.

[xzero]

In response to b-boult, from what I can tell, nearly every line of the first four episodes has been redubbed for Freeza. As a few examples,

[Freeza is flying toward the area where the others have summoned the dragon] Original: "How dare they defy meeeeeeeeee?!" Redub: "How dare they defy me?!"

[Freeza speaking to Gohan, Krillin, & Vegeta] Original: "Hmm. There don't seem to be any power readings from the Ginyu Force. So it's true..." Redub: "Hmm. There DOESN'T seem to be any power readings from the Ginyu Force. So it IS true..."
Continuing the above scene, there's a delay in the redub before the line "What a farce" shortly thereafter.

Honestly, it's all fairly subtle at first. I can just tell from tone and the emphasis on certain words instead of others. I'm actually sitting here with both DVDs playing concurrently to compare the same lines. One of the biggest things is pitch. If anyone else has the Freeza: Summoning disc, play it in a different DVD player with similar audio settings while watching the exact same moment on the redub. The redub has a slightly higher pitched voice for Frieza. I promise you, every scene I watched from the first four episodes was completely redubbed, even if nearly every line was identical.

Oh, and for the record, Gohan has been entirely redubbed as well. Compare the first scene of "Password is Porunga" with the original DVD as a good example.

[Chuquita]

I really wish Schemmel came back and re-recorded his emotional lines. I would love to hear an updated Schemmel.

If you recall the original Jon Allen interview (The Schemmel Experience) from way back when, there's a lot about Schemmel's personal feelings toward his Freeza saga recordings-- he's apparently very, very proud of it despite having been so new to the character at the time, and I think that this is part of the reason why we haven't heard any re-recorded lines this far in.

Well, that and of course his claim that the Freeza episodes were not the best experience for him creatively.

Kinda contradictory, if you ask me.

~Da Lemmy

The title of that interview amuses me. XD
I feel so bad for not remembering where Jon Allen was from--despite recognizing his name. (EDIT: Planet Namek?)
Anyplace I can find the interview?


About Vegeta's updated speech; the parts I did like were indeed the crying at the end. That has to be the most emotional scene I've ever seen Vegeta perform in the dub. I like how he was literally choked up near the end. :3


I watched the extended 99 clip; it's the same audio from Goku.
I was completely fooled by the use of the japanese music accompanied with the fact that he was using a slightly different tone than usual.


From what I've heard (may have been that UUE interview) they weren't the best experience for him because he was in the middle of a divorce at the time.
Another interview from that flash show he's on nowadays cites him not enjoying how Funi worked back in the day; what with them wanting to get things done fast or them not being very creative, something like that.

[Li'l Lemmy]

Honestly, it's all fairly subtle at first. I can just tell from tone and the emphasis on certain words instead of others. I'm actually sitting here with both DVDs playing concurrently to compare the same lines. One of the biggest things is pitch. If anyone else has the Freeza: Summoning disc, play it in a different DVD player with similar audio settings while watching the exact same moment on the redub. The redub has a slightly higher pitched voice for Freeza. I promise you, every scene I watched from the first four episodes was completely redubbed, even if nearly every line was identical.

Looking forward to it. The dialogue might not be hugely different, but the less 1999 voices we have interacting with the 2007 voices, the better. The fact that Freeza has apparently been re-recorded makes me particularly happy, as now Duo will have less reason to punch a baby.

Oh, and for the record, Gohan has been entirely redubbed as well. Compare the first scene of "Password is Porunga" with the original DVD as a good example.

Awesome. I was wondering whether or not Nadolny would come back to redub anything in this set. If she's re-recorded everything that you've heard so far, then I'll willing to bet on a complete redub for her character the whole way through . . . and for me, yeah. That's just awesome, being a Nadolny fan.

The only problem now is the few lines that she decided to have left alone on the Season Two set before starting to record the second time through.

The title of that interview amuses me. XD
I feel so bad for not remembering where Jon Allen was from--despite recognizing his name.

No. As I recall, he was one of the original staff members of the DaizenshuuEX incarnation previous to this one. (Mike, feel free to correct me on that if I'm mistaken.)

Anyplace I can find the interview?

Oh, it's unlikely that you'll find it (or the companion interview with Sonny Strait) anywhere current; hell, even the Wayback Machine has trouble digging up the complete interview from the places it was originally posted, of which there weren't many. But I still have the transcript back from when I first found it, so . . . Chuquita, I was going to PM this to you privately, but I guess that parts of it are kinda relevant to the point I was making earlier about the possible reason(s) that Schemmel hasn't chosen to re-record (with the MOST relevant portions boldfaced as a time saver)-- you can see a lot of pride in here concerning these episodes-- so I'm just gonna throw it up here for everyone to see.

