Ocean Studios' "Dragon Ball Kai" Dub Turns 16; Still Unreleased

[Ringworm128]

Finally someone else who sees Ian Corletts Goku for the piece of wood that it is.

[dbret12]

The only problem I had with Ian's Goku voice is that HE COULD NOT SCREAM FOR CRAP. Same with Ocean Tenshinhan.

[andrewtuell1991]

Why the secrecy? Funimation tells you every time they make a bowel movement. What's Ocean doing, working on a cancer cure?

I know right? It's an English dub for a "remake" of a twenty year old anime, not the Manhattan project. What would be so catastrophic about letting a few leaks happens?

Supposing the news from Attitudefan is true, it seems like whoever is in charge of this dub has learned from the mistakes of the Westwood. In addition to bad direction, another thing that I've always believed contributed to the bad acting was piling on too many roles for one person. Oh sure it wasn't as bad Chris Sabat in the Namek arc of Z but most new roles were given to either Don Brown, Terry Klassen, or Scott McNeil. Maybe bringing in new blood and thinning the number of characters each actor gets will help in not repeating the disaster that was the Westwood dub. Although the aspect of some of these voice "talents" coming from Blue Water scares me.

Corlett is bland. Bland, bland, bland.

And in other news, the sky is blue, cows go moo, and contrary to popular belief the Earth appears to be round. I swear it's like every voice direction that man's been given ais "Take one look at the character and give the most generic voice you can muster".

[Super Sayian Prime]

Why the secrecy? Funimation tells you every time they make a bowel movement. What's Ocean doing, working on a cancer cure?

I know right? It's an English dub for a "remake" of a twenty year old anime, not the Manhattan project. What would be so catastrophic about letting a few leaks happens?

Heavy fines, cancellation of work, and being blacklisted by big clients?

[Attitudefan]

Corlett is bland. Bland, bland, bland.

So very true. He is so bland! Actually, he doesn't emote too well for Goku. He always sound the same. Compare him in Tree of Might to Kelamis. Man, is Corlette bland.

[Mewzard]

Why the secrecy? Funimation tells you every time they make a bowel movement. What's Ocean doing, working on a cancer cure?

I know right? It's an English dub for a "remake" of a twenty year old anime, not the Manhattan project. What would be so catastrophic about letting a few leaks happens?

Heavy fines, cancellation of work, and being blacklisted by big clients?

But why would they keep this from people for so long? If completely dubbed as is implied, why have we not heard anything official? Almost every bit of entertainment we learn about we do so far before it's ever completed. Hell, many times, we get some details early into the lifespan. What makes Ocean's dub of Kai (if it exists and isn't an elaborate prank) so special?

Corlett is bland. Bland, bland, bland.

So very true. He is so bland! Actually, he doesn't emote too well for Goku. He always sound the same. Compare him in Tree of Might to Kelamis. Man, is Corlette bland.

I always preferred Ian Corlett as Bob in Seasons 3 and 4 of Reboot. I think the voice worked there quite well.

[ForestEquilibrium]

I think the reason it's been so secretive is because there's really only a very, very small audience for it. If you think about it, Ocean fans are really only a very vocal minority, don't get me wrong, I have no problems if you have a preference for a certain dub, but it's a niche within a niche. They have no real reason to spill all the beans if only a few are going to pay attention, personally the only reason I care is because I want to see if they can redeem themselves after the (IMO) Westwood disaster.

Plus, there's also the problem they have few options of getting it out there, the way things are looking this is a a dub they will very likely be shown only here in Canada. They'll be very lucky to find a network to pick it up seeing as YTV and Teletoon are the only real possibilities and the former seems to barely show anything animated anymore unless it's CanCon, Spongebob/Fairly Odd Parents or animes that are blatant commercials (Pokemon, Beyblade, et al.). Not to mention I don't think they can distribute to video unless they strike a deal w/Funi since they seem to own the distribution rights to all of North America. Trust me, it was pretty bizarre as kid to hear the "old voices" on TV while if I rented a VHS from a local store I would hear the "new guys" with the "good" music.

[penguintruth]

Come on, if this thing takes any longer they could call it "The Thief and the Cobbler".

