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

[Danfun64]

L sadly TOEI has only given Super licences to companies that have either dubbed both Kai 1.0 and TFC or in Bang Zoon's case dubbed neither.

The Arabic dub of Kai only covered ep 1-52 (meaning they barely failed to finish the Freeza saga) and yet they still managed to do Super (at least to the end of the Potaufeu filler saga AFAIK. Considering the track record of the dubbing company I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped there)

[OmegaRockman]

L sadly TOEI has only given Super licences to companies that have either dubbed both Kai 1.0 and TFC or in Bang Zoon's case dubbed neither.

The Arabic dub of Kai only covered ep 1-52 (meaning they barely failed to finish the Freeza saga) and yet they still managed to do Super (at least to the end of the Potaufeu filler saga AFAIK. Considering the track record of the dubbing company I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped there)

No, they finished up to 54. That was as far as they got, though.

Edit: 54 of Kai, I mean, just realized that wasn't quite clear.

[MasenkoHA]

An Ocean dub of Super would probably be more productive. I feel like everyone has kind of moved on from Kai.

But hasn’t every territory that would, in theory, broadcast an Ocean Super dub already shown the Funimation dub?

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

But hasn’t every territory that would, in theory, broadcast an Ocean Super dub already shown the Funimation dub?

It's the same case as Kai. The UK and Ireland, which have traditionally aired mostly Canadian dubs have shown the Funimation dub, but nothing has been broadcast in Canada. Not sure about the Netherlands though.

[90sDBZ]

While there are still some people out there who want to hear Brian Drummond's take on Vegeta's first death (along with some of the other major scenes Ocean never dubbed in Z), I agree an Ocean dub of Super would generate more interest than Kai.

I know people are also curious to hear Richard Ian Cox's take on Goku, although I'd be more interested if they'd gotten Ian James Corlett back.

If Ocean ever did dub Super they could get him back and hype up their dub as having "The Original English Adult Goku". Although Super does exaggerate Goku's goofier side quite a bit, so perhaps Peter Kelamis would be a better option even though I prefer Corlett overall.

They'd also need to get Chris Sabat to do Copy Vegeta.

[MasenkoHA]

I know people are also curious to hear Richard Ian Cox's take on Goku, although I'd be more interested if they'd gotten Ian James Corlett back.

If Ocean ever did dub Super they could get him back and hype up their dub as having "The Original English Adult Goku". Although Super does exaggerate Goku's goofier side quite a bit, so perhaps Peter Kelamis would be a better option even though I prefer Corlett overall.

Has Ian Corlett done any work for Ocean since Z? I know back in 1999 he said he was done working with Ocean because of crap pay but I don’t know if things have changed since then. Kelamis might be a better bet even if I would vastly prefer Corlett back.

And definitely think Corlett could voice goofy Goku. He had a very laidback quality to his voice when Goku was just being a regular guy and not in Superman mode. Not that Schemmel is awful or anything but he still feels like ordering Ian Corlett off Wish.

They'd also need to get Chris Sabat to do Copy Vegeta.

I think Drummond said on twitter they absolutely would if Ocean ever dubbed Super.

[90sDBZ]

Has Ian Corlett done any work for Ocean since Z? I know back in 1999 he said he was done working with Ocean because of crap pay but I don’t know if things have changed since then. Kelamis might be a better bet even if I would vastly prefer Corlett back.

Not that I'm aware of, although he has expressed interest in returning to the franchise in some form at recent conventions. I get the impression he initially saw Goku as just another role, but has recently gained more of an interest after seeing how iconic the show went on to become. The first thing on his twitter profile is "Voice of Goku 1#", so he's clearly come to embrace it.

For a long time it was hard to find many interviews of him discussing Dragon Ball, but there's quite a few on Youtube now. Things like Kamehacon and Geekdom101's interviews seem to have introduced a lot of the older cast and crew members to the fandom.

[MasenkoHA]

Not that I'm aware of, although he has expressed interest in returning to the franchise in some form at recent conventions. I get the impression he initially saw Goku as just another role, but has recently gained more of an interest after seeing how iconic the show went on to become. The first thing on his twitter profile is "Voice of Goku 1#", so he's clearly come to embrace it.

