Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 15; Still Unreleased

[Attitudefan]

Hi! Yeah, I remember reading your posts about that, way back before I even joined Kanzenshuu; would love to hear the voice in person like you did, that must have been so awesome. Was it very similar to the video I posted the link to?

Best summary I can muster before my 10 min break ends:

A company named Wow! Unlimited are acquiring a Canadian tv channel so they can broadcast content for young and teenage audiences.

It's should have a healthy amount of anime on it.

Marni Shulman is spearheading the channel and in charge of finding content for it. Via twitter, she has been made well aware of the Ocean Kai dub and to our knowledge so far, she has placed some calls and is HOPEFULLY negotiating with the right people so that it can finally air on this new channel.

Hope this helps!

It was essentially the exact same you hear in the video. I will miss the really high pitched voice though, especially for Saiyan arc Vegeta. Although, expect him to be great: he said he went all out for the final attack on Cell (after Trunks is shot dead). It will be great higher or lower pitched!

Wow! That's great news actually for Canadian anime fans! We don't have any anime oriented channels (not since the mid-2000s; a decade at least). Since anime has a resurgence in popularity here, it should be successful despite the networks joining late to the dance. It's really cool how involved everyone has been from the sounds of it. Thanks for doing the good work guys!

Marni Shulman is one of the heads for a new Canadian TV network, and thanks to a big outpouring of support for it, she's looking to air Ocean Kai on there.

Last few things she said on the matter were:
5th of November: "Tnx to all 4 help & advice. Have already had calls last week. More next wk. No promises, but trying to make something happen "
2nd of December: "Sorry for the delay. No news yet. Will keep everyone posted."

I'm optimistic about this, and I'm getting pretty pumped for it.

I've also been thinking about something; assuming it gets on air, once Ocean Kai reaches the end of its 98-episode run, I imagine it might take a while for them to get everything together for some new episodes... So, I wonder if they would rerun the Blue Water dub of the original series in the meantime.

Thanks for the links! If it is successful, I wouldn't doubt for the rest to be dubbed. Business is business after all. I just really wish Ocean had gotten home video distribution, and have DB-Z-GT redubbed much like FUNi has. It's crazy that this has been going on for over 5 years and even though there have been bumps in the road, there is always hope (how apropos).

I'd say we'll be getting the lower pitched voice for the entirety of Kai because even when Drummond was doing lines from the Saban dub at recent cons it's been lower. My guess is that the voice will be a combination of his traditional Vegeta voice and Zechs Marquez in an attempt to better emulate Horikawa's smooth delivery

That's definitely something he mentioned to me a few years back. He was talking about how Sabat's version of Vegeta had a hint of a regal accent to the voice (I kinda hear it) which he more or less did not have when he recorded the lines back in the 90s but the royal background of Vegeta is definitely something he has in mind now. Vegeta is a prince, and Drummond understands those qualities in the character now unlike when he auditioned back in the early 1990s. So his new dub reflects his knowledge of the character, but of course heavily influenced by the nostalgic demand of what he had done in the 90s.

So, all that to say, they could end up airing it and then just never doing anything with The Final Chapters.

From the history of Ocean with DB, this is sadly a very possible scenario, even if the dub is successful.

It's been so long since the first 98 episodes of Kai were recorded, that I wouldn't be surprised if a continuation would require recasts. Trevor Devall, for instance, no longer lives in Vancouver.

Schemmel isn't around FUNi's HQ these days either but the means to do it is possible, especially with established characters. Long distance recording is something they can do. For Schemmel, it is worth it with such a successful franchise. Same could be said for Devall if Ocean has the same success (and opportunities).

[NitroEX]

I will miss the really high pitched voice though, especially for Saiyan arc Vegeta. Although, expect him to be great: he said he went all out for the final attack on Cell (after Trunks is shot dead). It will be great higher or lower pitched!

Nice to see you're still around.

Anyway I wouldn't expect anything too low pitched for Drummond's Vegeta, he's acknowledged in the Geekdom interview that he rightly went with the higher pitched direction for Z due to Vegeta's diminutive size, especially the way he was originally drawn in the Saiyan and Namek sagas. He even basically admitted that he doesn't think Vegeta having a low pitch made sense, which I agree with, and bear in mind this interview was after Kai was already recorded. Everything about the way Nappa and Vegeta are portrayed in their debut clues us into the fact that the show is subverting audience expectations, Vegeta is meant to look like less of a threat (compared to Nappa) and he should also sound less threatening too, at least initially until we see him angry. This is something Funi's redub bizarrely got wrong in my opinion, Vegeta is as low as ever in the earlier sagas and Nappa doesn't sound imposing most of the time along with not being that deep, especially compared to Micheal Dobson or any of the Japanese voices for Nappa.