Anyone not interested, feel free to skip down to the next post.

[quote="In the original "The Sean Schemmel Experience" interview, Jon Allen"]Jon Allen: Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from and what experience do you have?

Sean Schemmel: I was born in Iowa, and lived there until 1980, and then moved to Texas. I started studying French horn and music at the age of ten or twelve, and it was pretty much my primary focus all the way up until about 1996-1997. I was having a freelance career as a French horn player. I played on a couple movies you may have heard such as "El Mariachi" and "A Matter of Honor." I was a freelance soloist and toured with a brass quintet. I then started getting into marionette work in 1996 and 1997 for a theater called "Le Theatre de Marionette". I started studying the art of marionette puppetry under a master puppeteer named John Hardman, who's going to be working with my wife on a show that will be airing on PBS called "Camp A OK," in which she'll be doing the lead voice and puppet work, so we're still pretty involved with him.

Jon Allen: How did you get involved with DBZ and FUNimation?

Sean Schemmel: I'd been doing voices around the aforementioned Puppet Theater, and I'd always been doing voices my whole life. I used to do stand up comedy, when I was in college I did stand up and I'd done theater a little bit in High School and college. My primary focus was always on music and the French horn specifically, with other projects on the side. As I started doing puppet work, John Hardman began to let me start doing voices for some of his marionette shows at North Park center, which is actually a major mall in the Dallas area, and he's a pretty well known in the puppet industry. He did all the puppet shows for the Six Flags theme parks, and a lot of work for Sid and Marty Croft back in the 70's and some of the HR Puff 'N Stuff puppets. So anyway, I had started doing voices for him, and I'd been doing voice for about three or four shows and then he let me co-produce a show. I then stopped working for him to kind of go off on my own do my own thing, while my wife Melody had seen an ad in the paper wanting voice actors for a national cartoon, and so I followed up on the ad and set up an appointment with Christopher Sabat at FUNimation. I actually still have that newspaper clipping with my chicken scratches on it that say "Call Chris Sabat!" So I called, set up the appointment and auditioned for Chris at the studio. I really thought that I'd gotten Captain Ginyu, because I thought that I'd nailed the previous voice from season two pretty dead on. I really had no idea who Gokuu was at the time even though I'd prepared for the role by watching episodes of Dragonball Z's dub on Cartoon Network for two weeks prior to auditioning. The problem was that the episodes were mainly about Gohan, and stuff between Gohan and Piccolo or Gohan and Krillin, so I really had no idea who I was auditioning for because the episodes were mainly smaller characters with high voices, so I was like "I don't know what's gonna happen." Anyway, they called back and I was kinda sad that I'd got Gokuu, because I'd really wanted to be Captain Ginyu, and I really think I had his old voice down. However, when I got to work the first day people were like "Oh, you're Gokuu," and I saw all these pictures of Gokuu everywhere, and once I figured out he was the main character, I immediately became very happy. I've since stopped playing French horn completely, I don't tour anymore, it's pretty much just been a personal choice, but I've continued to study other kinds of music, loop based, acid based, bass guitar, and I'm really a huge Rush fan. I actually started playing bass guitar because of Geddy Lee, so I've just been jammin' with my bass every now and then with my wife just trying to be more creative, in that aspect.

Jon Allen: What kind of voice acting training have you undergone?

Sean Schemmel: I didn't study voice acting per se. I've always been copying voices since I was a little kid, from the times I would watch "The Rich Little Show," and I would copy relatives and what not. I was always doing stand up comedy, and in a way that was a big part of my voice training because I was always doing impressions and such. One thing I'd do for friends at parties or whatever was I'd turn down the TV and just stick words in people's mouths and make up all these voices for them. I did study drama in college and High School and in fact I directed and starred in a one-act play that won honors at UIL, and was always pretty involved with drama even though as I've stated I was primarily focused on music, from my freshman to my senior year I was always involved with acting or using my voice in some way, from choir, to drama, to acting on stage, to playing the French horn. That was basically all I did since I'd gotten most of my credits out of the way. I've also had some vocal training as a singer, which really bleeds over into what I'm doing now more than you might think, is it allowed me to get better control over my diction and clarity of voice, and stuff like that. So basically, I've never had any professional voice acting training, but I have had professional acting training. Mainly the voice control and what not comes from my singing and orchestral training and everything else. It's all really musical to me when I'm voice acting as I really relate to volume, pitch, and diction. I have also gone out of my way not to pick up any kind of drawl and to keep my voice just as clear as possible since I moved to Texas because I'm pretty particular about my diction. No offense to Texans at all though, I mean, I married a Texan. The diction thing really worked out for me though because when I went in to do Gokuu's voice they said my speaking voice was fine, with maybe just a few slight changes to fit the character better. One little secret as to my previous acting experience though, back when I was in college me and some friends made these films called "Joe's Midnight Show," "Braindrilled 2," and "Braindrilled 3." A lot of the time when I'd be on a gig playing French horn some fans remembered me from the movies, so that was pretty neat. One thing though, we adlibbed a lot in these movies, and when you're 18 you know what kind of things are said during adlibs, so I don't exactly recommend it to any Dragonball Z fan under the age of 18.

