Linda Young not to voice Freeza in the Dragon ball Kai dub?

[bkev]

Oh... he's a bit worse than I thought. Maybe I confused him with someone else, but I could've sworn he had no (or at least less of) a lisp. Did he lessen it later on during his performance, perhaps?

[Gaffer Tape]

Well, it does make sense that the Ocean voice would sound like a "toned down" version since all Schemmel created was an obnoxious caricature of that voice. It's not great. It's not the right vocal type, but at least it worked to a certain degree. I could take him seriously when it was necessary. But, ugh, to that clip you posted. All those rimshots added in. Every time I watch a clip from the first two seasons, I'm always thrown off by how many sound effects were added in. Recently I watched the Vegeta/Zarbon fight and every. single. action. was punctuated by a "ZWIP" sound effect. Flying, landing, punching, you name it.

[Metalwario64]

Secondly, as we hear in the video, their description of the new Freeza is nothing to inspire confidence with. They're still trying to make Freeza sound like a woman, and seem to be focusing on nothing else. The actual performance given through the voice seems of absolutely no consequence to Sabat.

So you think that, despite Sabat's claims, Clinkenbeard is NOT a more age-appropriate voice for Gohan, and you think that Rial sounds nothing like Volmer, and worse? Those seem to be the implications emanating from your posts, because otherwise, I don't see a basis for such a statement. How does "you can't even really tell whether it's a man or a woman" automatically mean "we're trying to make him sound as much like a woman as possible"?

As I've stated before, why would they cast a replacement, imitator when the "real thing", Linda Young is right there? Their description sounds pretty much like Nakao to me, and people who have actually heard the performance have stated that it's the closest an English actor has ever gotten to matching any of Nakao's performances.

Also, Kirbopher stated:

Apparently Chris was interested in the prospect of a male actor doing Freeza for quite a while but never got the chance, so Linda not quite being able to perform with the new, more true to the Japanese scripts, was a perfect window of opportunity to do so.

I don't see how that implies Sabat wanting to make Fri­eza "sound like a woman".

[RazorX]

I honestly rather liked the Ocean Kaio... that was Dave Ward, right? It was silly, but not outright ridiculous. A good balance somewhere in the middle, which both the FUNimation and original Japanese casts lack. I can take Dave Ward seriously, but I can also find him funny.

Don Brown voiced Kaio in the Ocean dub. I liked his performance, he made Kaio hilarious and good natured, he captured Kaio's jokey side really well. Kaio's Ocean voice is one I would like to see kept, its smooth, funny and Don's also good at the serious scenes.

[jjgp1112]

Wow, I never really realized how similar Sean Schemmel's and Ian Corlett's Goku voices were. Schemmel sounds like a higher pitched version of him.

[linkdude20002001]

Really?! I think it's pretty different. Out of Corlett, Kelamis, and Schemmel, I'd say Corlett and Kelamis sound the most alike. People actually get their Gokuh's mixed up sometimes.

[G1Ravage]

Really?! I think it's pretty different. Out of Corlett, Kelamis, and Schemmel, I'd say Corlett and Kelamis sound the most alike. People actually get their Gokuh's mixed up sometimes.

When I was a kid, watching DBZ for the first time, I already knew who Ian Corlett was, having been a huge fan of Beast Wars, but I didn't even realize Peter Kelamis had taken over until I read about it on the Internet.

[penguintruth]

I didn't notice Kelamis until his last episode (when Goku faced Recoome), because Goku didn't do much between the end of the Saiyan arc and arriving on Namek. He seemed to have much more lines in the first three movies, or at least as many within a short space to notice it was a different voice than Corlett's (and a better one for Goku, in my opinion).

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Really?! I think it's pretty different. Out of Corlett, Kelamis, and Schemmel, I'd say Corlett and Kelamis sound the most alike. People actually get their Gokuh's mixed up sometimes.

I actually do too sometimes. Schemmel's Goku to me, is the most unique English Goku (compared to the Blue Water GT Goku which just sounds like a random, boring person).

[Taku128]

Really?! I think it's pretty different. Out of Corlett, Kelamis, and Schemmel, I'd say Corlett and Kelamis sound the most alike. People actually get their Gokuh's mixed up sometimes.

I actually do too sometimes. Schemmel's Goku to me, is the most unique English Goku (compared to the Blue Water GT Goku which just sounds like a random, boring person).

The guy hired to do an imitation of a guy doing an imitation is the most unique English Goku?

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

Really?! I think it's pretty different. Out of Corlett, Kelamis, and Schemmel, I'd say Corlett and Kelamis sound the most alike. People actually get their Gokuh's mixed up sometimes.

