FUNi cast who'd be a better Goku than Schemmel?

[TheWhiz]

Personally, while I understand why fans want dub actors to have voices that resemble the voices of the original Japanese actors, I can't relate to it. As Peter Kelamis said, "The level and emotion of the original performance is attempted to be re-created but not the voice. If I tried to re-create the original voice I think I would run the risk of hitting a note so high that I may not be able to have children in future life."

As far as I'm concerned, Schemmel's portrayal is incredibly accurate to the source-material: he sounds like a goofy manchild with a passion for family, his friends, and (arguably above all else) fighting. His voice doesn't sound anything like Nozawa, but his acting absolutely does (in my opinion). Are there other, higher-pitched actors who could do just as good a job if not better? Possibly, sure. However, just as I consider Masako Nozawa to be the iconic Japanese voice of Goku, I consider Sean Schemmel to be the iconic English voice of Goku. He totally gets the character now, and it shows in his acting.

I have also been a bit surprised to hear people refer to Schemmel's voice as "deep," as he's one of the higher-pitched voice actors that Goku has had. Not the highest-pitched, no, but most of the voice actors I've heard for Goku in other international dubs are actually deeper than he is. Which, again, is not a problem for me personally as long as they demonstrate a proper understanding of the character in their acting.

Took the words right out of my mouth

[gohann]

I can't think of anyone else -- Sean Schemmel IS the FUNimation Goku.

[KaiserNeko]

It's actually a little frustrating to see a topic asking people to come up with other pics from Sean, then see 90% of the posts here essentially subsist of "Sean is the best/irreplaceable as Goku!" That's a valid opinion, but not really in the vain that's being asked for here. The question is: Who do you think would be a good/better Goku from Funimation's cast?

I'd actually love to see Todd Haberkorn's take on Son Goku, personally. As well, perhaps Michael Sinterniklaas, though he's not in Funi's stable per se.

[Neshawn]

I think everyone's favorite is whoever was voicing him when they first saw the show, I personally like Sean S and whoever voiced him in the original release of dead zone circa 1997. the original voice for piccolo from those early releases on vhs I still think is the best piccolo ever! but in the end what they need to do is just stick with one cast of voice actors and STICK WITH IT! I am so tired of the voices changing all the time!

Maybe a lot of people, but not everyone. The same has been said of Bond and Batman, the first one you see is your favorite. While there's something to be said for that, it's not always the case, nor do I think it's rare that people like other incarnations other than the first one they see.

yeah it's a pretty bold statement for me to say EVERYONE, and I do agree that even in my case it's not always true. I was under the impression initially that I read there was going to be a new recasting for his voice. thankfully, (for continuity purposes) it seems I was wrong! interestingly enough someone (thomas1up) posted a clip in the favorite movie thread to highlight the music in tree of might and that actor for goku is probably my fav.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd7XJA1xgWE
also it is now question that the voice actor for piccolo in that group is the best! Sean as goku is fine with me.

[TheBlackPaladin]

The question is: Who do you think would be a good/better Goku from Funimation's cast?

It could certainly be that I just read the question too literally, but I interpreted the question, based on the title of the thread and the opening post, to be "who would be better," not really, "who would be good."

Having said that, I see what you're saying. So, in the interest of throwing out some names of some other actors in FUNimation's usual group that I think could conceivably do the character justice, I suppose it could interesting to hear what Todd Haberkorn, Jason Liebrecht, and Greg Ayers could do. To cast Greg would mean going for a super-young sounding voice (arguably higher-pitched even than Kelamis), but it could also make for an unintentionally hilarious series of scenes with Freeza considering that Feeza is now played by his older brother.

Also....let's see, let's throw in a deeper-voiced actor for the sake of having some variety...perhaps Chuck Huber. Not really that deep, but he's the deepest-sounding of those I've mentioned so far, and in every video I've seen him in at cons, he has always seemed to posses a charming, kid-like energy. It would be strange to hear his voice on Goku, but then again, Goku's a strange guy, so it might fit in that sense.

[ConfusedPhantom]

Alright, then. I'll actually post my picks this time. Well, I do agree a Todd Haberkorn Goku would be pretty fun, as well as Michael Sinterniklaas. Josh Grelle would also be a pretty cool pick, I think. I haven't heard too much outside of Xillia 2 and some clips from Behind the Voice Actors, but he seems like he'd work pretty well, and he does screams very well from Xillia 2.