Jon Allen: What are your thoughts on Gokuu's character and Dragonball Z in general?

Sean Schemmel: Gokuu's really a guy who could really stand to use some lithium. He's really the most Hypermanic, and it's weird how he can go from being such a happy guy to being so serious and focused, and back again 2 or three times. In psychological circles that's what'd be considered as "Bi-Polar". (laughing) I wouldn't say that Gokuu's actually Bi-Polar, he just kinda seems that way because he can get so serious when he's about to defend the planet, and then get so carefree when food's on the table and nothing else can phase him. It's really funny, but a lot of people think that I am a lot like Gokuu in that respect. Chris Sabat has even mentioned it once or twice. I'm really glad that it's showing in the writing that between Gokuu's training and everything else that he's really transcending a lot of personal demons that he's had to fight in order to become the level that he's become. As far as what I think of Dragonball Z, no offense to any other cartoon, say, another anime that's very very popular right now that's geared towards children, I really wouldn't want to be on it. I love Dragonball Z, I love anime, and I love the fighting sequences with the powering up and the animation of such intense power. I really like it when they exaggerate a blast and they have to show the impact from a shot of the planet just to get across how powerful in fact that attack is. That's one of the great trademarks behind anime. The cutesy cutesy stuff though I dunno...

Jon Allen: (interrupting) Pokemon's crap can't ever live up to DBZ's fight scenes.

Sean Schemmel: Yeah, I mean, I know some of their actors and they're doing a great job, but if I was on that show I probably couldn't stand it. One of the reasons I love being on Dragonball Z is mainly because I love the show so darn much. Just learning about the show has been so great, because when I first saw it I was kinda confused as to what was going on, as most people probably were when they first saw it, and then the more and more I saw and the more detailed it became, and the fact that it's just so weird by the time you get to the Majin Buu saga, it just gets so out there, that I absolutely love the show. I've got Dragonball Z stuff all over my house.

Jon Allen: It's addictive.

Sean Schemmel: It's very addictive. The writers on the show did such a fantastic job, and I'm really eager to get it on DVD so that I can watch the original Japanese version. I've seen some of it on the International Channel, and I enjoyed what I saw. I plan on getting a Playstation 2, so it should work out nice. To get back to the question though, I identify with Gokuu very much. In fact, I've been doing martial arts for some time now, and as I got more into the show, I the more I have intensified my training because of the character Gokuu, and how I've had to portray him. His focus on his training and everything is really deep, and it's a real inspiration for me. I love being Gokuu, as well as being King Kai. No doubt about it. King Kai really relates to my comedic personality.

Jon Allen: What kind of preparations do you go through before voicing your characters?