I actually do too sometimes. Schemmel's Goku to me, is the most unique English Goku (compared to the Blue Water GT Goku which just sounds like a random, boring person).

The guy hired to do an imitation of a guy doing an imitation is the most unique English Goku?

At first he sounded a bit like the previous English Goku, but like many of the other dub voices he started sounding less and less like the voice he was hired to imitate.

[linkdude20002001]

I never thought he sounded like Corlett or Kelamis. ...Not even during season three.

[Brakus]

With the talk of Freeza being recast to sound more undiscernable about being a man/woman, my guess is the role is going to go to Wendy Powell, who voiced Envy in both versions of FMA. Apparently Envy is supposedly androgynous in FMA, so maybe she's the new Freeza?

Still, I'd want someone with a lower voice range with that mostly "uppity" voice that Ryuusei Nakao gave Freeza.

Sabat stated that it was a man. Wendy Powell does not qualify as "a man".

Funny, that's what some people have said about Envy. I guess I totally ignored Sabat's statement about that.

And whoever supposedly spoiled Freeza's new English voice actor could be in a lot of trouble, since no official statement has been made as to who is playing him.... I know some roles (in other anime) had to be recast because someone couldn't keep their mouth shut on who was to play him in the English dub. I'd hate to find out that Freeza had to be re-recast because of this.

[Greenman]

And whoever supposedly spoiled Freeza's new English voice actor could be in a lot of trouble, since no official statement has been made as to who is playing him.... I know some roles (in other anime) had to be recast because someone couldn't keep their mouth shut on who was to play him in the English dub. I'd hate to find out that Freeza had to be re-recast because of this.

It was Christopher Sabat. He told a group of fans at a convention. Once it was revealed that a new Freeza was coming, some of those fans gave hints in this thread by listing dubs the Freeza actor had or had not been in. It appears they gave too many hints. I think Mr. Sabat will be safe from too much trouble.

I don't think there's any chance Freeza will be recast. Why would they throw away all the new actor's work just because he was revealed? To keep the element of surprise?

[desirecampbell]

@Metalwario64 In the video in question, Sabat and Schemmel mention only two specific aspects of the new voice: talks faster than Young, and sounds like a woman. No mention of 'better suited for the new script', or 'better emotional timbre' or anything about honest-to-god acting.

And if others have said that it's "the closest an English actor has ever gotten to matching any of Nakao's performances", well then that's encouraging. Of course some people are still saying Young's Freeza wasn't god awful, so you'll excuse me for not just assuming these un-named persons know what they're talking about. Give me some quotes that show why they like the new voice, and maybe we can play ball here. Other wise it's hearsay and meaningless.

And why would I trust Sabat to direct the voice cast well? Because he has a fantastic track record of doing that with DBZ?

[Metalwario64]

talks faster than Young, and sounds like a woman.

Once again, as a few others and I have asked, where are you getting "sounds like a woman" from? He said "you can't even really tell whether if it's a man", which makes it sound ambiguous to me, so I have to ask again, how does that instantly equate to "he still sounds like a woman"? I'm also pretty sure that even many fans of the Japanese version have admitted that even Nakao's Fri­eza was a bit gender ambiguous, and I couldn't even tell it was a man at first (but did after an episode or two).

Give me some quotes that show why they like the new voice, and maybe we can play ball here. Other wise it's hearsay and meaningless.

Sure:

That aside, now that it's -allowed- to be talked about, let me just say that it's going to be fucking AMAZING. Still can't say who the actor is, but like I teased on another thread, the person they chose is someone I never even thought would be, but is THE perfect English equivalent to Ryuusei Nakao. It's a voice the actor I don't think has ever done before, either, so there's nothing to go looking for that will even give you a hint as to what it's like. I have full confidence that this guy's gonna knock it outta the park and finally show everyone in the US how Freeza is really supposed to be like.

Also, as it's been stated already, Freeza's not the only one getting a new voice. In fact I'll go as far to say that prettymuch all of Freeza's henchmen are getting voice changes, as far as I know.

Everything we know, including the extra bit of info some of us have gotten, leads me to believe that Freeza's new voice will be the absolute best voice Freeza could possibly have short of Teaching Nakao English, giving him perfect elocution lessons so he speaks it without a Japanese Accent, and casting him.

For a long time, Scott/Kaiser and I mulled how over anyone ever cast to dub over a character played by Ryuusei Nakao (i.e., not just Freeza) just flat-out either COULDN'T replicate the type of voice he has, or they'd opt out and try the shrill, sorta creepy, expected sort of scratchy voice (Mayuri Kurotsuchi, for instance) instead of trying to go for exactly what he sounds like...I was wrong, however.