That makes sense. He likely would have quit voicing Goku before or just right after season 1 finished airing so he probably had no idea at the time how big the series would explode in the US and Canada.


Goku is probably his most famous role so it makes sense to capitalize on that on his Twitter.

And it’s always nice when the Ocean cast speaks up about their role in Dragon Ball Z since the Funimation cast tends to act like they originated the roles in the English dub

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I wonder how many of the voice actors from either Vancouver or Texas knew how iconic Dragon Ball in general was in Japan and was likely about to become worldwide. I'd imagine, based on the interviews they've done with Geekdom very few of them did. It's nice knowing in hindsight the likes of Corlett would like to return. I do hope more of them can get cameos in future dubs. If we never get a full Ocean dub of anything again that would be the next best thing.

[TheBlackPaladin]

But hasn’t every territory that would, in theory, broadcast an Ocean Super dub already shown the Funimation dub?

Not Canada, notably.

Has Ian Corlett done any work for Ocean since Z? I know back in 1999 he said he was done working with Ocean because of crap pay but I don’t know if things have changed since then.

DBZ was a union dub back then (under ACTRA, the Canadian union), and all of Ocean's dubs are union dubs. That said, even at the union level, dubbing doesn't pay particularly well. For that matter, companies can still cut corners at the union level in other ways. Generally speaking, if an actor doesn't remind a production company about a flub on their part that would result in them being paid more, the production company won't pay the extra money. I should emphasize that I have no idea if Ocean specifically did this kind of stuff, I'm just saying it has been known to happen. One of my buddies used to work in the payroll department of a production studio, and he noticed on a few occasions that the actors worked longer than they were scheduled to work, so he bumped up their payments to include over-time pay...and one of the higher-ups chewed him out for doing that, saying, "We pay them enough, so if they don't mention it, don't give them more." This in spite of the fact that it's spelled out in the contracts with the actors that they get over-time pay beyond a certain point.

With all that said, as far as Ian is concerned, I can't find where he said it, but I believe he said somewhere that enough time has passed for his issues with Ocean to be water under the bridge (.......there's a more well-written metaphor to be had there somewhere by combining "Ocean" with "water under the bridge," but I don't know what it is, lol), and that he would be happy to come back if offered the role.

[WittyUsername]

Ian James Corlett still worked with Ocean through the entirety of Beast Wars and Beast Machines, didn’t he?

[MasenkoHA]

Not Canada, notably.

That gives them something of a shot then.

DBZ was a union dub back then (under ACTRA, the Canadian union), and all of Ocean's dubs are union dubs. That said, even at the union level, dubbing doesn't pay particularly well. For that matter, companies can still cut corners at the union level in other ways. Generally speaking, if an actor doesn't remind a production company about a flub on their part that would result in them being paid more, the production company won't pay the extra money. I should emphasize that I have no idea if Ocean specifically did this kind of stuff, I'm just saying it has been known to happen. One of my buddies used to work in the payroll department of a production studio, and he noticed on a few occasions that the actors worked longer than they were scheduled to work, so he bumped up their payments to include over-time pay...and one of the higher-ups chewed him out for doing that, saying, "We pay them enough, so if they don't mention it, don't give them more." This in spite of the fact that it's spelled out in the contracts with the actors that they get over-time pay beyond a certain point.

Ian talked about that in his Geekdom interview. An Ocean Producer screwed them out of pay by using an ADR contract that wasn’t intended for full on voice over roles but just for dubbing in post production for live action roles for the odd inaudible line.

They also didn’t pay him for his screams.

With all that said, as far as Ian is concerned, I can't find where he said it, but I believe he said somewhere that enough time has passed for his issues with Ocean to be water under the bridge (.......there's a more well-written metaphor to be had there somewhere by combining "Ocean" with "water under the bridge," but I don't know what it is, lol), and that he would be happy to come back if offered the role.

That’s good. Love for him to voice Goku again.

Ian James Corlett still worked with Ocean through the entirety of Beast Wars and Beast Machines, didn’t he?

Ocean wasn’t involved with either show. They were recorded in Vancouver so a lot of the same talent popped up.

It’s like the 95 Dragon Ball dub had nothing to do with Ocean but since both were done in Vancouver Funimation was able to retain most of the same actors.

[WittyUsername]

It’s like the 95 Dragon Ball dub had nothing to do with Ocean but since both were done in Vancouver Funimation was able to retain most of the same actors.