Drummond's Vegeta voice had already progressively got deeper by the Westwood Buu arc. When you compare it to his first appearances in the Saban dub it's a big difference. He likely did this for the health reasons you mentioned (he has admitted at a convention panel that he lost his voice screaming once) as well as to find a pitch he was more comfortable and natural for him. For Kai I think he more or less kept that same pitch from the Buu arc which, funnily enough, some people still think is "too high pitched" (likely because of their bias for Sabat). It will be really interesting to see if Drummond did try to keep the voice more consistent throughout Kai or if they once again deliberately went higher pitched in the beginning to match the art style.

It's also worth noting that these voices tend to sound different when recorded in a booth with high-quality mics and a director versus an echoey room with a mobile phone. Derek Stephen Prince recently recorded his Freeza voice on his phone for his facebook followers and it got a mixed reception. it wasn't until the episodes became available that people started warming up to the voice, it even sounded slightly different to his facebook video. Drummond's Vegeta will be a similar case in my opinion. What we hear in Kai will be more refined than the convention clips or an impromptu line.

I'd say we'll be getting the lower pitched voice for the entirety of Kai because even when Drummond was doing lines from the Saban dub at recent cons it's been lower. My guess is that the voice will be a combination of his traditional Vegeta voice and Zechs Marquez in an attempt to better emulate Horikawa's smooth delivery

That's definitely something he mentioned to me a few years back. He was talking about how Sabat's version of Vegeta had a hint of a regal accent to the voice (I kinda hear it) which he more or less did not have when he recorded the lines back in the 90s but the royal background of Vegeta is definitely something he has in mind now. Vegeta is a prince, and Drummond understands those qualities in the character now unlike when he auditioned back in the early 1990s. So his new dub reflects his knowledge of the character, but of course heavily influenced by the nostalgic demand of what he had done in the 90s.

I'm glad he at least tried to keep consistency with his Z voice as there wasn't much that needed fixing. The regal accent was never something that I personally needed from Drummond's Vegeta. I can understand the logic in pushing the prince gimmick but to me, Saiyans have always been more along the lines of barbarians or space pirates. In that sense, Vegeta not sounding like a traditional Earthly prince wasn't an issue worth bringing up. In the Geekdom interview, he mentions something along the lines of reading or interpreting Vegeta in the auditions as being more of an "elite" and ruthless leader but also says that his memory is fuzzy on whether he knew if he was specifically a prince or not, in the end I think his interpretation turned out pretty good regardless.

That being said, I suppose if it's only a subtle addition in Kai it won't be too much of a difference. In the convention clips I've heard over the years his delivery of certain lines does sound slightly more uptight than in the past and there does seem to be a more conscious effort to phrase things more proper(in other words, sounding less casual than before) but you still get a sense that it's the old Vegeta so if that's all he's added it should be easy to get used to.

So, all that to say, they could end up airing it and then just never doing anything with The Final Chapters.

From the history of Ocean with DB, this is sadly a very possible scenario, even if the dub is successful.

Yeah, I mean, it seems hard to imagine that they would be commissioned to continue dubbing another 69 episode continuation series for just Canadian TV alone. In the past it was more reasonable as they were making money from the UK and Netherlands too (and possibly some other places in Northern Europe). I suspect that they had a similar idea when they started dubbing the first Kai series as Kirby Morrow did mention it being for Canada and Europe, but somehow things didn't go according to plan and they had to shelve it. So anyway, unless a channel in the UK or some other country decides to join in and purchase this version of Kai I have a hard time seeing them continuing production. I suppose we should just be thankful they were somehow able to finish the first half of the series.

Btw, speaking of that episode of Voiceprint with Kirby Morrow, does anyone remember who was the third voice in that? I'm 90% sure it's Richard Ian Cox but there's a chance it might've been Samuel Vincent as they can sound similar at times. It's been way too many years since I listened to the podcast and I can't seem to find the episodes online to download anymore.

It's been so long since the first 98 episodes of Kai were recorded, that I wouldn't be surprised if a continuation would require recasts. Trevor Devall, for instance, no longer lives in Vancouver.

