Here are some pages from the book:
There are character pages for most of the characters and a lot of them include very interesting heights and weights. Some of the numbers seem to line up with what has been given in the Daizenshuu, but based off of some of the others, I'm guessing the correct ones are just lucky guesses. When I try to figure out how they came up with a lot of these numbers, I come up with A) They were made up by people who haven't seen the show and are going off of the characters' individual pictures, or B) the people doing these numbers were really bad at converting centimeters to inches, and sometimes flat out forget they are working with centimeters, and not inches, or C) some of them have been accidentally associated with the characters they are with (i.e. Freeza) or D) they used a SERIOUSLy flawed universal formula...:
- Krillin: 5' ~ 105lbs
Trunks: 5'5" ~ N/A
Vegeta: 5'6" ~ 160lbs
Goku: 5'7" ~ 137lbs
Cell: 6' ~ 180lbs
Piccolo: 6'2" ~ 185lbs
Freeza: 6'2" ~ 185lbs
- Gohan (adult): N/A ~ N/A
Android 18: N/A ~ N/A
Raditz: N/A ~ N/A
Nappa: N/A ~ N/A
Andoid 16: N/A ~ N/A
Buu: N/A ~ N/A
Gotenks: N/A ~ N/A
Broly: N/A ~ N/A
Now, I haven't seen a lot of FUNi's releases of GT, but the picture quality of this episode was really good... lots of natural-looking grain... almost like I'd expect from the Dragon Box... Nice.
Now we get to the "DragonBall Z: Legacy of Goku II sizzle video"!! It's basically an extended trailer for the game to what else? "Rock the Dragon" of course! The video is nice, but the cut scenes they use of the anime really, really look like stuff captured off of their own VHS release via a crappy VCR... I did rip and upload this trailer to YouTube, for those of you that want to watch this TOTALLY AMAZING PIECE OF DRAGONBALL Z FOOTAGE!!!!!
DragonBall Z: Legacy of Goku II sizzle Video
Cut-scene screenshots:
And here is the entire Sean Schemmel interview:
Thank you, hope you enjoyed!We recently had the chance to sit down with the voice behind Dragon Ball Z’s® Goku (among other characters) and pick his brain about everything from voice acting to who really is the best Dragon Ball Z’s® character.
P: Prima
SS: Sean Schemmel
P: How long have you been into acting?
SS: Actually the first thing I ever did was act. When I was five years old I did a church play. However, I didn't return to acting until late in college, where I was in music school. And then I started doing voices for a marionette theatre and the rest is history.
P: How long have you been voice acting professionally?
SS: Since 1998.
P: What are some of the major differences between voice acting and stage or screen acting?
SS: Well, I have limited experience in (stage and screen acting, as I am primarily a voice actor. But I do know a lot of people in the industry and this subject has come up quite a bit. Based on what I hear and from the experience I have, I would say in short, screen acting (at least vocally) is much more subtle and stage acting is much bigger and exaggerated, because you have to play to people who may be as far as 100 feet from you.
P: Which do you prefer?
SS: I have done some stage, and very little film. Since I got a lot of my live performance desires met from doing classical music, I don't mind the delayed gratification of meeting your audience sometimes years after the performance. So l'm going to say I like voice acting best, also because I don't have to get dressed up if I don't want to.
P: How does it feel to have played one of the most popular characters in animation history?
SS: It has been a thrilling, humbling, life-changing, spiritually-growing, educational, mind-expanding experience. Perhaps the greatest experience of my life. It has been a great honor.
P: Were you a fan of Dragon ballad prior to becoming involved with it professionally?
SS: I was not familiar with the series, but I was a fan of anime.
P: Who is your favorite character to play?
SS: King Kai (sorry, but he's just too funny!).
P: Who's your favorite character overall?
SS: Piccolo. I like his mysterious, spiritual side. And, well, he's just plain cool.
P: How do you prepare to play Goku before each recording session?
SS: Well, outside of the normal vocal warm-ups I do, which include heavy emphasis on diction (this is important because the clear diction is part of what helps impact Goku's good, pure feeling), I have to think really happy thoughts, but empty thoughts. Gout to me (and [also] from what I hear from other experts in the matter), is the embodiment of enlightenment or [being] unattached. So he doesn't really get depressed or bogged down. Some people think voice acting is some sort of parlor trick, but I assure you, for every single session. And I hope I have.
P: What’s the most challenging aspect of playing Goku (and the others)?
