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

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Have to remember Drummond is being directed by Sabat here. His Kai performance might not be as good.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Sabat REALLY has come a looooooooooooooooooong way. People used to dread him back in the day.

[8000 Saiyan]

If Karl Willems is directing the Ocean Kai dub, then his Kai performance might be just as good, if not even better.

[sangofe]

Well, if you ever wanted to hear what Brian Drummond's Vegeta still sounds like ... https://twitter.com/FUNimation/status/9 ... 21/video/1 https://twitter.com/myanimewaifu/status ... 3791922176

Come to the Super dub forum to discuss this maybe, we have cookies!

This is very interesting. Too bad Sabat didn't have the guts to recast Vegeta to Drummond entirely

[MR.Mark]

IMO Sabat's current Vegeta voice is more fitting then Drummonds. Damn though, Brain's still got it in the screaming department however.

[8000 Saiyan]

When it comes to screaming, Drummond has always beaten Sabat.

I don't mind Sabat these days, but I think Drummond has far more potential to be a greater Vegeta than him.

If Don Brown reprises Kibito, then I think he should use this voice:
http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv- ... ne/Balgus/

[Attitudefan]

Well, if you ever wanted to hear what Brian Drummond's Vegeta still sounds like ... https://twitter.com/FUNimation/status/9 ... 21/video/1 https://twitter.com/myanimewaifu/status ... 3791922176

WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

This is amazing!!! Kudos for Sabat man! Sabat seems like a really cool guy and in-touch with the DB community! What an awesome thing to do for Drummond!

Seriously, this is the coolest thing ever. Two worlds collide! If you told me this even a year ago, I would have scoffed at it... and yet... they DID IT!!

All we need now is a special edition collectable set with Ocean and FUNi on it for the whole series (If Ocean ever got the chance, I would love to have them do OG Dragon Ball). That would be siiick. That, or a cast mix between the two. Hey, I didn't expect this... and you never know...


The dubbing scene has really changed over the years that is for sure. It's really cool that in English, Dragon Ball even has this history. It makes it really exciting as a fan.

[sangofe]

IMO Sabat's current Vegeta voice is more fitting then Drummonds. Damn though, Brain's still got it in the screaming department however.

Drummond is also a far better actor than Sabat.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Really, just so thrilled Funi brought Drummond back. Now if Super ends up getting a throwaway clone evil Piccolo arc I will be really excited.

Oh man, I'd be down for that.

I just want an excuse for McNeil to get a cameo so both him and Drummond will have been part of the Super dub.

This is amazing!!! Kudos for Sabat man! Sabat seems like a really cool guy and in-touch with the DB community! What an awesome thing to do for Drummond!

Yeah I've always respected Sabat for being a Dragon Ball fan first and a voice actor second, it definitely shows in the little things he does for the fanbase like this.

Seriously, this is the coolest thing ever. Two worlds collide! If you told me this even a year ago, I would have scoffed at it... and yet... they DID IT!!

All we need now is a special edition collectable set with Ocean and FUNi on it for the whole series (If Ocean ever got the chance, I would love to have them do OG Dragon Ball). That would be siiick. That, or a cast mix between the two. Hey, I didn't expect this... and you never know...

Agreed, as TheBlackPaladin has said a number of times Dragon Ball is one of those franchises there are few things you can put past. There's been plenty of examples over the years of unexpected turns of events in the areas of production and distribution, this is just another example.

That said the Ocean cast won't be going back to redub the older series. It would just be too expensive to dub everything they haven't done (most of original DB, GT) not to mention filling in gaps to sync up with the uncut footage. A mixed dub would be amazing, but I don't see that ever happening for similar reasons.

If this dub gets released though, that I will be grateful for and better than never getting anything more than a brief cameo with the Ocean cast ever again.

[SSJ3_Zack]

What's the current situation or updates on this dub? I'd love to be able to watch it someday.

[Scsigs]

Well, if you ever wanted to hear what Brian Drummond's Vegeta still sounds like ... https://twitter.com/FUNimation/status/9 ... 21/video/1 https://twitter.com/myanimewaifu/status ... 3791922176

Come to the Super dub forum to discuss this maybe, we have cookies!

This is very interesting. Too bad Sabat didn't have the guts to recast Vegeta to Drummond entirely

It's really not about guts, it's about consistency, money, & availability. He's been English Vegeta for almost 2 decades now, so to suddenly switch up voices for Vegeta for a seriously different voice tone wouldn't be good for keeping consistency between the past shows, movies, & Super, when they're meant to be part of the same products. Plus, by this point, there's a lot more Sabat fans than Drummond fans, so it'd cause a backlash.
The money's also probably an issue. There's a reason some of the older FUNi actors haven't been back since their moves to California, & that's the fact that they most likely had to join the Screen Actor's Guild to continue their work & that comes with a serious pay bump. It's why Dameon Clarke had to use a pseudonym during Kai, since he's a union actor now. FUNimation's decidedly not a union company. Drummond's a union voice actor, so I imagine he'd require a bigger amount of money per recording session that FUNi could probably pay. Most of the time when FUNi get a union VA, even though they won't have to pay them royalties for their recordings due to how anime dubbing regulations work, it probably still costs a lot more during the sessions initially that they couldn't afford him. They also had Scott McNeil for a few one-off recordings in One Piece, so this is most likely what goes for the company.
Then there's availability. Even though they could probably have Drummond record over the phone like Sean Schemmel does, there's not a lot saying he could be available for them whenever they need him, given a lot of the other voice acting jobs he has, as well as living up in Canada. Having actors that live in Texas regularly to dub the series is the best option for them.
It's also like that rumor about McNeil being recast to Piccolo for Kai. I don't believe that was the case at all during the production of that dub for many of the same reasons.

