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

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

10 years is too long for such an anime like Dragon Ball. I do hope if Wow TV air Kai it will do well enough for them to consider airing The Final Chapters, Super, maybe the older Canadian dubs and keep the series on the airwaves for years to come.

[eledoremassis02]

I would love to see them dub the movies but with kelamis it would be tough and I think that ship has long sailed lol

[Robo4900]

I would love to see them dub the movies but with kelamis it would be tough and I think that ship has long sailed lol

Doing it with Kelamis wouldn't happen. However, with how weird Dragon Ball dubbing is, and given the fact there will always be demand for Dragon Ball wherever it catches on, I would say it is entirely possible that, if Kai is successful, the Ocean Kai dubbing crew could very well dub any of the movies.
But, I would say that that won't happen. If they do dub any of the movies, it would only be the upcoming Broly movie, and only alongside a Super dub.

If the Ocean crew were to have dubbed all the movies, it would have either happened under Pioneer in the late '90s, or under AB Groupe in the early '00s. Pioneer's DVD sales weren't all that great, and TV airings of the TV cut of their work IIRC didn't really happen until Toonami, and AB rushed out their European-produced Big Green dub. If AB had been smart about it, they could have got the Westwood or Blue Water crews to do dubs of the movies and released them on DVD in Europe, and possibly put out DVDs of the Westwood and Blue Water dubs in Europe too, but AB Groupe were actually really dumb about all this; the only home media they put out was the Big Green DVDs we know about, which sold pretty poorly as I'm given to understand.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'd say if anything as pleasantly surprising as an Ocean dub of the new movies happens we could expect the older movies too. I wouldn't expect it until they've caught up with Funimation and have a Final Chapters and Super dub out because those two are the priority, but if one of the new movies pops up on Wow TV or one of their streaming services they will most likely get fans demanding more. I must emphasize "pleasantly surprising" though, because, much like a Blu-Ray release of this dub its not something I would count on.

[JohnnyCashKami]

I'd say if anything as pleasantly surprising as an Ocean dub of the new movies happens we could expect the older movies too. I wouldn't expect it until they've caught up with Funimation and have a Final Chapters and Super dub out because those two are the priority, but if one of the new movies pops up on Wow TV or one of their streaming services they will most likely get fans demanding more. I must emphasize "pleasantly surprising" though, because, much like a Blu-Ray release of this dub its not something I would count on.

I'd love to watch an Ocean Dub of Kai TFC with their own soundtrack. There's just so much potential for them to dub pretty much everything they weren't given a chance to before. But eh, I'll call it a day with the Kai dub whenever it's aired.

[SX10]

Oh... HAPPY 28 BIRTHDAY!

Hahahahahahahaha...I'm a moron.

Hahaha, no you're not and thank you! Man, some things about being 18 I miss! Imagine.

Well, I start my trip to Alfreton to attend Digi-Con 5 tomorrow and am attending on Monday. Organisation is just not my strong suit, wish me luck I see that Brian Drummond has to be careful on what he can discuss regarding Kai (from today's attendees) and NDAs were mentioned. I'll ask what I can and see what comes from it!

[8000 Saiyan]

Boy, if Ocean were to dub the Broly movie, I'd feel pity for the poor guy that would have to damage his vocal chords.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Boy, if Ocean were to dub the Broly movie, I'd feel pity for the poor guy that would have to damage his vocal chords.

Add some believable audio effects to the voice and he'd not have to wreck his vocal chords.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Oh... HAPPY 28 BIRTHDAY!

Hahahahahahahaha...I'm a moron.

Hahaha, no you're not and thank you! Man, some things about being 18 I miss! Imagine.

Well, I start my trip to Alfreton to attend Digi-Con 5 tomorrow and am attending on Monday. Organisation is just not my strong suit, wish me luck I see that Brian Drummond has to be careful on what he can discuss regarding Kai (from today's attendees) and NDAs were mentioned. I'll ask what I can and see what comes from it!

Even if Drummond wasn't under an NDA he still most likely wouldn't know anything about what's going on between WOW and TOEI because voice actors don't have that privilege.

I wish you luck, I look forward to Drummond hearing about WOW TV potentially airing this dub, and what he thinks about the replacement score.

[eledoremassis02]

If they ever get to do TFC i'd like to see Brad Swaile' return as Adult Gohan. He was great balancing Gohans geekyness and heroic side and a great voice watch to the past Ocean Gokus in the same way FUNi's Gohan was got Shemels goku

[8000 Saiyan]

If they ever get to do TFC i'd like to see Brad Swaile' return as Adult Gohan. He was great balancing Gohans geekyness and heroic side and a great voice watch to the past Ocean Gokus in the same way FUNi's Gohan was got Shemels goku

Well, he did say he'd be open to dub more Dragon Ball.