Schemmel isn't around FUNi's HQ these days either but the means to do it is possible, especially with established characters. Long distance recording is something they can do. For Schemmel, it is worth it with such a successful franchise. Same could be said for Devall if Ocean has the same success (and opportunities).

It's possible although something tells me that might be a special case with Schemmel. I'm not sure it would extend to most anime dubs. David Kaye, for instance, has been recast in all his former Vancouver anime roles since he moved to LA full time. I guess it could just depend on how busy an actor is, if they're willing to travel for it and if they still remain with any Canadian agencies. I could be wrong but I don't think Trevor Devall's role would have likely been any of the main recurring characters. They'd probably be fine without him (assuming they could continue).

[Robo4900]

Anyway I wouldn't expect anything too low pitched for Drummond's Vegeta, he's acknowledged in the Geekdom interview that he rightly went with the higher pitched direction for Z due to Vegeta's diminutive size, especially the way he was originally drawn in the Saiyan and Namek sagas. He even basically admitted that he doesn't think Vegeta having a low pitch made sense, which I agree with, and bear in mind this interview was after Kai was already recorded. Everything about the way Nappa and Vegeta are portrayed in their debut clues us into the fact that the show is subverting audience expectations, Vegeta is meant to look like less of a threat (compared to Nappa) and he should also sound less threatening too, at least initially until we see him angry. This is something Funi's redub bizarrely got wrong in my opinion, Vegeta is as low as ever in the earlier sagas and Nappa doesn't sound imposing most of the time along with not being that deep, especially compared to Micheal Dobson or any of the Japanese voices for Nappa.

Drummond's Vegeta voice had already progressively got deeper by the Westwood Buu arc. When you compare it to his first appearances in the Saban dub it's a big difference. He likely did this for the health reasons you mentioned (he has admitted at a convention panel that he lost his voice screaming once) as well as to find a pitch he was more comfortable and natural for him. For Kai I think he more or less kept that same pitch from the Buu arc which, funnily enough, some people still think is "too high pitched" (likely because of their bias for Sabat). It will be really interesting to see if Drummond did try to keep the voice more consistent throughout Kai or if they once again deliberately went higher pitched in the beginning to match the art style.

Agreed.
And yeah, he wasn't exactly low-pitched in the Boo arc, just not as crazy high and weird as he was in the Saiyan arc. And I think something like that would work very nicely for Kai.

I'm glad he at least tried to keep consistency with his Z voice as there wasn't much that needed fixing. The regal accent was never something that I personally needed from Drummond's Vegeta. I can understand the logic in pushing the prince gimmick but to me, Saiyans have always been more along the lines of barbarians or space pirates. In that sense, Vegeta not sounding like a traditional Earthly prince wasn't an issue worth bringing up. That being said, I suppose if it's only a subtle addition in Kai it won't be too much of a difference. In the convention clips I've heard over the years his delivery of certain lines does sound slightly more uptight than in the past and there does seem to be a more conscious effort to phrase things more proper(in other words, sounding less casual than before) but you still get a sense that it's the old Vegeta so if that's all he's added it should be easy to get used to.

Yeah. I'm not a big fan of Sabat's Vegeta, but I do appreciate what he's doing, and in Kai in particular, he's really come into his own, and truly found his Vegeta voice.
That said, again, I'm not a huge fan of that approach to the voice, and Funimation's dubs in general just sound wrong to me anyway as an Ocean/Japanese fan. (Plus, the one issue with Sabat's Vegeta voice now is that it sounds exactly the same as his Piccolo voice now!! XD)

I absolutely agree about Saiyans been space pirates/barbarians. Drummond's Vegeta absolutely sounds like the snake-like space pirate/dangerous renegade he was in the Saiyan/Namek arcs. And while it does make sense that he would soften in later years(Particularly in Boo and later), he's still pretty prideful, and would hide it behind a facade that he's still the same unstoppable renegade he always was. So while my preference for Drummond's Vegeta is almost certainly mostly down to personal bias, there is a legitimate argument for his take on the character.
Ultimately, I think there's definitely room for both approaches, though.

Yeah, I mean, it seems hard to imagine that they would be commissioned to continue dubbing another 69 episode continuation series for just Canadian TV alone. In the past it was more reasonable as they were making money from the UK and Netherlands too (and possibly some other places in Northern Europe). I suspect that they had a similar idea when they started dubbing the first Kai series as Kirby Morrow did mention it being for Canada and Europe, but somehow things didn't go according to plan and they had to shelve it. So anyway, unless a channel in the UK or some other country decides to join in and purchase this version of Kai I have a hard time seeing them continuing production. I suppose we should just be thankful they were somehow able to finish the first half of the series.