Those are all the examples I could find.

And why would I trust Sabat to direct the voice cast well? Because he has a fantastic track record of doing that with DBZ?

Well, if this was Z's dub we were talking about, then you would have a point, but since that is a thing of the past, it is a very moot argument here. He certainly does have a positive track record in Kai, save for the keeping of a few debateably bothersome cast members such as Schemmel's King Kai the same, but every new voice has been spot-on, and most of the returning cast have much better directing this time. Unless you disagree with his decision to cast Clinkenbeard and Rial...

Again, if he truly thought that Linda Young could keep up with the dialogue, and is just making a shitty excuse, and has decided to recast to try and appease dub fans with a similar voice to win them over... wouldn't he just cast Linda Young?...

[desirecampbell]

@Metalwario64 if a man's voice can be described as androgynous, then it sounds "like a woman's". Not 'a woman's voice' but 'like' a woman's. This is not a bad thing - it's just disheartening that it's what Sabat seems to be harping on. That doesn't mean there aren't other great things to say about the voice (diction, emotion, tone, power), but he isn't brining then up and that implies he doesn't care as much about them as he does 'make sure the guy doesn't sound like a guy'.

Re: quotes about the new voice: awesome, that's incredibly helpful. Kirbopher know what the fuck he's talking about. He mentions reasons for liking the voice beyond it not sounding automatically like a man.


Yeah, the new Kai voices are much better than the old ones which Sabat also directed. Whoopie - the bar was pretty low. He's still casting catfish as gods and doing, like, nine friggin characters himself.

[Metalwario64]

@Metalwario64 if a man's voice can be described as androgynous, then it sounds "like a woman's". Not 'a woman's voice' but 'like' a woman's. This is not a bad thing - it's just disheartening that it's what Sabat seems to be harping on. That doesn't mean there aren't other great things to say about the voice (diction, emotion, tone, power), but he isn't brining then up and that implies he doesn't care as much about them as he does 'make sure the guy doesn't sound like a guy'.

I now see your point about the voice sounding "like a woman", in that it also sounds "like" a man's. But him mentioning that the character is written entirely different also seems to make it sound as though he also took that into account. I suppose it could be taken either way.

Yeah, the new Kai voices are much better than the old ones which Sabat also directed. Whoopie - the bar was pretty low. He's still casting catfish as gods and doing, like, nine friggin characters himself.

Well, I can see the reasoning for trying to preserve some of the more "iconic" dub voices in an attempt to win over some dub fans, but I do think that is a stupid move to do if the voice doesn't fit, especially since the more "hardcore", close-minded dub fans aren't going to be pleased if even the slightest detail is changed from the old Z dub, which is sad since I've truly seen people complain on FUNimation's forum about the more accurate script...

I am sorta on the line about King Kai's voice, but regardless, keeping it for the sake of appeasing some close-minded fans is all for, what I feel to be the wrong reason. I'm pretty indifferent to King Kai's dub voice, but I also know that an even more accurate voice could have potentially been casted, so intentionally leaving it alone is a bit disheartening.

Though Sabat is still voicing a few too many characters, it's just not nearly as bad as in Z's dub (of course, I'm aware of the fact that you exaggerated the number to make your point, but I am simply also trying to make a point). He already gave up Popo and Turtle, and it looks like Zarbon and the whole Ginyu Force are going to be recast as well, so 4-5-ish characters, which I do agree is still a tad high, but I feel is passable, seems to be the amount we are looking at for the whole series, as opposed to literally 10 and possibly over as in Z's dub.

[Adamant]

I honestly rather liked the Ocean Kaio... that was Dave Ward, right? It was silly, but not outright ridiculous. A good balance somewhere in the middle, which both the FUNimation and original Japanese casts lack. I can take Dave Ward seriously, but I can also find him funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxNypuRKq_c

Agreed. IMHO, Ocean's Kaio just sounds like a REALLY toned down/mellow version of FUNi's, but I think it works.

I have no idea what you linked to? Is it this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuI1jhM0e7U

Eh, he's semi-acceptable. Far, FAR from the horrendous shittiness the current Kai dub Kaiou sounds like, at least.

[RazorX]

Another major problem with Kaio's Funi voice is that he sounds like he's gurgling everytime he speaks, like he's got a mouth full of saliva and has trouble talking. At least in Z, Sean was a bit smoother with his Kaio voice (it was still horrendous though) but he seems to have worsened up his nasily tone for Kai, dont know why.