Sean Schemmel: What's kind of strange about me as a voice actor is that I'm kind of an instant mimic. I either can do it, or I can't, almost instantly. I copied Gokuu's old voice, almost to a T the first time I did it. I had about 15 minutes of rehearsal listening to Gokuu's voice over and over at the audition. It depends. I kinda get into a spirit. This is a guy, he's happy go lucky most of the time, but he's got a serious mission, and when he goes Super Saiyan he's very seriously PO'd, and I let my voice reflect that. I didn't sit down and design Super Saiyan Gokuu's voice, it literally happened during the transformation. When Gokuu was fighting Freeza I'd been going in session after session, and I could feel Gokuu's character changing, and I watched Freeza kill Krillin and when they played it for me, and I got really really seriously PO'd. I watched the animation, I watched the eyes roll into the back of his head, and I thought, if I were channeling enormous amounts of power and were seriously at my wits end, (which I have personally been to except for the power part), what would I sound like? I didn't even think about it that much on a conscious level, I just reacted, and I matched the animation. In fact, what you see in the episode, when you see Gokuu transforming into a Super Saiyan I think that was the first or second take. I just watched the scene, and I just literally went berserk emotionally in the recording booth. I really wanted to get that across. Maybe I'm the like the William Shatner of voice acting in that I really want to put everything I can into it... hopefully without sounding like him. (laughing) What I did when I first started voicing Gokuu, I would have to do what a lot of voice actors do, where I'd have what's called a "hook line." For King Kai it was (King Kai voice) "Gohan! Try a rebound!" and for Gokuu it was (Gokuu voice) "My name is Gokuu and I'm a Saiyan...from Earth!" but I don't use that anymore. I'm usually instantly Gokuu, and when I walk in they're like "You're line's this," and I'm instantly in character. Now that I'm more experienced with him there's not too much preparation I have to do. When I first started there was a few minutes of preparation that I'd do, but I'm so comfortable with the characters I do now, King Kai especially, that I won't do King Kai for months, and then the first time I try again it'll come back to me instantly. There are some actors that really have to go through it a lot. I think it has to do with my personality being very much like Gokuu, and this is not my opinion, this is what people tell me, and my wife has told me this, or like I said Chris Sabat has too. It's just one of those things where people will meet me and they'll say "God you're just like Gokuu," and I'll have to say "Well, I'm not Super Saiyan, I can't fly or anything or use his powers but I might be Bi-Polar (laughs)...," but yeah, as far as wanting spiritual clarity, and really looking at the big picture, yeah I really try to go for that. I don't mind admitting that, and I don't even care if I get typecast like that. It's a lot like that with my wife's characters on the show she'll be doing. When they see her with the puppet they're like "Oh my god, you are so like her!" It's amazing how she can tap into what she was like when she was a little girl. It's kinda funny because I've always loved Japanese anime, Japanese stuff, since I was a kid I'd watch Speed Racer, Ultraman, a bunch of others I can't remember the names of. No offense to Americans but I've got tons of Japanese stuff, and I love Sony and Honda and Toyota things. I have a lot of American things too, like my car and my bass. When I do voices, basically, I decide I AM that character. When I'll do an impression of Butthead, I'll literally try to shift my head into that mode (Butt Head voice) "This is the coolest thing ever... Uhuhhuh" (Beavis voice) "(laughing and screaming)." When I'm in the booth, I'm Gokuu. I don't even think of myself as Sean Schemmel anymore. I am a Super Saiyan, I'm from another planet, and when I do King Kai, I'm a goofy old guy who, I don't even know what race he is, who's got hidden martial arts powers beyond the comprehension of normal people, with buried wisdom. I literally try to become that character. I sort of hypnotize myself into thinking I'm that guy, therefore everything I do in most cases, should be natural sounding. That's why I'm very interested in knowing Gokuu's history, and knowing what's going on in the scripts. It really helps me to get into character more.

Jon Allen: How do you feel about the harsh response many fans gave to the new actors at the beginning of season 3?