Turner UK did say that if they were to get Kai on-air, they'd seek out Ocean Kai. If it looks like Toonami UK might be happening, we should all try to jump on that as hard as possible. And if it ends up doing pretty well on Wow, we'd have a big thing to point to to say "Hey, Toonami UK, you should do this! It's doing well in Canada, and Ocean have always done well in the UK anyway... Do it!!"
In any case though, I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine that Wow would ask Ocean(Or whoever produced it) if more episodes are possible during the original 98's airing if it does well enough. It might end up taking a budget cut for Boo, but they could quite easily end up cutting back on new themes for the score, reuse voice actors they already have on-hand for new roles, etc.
They could make a very nice Boo arc for Canadian TV. Wouldn't be as nice as it could be with more airings going on, but it could still be pretty awesome.

It's possible although something tells me that might be a special case with Schemmel. I'm not sure it would extend to most anime dubs. David Kaye, for instance, has been recast in all his former Vancouver anime roles since he moved to LA full time. I guess it could just depend on how busy an actor is, if they're willing to travel for it and if they still remain with any Canadian agencies. I could be wrong but I don't think Trevor Devall's role would have likely been any of the main recurring characters. They'd probably be fine without him (assuming they could continue).

I think a voice or two changing for the Boo arc wouldn't be that big a deal. As long as the replacement voice sounds similar enough, and the actor can provide a good performance, any differences could easily be chalked up to the 7 years age difference.

[8000 Saiyan]

Yeah. I'm not a big fan of Sabat's Vegeta, but I do appreciate what he's doing, and in Kai in particular, he's really come into his own, and truly found his Vegeta voice.
That said, again, I'm not a huge fan of that approach to the voice, and Funimation's dubs in general just sound wrong to me anyway as an Ocean/Japanese fan. Plus, the one issue with Sabat's Vegeta voice now is that it sounds exactly the same as his Piccolo voice now!! XD)

Not really. If you have a good ear, then you'd know that they don't sound exactly the same.

[Robo4900]

Not really. If you have a good ear, then you'd know that they don't sound exactly the same.

I was exaggerating, partially for comedic effect.

They're not exactly the same, but they're far too similar.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Btw, speaking of that episode of Voiceprint with Kirby Morrow, does anyone remember who was the third voice in that? I'm 90% sure it's Richard Ian Cox but there's a chance it might've been Samuel Vincent as they can sound similar at times. It's been way too many years since I listened to the podcast and I can't seem to find the episodes online to download anymore.

This clip? The three who said they auditioned were Kirby Morrow, Trevor Devall and Sam Vincent. Though it's hard to tell if Sam's serious or just kidding.

[NitroEX]

Btw, speaking of that episode of Voiceprint with Kirby Morrow, does anyone remember who was the third voice in that? I'm 90% sure it's Richard Ian Cox but there's a chance it might've been Samuel Vincent as they can sound similar at times. It's been way too many years since I listened to the podcast and I can't seem to find the episodes online to download anymore.

This clip? The three who said they auditioned were Kirby Morrow, Trevor Devall and Sam Vincent. Though it's hard to tell if Sam's serious or just kidding.

Yes, precisely that one. I tried double checking who the other guy was and found no info. Despite listening to the original years ago I have no recollection of who the other guy was.

If it is Sam Vincent then that's great as it furthers the chances of him being in this. If it's Richard then, well, it's kind of a funny joke in hindsight.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Yeah, I mean, it seems hard to imagine that they would be commissioned to continue dubbing another 69 episode continuation series for just Canadian TV alone. In the past it was more reasonable as they were making money from the UK and Netherlands too (and possibly some other places in Northern Europe). I suspect that they had a similar idea when they started dubbing the first Kai series as Kirby Morrow did mention it being for Canada and Europe, but somehow things didn't go according to plan and they had to shelve it. So anyway, unless a channel in the UK or some other country decides to join in and purchase this version of Kai I have a hard time seeing them continuing production. I suppose we should just be thankful they were somehow able to finish the first half of the series.