[linkdude20002001]

If they ever get to do TFC i'd like to see Brad Swaile' return as Adult Gohan. He was great balancing Gohans geekyness and heroic side and a great voice watch to the past Ocean Gokus in the same way FUNi's Gohan was got Shemels goku

Yes, please! His portrayal of teen Gohan is perfect. And he's a great voice actor. If this dub of Kai goes well, and they move on to TFC, I can't imagine them not getting him back.

[SX10]

Just finished the meet and greet. So it was a group thing and not all questions could be asked and I think Brian is a savvy guy. Some things were under wraps.

He says he has NOT heard ANY of the dub, other than the lines he has done. As you guys know the voice is closer to Westwood but he said the screams and stuff will be kinda like what he did in Super (although that was a short recording session). He also requested that he record for Kai on Fridays as to recover his voice for other jobs over the weekend.

I asked about pronounciations and attack names - he kinda got around it by talking about the screams and stuff, though I don't think there will be Japanese attack names.

I mentioned the Calgary voice cast and Peter seemed intrigued and Brian mentioned they were involved and also mentioned them 'voice matching'?

Director :

He was totally UNSURE at first as he struggled to remember. BUT they both agreed that the bulk of the show, being done at Ocean as it was, would mean it was none other than *drum roll* Karl Willems.

Also, Peter maintains that the show moved and when it came back he found out Kirby Morrow was in the role. The timing seems weird, as we know he was in the Westwood dub for a bit, but he did say actors get recast a lot and are the last to know.

They were paid literally like $4 per line back in the day and screaming for almost 8 hours. So blowing their voices for nothing. This is why Ian Corlett left as he was a busy guy back then. It's not that he was being paid a lot and wanted more, he was paid peanuts for demanding stuff. Union rules changed because of DBZ and shows like it.

When the show went to Texas, those guys were being paid so much less (as they were totally new to it all) that Ocean cast didn't grudge it moving quite so much.

I asked Peter about movies 1-3 and the departure from matching Corlett. He said there was jut a big drive to make it match the Japanese stuff and he specifically strived to get as close to Nozawa as he could (some screams were daunting lol). Also, he would have loved to do Goku Black or be Goku in some capacity again.

I let Brian know all about Wow and what is happening. He has seen some stuff about it on twitter and I think he has heard some mutterings but was surprised, pleasently surprised. He shook my hand and thanked me for finding that stuff out.

What a great time!!!

EDIT:

Additional info: Brian believes he recorded over 8000 and a traditional over 9000 and decided to let director/ producer pick which one to use. I am officially done annoying everyone!

[Tian]

They were paid literally like $4 per line back in the day and screaming for almost 8 hours. So blowing their voices for nothing. This is why Ian Corlett left as he was a busy guy back then. It's not that he was being paid a lot and wanted more, he was paid peanuts for demanding stuff. Union rules changed because of DBZ and shows like it.

So, Willems was Canada's Wally Burr or all the recording sessions for anime dubs in Canada lasted 8 hours?

[NitroEX]

Nice to hear you had a good time. I also went on Saturday and turned up when it wasn't too busy so I fortunately got to have a nice long chat with Brian and Peter, I was a little starstruck at first but they were both very cool and easy to talk to. It was quite surreal to be having a conversation with the guys who voiced two of my favourite characters growing up. Now I just need to meet Scott McNeil and my life will be complete

Director :

He was totally UNSURE at first as he struggled to remember. BUT they both agreed that the bulk of the show, being done at Ocean as it was, would mean it was none other than *drum roll* Karl Willems.

This was something I forgot to ask so it's great that someone else got to.

I did manage to ask if Ted Cole and Terry Klassen returned for Kai. Brian seemed to be confident that Klassen definitely wasn't in Kai - due to moving on to a more permanent director role. He did think there was much a stronger chance of Ted Cole returning but he wasn't too sure.

I asked if they'd heard Richard Ian Cox's Goku and they both seemed surprised to hear that he was cast in he role. Neither of them has apparently heard the new Goku voice yet which I found very odd. I have a feeling that they probably did know about it but I guess it's still a subject that's supposed to be kept secret among their circles.

I asked Peter about movies 1-3 and the departure from matching Corlett. He said there was just a big drive to make it match the Japanese stuff and he specifically strived to get as close to Nozawa as he could (some screams were daunting lol). Also, he would have loved to do Goku Black or be Goku in some capacity again.

I also had a similar experience talking with Peter. He assured me that the Pioneer movies 1-3 were no accident and that they definitely made an effort to stay true to the Japanese original. I also brought up that I've always appreciated how he would often play up Goku's goofier side, he admitted this was a deliberate choice on his part and that from the beginning he would always try to add a sense of naivety to his portrayal of Goku. It confirms what I suspected all along - that he had a good understanding of the character, even back in the 90s.

