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

[8000 Saiyan]

Sorry about that, guys, it's just that sometimes I'm a bit impatient.

[SX10]

Sorry about that, guys, it's just that sometimes I'm a bit impatient.

I don't blame ya man, I am here multiple times daily. I saw the meeting took place with CRTC but zero on result. I have no doubt they got the channel, why wouldn't they? But no word on it's development yet.

[8000 Saiyan]

So you're one of those people who think that a voice should always match the physical stature of a character?

Let's be real though, a lot of what goes into the initial invention of a voice for a character does come from how they look.

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

[TheAldella]

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

I don't know anybody who was born and got their voice picked based on their personality as a would-be adult while they were in the womb. The performance is what matters.

[8000 Saiyan]

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

I don't know anybody who was born and got their voice picked based on their personality as a would-be adult while they were in the womb. The performance is what matters.

Well, of course not. Dragon Ball isn't real-life.

[Robo4900]

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

Well, I mean, until like the Cell arc, Goku never looked particularly hardcore or badass. And in Super, while he's still drawn massively overly-muscular and physically imposing, he's still pretty clearly a rather goofy individual with a youthful spirit, even just by the way he holds himself, and moves.
So... Not only is he drawn more rounded and youthful for most of the run, but the places where he's most like this are the places where actors would be auditioned to play the part.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

Preaching to the choir.

[8000 Saiyan]

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

Well, I mean, until like the Cell arc, Goku never looked particularly hardcore or badass. And in Super, while he's still drawn massively overly-muscular and physically imposing, he's still pretty clearly a rather goofy individual with a youthful spirit, even just by the way he holds himself, and moves.
So... Not only is he drawn more rounded and youthful for most of the run, but the places where he's most like this are the places where actors would be auditioned to play the part.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

Preaching to the choir.

Sometimes it flabbergasts me that people prefer an inexperienced Schemmel over Nozawa, who was already an experienced VA. All just because it's a woman voicing their role model and not a man.

[Nia]

So you're one of those people who think that a voice should always match the physical stature of a character?

Let's be real though, a lot of what goes into the initial invention of a voice for a character does come from how they look.

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

I think it's kinda funny how people get upset at a woman voicing Goku, but never seem bothered by Kenshiro's super high-pitched ATATATATATATATATATATATA.

[8000 Saiyan]

Let's be real though, a lot of what goes into the initial invention of a voice for a character does come from how they look.

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

I think it's kinda funny how people get upset at a woman voicing Goku, but never seem bothered by Kenshiro's super high-pitched ATATATATATATATATATATATA.

That doesn't really matter to them, because most of the time Kenshiro talks in a deep manly voice.

[Fionordequester]

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

Me personally, I wouldn't want him to sound manly. I'd just want him to be in the same general vocal range as Peter Kelamis and Sean Schemmel.

[8000 Saiyan]

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

Me personally, I wouldn't want him to sound manly. I'd just want him to be in the same general vocal range as Peter Kelamis and Sean Schemmel.

Good. It shows that you at least understand what Goku is all about.

[WittyUsername]

Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean Goku needs to sound deep because of his stature. Goku isn't Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, who is known for his macho attitude, he is a dense, childish guy who just likes to eat and have a good fight every now and then.

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

I think it's kinda funny how people get upset at a woman voicing Goku, but never seem bothered by Kenshiro's super high-pitched ATATATATATATATATATATATA.

That doesn't really matter to them, because most of the time Kenshiro talks in a deep manly voice.

Incidentally, Lex Lang has voiced both Kenshiro and Goku.

Anyway, I’m guessing there haven’t been any new updates on this dub? I wish they would at last release a few sound clips of Lee Tockar’s Freeza.

[TheBlackPaladin]

If people think Goku should sound manly, then they don't understand Goku as a character, they just think he's some hardcore badass, even though he isn't really a badass like Vegeta and Piccolo.

Me personally, I wouldn't want him to sound manly. I'd just want him to be in the same general vocal range as Peter Kelamis and Sean Schemmel.

I'll keep this brief since I don't want to appear hypocritical given my "keep on topic" post a few pages back...

But yes, I agree with this. I think when people say they want him to sound "manly," they don't necessarily mean "manly." I think--at least, in many cases--what they really mean is, "like a man." Not necessarily a deep, mach-voiced man, but a man. For example, Peter Kelamis has a very high-pitched male voice, but he still sounds like an adult male.