Turner UK did say that if they were to get Kai on-air, they'd seek out Ocean Kai. If it looks like Toonami UK might be happening, we should all try to jump on that as hard as possible. And if it ends up doing pretty well on Wow, we'd have a big thing to point to to say "Hey, Toonami UK, you should do this! It's doing well in Canada, and Ocean have always done well in the UK anyway... Do it!!"
In any case though, I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine that Wow would ask Ocean(Or whoever produced it) if more episodes are possible during the original 98's airing if it does well enough. It might end up taking a budget cut for Boo, but they could quite easily end up cutting back on new themes for the score, reuse voice actors they already have on-hand for new roles, etc.
They could make a very nice Boo arc for Canadian TV. Wouldn't be as nice as it could be with more airings going on, but it could still be pretty awesome.

I mean, the Westwood dub was originally produced for the UK with Canada being an afterthought, which seems like a far bigger risk than the reverse (especially when nearly 69 episodes never aired in Canada anyway) so its not out of the realm of possibility for Wow to commission more episodes if Kai 1.0 does well. If it does as well as we hope they could probably budget the Buu saga by reusing themes from the replacement score instead of commissioning Keenlyside and Mitchell to do more (if it fits the Buu saga as well as earlier arcs I wouldn't mind this), using only slightly tweeked versions of Funi's scripts and recasting some Vancouver actors with Calgary ones if they find suitable fits, or reusing already cast Vancouver actors (Scott will most likely be Buu again), I'd be happy with just Scott McNeil, Richard Ian Cox, Brian Drummond and maybe Brad Swile. I'd say with those four and decent direction and mixing they could still put out a solid dub, but we'll see.

[8000 Saiyan]

Yeah, I mean, it seems hard to imagine that they would be commissioned to continue dubbing another 69 episode continuation series for just Canadian TV alone. In the past it was more reasonable as they were making money from the UK and Netherlands too (and possibly some other places in Northern Europe). I suspect that they had a similar idea when they started dubbing the first Kai series as Kirby Morrow did mention it being for Canada and Europe, but somehow things didn't go according to plan and they had to shelve it. So anyway, unless a channel in the UK or some other country decides to join in and purchase this version of Kai I have a hard time seeing them continuing production. I suppose we should just be thankful they were somehow able to finish the first half of the series.

Turner UK did say that if they were to get Kai on-air, they'd seek out Ocean Kai. If it looks like Toonami UK might be happening, we should all try to jump on that as hard as possible. And if it ends up doing pretty well on Wow, we'd have a big thing to point to to say "Hey, Toonami UK, you should do this! It's doing well in Canada, and Ocean have always done well in the UK anyway... Do it!!"
In any case though, I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine that Wow would ask Ocean(Or whoever produced it) if more episodes are possible during the original 98's airing if it does well enough. It might end up taking a budget cut for Boo, but they could quite easily end up cutting back on new themes for the score, reuse voice actors they already have on-hand for new roles, etc.
They could make a very nice Boo arc for Canadian TV. Wouldn't be as nice as it could be with more airings going on, but it could still be pretty awesome.

I mean, the Westwood dub was originally produced for the UK with Canada being an afterthought, which seems like a far bigger risk than the reverse (especially when nearly 69 episodes never aired in Canada anyway) so its not out of the realm of possibility for Wow to commission more episodes if Kai 1.0 does well. If it does as well as we hope they could probably budget the Buu saga by reusing themes from the replacement score instead of commissioning Keenlyside and Mitchell to do more (if it fits the Buu saga as well as earlier arcs I wouldn't mind this), using only slightly tweeked versions of Funi's scripts and recasting some Vancouver actors with Calgary ones if they find suitable fits, or reusing already cast Vancouver actors (Scott will most likely be Buu again), I'd be happy with just Scott McNeil, Richard Ian Cox, Brian Drummond and maybe Brad Swile. I'd say with those four and decent direction and mixing they could still put out a solid dub, but we'll see.

I can't see anyone in the Calgary talent pool that can do a better job than Brad Swaile as Gohan. I definitely want him back.

[Robo4900]

I mean, the Westwood dub was originally produced for the UK with Canada being an afterthought, which seems like a far bigger risk than the reverse (especially when nearly 69 episodes never aired in Canada anyway) so its not out of the realm of possibility for Wow to commission more episodes if Kai 1.0 does well.

Agreed, definitely. Holland also picked it up, but I think the UK and Holland were the only places airing it initially. Canada jumped on board later on, and I think the Hindi dub used the Westwood M&E track where applicable, and based their scripts on it, but I think that was also later on.