[ABED]

I think everyone's favorite is whoever was voicing him when they first saw the show, I personally like Sean S and whoever voiced him in the original release of dead zone circa 1997. the original voice for piccolo from those early releases on vhs I still think is the best piccolo ever! but in the end what they need to do is just stick with one cast of voice actors and STICK WITH IT! I am so tired of the voices changing all the time!

Maybe a lot of people, but not everyone. The same has been said of Bond and Batman, the first one you see is your favorite. While there's something to be said for that, it's not always the case, nor do I think it's rare that people like other incarnations other than the first one they see.

yeah it's a pretty bold statement for me to say EVERYONE, and I do agree that even in my case it's not always true. I was under the impression initially that I read there was going to be a new recasting for his voice. thankfully, (for continuity purposes) it seems I was wrong! interestingly enough someone (thomas1up) posted a clip in the favorite movie thread to highlight the music in tree of might and that actor for goku is probably my fav.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd7XJA1xgWE
also it is now question that the voice actor for piccolo in that group is the best! Sean as goku is fine with me.

The music is good, but that clip of Kelamis shows exactly why I think he's a lousy actor. Listen to the stilted delivery on, "Why have you come here?"

[Neshawn]

Definitely not his finest moment as an actor! ABED ^

[dbboxkaifan]

Definitely not his finest moment as an actor! ABED ^

Whenever Abed gets a chance to criticise Peter Kelamis he will, I've never seen him saying anything good about him.

For me Kelamis is the English Masako and that'll probably never change.

[ABED]

Definitely not his finest moment as an actor! ABED ^

Whenever Abed gets a chance to criticise Peter Kelamis he will, I've never seen him saying anything good about him.

For me Kelamis is the English Masako and that'll probably never change.

He can scream, that's it. That clip was also not an isolated incident, most of his deliveries are stilted which makes the claim that he's the English Masako all the more vexing.

[Valerius Dover]

Ok, I think I understand the question now. As long as we're going with voices closer to the original, how about Colleen Clinkenbeard? Having Goku keep the same voice as an adult like the original.

[dbboxkaifan]

Clinkenbeard has an annoying high-pitched one-dimension voice which hardly sounds any different from her Gohan to Luffy (Artificial Human No. 19 actually is better than both of her attempts). She doesn't resemble Masako and nor will she ever.

[KaiserNeko]

Honestly, while I find Colleen Clinkenbeard to be a MUCH better voice for Gohan than Nadolny ever was. This is coming from someone who has been actively rewatching all of the movies and the ENTIRE SERIES with Nadolny as Gohan. Her performance and voice are abysmal, to me. I mean, downright gutwrenchingly bad, to the point where I honestly couldn't understand the direction being gone in with it. That being said... I don't think she was the best pick for Gohan. While Colleen is a MARVELOUS actress with a lot of range and talent, she was not the best pick for young Gohan and definitely not for young Goku, a character I thought Nadolny actually did a half-decent job with, despite her being a lackluster actress and the voice often bordering on fun and terrible.

Young Goku and Gohan are hard to place, because their characteristics are so unique; personalities and size wise. You want something high pitched, but goofy and endearing for Goku, while shy yet powerful-when-needed for Gohan. And NO RASP. Raspy child voices are poorly suited for either character. With someone like Trunks, Laura Bailey's current incarnation tones down the rasp, but keeps it more of a bassy, slighty raspy tone that comes off as incredibly boyish and endearing. Kara Edward's redefined Goten is a little raspy, but mostly nasally and precocious, and it works on several levels. Colleen captured the shyness and cuteness of Gohan, but I felt like she just missed something there. With Goku, she just doesn't sound... dumb enough, I suppose.

Would love to see Brina Palencia take a swing at both of them, as well as Luci Christian.

[Super Sonic]

While I don't know if I can make a choice of anyone else as Goku, know the feeling guys had about recasting characters who they thought had iconic voices. Remember hearing rumors that Funimation was going to do the Negima ovas recasting many characters including Greg Ayers' Negi. Myself and a few of my friends were not happy hearing that as we felt that no one else could do Negi, especially since rumors said he wouldn't have his accent. we were glad it didn't happen. And unlike guys who want an English counterpart like Nozawa, we were glad he wasn't like Rina Satou and did it his own. Especially since unlike her, he actually sounded British.

And ABED, regarding Mr. Kelamis, you should watch "Ed, Edd, n Eddy" as he's great in there.

[ABED]

And ABED, regarding Mr. Kelamis, you should watch "Ed, Edd, n Eddy" as he's great in there.