I eventually came to love Nozawa's performance, but the biggest hang-up for me was how her voice didn't seem like it would realistically come out of an adult male (and we're only talking about the character in his adult stage of life, I've never ever had a problem with Nozawa voicing Goku as a kid). I eventually got past this hang-up by saying....yeah. It doesn't fit based on his appearance. Oh well. It fits in that Goku's a strange guy, so it's appropriate that he has a strange voice.

To get back on topic...

Anyway, I’m guessing there haven’t been any new updates on this dub? I wish they would at last release a few sound clips of Lee Tockar’s Freeza.

Nope, no updates. Our British Mark Hamil Joker voice will have to wait.

[WittyUsername]

Nope, no updates. Our British Mark Hamil Joker voice will have to wait.

That’s assuming we ever do hear it. The comparisons to Mark Hamill’s Joker voice were what got me most interested in this entire dub. With that being said, I do have to wonder; if Lee Tockar’s Freeza sounds so much like Mark Hamill, couldn’t they have just gotten Mark Hamill himself? I know that Hamill doesn’t operate in Vancouver, but if ReBoot was able to get Tony Jay, while the Funimation dub of Super was able to get James Marsters, couldn’t whoever produced the Ocean dub of Kai have gotten Hamill?

Hell, even the current My Little Pony cartoon was able to get John De Lancie.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Nope, no updates. Our British Mark Hamil Joker voice will have to wait.

That’s assuming we ever do hear it. The comparisons to Mark Hamill’s Joker voice were what got me most interested in this entire dub. With that being said, I do have to wonder; if Lee Tockar’s Freeza sounds so much like Mark Hamill, couldn’t they have just gotten Mark Hamill himself? I know that Hamill doesn’t operate in Vancouver, but if ReBoot was able to get Tony Jay, while the Funimation dub of Super was able to get James Marsters, couldn’t whoever produced the Ocean dub of Kai have gotten Hamill?

Hell, even the current My Little Pony cartoon was able to get John De Lancie.

There would be two complications with getting Mark Hamil for that project.

1) The dub's union status. It's either an ACTRA (the Canadian union) dub, or a non-union dub. ACTRA rules do not prohibit the hiring of non-ACTRA members (and you can look to Tony Jay's role in ReBoot as a real-life example of that). However, Canada is quite conscious of the fact that its southern neighbor is the show biz capital of the world, and so ACTRA has a lot of rules in their contracts designed to encourage acting work to stay in Canada. For example, every time a non-ACTRA member works on an ACTRA project, the non-ACTRA actors are fined something called a "Work Permit Fee." The Work Permit Fees are never greater than the actor's final paycheck, but they do add up. In fact, one of the biggest incentives for someone to join ACTRA is that, if they do, they won't be fined Work Permit Fees anymore for working on ACTRA projects. The thing is, you can't join ACTRA unless you're at least a Canadian Permanent Resident.* So involving Mark Hamil in a project supervised by a union that he's not a member of, while not completely barring him from working on the project, would nevertheless present complications.

And if it's non-union? That's an automatic no-go for someone like Mark Hamil.

2) He's Mark Hamil, and thus, he's expensive. At least by voice actor standards. It's doubtful that Ocean had the money to afford him.

As for how James Marsters ended up in FUNimation's non-union dub of Super, working for way less than what he could have asked for...well, I honestly don't know how FUNimation was able to pull that off. That example is, to put it lightly, an against-all-odds anomaly. It's cool that it worked out that way, but that's the exception, not the norm.

Plus, I'm sure it's a fair assumption that, when they auditioned actors for Freeza, they didn't write, "Do a British Mark Hamil impression" in the audition notes. That's not even how Lee Tockar himself described his voice for Freeza, that's just how KaiserNeko described it. In other words, they were only ever going to audition Ocean (and Blue Water) actors for that part, so Mark Hamil was never up for consideration, and the fact that one other person described Tockar's voice as sounding like a British version of Mark Hamil's Joker is purely coincidental.

*I.....miiiight have looked into moving to Canada around, oh, November 2016ish, so that's how I know this stuff.

[WittyUsername]

Nope, no updates. Our British Mark Hamil Joker voice will have to wait.