Sean Schemmel: I remember that I read a publicly harsh response from one guy, I can't remember his name, but he thoroughly "ticked" me off because one; if we were the first cast, I doubt anyone would be saying anything, so people forget how attached they can get to old voices and, it's really funny to me when, first of all, and I'll say this to any die hard Dragonball Z fan, to me, comparing the new cast or the old cast of the dub or any cast to the Japanese version is absolutely preposterous. We're not Japanese. I love Japanese people, but they're trying to speak to their culture. For crying out loud, Gokuu's voice is done by a woman (Masako Nozawa) in the Japanese version. Do you picture a muscle bound, monkey-like fighting badass as having a high pitched womanly voice? I mean, I don't really think so. By that I mean that it's ridiculous to American culture. Now to the Japanese culture, they totally love it. "Head-Cha-La," for another example and I've told you this Jon, even though it's very catchy, it's absolutely ridiculous for the American culture. It's the same reason that the Daytona song on the original Daytona for the Sega Saturn didn't go over well. Now I seriously liked that song because I like Japanese culture, but everybody RAGGED on that music, and it was changed in the second version, because it just didn't fit. It's a culture thing. Alyssa Milano is a Japanese singing sensation, but she's not a singing sensation over here. I'm not criticizing her music, I'm a fan of her as an actress, but she's a huge sensation in Japan because she speaks to their culture. So as far as comparing English actors to Japanese ones, Gokuu (jokingly) says you're being ridiculous. Now I understand the comparison with the original cast, and the secondary cast, but the reason I was so offended, is that we were treated as if FUNimation was trying to save money, so they hired hack actors. I don't think that's true. The only real difference between our actors and the other actors is that though a lot of us have done a lot of acting work, we just haven't done it on a National cartoon. Eric Johnson (Trunk's VA) was just in a new movie being released called "Hall of Mirrors," which you can see the trailer of on the Internet, is very well produced. Dameon Clarke (Cell's VA) is in it too. FUNimation's reasons for moving to Texas have more to do with issues I really don't know about. I think the new cast is doing the best we can to make the transition as smooth as possible from the old cast, but I really don't think much about Ian Corlett or Peter Kelamis' voicings of Gokuu anymore, not as much as I did initially. I have a ton of respect for their work, but Gokuu's mine now, especially now that he's gone Super Saiyan, and I'm gonna do with him more what I feel as an actor and based on how I'm directed in the studio and based on his history. I think that some parts are actually done better now. I know Krillin's new voice got a lot of flack. I mean, I liked Terry Klasson a lot. But I'm really a big fan of Sonny's Krillin now though. I think he's a more dimensional character, he goes through more emotions, and sometimes he sounds tougher when fighting. Another one is Bulma. I don't know if you guys know much about Tiffany Volmer, but she IS Bulma. Mike McFarland, the Voice of Master Roshi right now has been a professional actor in Dallas for years. Mark Britten, the voice of Burtur, Korin the Ox King and others, has been a touring professional comedian for years and has been on national talk shows. My reaction to the criticism is, while I take all their points into account, if we'd been the first cast, and you weren't comparing us to the Japanese, I doubt that you'd be saying anything. Since you are comparing us, that's fine, but keep in mind, regardless of how you feel about FUNimation, I can assure you that every actor, and I think FUNimation feels this way too, are really our trying our best under some somewhat trying circumstances, trying to make a show really great. I speak for about all the actors when I say that we really went gusto, and we wanted this to be as awesome as it could be because everybody loves Dragonball Z. If the fans really care about Dragonball Z, then I think they'd care more about how a great story is being told and the continuity of the story rather than any comparisons between other voices. Dragonball Z is all about a great story and living up to Akira Toriyama's animation.

Jon Allen: What's your opinion of the average DBZ fan, and have some people's negativity swayed your opinion in any way?

Sean Schemmel: I'm actually very pleased with most DBZ fans. When I'll go out to conventions, people who even were big fans of the original cast will kind of back down and be like "Oh, I really like the first cast, but you guys are really doing a great job too though!" and it's fair to like the first cast. Terry Klasson, Peter Kelamis, Ian Corlett and Saffron Henderson and all those guys deserve the credit that they got when they were there, and they'd probably still be the guys voicing the show had FUNimation not moved the voicing to Texas, because they are great actors. I wouldn't even be having an interview with you right now if FUNimation hadn't moved. They helped to get the show this popular in the United States in the first place, so I'm very grateful to them for that. To answer the second part though, no, people's negativity really hasn't swayed my opinion of DBZ fans that much. It's the great fans of the series and even the ones that get into that much that really makes me want to put forth my best. It's even the fans that were mad about the third season, and the fact that they continue to watch it, and they continue to listen to our side, and that we get to be heard that really keeps me going. So no, the initial negative response from the fans hasn't swayed my opinion of them, but rather, it's actually driven me to try and be that much better each episode. I listen to intelligent suggestions that are logical, and are within the scheme of what I need to do for FUNimation, and what I need to do for the character. I generally don't listen to suggestions about trying to be more like the Japanese actors, because I've said that I find, especially for Gokuu, that that's ridiculous. I don't listen to suggestions from fans that aren't factoring in everything I'm factoring in. But really, I think that the fact they can get so into this show, and it's a great one, Dragonball Z fans are pretty much the greatest fans in the world.

Jon Allen: How are you directed in scenes where you are straining or powering up, because two of the biggest gripes from fans are both the grunting during some of the fight scenes, and the "constipatedness" of the powering up scenes?

