Are There Any Updates On The Harmony Gold Dub Of Dragon Ball?

[MasenkoHA]

You know what's weird? How the Harmony Gold dub of Dragon Ball keeps all the original Japanese music, even the theme song, when Harmony Gold's other anime releases usually have altered music. Strange.

It might be because the episodes and pilot movie they did was only released in test markets so they weren’t going to waste money on a brand new score if they weren’t even sure this dub was going to get the greenlit for nation wide broadcast.

[TVfan721]

Is there any truth to what's been said about the first 5 episodes of the Latin dub "Zero and the Magic Dragon" keeping the original grunts and yells from the first 5 English episodes of the HG dub?

There are YouTube videos up from the first 5 Latin episodes that claim this. For example there's a video of the scene of Goku crushing the boulder and it does sound like Barbara Goodson's voice.

[superrayman3]

Is there any truth to what's been said about the first 5 episodes of the Latin dub "Zero and the Magic Dragon" keeping the original grunts and yells from the first 5 English episodes of the HG dub?

There are YouTube videos up from the first 5 Latin episodes that claim this. For example there's a video of the scene of Goku crushing the boulder and it does sound like Barbara Goodson's voice.

Yes it's true, apparently Harmony Gold didn't send the Latin company the original ME tracks for those episodes and movie and only provided the finished English dubbed audio voices and all, and as a result, the company in charge of the Latin dub that was based on the HG version had to splice in weird synth music whenever the characters spoke since they didn't have access to the original ME tracks but left the English grunts and other similar sounds intact probably because those didn't really matter like the actual dialogue does, after episode 5 or so (episode 8 and beyond for sure) everything uses the original ME tracks since Harmony Gold didn't seem to have done anything past episode 5, it's a weird anomaly for sure.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

This is probably untrue, but I am curious if anyone has heard anything about a pre-BLT test dub by Funimation that used Harmony Gold's names with the exception of Oolong being called "Chester" and Pu'ar named "Prudence"? One of the wikis said this claim was posted on Usenet way back in 1995, although I can't access the link.

[DrBriefsCat]

This is probably untrue, but I am curious if anyone has heard anything about a pre-BLT test dub by Funimation that used Harmony Gold's names with the exception of Oolong being called "Chester" and Pu'ar named "Prudence"? One of the wikis said this claim was posted on Usenet way back in 1995, although I can't access the link.

Try this link: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searc ... wqQvH7LKgJ

[Robo4900]

This is probably untrue, but I am curious if anyone has heard anything about a pre-BLT test dub by Funimation that used Harmony Gold's names with the exception of Oolong being called "Chester" and Pu'ar named "Prudence"? One of the wikis said this claim was posted on Usenet way back in 1995, although I can't access the link.

Try this link: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searc ... wqQvH7LKgJ

Yes, I remember reading that some time ago. Still not sure what to make of it.

If the story is true (and let's be clear, that is a big if), the only thing I can guess is that a test version of some portion of what BLT dubbed was done with changed names, then they decided to switch a bunch of the names back, but left a few (Master Roshi, Nimbus Cloud, Power Pole) as-is, and that's why those particular Harmony Gold changes persisted into the modern dubs.

But, this is just a guess. It's been long enough that you'll probably never get a straight, certain answer from the guys involved.

The real problem with this is, unless you can get ahold of a tape containing this mythical test dub, you'll never even be able to prove this wasn't just some rumour-maker trying to stir up some trouble with invented stories based off of what they heard about Harmony Gold's effort, or perhaps even just some schmuck who got ahold of a tape of HG's version, and was wrongly-informed that this was what Funimation were bringing to America in '95.

[imatu]

If the story is true (and let's be clear, that is a big if), the only thing I can guess is that a test version of some portion of what BLT dubbed was done with changed names, then they decided to switch a bunch of the names back, but left a few (Master Roshi, Nimbus Cloud, Power Pole) as-is, and that's why those particular Harmony Gold changes persisted into the modern dubs.

But, this is just a guess. It's been long enough that you'll probably never get a straight, certain answer from the guys involved.

The real problem with this is, unless you can get ahold of a tape containing this mythical test dub, you'll never even be able to prove this wasn't just some rumour-maker trying to stir up some trouble with invented stories based off of what they heard about Harmony Gold's effort, or perhaps even just some schmuck who got ahold of a tape of HG's version, and was wrongly-informed that this was what Funimation were bringing to America in '95.

This Gen Fukunaga interview from the blu-rays has a clip of this test dub, he starts talking about it at 7:40. https://youtu.be/4VPaIJNJepg?t=460

[Robo4900]

If the story is true (and let's be clear, that is a big if), the only thing I can guess is that a test version of some portion of what BLT dubbed was done with changed names, then they decided to switch a bunch of the names back, but left a few (Master Roshi, Nimbus Cloud, Power Pole) as-is, and that's why those particular Harmony Gold changes persisted into the modern dubs.

But, this is just a guess. It's been long enough that you'll probably never get a straight, certain answer from the guys involved.

The real problem with this is, unless you can get ahold of a tape containing this mythical test dub, you'll never even be able to prove this wasn't just some rumour-maker trying to stir up some trouble with invented stories based off of what they heard about Harmony Gold's effort, or perhaps even just some schmuck who got ahold of a tape of HG's version, and was wrongly-informed that this was what Funimation were bringing to America in '95.