If it does as well as we hope they could probably budget the Buu saga by reusing themes from the replacement score instead of commissioning Keenlyside and Mitchell to do more (if it fits the Buu saga as well as earlier arcs I wouldn't mind this), using only slightly tweeked versions of Funi's scripts and recasting some Vancouver actors with Calgary ones if they find suitable fits, or reusing already cast Vancouver actors (Scott will most likely be Buu again), I'd be happy with just Scott McNeil, Richard Ian Cox, Brian Drummond and maybe Brad Swile. I'd say with those four and decent direction and mixing they could still put out a solid dub, but we'll see.

I think that's a lot more drastic than it'd need to be.

I agree that the music could probably get away with largely being already-existant themes, but I think Keenlyside and co. should put some new themes together so as to avoid repetition, even if a lot of them end up being new(Or old unused) arrangements of known themes. They'd probably be handling the music placement anyway, so I imagine it'd be completely feasible for them to do some new themes/rearrangements of older themes to augment the soundtrack a little.

The cast from 1.0 can probably stay as-is for the vast majority. As for new characters for the Boo arc, there's quite a lot of them who could easily be outsourced to Calgary; Kibito, Yamu, Spopovich, Oob, most of Gohan's classmates, maybe even Babidi. Some of the more versatile actors who'll be on-hand anyway can take other smaller roles(If Michael Dobson's reprising Kaioshin and Spopovich, for example, he could also do Yamu and Kibito; maybe Scott McNeil could take a swing at some characters like Babidi). Gohan's pretty much the main character until Super Boo absorbs him though, so I think Brad Swaile should return.
Vegetto could once again be done by solo Brian Drummond, which would probably save some money.

Doing new scripts for Ocean Boo Kai should be fine; I honestly think the only reason they used Funi's scripts in the Westwood days was because of how fast they had to turn it out. And I'd say the music was largely for that reason too. Naturally, money entered into it in both cases, but I think time was the primary limiting factor; time seems to have been a giant limiting factor in most aspects of the Westwood dub anyway(Note that Scott McNeil does #16 one way when he's first introduced, then completely changes his mind a few episodes later; there's a lot of odd stuff like that which, to me, really screams "This was done in a real hurry..."), so it's not an unreasonable assumption.
Anyway, Funimation would probably charge quite a lot to license their scripts. Even if doing it in-house is a little more expensive, I imagine the difference wouldn't be that much, and of course, doing it in-house means they fully control the adaptational decisions, and in particular, attack name translations could be a real bugger to figure out if they're importing someone else's scripts.

Final nail in the coffin on the scripts thing is that this would mean the scripts for the show would have been written in Texas, which might downgrade their Canadian Content rating. I HIGHLY doubt they'd risk that.

I can't see anyone in the Calgary talent pool that can do a better job than Brad Swaile as Gohan. I definitely want him back.

Yeah, Swaile has always been one of my favourite Ocean voices. I do really hope he returns if/when Boo Kai happens.

Scott McNeil does #16 one way when he's first introduced, then completely changes his mind a few episodes later

Oh hey, on the subject of Scott McNeil's #16, I just realised, I don't think he's previously mentioned #16 when talking about who he is in Ocean Kai, so I wonder if he's been recast... I wonder who could replace him... I'd vote for Michael Dobson.

[Thesagebeast]

oh , god! He said kids incoming censorship hell

[8000 Saiyan]

Don Brown played Kibito in the Westwood dub. While I know that people think he's too gruff for the role, he can easily do a voice that's not gruff. And Yamu was played by Brian Drummond.

A friend of mine suggested Brian Dobson for Android 16.
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... ex-Luthor/

And although he didn't sound good, Michael Dobson could do much better as King Cold if he used his Ronan the Accuser.

Any of the Dobsons could be a good Bardock.

[NitroEX]

Oh hey, on the subject of Scott McNeil's #16, I just realised, I don't think he's previously mentioned #16 when talking about who he is in Ocean Kai, so I wonder if he's been recast... I wonder who could replace him... I'd vote for Michael Dobson.

I see Michael Dobson's name pop up quite frequently with hypothetical Ocean DB castings. In my opinion, he doesn't really need more roles, he already voiced Nappa, Nail, ZTV reporter, Tournament announcer, Supreme Kai/Kibito Kai and Spopovich. He's a fine actor and I'm a big fan of his work but there's no need to give him additional roles on top of all that. If I had to cast #16 I'd probably go with Mark Gibbon or someone similar, he delivers deep-voiced, stern characters quite well and could make him sound like the giant that he is.