As for Super; just for fun I pitched the idea of Peter reprising Goku and facing Black, who would be voiced by Ian Corlett. Peter's face lit up, he seemed to genuinely love the idea and wishes he could do it. He even said he'd be up for playing Goku again if he was ever asked to. Judging by this clip from earlier in the convention, he can still match Nozawa's yells when he feels like it. It's a real shame they'll likely never ask him back again.

I let Brian know all about Wow and what is happening. He has seen some stuff about it on twitter and I think he has heard some mutterings but was surprised, pleasantly surprised. He shook my hand and thanked me for finding that stuff out.

I was hoping someone else would do a better job of explaining it than I did. I briefly tried going over the recent events to Brian but it did kind of get glossed over. On the subject of Kai, he did feel that their version should've been released years ago on a box set of some sort. Overall I got the impression that he definitely understands the frustration of fans regarding this situation.

On a side note: I briefly had a chat with Dameon Clarke and asked him if Dale Wilson reprised Cell in Kai. Dameon had no idea a Canadian dub even existed, he genuinely seemed surprised when I told him that. However, he did like that I brought up Dale WIlson as the two have a long history together. He said that Dale was the one who got him into the business and that he's a well-respected veteran.

[8000 Saiyan]

They were paid literally like $4 per line back in the day and screaming for almost 8 hours. So blowing their voices for nothing. This is why Ian Corlett left as he was a busy guy back then. It's not that he was being paid a lot and wanted more, he was paid peanuts for demanding stuff. Union rules changed because of DBZ and shows like it.

So, Willems was Canada's Wally Burr or all the recording sessions for anime dubs in Canada lasted 8 hours?

I'm sure Willems is easier to work with than Burr was.

I recall in an interview with Lisa Ann Beley in Trevor Devall's Voiceprint podcast that the pilot episode of Iron Man: Armored Adventures took 12 hours to record.

[SX10]

Basically 8 hour work days were the norm and the situation was that, DBZ yells and grunts didn't count as lines. But now rules are much better. Anything vocal that is performed is a line they are paid for and the days are 4 hour sessions

OH! Also, the dub is definitely not uncut. I joked with Brian about how there should be a "Dragon Ball Blue" and loved the idea

[Robo4900]

As you guys know the voice is closer to Westwood but he said the screams and stuff will be kinda like what he did in Super (although that was a short recording session).

And people thought I was being silly when I said this is what it would be.

Glad to hear we'll be getting the old Vegeta back, in full force.

(Yes, I realise the screams are more held-back... If you told me his work on Super was him going 100% and blowing his voice out, I'd believe you. If Kai is at the same level, I'm all in on this)

Director :

He was totally UNSURE at first as he struggled to remember. BUT they both agreed that the bulk of the show, being done at Ocean as it was, would mean it was none other than *drum roll* Karl Willems.

YESSSSS!!

If anyone still had any doubt this dub would be any good, this should wipe that away.
I'm very pleased with this.

I guess the info we heard about "It won't be Karl Willems" was more a case of some of the actors(Perhaps the Calgary ones) not working with Willems for Kai's recording sessions.

Additional info: Brian believes he recorded over 8000 and a traditional over 9000 and decided to let director/ producer pick which one to use. I am officially done annoying everyone!

Ooooh!

I did manage to ask if Ted Cole and Terry Klassen returned for Kai. Brian seemed to be confident that Klassen definitely wasn't in Kai - due to moving on to a more permanent director role. He did think there was much a stronger chance of Ted Cole returning but he wasn't too sure.

Ah, I see. It's a shame we won't hear Klassen back, but I'm sure whoever they case as Kuririn this time around will be great regardless.

I hope Cole is back this time; he's a really great Yamucha, and I'd love to hear him back.

I'm sure Willems is easier to work with than Burr was.

I'm pretty sure everyone who's worked on an Ocean dub is very open about how great Willems is to work with.

OH! Also, the dub is definitely not uncut. I joked with Brian about how there should be a "Dragon Ball Blue" and loved the idea

I see. You sure? Not even some alterante lines recorded at sessions to allow for an uncut version?

(Also, I don't get the "Dragon Ball Blue" reference...)

[8000 Saiyan]

So, the voice is closer to his Westwood voice, huh? I was expecting a more Zechs-like voice.

[MistaL]

I'm glad to hear my hunch was almost certainly correct. Willems has a very good direction style in that, rather than just having the actors voice-match the Japanese performances or demanding a very specific voice from them, he gives them a detailed rundown of the characters' personalities and motivations, and shows them the character, and then lets them develop the voice for themselves. It's why Death Note's dub turned out with many of the English cast sounding pretty different from the Japanese voice-wise, but arguably being better vocal representations of the characters than the Japanese voices were. If the exact same thing was done with Dragon Ball Kai then it has me very excited, because it'll lead to stuff like Cox's Goku having the same sort of nuance that Nozawa's Goku has, but in a voice more fitting for an English-speaking adult Goku. Just like Kalamis in the Pioneer dub!