This Gen Fukunaga interview from the blu-rays has a clip of this test dub, he starts talking about it at 7:40. https://youtu.be/4VPaIJNJepg?t=460

Bloody hell.

Thanks for the link. Wonder if that test dub pilot would ever be put out on some collector's box set; I'd love to see that!!
In absence of that, I do wonder if anyone around might happen to have a tape of it.

For reference, the line played in the video, from a few different versions:
Steve Simmons subtitles: Okay, I want fish today!
Big Green: Hey, why don't we have some fish today?
Harmony Gold dub: My name is Zero, king of the deep!
Funi test dub: Look out fishies, Zero's comin'!
BLT dub & in-house Funi redub: Look out fishies, Goku's comin'!

[Danfun64]

Wasn't the test dub still done with the Ocean cast, like the finalized BLT dub?

[Robo4900]

Wasn't the test dub still done with the Ocean cast, like the finalized BLT dub?

It definitely would have been, and the clip certainly sounds like Saffron Henderson.

[MasenkoHA]

I suddenly have a strong dislike for Fukunaga.

Toei and Shueisha shouldn’t have relented and made them finish Dragon Ball first

[Danfun64]

There are two theories about why Funi went from DB 1-13 to DBZ. The first of course is that they felt DB ep 1-13 wasn't working out for them well, so they skipped to Z (which seemed more action focused at the time). The second is that Funi felt like they were screwed over by BLT and Kidmark; with factors including the poor broadcast hours in syndication as well as Kidmark/Trimark/Lionsgate holding the US home video rights until '08/09 (I think it's safe to say that Funi felt better treated by Saban and Pioneer). Thus, Funi skipped to Z because they weren't under a contract with BLT/Kidmark over that part of the franchise.

Hey @Robo4900, do you have anything specific to add concerning this?

[Robo4900]

There are two theories about why Funi went from DB 1-13 to DBZ. The first of course is that they felt DB ep 1-13 wasn't working out for them well, so they skipped to Z (which seemed more action focused at the time). The second is that Funi felt like they were screwed over by BLT and Kidmark; with factors including the poor broadcast hours in syndication as well as Kidmark/Trimark/Lionsgate holding the US home video rights until '08/09 (I think it's safe to say that Funi felt better treated by Saban and Pioneer). Thus, Funi skipped to Z because they weren't under a contract with BLT/Kidmark over that part of the franchise.

Hey @Robo4900, do you have anything specific to add concerning this?

I still think the reason for them skipping to Z was because the BLT/Kidmark deal wasn't working out for them. Otherwise, why would they have canned the 26-episode order at 13 so abruptly?

Of course, the other explanation is they deliberately sabotaged it in an effort to skip to Z, with skipping to Z being something they wanted to do from the start... Still, I tend to stick to the "BLT syndication wasn't working, so they abandoned it" type of thinking.

[JohnnyCashKami]

This is another dub extremely rare but if we're to make assumptions based on the Latin Spanish version, then we at least know they made about 2 or 3 OPs (video footage, same music) and roughly how the script and name changes were. And in regards to the music, they used the genuine (for the series) although on the movies it's like a mix of the real score and a custom-made, iirc.

I don't know why but using the name "Zero" for Son Goku kinda fits him.

[Robo4900]

An update on the test dub from the BLT movie with the Harmony Gold names: This guy's got ahold of a copy.

No idea if he'll share.

[wjbraden]

An update on the test dub from the BLT movie with the Harmony Gold names: This guy's got ahold of a copy.

No idea if he'll share.

Wow, yet ANOTHER piece of dubbed history uncovered!

Tanooki is a pretty good guy, it seems, so I'm fairly confident he will share it if we ask him nicely.

[MasenkoHA]

$20 it’s the exact same dub as the BLT dub with the Harmony Gold dub names.

[Robo4900]

Tanooki is a pretty good guy, it seems, so I'm fairly confident he will share it if we ask him nicely.

You think so?
I've heard one or two people who know him say he probably won't outside of a clip or two. Maybe they just had a bad interaction or two with him, I guess. Either way; anyone who's interested in this, throw him a Tweet showing interest. Can't hurt to throw some enthusiasm his way.

If he does release it, I hope he's invested in a decent ripping setup for it, and caps the audio lossless.

$20 it’s the exact same dub as the BLT dub with the Harmony Gold dub names.

If it is, then every line in which a name is mentioned is an alternate take, possibly with several rewritten quite heavily to accomodate this. With the quantity of lines this would involve, it's possible even the entire thing was redubbed.

So, if you're right, then that's still very significant.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

An update on the test dub from the BLT movie with the Harmony Gold names: This guy's got ahold of a copy.

No idea if he'll share.

Ah that's great. I'll definitely ask politely as I'd love to see this dub.

[MasenkoHA]

If it is, then every line in which a name is mentioned is an alternate take, possibly with several rewritten quite heavily to accomodate this. With the quantity of lines this would involve, it's possible even the entire thing was redubbed.

So, if you're right, then that's still very significant.

I meant in the sense of the except same dialog (sans names), censorship, Peter Berring score, Find that Dragon Ball opening.