The cast from 1.0 can probably stay as-is for the vast majority. As for new characters for the Boo arc, there's quite a lot of them who could easily be outsourced to Calgary; Kibito, Yamu, Spopovich, Oob, most of Gohan's classmates, maybe even Babidi. Some of the more versatile actors who'll be on-hand anyway can take other smaller roles(If Michael Dobson's reprising Kaioshin and Spopovich, for example, he could also do Yamu and Kibito; maybe Scott McNeil could take a swing at some characters like Babidi).

Scott McNeil as Babidi seems like a bad idea to me. It's a similar case to overusing Micheal Dobson, he has too many roles as it is and someone else could probably fit that archetype better.

As for Spopovich, I actually don't think Michael Dobson voicing him is as much of an issue by that point. Spopovich has very few speaking lines and Nappa is long gone by then so any crossover in the vocalizations isn't too noticeable, especially for a casual viewer. The addition of an accent also helps to distinguish the character a little more as well. Drummond's Yamu isn't anything special but it's serviceable and kind of works in the sense of; he sounds strained but could possibly be because of his body being pushed unnaturally beyond human levels. The Funimation voice isn't anything special either tbh and at any rate, it's such a minor role that I find it hard to care much about that one.

The cool thing about Micheal Dobson and Drummond voicing Spopovich and Yamu is that it's a fun little nod to the Saiyan arc; both of them are once again voicing a villainous duo, just in a much smaller capacity.

[Robo4900]

Don Brown played Kibito in the Westwood dub. [...] And Yamu was played by Brian Drummond.

Huh, I always thought McNeil was Kibito.
I actually didn't know who voiced Yamu. I've got a text file I put together on my PC listing all the Ocean Dragon Ball voices that I've been able to find, which I check when I can't remember a voice, and Yamu wasn't actually in there; clearly I still have some work to do on it.

A friend of mine suggested Brian Dobson for Android 16.
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... ex-Luthor/

That could be a great fit.

I see Michael Dobson's name pop up quite frequently with hypothetical Ocean DB castings. In my opinion, he doesn't really need more roles, he already voiced Nappa, Nail, ZTV reporter, Tournament announcer, Supreme Kai/Kibito Kai and Spopovich. He's a fine actor and I'm a big fan of his work but there's no need to give him additional roles on top of all that. If I had to cast #16 I'd probably go with Mark Gibbon or someone similar, he delivers deep-voiced, stern characters quite well and could make him sound like the giant that he is.

Fair enough.
I don't really know Mark Gibbon's voice. Most of my suggested castings are for actors who have previously been in the Dragon Ball Ocean dubs, since I don't have a huge knowledge of the Vancouver talent pool outside of the actors who've been in Ocean's Dragon Ball dubs, so most of my suggestions are just there in hopes it'll spark some conversation.

Scott McNeil as Babidi seems like a bad idea to me. It's a similar case to overusing Micheal Dobson, he has too many roles as it is and someone else could probably fit that archetype better.

Fair enough. It's just that McNeil is pretty versatile, as are many of the other Vancouver actors Ocean have at their disposal; if they have to cut the budget, they can probably put nearly all of the new voices for the Boo arc on either actors who they already have on-hand, or Blue Water actors.
I just couldn't really think of many people who would fit as Babidi. Honestly, while I consider Klassen superior to the guy Funimation got, I don't think either are that good to be honest, and I do hope someone else is cast in that role if we get Ocean Boo Kai.

As for Spopovich, I actually don't think Michael Dobson voicing him is as much of an issue by that point. Spopovich has very few speaking lines and Nappa is long gone by then so any crossover in the vocalizations isn't too noticeable, especially for a casual viewer. The addition of an accent also helps to distinguish the character a little more as well. Drummond's Yamu isn't anything special but it's serviceable and kind of works in the sense of; he sounds strained but could possibly be because of his body being pushed unnaturally beyond human levels. The Funimation voice isn't anything special either tbh and at any rate, it's such a minor role that I find it hard to care much about that one.

The cool thing about Micheal Dobson and Drummond voicing Spopovich and Yamu is that it's a fun little nod to the Saiyan arc; both of them are once again voicing a villainous duo, just in a much smaller capacity.