I tried watching that show back in the day, never found it entertaining. He probably would be better for a comedic show.

Young Goku and Gohan are hard to place, because their characteristics are so unique; personalities and size wise. You want something high pitched, but goofy and endearing for Goku, while shy yet powerful-when-needed for Gohan. And NO RASP. Raspy child voices are poorly suited for either character. With someone like Trunks, Laura Bailey's current incarnation tones down the rasp, but keeps it more of a bassy, slighty raspy tone that comes off as incredibly boyish and endearing. Kara Edward's redefined Goten is a little raspy, but mostly nasally and precocious, and it works on several levels. Colleen captured the shyness and cuteness of Gohan, but I felt like she just missed something there. With Goku, she just doesn't sound... dumb enough, I suppose.

I agree with much of this, though I still don't get why even critics of Nadolny liked her Goku better than Gohan. Gohan was more subdued and FAR more natural than her Goku. I fully agree about Edwards' Goten and even Bailey's Trunks. Those voices bothered me a lot and when people told me they improved since movie 13, I didn't believe them. Imagine my surprise when I watched Battle of Gods and loved those voices.

Clinkenbeard's Goku is good, and only wished she had been the voice for the series. It's hard to give a complete judgment from just one movie. As for her voice sounding like Luffy, I don't care, nor do I get why anyone else does. It's a completely different series, and that voice fits Goku. It's like when people use that argument as a reason why they don't like a bit of casting for a live action movie. Who cares if they have limited range? Does it fit the character? That's all that should matter. What does Nicholson giving the same performance have anything to do with him being a good Joker?

[dbboxkaifan]

Jason Bateman, Jason Statham, Vince Vaughn and more actors all play the same roles which aren't beneficial because if they step out of their comfort zone they show how incompetent they are towards their job and that isn't productive to them, to us or to those who hired them.

Clinkenbeard is worst because she's a voice actress than an actress so she's even more limited than them.

[ABED]

Jason Bateman, Jason Statham, Vince Vaughn and more actors all play the same roles which aren't beneficial because if they step out of their comfort zone they show how incompetent they are towards their job and that isn't productive to them, to us or to those who hired them.

Clinkenbeard is worst because she's a voice actress than an actress so she's even more limited than them.

Your phrasing is a tad weird, but they are beneficial because they have enough range to play a certain type of character and play slightly different shades of it. They (You picked quite the list as Vaughn and Bateman are infinitely better than Statham could ever be) may or may not be capable of going outside their comfort zone, but if they aren't, then there are still plenty of roles that only require a range they are good at as evidenced by their success. Woody Allen has had a very successful career playing the same character.

I don't agree with your assessment of Clinkenbeard at all. She has a lot of range and she's an excellent actress on top of that.

[gohann]

Young Goku and Gohan are hard to place, because their characteristics are so unique; personalities and size wise ... Colleen captured the shyness and cuteness of Gohan, but I felt like she just missed something there. With Goku, she just doesn't sound... dumb enough, I suppose.

I agree to an extent; with Colleen Clinkenbeard, I just hear Generic Anime Kid Hero #4892, nothing special about that.

[ABED]

Generic means "not specific", but I can easily pick her out of a lineup. Why does it matter if it stands out or not if the voice is good? The voice fitting the character and the acting being good is paramount, everything else is gravy. Nadolny's voice acting isn't natural. She and Kelamis try too hard to sound wild and wacky. Schemmel, Nozawa, Clinkenbeard, and Henderson have very natural deliveries. Natural in this case being relative, since we're talking about the heightened Dragon Ball world.

[gohann]

Generic means "not specific", but I can easily pick her out of a lineup. Why does it matter if it stands out or not if the voice is good? The voice fitting the character and the acting being good is paramount, everything else is gravy.

Right, but distinctive voices are a nice added bonus.

Nadolny's voice acting isn't natural. She and Kelamis try too hard to sound wild and wacky. Schemmel, Nozawa, Clinkenbeard, and Henderson have very natural deliveries. Natural in this case being relative, since we're talking about the heightened Dragon Ball world.

Maybe Peter Kelamis, but not really Stephanie Nadolny. Ironically your description is a lot closer to Colleen Clinkenbeard: Stephanie Nadolny's performance is more subtle. For a better idea of what I'm talking about, have you heard Spongebob's voice in pre-movie episodes and the modern episodes? Or Timmy Turner's in the early seasons and now? The early performances are subtle, while the current ones are loud and obnoxious. The same can be said in regards to the two actresses.