[90sDBZ]

I actually liked Corlett as Goku. Sure he was kind of generic but he also managed to capture Goku's innocence and sounded really heroic.

Anyway I too am really only taking an interest in this dub in the outside chance it ends up being as good as the Saban dub.

For me the score is just as important as the voices. The Westwood dub just felt so cheap and half-assed with the Megaman music just thrown in there for the sake of having music. It really got depressing to listen to after a while because it just felt so unfitting. If they were to use that soundtrack for Kai I simply couldn't sit through it.

I don't suppose there's any chance of Saban being involved again and Shuki Levy providing the score again. If this is another Westwood production then they'll no doubt be taking the cheap route again and be using recycled music from something else which would really kill any chance of success for this dub.

[Lord Eeyore Haw-Haw]

Come on, if this thing takes any longer they could call it "The Thief and the Cobbler".

Wait, so they're gonna try and incorporate elements of Aladdin into it now?

[Mewzard]

Come on, if this thing takes any longer they could call it "The Thief and the Cobbler".

Wait, so they're gonna try and incorporate elements of Aladdin into it now?

Ironic, given The Thief and the Cobbler gave some inspiration to the makers of Aladdin...only for Miramax to kick the creator off his life long work, and try to Aladdin it up (by the by, the film is much better in the non-officially released cut that was closer to the original vision).

But he does have a point. It isn't quite as long, of course, but it is reaching the point of ridiculousness.

[ABED]

I was never a fan of Kelamis' Goku, especailly after Ian Corlette's awesomeness. Hell, even early Schemmel felt like a step up. Kelamis just seemed he was trying too hard. I'm surprised he's held in such high regard by many.

Corlett is bland. Bland, bland, bland. No personality. Kelamis has Nozawa-ish charm.

Corlette was a great actor, whereas Kelamis' delivery was too unnatural. I have heard Kelamis in Tree of Might and still don't care for it. I completely disagree that Kelamis has anything close to Nozawa-ish charm as Goku.

The actors I'd like to hear again are Lalainia Lindbjerg as Bulma (my favorite Bulma), Scott McNeil as Piccolo, Saffron Henderson, and Ted Cole.

[90sDBZ]

It's funny but as a kid I never liked Peter's Goku. Perhaps it was because he sounded so different to Ian and Sean. But now I've gained an appreciation for his performances in the first 3 movies and in the Saban dub. I still don't really care for him in the Westwood dub though. There were too many scenes like this were he sounded like he was straining his voice way too much like in this scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-7qAlDKRAM

[TheBlackPaladin]

I was a weird kid in that I never registered that Ian Corlett left. I had no idea he was replaced by Peter Kelamis at any point until '06, when I started getting back into DBZ, and read a Wikipedia article. I remember thinking to myself, "Goku...wait....he had two voices before Schemmel?"

Apparently, my reaction was the intended reaction. When Corlett left, they were looking for as similar a voice as possible so that people wouldn't notice the change. Corlett said in an interview that Kelamis was a friend of his and that they had swapped roles before Goku, so who knows, maybe casting Kelamis came at the recommendation of Colett. Probably not, given that Corlett and Ocean didn't leave on the best of terms, but it's possible.

[ABED]

It's funny but as a kid I never liked Peter's Goku. Perhaps it was because he sounded so different to Ian and Sean. But now I've gained an appreciation for his performances in the first 3 movies and in the Saban dub. I still don't really care for him in the Westwood dub though. There were too many scenes like this were he sounded like he was straining his voice way too much like in this scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-7qAlDKRAM

Wow, that clip was just awful.

I was a weird kid in that I never registered that Ian Corlett left. I had no idea he was replaced by Peter Kelamis at any point until '06, when I started getting back into DBZ, and read a Wikipedia article. I remember thinking to myself, "Goku...wait....he had two voices before Schemmel?"

Apparently, my reaction was the intended reaction. When Corlett left, they were looking for as similar a voice as possible so that people wouldn't notice the change. Corlett said in an interview that Kelamis was a friend of his and that they had swapped roles before Goku, so who knows, maybe casting Kelamis came at the recommendation of Colett. Probably not, given that Corlett and Ocean didn't leave on the best of terms, but it's possible.

Interesting because I remember there was a lot of uproar on the net over the change in Goku's voice.