You’re right. Looking into it, it seems BLT was involved with those shows. Same goes for ReBoot. I always just sort of assumed it was Ocean, since some of those actors were involved in DBZ.

[TheBlackPaladin]

DBZ was a union dub back then (under ACTRA, the Canadian union), and all of Ocean's dubs are union dubs. That said, even at the union level, dubbing doesn't pay particularly well. For that matter, companies can still cut corners at the union level in other ways. Generally speaking, if an actor doesn't remind a production company about a flub on their part that would result in them being paid more, the production company won't pay the extra money. I should emphasize that I have no idea if Ocean specifically did this kind of stuff, I'm just saying it has been known to happen. One of my buddies used to work in the payroll department of a production studio, and he noticed on a few occasions that the actors worked longer than they were scheduled to work, so he bumped up their payments to include over-time pay...and one of the higher-ups chewed him out for doing that, saying, "We pay them enough, so if they don't mention it, don't give them more." This in spite of the fact that it's spelled out in the contracts with the actors that they get over-time pay beyond a certain point.

Ian talked about that in his Geekdom interview. An Ocean Producer screwed them out of pay by using an ADR contract that wasn’t intended for full on voice over roles but just for dubbing in post production for live action roles for the odd inaudible line.

Well there 'ya go. Like I said, even at the union level, companies will cut corners if they can come up with a contractually-justified reason to do so. As another example, the SAG-AFTRA dubbing rates haven't been updated since 2002, because there wasn't a clause written into the dubbing agreement that would cause the rates to slightly-but-gradually raise over the years to keep up with inflation (which is a very common clause in almost all of SAG-AFTRA's other agreements). If that clause was written in, the union rate would be $93.93/hour today, as opposed to $64.25/hour, which is what it currently is and has been since 2002.

[Aim]

Still hasn’t been released

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Still hasn’t been released

It really sucks, but since there doesn't seem to be any other way I will just bump this:

I was speaking to a friend of mine not too long ago about the same old, Canadian broadcasting politics and she said something that struck a nerve with me. She pointed out that shows such as Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains, Beyblade Burst, and the gone (and purposely forgotten) Turning Mecard were most likely put on Canadian airwaves because the producers were paying the broadcasting titan to do so, and they're not shy to comply. And this doesn't seem that off to me, given that Turning Mecard had some of the most foul acting performances I've ever seen and Corus management turned a blind eye to it. How could they air that drivel but refuse Kai?

This theory, especially now that I'm saying it out loud, is rapidly making more sense. Toei and Ocean most likely expected Corus to air Dragon Ball Kai under a regular sort of deal where advertising would pay for the airtime (either that or they expected Corus themselves to out of sentimental value), which as we know, given the type of show Dragon Ball Kai is, wasn't going to happen.

Now, is there any way that Toei and/or Ocean can wise up, smell the coffee so to speak and strike a deal with them? I think not because Toei more than likely expects to be paid or at least kissed up to for them to approve a broadcast deal, they're definitely not going out of pocket when they have FUNimation's dub on Blu-ray and several other platforms, plus its a bygone property at this point.

It's just so sad that all of the parties involved have massive egos and can't see anything past them.

Anyone up for starting up a fundraiser?

[NitroEX]

We don't represent the property so Chorus isn't going to accept our money, and I wouldn't trust a fan to set up any fundraiser for obvious reasons.

An official sponsored deal might have worked years ago if Bandai or Toei had paid for it but I can't see anyone else doing so, especially now.

[Ringworm128]

When this thread was made I was only like middle school age, now I'm old enough to hypothetically get married and start a family. Trying to wrap my head around that.

[eledoremassis02]

When this thread was made I was only like middle school age, now I'm old enough to hypothetically get married and start a family. Trying to wrap my head around that.

The fact this has become a *lost* dub while within our time waiting, TWO lost dubs of Dragon Ball have been found

Philippines and Harmony Gold dubs

[TheBlackPaladin]

When this thread was made I was only like middle school age, now I'm old enough to hypothetically get married and start a family. Trying to wrap my head around that.

I hear 'ya, I was a junior in college, now I'm seeing posts from people who were kids and "grew up" with Dragon Ball Z Kai on Nicktoons.