Sean Schemmel: The thing about the constipation thing is, I'm not trying to sound that way. I've lifted heavy objects, I work out, and those are the kind of sounds I make when I do that. I figure if he's moving his muscles in a very strained way, I'm actually flexing my muscles in the booth. Chris (Sabat) now usually directs us with a "less is more" mentality. He's trying to tone that aspect down that the fans don't care for, but the problem is that if we do too little, you basically have a lot of dead space, so he really wants some action there. At the beginning, I was notorious for overkill. I really liked to just go for it, because the animation was so powerful to me, and now you'll find that I do it less. Chris has never said to me "you sound like you're constipated" he's said "He looks like he's straining, you sound like you're straining." He's totally been comfortable with it. When I do power up and I'm not injured, I don't think it sounds like constipation like (forcefully) "I'M... TRYING.. TO... MUSTER UP, THE STRENGTH...." hey, if anyone can do an imitation of how they think it should sound, odds are they're gonna sound the same way. I really don't know if there's any other way to approach that. As far as the other actors go, I don't know what he says to them about that. With me though, I've been doing less is more since, probably anything after the Freeza saga. You'll see me really not going overboard as much. I felt like Gokuu needed to go overboard during the Freeza saga though, I mean he was handling power that he didn't even know existed within him. He'd heard the legend of the Super Saiyan, but he was extremely furious that his friend had been killed, and he'd had it up to here with Freeza. I don't think that he's ever gonna get that bent out of shape in the series again. I look back at the work that I did for Super Saiyan Gokuu, and I've had many many people compliment me on what I did with that. I feel that my voice matched with what he looked like, with how he was feeling, and if you look at some of the quiet dialogue, Gokuu is absolutely disgusted with Freeza. He's disgusted because he naively believed that he could turn this evil person good, and he gave him one more chance and was proved wrong. I think he was more disgusted with the nature of the universe and how people and situations can be like that than he was with Freeza or the planet exploding. His idealism just didn't happen, and he was extremely angry. When he goes overboard with the "Ally to good" stuff, and the explosion of power, he's basically like "You wanna know what I am? This is what I am, I'm the opposite of you, and here it comes, baby." I felt a little bad about some of the Spirit Bomb (Genki Dama) straining, and maybe about some of the earlier Ginyu saga stuff, but by the time I got to the later point in the Freeza saga, Gokuu is jumping back and fourth between almost burning himself out with power. That's the way I was directed, and that's the way I viewed the animation, and that's the way it looked like to me. I strongly defend myself on that bit of acting, because I feel pretty good about that.

Jon Allen: That's basically the idea down perfect, but some fans also felt that some of the lines would have been more dramatic if you'd used the less is more theory back then, where instead of yelling a line, you'd say it in a lower, quieter tone, like "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FREEZA! THE DAY WHEN..." should probably been handled more like "I've been waiting for this Freeza... the day when you PAY for all the lives that you've taken!"

Sean Schemmel: Part of that was direction, and part of that was just what's in the script. You'll find that in the coming saga, the fight scenes are still loud, but I've tried to tone it down to a level that for Gokuu, can be a little bit sinister for him. Some of the lines get really down deep like "You're gonna have to do better than that Cell..." and it's not really as much "triumphant" dialogue as when he first went Super Saiyan. The way I've viewed Gokuu for the upcoming Cell saga is that Gokuu has gained experience at the price of innocence, and has to be a little bit like Cell, to beat Cell. He's not going to be able to even match Cell, unless he allows a little bit of his dark side through. Gokuu has to dig down deep into himself, and he's not gonna be naively boyscoutly to beat Cell. He's gonna have to pull out all the stops. Instead of giving Cell so many chances as he's done with others. He's been dead or near dead a number of times, and he's not messing around anymore. I think Gokuu might be afraid of his ultimate power. He unleashes half when he demonstrates to Korin (Karin), and when he finally lets go he's really gonna rip someone a new one, and he'll talk with a level of disgust, a level of distaste, it's like if you're in a fight, and even if you know you're right, and fighting is wrong, you still have a sort of evil side to you. Gokuu's a very good person, but he's willing to do what it takes to protect everyone from Cell. He needs to be a little bit like Cell, and he's learned his lesson from Freeza. There's not gonna be anymore of the "Ally to good, nightmare to you" business. Gokuu's fight is now more strategic than raw power. Gokuu's a real badass, and he's now become Shaft.

Jon Allen: That's really a good assessment of how the character should be in this kind of a situation, and that's what people mean when they kind of ask to be more like the Japanese actors. They don't mean to copy the actual voice, but rather, the emotion, and the feel of the character in that given situation.

Sean Schemmel: Well, I'm glad. I mean, I took me a while to get the character of Gokuu down only because, while I was watching and reviewing some of the original tapes from the first two seasons, I was also recording episodes at the same time, and FUNimation has been working like crazy to get the episodes out in a timely manner. I still strongly defend the work I did as Super Saiyan Gokuu though, because he was about to loose it, and he was having a nervous breakdown. The actual voice came naturally, but I spent a good deal of time internalizing the pain and frustration he must have felt.

Jon Allen: How do you feel about reading some of the overly exaggerated or goofy lines that get put into the scripts by writers trying to "punch up" the dialogue? Most feel that there's no reason for them, and they can really hurt the mood.