I agree, although they could easily put Spopovich and Yamu on Blue Water actors, given their rather minor roles in the show. It would take away that cool nod, but I don't think that'd be an issue. If they end up having to cut the budget, I'd rather see Yamu and Spopovich go to Calgary actors than see Gohan get recast.

(No offense to the Calgary actors; I remember hearing that Tenshinhan is being played by a Calgary actor this time, and my favourite voice for kid Goku has always been Zoe Slusar, so clearly Calgary has some real talent in it. )

[8000 Saiyan]

Here's some of Mark Gibbon's work:
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... Nick-Fury/
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... roes/Hulk/
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... -Stanford/

[NitroEX]

Here's some of Mark Gibbon's work:
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... Nick-Fury/
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... roes/Hulk/
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... -Stanford/

Literally none of those are good examples of how he could sound as Android 16. I was actually thinking more along the lines of this:
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/vid ... Oll/Balor/
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/vid ... -Oll/Reig/
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/vid ... -Minotaur/

Scott McNeil as Babidi seems like a bad idea to me. It's a similar case to overusing Micheal Dobson, he has too many roles as it is and someone else could probably fit that archetype better.

Fair enough. It's just that McNeil is pretty versatile, as are many of the other Vancouver actors Ocean have at their disposal; if they have to cut the budget, they can probably put nearly all of the new voices for the Boo arc on either actors who they already have on-hand, or Blue Water actors.
I just couldn't really think of many people who would fit as Babidi. Honestly, while I consider Klassen superior to the guy Funimation got, I don't think either are that good to be honest, and I do hope someone else is cast in that role if we get Ocean Boo Kai.

I'm sure there are plenty of better options for Babidi than McNeil or Michael Dobson, If it got to the point of having to reuse actors and Sam Vincent is being used in place of Terry Klassen then I'm sure even he'd be more fitting at doing shrill villainous voices. Alec Willows is another one that could potentially work (Tarantulas for example) and that's just off the top of my head, I'm sure there are lots of others including the Calgary talent. If they want a more straight and serious voice rather than a character voice that opens the options up even more.

The cool thing about Micheal Dobson and Drummond voicing Spopovich and Yamu is that it's a fun little nod to the Saiyan arc; both of them are once again voicing a villainous duo, just in a much smaller capacity.

I agree, although they could easily put Spopovich and Yamu on Blue Water actors, given their rather minor roles in the show. It would take away that cool nod, but I don't think that'd be an issue. If they end up having to cut the budget, I'd rather see Yamu and Spopovich go to Calgary actors than see Gohan get recast.

Well of course but I don't think things would be that bad. The Buu arc doesn't have as many characters to cast for as Kai 1.0 and because it technically counts as a separate production it would likely have it's own casting budget rather than sharing it with the original dub of Kai. A lot of Kai 1.0's cast wouldn't need to be carried over and thus wouldn't need to be paid any longer, they would only need to pay Lee Tockar and Cell's VA one time for their cameo, similar to how it worked in the Westwood dub with David Kaye's Recoome.

I'm sure Brad Swaile would return for Gohan if given the chance, someone asked him once about dubbing Battle of Gods at a convention panel and he seemed open to voicing more Dragon Ball. The only one who definitely wouldn't be back for the Buu arc would be Moneca Stori as Videl as she no longer voice acts, as far as I'm aware. The various Incarnations of Buu are already taken care of by Brian Dobson and Scott McNeil. I could see them casting someone else as Dabura though (and no, not Michael Dobson ).

[8000 Saiyan]

Dean Redman (http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... -Drazeros/ (without the effects of course)) and Christopher Judge (http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... -Lensherr/) would be great fits for Dabura.

[NitroEX]

At this point Christopher Judge is out of the picture when it comes to dubbing anime, I can't see him auditioning for it, perhaps in the early 2000s with a slightly bigger budget but not now.

Dean Redman would be a good alternative for Dabura. Depends what Ocean's producers want I guess.

[8000 Saiyan]

How Chris Stuckmann can say that that was a good dub decision, I'll never know, but then again, I'm not a fanboy for the Z dub)

Nostalgia maybe?

[Scsigs]

How Chris Stuckmann can say that that was a good dub decision, I'll never know, but then again, I'm not a fanboy for the Z dub.

Nostalgia maybe?

Can you quote the context of that quote too? I can't remember what it was & I don't know how far back that post was to see & I don't wanna waste time.