That’s assuming we ever do hear it. The comparisons to Mark Hamill’s Joker voice were what got me most interested in this entire dub. With that being said, I do have to wonder; if Lee Tockar’s Freeza sounds so much like Mark Hamill, couldn’t they have just gotten Mark Hamill himself? I know that Hamill doesn’t operate in Vancouver, but if ReBoot was able to get Tony Jay, while the Funimation dub of Super was able to get James Marsters, couldn’t whoever produced the Ocean dub of Kai have gotten Hamill?

Hell, even the current My Little Pony cartoon was able to get John De Lancie.

There would be two complications with getting Mark Hamil for that project.

1) The dub's union status. It's either an ACTRA (the Canadian union) dub, or a non-union dub. ACTRA rules do not prohibit the hiring of non-ACTRA members (and you can look to Tony Jay's role in ReBoot as a real-life example of that). However, Canada is quite conscious of the fact that its southern neighbor is the show biz capital of the world, and so ACTRA has a lot of rules in their contracts designed to encourage acting work to stay in Canada. For example, every time a non-ACTRA member works on an ACTRA project, the non-ACTRA actors are fined something called a "Work Permit Fee." The Work Permit Fees are never greater than the actor's final paycheck, but they do add up. In fact, one of the biggest incentives for someone to join ACTRA is that, if they do, they won't be fined Work Permit Fees anymore for working on ACTRA projects. The thing is, you can't join ACTRA unless you're at least a Canadian Permanent Resident.* So involving Mark Hamil in a project supervised by a union that he's not a member of, while not completely barring him from working on the project, would nevertheless present complications.

And if it's non-union? That's an automatic no-go for someone like Mark Hamil.

2) He's Mark Hamil, and thus, he's expensive. At least by voice actor standards. It's doubtful that Ocean had the money to afford him.

As for how James Marsters ended up in FUNimation's non-union dub of Super, working for way less than what he could have asked for...well, I honestly don't know how FUNimation was able to pull that off. That example is, to put it lightly, an against-all-odds anomaly. It's cool that it worked out that way, but that's the exception, not the norm.

Plus, I'm sure it's a fair assumption that, when they auditioned actors for Freeza, they didn't write, "Do a British Mark Hamil impression" in the audition notes. That's not even how Lee Tockar himself described his voice for Freeza, that's just how KaiserNeko described it.

*I.....miiiight have looked into moving to Canada around, oh, November 2016ish, so that's how I know this stuff.

Interesting. Still, how crazy would it have been to have the Joker and Luke Freaking Skywalker as the voice of the most iconic villain in all of Dragon Ball? Granted, Mark Hamill’s Joker voice isn’t quite what it used to be, but still, Mark Hamill in a Dragon Ball dub! That would’ve been absolutely insane.

[SX10]

I'm just wondering if Wow! Unlimited's channel is set to debut this year or next year now. I suppose they couldn't do too much behind the scenes awaiting the acquisition of Comedy Gold, but Marni Shulman appeared to be actively seeking out talks with people about acquiring airing rights for a few shows. I suppose she is very busy right now given lack of twitter presence.

Also, I see the English dub of Final Chapters has finally finished its first TV run on Toonami.

I have no idea how long this stuff is meant to take. I think CRTC have yet to publish their verdict after their meeting in April. Gaaahhhh, waiting is the worst!

[8000 Saiyan]

I always thought Mark Hamill had a British vibe to his Joker, but it's actually a Trans-Atlantic vibe.

[Super Sayian Prime]

I have no idea how long this stuff is meant to take. I think CRTC have yet to publish their verdict after their meeting in April. Gaaahhhh, waiting is the worst!

The hearing was late last month, not April.

I'm not sure what the holdup on that is beyond typical government slowness.

[8000 Saiyan]

I understand that people don't like the English dub's Buu, but why does the Japanese one get a free pass? "Because it's the Japanese" isn't a viable excuse. I mean, I didn't expect high pitched, but why the one they chose? That's all I'll say there.

I don't like Japanese Buu because it's the original. I like Japanese Buu because I like the performance and voice.

They probably asked the VA to not sound high-pitched because they thought that he could sound childish without sounding high-pitched.

And besides, one thing I like about the Japanese Buu is that he can make him sound threatening while English Buu sounds annoying.