[Lord Eeyore Haw-Haw]

Come on, if this thing takes any longer they could call it "The Thief and the Cobbler".

Wait, so they're gonna try and incorporate elements of Aladdin into it now?

Ironic, given The Thief and the Cobbler gave some inspiration to the makers of Aladdin...only for Miramax to kick the creator off his life long work, and try to Aladdin it up (by the by, the film is much better in the non-officially released cut that was closer to the original vision).

But he does have a point. It isn't quite as long, of course, but it is reaching the point of ridiculousness.

That was the joke I was getting at.

On topic, though, or at least the Ian Corlett topic, I didn't find him terrible. I can think of worse voices I've heard. And blander voices.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I was a weird kid in that I never registered that Ian Corlett left. I had no idea he was replaced by Peter Kelamis at any point until '06, when I started getting back into DBZ, and read a Wikipedia article. I remember thinking to myself, "Goku...wait....he had two voices before Schemmel?"

Apparently, my reaction was the intended reaction. When Corlett left, they were looking for as similar a voice as possible so that people wouldn't notice the change. Corlett said in an interview that Kelamis was a friend of his and that they had swapped roles before Goku, so who knows, maybe casting Kelamis came at the recommendation of Colett. Probably not, given that Corlett and Ocean didn't leave on the best of terms, but it's possible.

Interesting because I remember there was a lot of uproar on the net over the change in Goku's voice.

Oh certainly, that definitely appears to be the case. It's hard for me to know exactly what fans at large were thinking because there are only so many remaining written records of the sentiments that DBZ fans were going through during this era ("DBZ Uncensored," a popular website at the time, is pretty much the only reference I have)...but based on my research, it appears that I was the weird exception to the general rule. I may have had the intended reaction, but not the common reaction.

[NitroEX]

I was a weird kid in that I never registered that Ian Corlett left. I had no idea he was replaced by Peter Kelamis at any point until '06, when I started getting back into DBZ, and read a Wikipedia article. I remember thinking to myself, "Goku...wait....he had two voices before Schemmel?"

Apparently, my reaction was the intended reaction. When Corlett left, they were looking for as similar a voice as possible so that people wouldn't notice the change. Corlett said in an interview that Kelamis was a friend of his and that they had swapped roles before Goku, so who knows, maybe casting Kelamis came at the recommendation of Colett. Probably not, given that Corlett and Ocean didn't leave on the best of terms, but it's possible.

Ian Corlett didn't leave Ocean on bad terms. I listened to an interview where he mentioned that Funimation didn't want to pay him for the screams since they didn't count them as lines or something stupid like that. I don't even think he ever left Ocean since he's been in many cartoons since Z with fellow Ocean actors.

I do agree that Kelamis was a flawless replacement to Ian since I too was unaware of the change until recent years. You could only tell them apart from the screams and battle cries. Of course Kelamis did kinda do his own thing for the later part of Z making Goku sound more heroic with a slightly deeper tone which I guess people didn't like but I was okay with it since Goku had matured a bit. I'm also kinda partial to Kelamis since my first introduction to Z started with him.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Well perhaps he did say that, but that's not what he said here. Here he said that he was actually on very good terms with FUNimation and (then-ADR director) Barry Watson, but that Ocean was short-changing him.

I also forget which podcast episode it is, but during the episode of the Kanzenshuu (then still Daizenshuu-EX) podcast that covered the outrage among fans of the Latin Spanish dub of DBZ over the cast changes in the Latin Spanish dub of Kai, it was mentioned that they actually approached Corlett about reprising the role of Goku for the Westwood dub. It was also mentioned in that same podcast episode that Corlett said in an interview that whatever reason he was offered to come back was more insulting than why he left to begin with.

[xXInfinite026Xx]

My only real gripe with Corlett's take on Goku is that I could never fully believe him as the character himself. Sure the same could be said for just about all the english Goku's, but Corlett always seemed more phoned in than others. He has a great young, heroic voice, however you could tell that it was only ever a paycheck to the guy. It's especially apparent whenever there is screaming or powering up. I don't blame him for the financial circumstances that ultimately led him to leave the show, but his 40% sounding effort never made a lasting impression on me.