Sean Schemmel: I personally don't notice it as much as you guys do. Sometimes I'll notice the real real ridiculous ones, and if the voice director feels it's pointless, he'll re-evaluate it. The writers have a lot of challenges to make the show interesting and fit Japanese flaps with English words and still have the same meaning. One of the most difficult things I have heard of that doesn't translate well from Japanese are puns. Also, since I am just a voice actor and have no power when it comes to writing DBZ, I really haven't much else to say about it.

Jon Allen: What are your thoughts on censoring the dialogue even in the supposed "uncut" tapes?

Sean Schemmel: Personally, I'm completely opposed to censorship of any kind. However, FUNimation has censorship rules they probably have to follow far as television goes, and I completely understand their position. According to Chris though, the uncut tapes are pretty uncut. But in places like Europe where the FCC doesn't breathe down their necks, kids view things without censorship and they grow up just fine. It's the parent's responsibility to sit down with the kid and if there's violence on TV explain to them why violence is wrong, or explain to them the birds and the bees, instead of letting the TV baby-sit our kids. I think that parents should take more responsibility, for sitting down and spending time with their kids, and then we won't have tragedies in schools, with robbings or shootings or whatever. I've played tons and tons and tons of violent video games, but anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not a violent person, and I've never tried to hurt anybody. Someone might come up with a ridiculous study to show that kids are more angrier, well, what about before we even had TV, and we had go out and hunt more. If you take a sixteen your old kid out and have him take down a bison, if you don't think he's gonna be more aggressive because of that, that's not thinking. When I have kids, mark my words, I will spend the time to sit down and instill this sense of understanding within them. I'll sit down and watch movies and explain the situations to them the best way I know how. That's my opinion on censorship in general though, and does not reflect that of FUNimation, because I really don't know everything that they've had to censor or what not and I don't know their rules. I just go in and act as I am directed. I'll most probably have a better opinion on that, after I've seen the original Japanese version, which I plan on watching, but I think FUNimation is trying to appeal to a wide audience.

Jon Allen: Will you be voicing Gokuu and King Kai respectively throughout all three series?

Sean Schemmel: Well, Gokuu is going to be mostly a little boy in Dragonball GT, but for any points like in the beginning that he is an adult, I'd love to continue to voice him. I've voiced Gokuu for some flashbacks of the original Dragonball during Dragonball Z, during the Piccolo Daimao (Demon King) era. If FUNimation will have me, I'll be happy to voice anything with King Kai, or the adult version of Gokuu, should they choose to complete both series. Even if I've moved away, I'll come back and do it. I've told the higher ups in FUNimation that I fully intend to fulfill my obligations as Gokuu and King Kai, not only for the company, but definitely for the fans. I remember back when I was a kid, and they'd switch voices in a show how frustrating that could be. I hated that, and I don't want people to have to go through yet another casting change with Gokuu. Now that may contradict what I said earlier about voices, but I was only a kid.

Jon Allen: This would be the fourth one.

Sean Schemmel: It would, and by this point it would be ridiculous to have to go through the change all over again. I'm with FUNimation until I'm done being Gokuu.

Jon Allen: I think Tien (Tenshinhan) has the record for the most casting changes.

Sean Schemmel: Yeah, I think so. There's actually a bit of a running joke some of us have about that. Hehe.

Jon Allen: Most of the new cast has unfortunately not been able to see the original version of Dragonball Z. However, due to the many inconsistencies in voicing and scripting, it seems as if some people haven?t even seen the first two seasons of the dub. Any thoughts?

Sean Schemmel: I'm not sure exactly what some of the other cast members have seen of it. I know that I've definitely watched the first two seasons of the dub in it's entirety, and I borrowed the tapes my first day at FUNimation, like a professional actor is supposed to. I know Chris has researched his roles extensively, especially since he has other jobs at FUNimation, and he had a LOT to research in a very short period of time. If anyone knew how much Chris Sabat goes through in a week, and how talented he is, and how many voices he can do, which I think he pulls off extraordinarily well, I think he's fantastic. He's a fantastic individual, he puts up with a lot, and I'd protect him like Gokuu protects Piccolo. We have that kind of a friendship. He is the coolest guy you're ever gonna meet.

Jon Allen: But wouldn't a better understanding of the Japanese portrayal of characters provide the cast with valuable insight? After all, they're not re-inventing the series, just bringing it to another language.