IMO Sabat's current Vegeta voice is more fitting then Drummonds. Damn though, Brain's still got it in the screaming department however.

Drummond is also a far better actor than Sabat.

Well, that's certainly based on personal preference. In terms of that, I'll take a page from Geekdom101 in how he describes the differences between Horikawa & Sabat's Vegetas. They work better for different aspects of the character. Drummond works for Vegeta's screaming over-the-top moments. Like, during Vegeta's screams in the Buu Saga when he let Babidi turn him Majin, his screams definitely conveyed Vegeta's frustrations with Goku & his own life. And during Vegeta's more hammy moments, where he needs to be a villain, I can see that voice working. However, I think Sabat works well in most of Vegeta's aspects. His screams could be better, but Sabat nails a lot of the other aspects of his character with his acting. In all honesty, I don't think Drummond really would work with Vegeta's more serious moments that aren't over the top in their delivery. That voice is suited for a hammy villain, not someone you're supposed to take more seriously.

[8000 Saiyan]

I'm pretty sure that an actor of a caliber like Drummond could pull off Vegeta's serious moments without going over-the-top.

[Robo4900]

I've always seen Drummond and Sabat like this:

Drummond plays on the fact Vegeta is a space pirate, and a dangerous renegade. He'll do whatever he can with the power afforded to him by his royal blood to get what he wants, and because of how powerful he is, naturally he should be able to easily win any fight.
Sabat plays on the fact that Vegeta is a prince. He's got royal blood in his veins, so it's his birthright to have what he wants, and due to his royal blood making him of a higher class than anyone else, he deserves what he's after, and anyone who gets in his way should be trivial to stop.

Both are valid takes on the character. I prefer Drummond's, but there's nothing wrong with either of them.

[Scsigs]

I've always seen Drummond and Sabat like this:

Drummond plays on the fact Vegeta is a space pirate, and a dangerous renegade. He'll do whatever he can with the power afforded to him by his royal blood to get what he wants, and because of how powerful he is, naturally he should be able to easily win any fight.
Sabat plays on the fact that Vegeta is a prince. He's got royal blood in his veins, so it's his birthright to have what he wants, and due to his royal blood making him of a higher class than anyone else, he deserves what he's after, and anyone who gets in his way should be trivial to stop.

Both are valid takes on the character. I prefer Drummond's, but there's nothing wrong with either of them.

Makes sense for why when Sean imitates Sabat when they voice Vegito that he becomes a bit noticeably Posh.

[Robo4900]

Makes sense for why when Sean imitates Sabat when the voice Vegito that he becomes a bit noticeably Posh.

Oh absolutely.
The whole reason Sabat's Vegeta portrayal is actually good nowadays is that around Kai, he realised "Hey, on top of being gravelly, raspy, and deep, I can also actually give it some texture... Maybe I should give him a sort of regal sound to tie in with the fact he's a prince."
And since then, his portrayal has really worked.

Unfortunately, he takes basically the same tone with Piccolo, so the voices are very similar there.

[Scsigs]

Makes sense for why when Sean imitates Sabat when they voice Vegito that he becomes a bit noticeably Posh.

Oh absolutely.
The whole reason Sabat's Vegeta portrayal is actually good nowadays is that around Kai, he realised "Hey, on top of being gravelly, raspy, and deep, I can also actually give it some texture... Maybe I should give him a sort of regal sound to tie in with the fact he's a prince."
And since then, his portrayal has really worked.

Unfortunately, he takes basically the same tone with Piccolo, so the voices are very similar there.

Except that his Piccolo is extremely closer to his Zorro voice now...

[Robo4900]

Y'know, if Ocean eventually do dub Super, they should get Chris Sabat in to voice Copy-Vegeta.

[Scsigs]

Y'know, if Ocean eventually do dub Super, they should get Chris Sabat in to voice Copy-Vegeta.

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

[MR.Mark]

IMO Sabat's current Vegeta voice is more fitting then Drummonds. Damn though, Brain's still got it in the screaming department however.

Drummond is also a far better actor than Sabat.

There both about equal these days. When it comes to Vegeta, unless Drummond adopts a more Zechs like tone I'll never be on board with his voice for the character.

[8000 Saiyan]

I don't know, Sabat is a good actor, but he's no Drummond. And when it comes to range, Drummond beats him in that regard.

Sabat doesn't sound that much like a prince to me.