SS: Other than staying totally happy and chipper for hours on end, I would say that the trickiest part has been the timeline. What I mean by that is since Dragon Ball |Z, Dragon Ball, and Dragon Ball GT were recorded out of sequence (i.e., Dragon Ball Z was recorded first, then Dragon Ball, then Dragon Ball: GT) it was difficult to maintain vocal consistency for each of Goku's ages. I had to make sure that when I started Dragon Ball that Goku sounded about 16-18 (Stephanie Nadolny plays him as a little boy). That's tough when your most recent experience with him is about 30-35 or even older by the end of Dragon Ball Z, not to mention vocal changes through the various levels of Super Saiyan. So I worked closely with the director to make sure that [Goku] sounded much younger than when I started.
P: How important is the director's input on how you approach each character?
SS: It depends. When I first started, and didn't know the character that well, we were doing numerous takes, just to get it right, because the director had much more knowledge than I. It took me almost an entire season to really get comfortable with the character. Now I know him so well, I can tell in the script when he's saying something out of character or not. The director trusts me a lot more to make the artistic call.
P: What was it like supplying voices for the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai video game? Have you done video game voice work prior to this?
SS: One word: AWESOME! (And no, I had done no game voice experience prior to that.)
P: In what ways did you use the original Japanese voices in formulating Goku's voice for English- speaking countries?
SS: Actually I didn't. I was asked to mimic the actor from the Canadian cast, who had recorded the first 53 episodes.
P: Goku isn't nearly as high-pitched, tonally, in the Western release as he is in the Japanese original: why exactly is that?
SS: Well, this is an interesting question, and I'll tell you what has been told to me by numerous fans, otaku, and other experts in the tradition of Japanese voice acting.
First off, let me say that though I think the original voice actress for Goku is a tremendous talent, I don't agree (with) casting a woman for a large, muscle-y, screaming man. However, I later learned that they use women to voice little boys in Japan (as we do here in America), and it's tradition that once someone has been given a role, they keep it, regardless of what ages the character goes through. Imagine Stephanie Nadolny recording the work I [have] done...now that would be interesting.... I know l can't do little boy voices (but actually some men can. <smiles>)
P: What's the best part about playing Goku?
SS: Meeting the fans. There is nothing better in the world.
P: What's the worst part?
SS: Finishing a Kamehameha blast for the tenth time and your director asking you to do it again because the computer messed up. (Or he just enjoys watching you turn red. <smiles>)
P: What else have you worked on, animated or otherwise?
SS: My credits include the following:
FUNimation
Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Dragon Ball GT--Goku, King Kai Nail
Blue Gender--Rick
Yu Yu Hakusho-- Akashi, Roto.
NYAV Post (Media-Blasters Properties)
Berserk--Gaston (and every guy that dies); Assistant Director, Season Two.
Space Pirate Mito--Directed, and English Script
Adaptation; Characters Voiced--Kagero, Mako, Tendo, and various others.
Samurai Deeper Kyo--Currently Adapting and
Directing Volume Two (Episodes 6- 10)
4kids Productions
Fighting Foodons--Rapscallion, Juiceman, Chet, Davy
Gravy, Digestor
Ultimate Muscle--Bone Cold
Shaman King (recording now) Amidimaru, Rio
P: Do you have any advice for aspiring voice actors?
SS: Well, outside of taking voice lessons, I'll let you in on a secret. Though there are many fine stage actors who have done well in voice acting, I find one thing that a lot of the voice actors [who do really well] have in common. Many of them (myself included) are musicians. it's not a hard and fast rule, but many of the actors I know are also formally (or otherwise) musically trained. I think the reason this helps, is that voice acting is much more over the top and melodramatic than some other acting, especially film. Also, there has to be a natural sense of timing to match mouth flaps. I would say about 80 percent of my classical music training helped me in my Dragon Ball Z audition. Here are some well known voice actors who are also accomplished musicians:
Christopher Sabat
Justin Cook
Stephanie Nadolny
Tiffany Volumed
Mike McFarland
Meredith Mccoy
(Those are just the ones I know of at FUNimation.)
And many of the actors I work with in New York are also musicians. Musical theatre people and comedians also do well.
Aside from [musical training], taking acting lessons also helps. But one thing I did a lot--and I mean a lot--was copy voices on TV. I would turn down the volume and make up whatever I wanted and make them say whatever I wanted, and, believe it or not, this helped me a bunch when I started voice acting. Actually by then, it felt pretty natural.
Well, I've really enjoyed these questions. Thanks taking an interest in my opinions, and especially Dragon Ball Z!
Prima would like to thank Sean for taking time out of his busy schedule to sit down and chat with us--thanks Sean!