Sean Schemmel: Yes, and no. Yes for storyline, no for emphasis and meaning. As I've said earlier, we're not Japanese. We have a different moral system, a different belief system, and as a society we're not concerned as much with honor as the Japanese people are. A lot of people's reaction to some of the culture stuff would be "Huh?" The diehard fans would get it because they've seen the original Japanese, but the product we're producing is for America, and several other countries, not just the hardcore fans. It's got to appeal to an American or viewer for it to be successful. So for storyline, absolutely. Or background on the characters. Or even the history of Japan. But as far as if I watch it, and they start going on about the sins of their fathers, that I know American audiences don't really care about or can't relate to. It's mainly the Japanese cultural things that would not work in our society that shouldn't be worried about as much, because we're not here to educate on their culture, we're here to bring them a cool anime.

Jon Allen: I can understand what you're saying in that respect, as I've always heard that writers for any Japanese show have a hard time with cultural humor, puns especially.

Sean Schemmel: Not only that, but they do have to spend the time to change it into the mouthflaps, which can be very tricky.

Jon Allen: Your portrayal of Gokuu has improved a lot within the fourth season. Have you changed the way you go about voicing him based upon feedback from fans?

Sean Schemmel: I have taken advice from fans. Most of what I've done with Gokuu in terms of advice has come from my producer, and my voice director. I don't know if they've interpreted stuff from the fans, but a lot of how I've progressed with how I voice him has a lot to do with how I've grown to love Gokuu, and how I've grown to see him, and one of the reasons it's gotten better is that I understand his history better, I understand what he's supposed to be doing better, I understand where he's going better, and I understand him better through my own personal spiritual study. I do listen to the fans a lot, but they can complain and complain, but the end decision comes from what I choose to do with him that must be approved by the voice director, and my producer. The producers have the final say on what gets released. A lot of the time if I don't do a line in the way the producer likes he'll come in and personally direct it.

Jon Allen: Have you enjoyed all the conventioning recently? It's really been a great step in the right direction for public relations.

Sean Schemmel: It really has been a big step in public relations. It's been very good for the fans and actors alike. It's been great for the show. If you reach a thousand fans at a convention, and they go talk to a thousand people in one way or another, it really affects how people can get accustomed to the voices. We (myself and the other actors) all take personal credit for reaching out to fans and letting them now that we do put a lot into this. I've very much enjoyed meeting the fans, it's made me very happy, and I love each Dragonball fan who comes up to greet me, and no matter how long the line is, I'm always excited, always energized to meet fans, and I appreciate every one of them. If I don't return everyone's emails, it's only because I'm bombarded with them, and I'm busy having a life. But I always love the conventions, and I'll be in Minneapolis this week, I am absolutely happy and thrilled to be there.

Jon Allen: Any plans after Dragonball?

Sean Schemmel: Yeah, I have a lot of plans. Like I mentioned, my wife will be signing a contract for a show that'll air on PBS, I'm going to hopefully be auditioning for the upcoming Elfquest movie, and I'll also be putting myself out there as a regular actor, as opposed to voice acting. There's a lot of independent films around Texas, and I have some friends that want to give me some voice work up in the San Francisco area. I like voice acting, and I love acting period, but I really like being involved in creative projects. I've produced before, and I really like directing, and having a creative idea and seeing it come to fruition. So I'll also be working on a music project with my wife while she's on her TV show ("Camp A OK"), and between then I'll be building up my studio and touring with Score, as well as a promotion in New York and New Zealand. I'll definitely be doing Dragonball Z, but afterwards I want to do more acting, music, eventually move into production (producing). If FUNimation decides to produce more anime I'd love to continue to do voices for them if they'll have me.

Jon Allen: Well Sean, I can't thank you enough for your time. It really means a lot to both myself and fans of the show to know how big a fan of the series you yourself are and how much you put into this.

Sean Schemmel: Thank you for the opportunity. It was my pleasure.[/quote]


~Da Lemmy

[bkev]

My GOD... that 2007 redub of Vegeta's death - so amazing...
Now I see why you all hate the dub music; the silence in the original - it's so, so... the silence works. I'm picking up Season 3 now, and that's that; that one clip convinced me.

[Li'l Lemmy]

My GOD... that 2007 redub of Vegeta's death - so amazing...
Now I see why you all hate the dub music; the silence in the original - it's so, so... the silence works. I'm picking up Season 3 now, and that's that; that one clip convinced me.

It really is an amazing clip, id'n it? It's very possible that Vegeta's death scene will end up being referenced as the single most relevant example to how much Sabat's Vegeta has changed between 1999 and 2007. Much love to the original recording, mind you-- I have fond memories of it-- but this new version is just unbeatable so far as the dub is concerned.


~Da Lemmy

[jjgp1112]

I definitely prefer the redubbed Vegeta death. It actually sounded like he was crying.