Would You Have Auditioned?

[Super Sonic]

Started wondering about about this recently, so thought I'd ask everyone here. If any of you guys had lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area around 1998-1999 when Funimation started to work on dubbing DBZ in-house, would you have auditioned for the series? Myself, I don't know as I was still in high school at that time, and my voice was too deep for 5 year-old Gohan. Maybe after I graduated, for Uub or someone, but then, probably not on account of my age. Wht about you guys?

[Chuquita]

If I was older at the time, if I was in the area, and if I was already familiar with DBZ at that point, then yes, I would've. I do like the idea of voice acting.
However in 98-99 I was way too young to professionally voice act, didn't live anywhere near Texas, and hadn't even heard of DBZ.


While the following doesn't really count, I did voice Bulma for the unfinished R29 Movie 3 project that went on in the old daizex forums years back.

[TheBlackPaladin]

If I was my current age (24) back in 1998-1999, then HELL YE--ahem, I mean, yes, I would have auditioned. However, like the previous poster, I was 12 years old, lived nowhere near Texas, and had only begun to develop an interest in acting.

Had the location not been a problem, though, it would have been interesting to audition for Kid Gohan at that age. Germany cast actual boys for all the kid roles in their dubs of DB, DBZ, and DBGT, after all. Although to be fair, I've heard from a few German fans that the acting from the child actors was a mixed bag. Not surprising, considering many child actors just haven't developed good acting ability by 12 years old. Voice acting for anime is--I'd have to imagine--even more difficult for kids because they have the lip-syncing issue to worry about.

I don't mean to suggest that every other child actor was bad, many of them were pretty good, but the only performance from a child actor in an anime that had me very, very impressed was Aaron Dismuke's performance as Alphonse Elric in FUNimation's dub of "Fullmetal Alchemist."

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Would I have auditioned if I lived nearby? Sure.
Would I have been any good? Most likely not.
Would I have gotten hired? Extremely doubtful.

Still would have been a fun experience though.

[Gonstead]

Wasn't old enough and didn't live anywhere near at the time.

Would I have given it a shot? Maybe.

[Piccolo Daimao]

No, because I would’ve been three or four at the time, I can’t voice act, and I hadn’t even heard of Dragon Ball until about 2003.

[DBZAOTA482]

I was too young (I would have been 3 at the time) and I didn't know much of Dragon Ball Z until I was 5 or 6.

[dbboxkaifan]

1) I didn't live in US nor do I do now.
2) Still, would I? Maybe. The first time I watched Dragon Ball was around 1992-93.
3) Thinking about that FUNimation randomly picked people from the street for their DB dubs is rather funny.

[sonikku956]

I would be 1 or 2, so if there was a role of baby Gohan or Goku, maybe.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Thinking about that FUNimation randomly picked people from the street for their DB dubs is rather funny.

While the phrase "picked people from the street" is not entirely without truth, I've never felt that it was a phrase that appropriately reflected the casting situation, and that it was more like a reflection of bitterness on the part of people who didn't like FUNimation's cast change in 1999. Firstly, because it's not as though FUNimation execs went out into the streets of Dallas randomly asking people to take parts. There was an auditioning process, and it was put out in the local papers. Secondly, the actual term for what FUNimation did is an "open cattle-call audition," and it's nothing new. That's how Tom Kenny, the voice actor for SpongeBob SquarePants, got his start in the voice acting biz. Plenty of actors got started that way.

Like I said, the phrase is not entirely without truth, as most of the people they picked had no voice acting experience...but to be fair, open cattle-call auditions are how many actors got their start.

[DarkPrince_92]

I don't know. When I was 13-16 I had a wider range of voices, because it wasn't too deep. Nowadays, I would only be good for a deep voiced villain, like Cell.....(my Cell impression isn't bad) or Super Buu...(a much better impression). I would have auditioned for Kai, if it was open.

[Yamucha-chan]

If I lived in America, and if I were old enough.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Like most everyone else, I was pretty young at the time (probably 10 or 11, since I was in 6th grade by the time I started watching and that was after the FUNi cast had just started), and I wasn't/don't live in Texas (I am just a state away though), but ignoring all of that and thinking just about if it had been at all possible - hell yeah I would have auditioned.

Now, I don't really have any 'great' talent for acting though. I would like to continue (or get back into, more like) the 'fan' side of voice-over on the internet, once I have more time and get a better microphone, but actually going in and making money at it isn't something I'm really looking towards anymore. I'm happy enough just doing it for fun nowadays (something I feel very happy to have acknowledged as a perfectly okay thing by Rob Paulsen no less).

But yeah, I would totally have auditioned if the chance had come up. Assuming we're talking about just the cast of characters available when the recasting happened...I'd probably have auditioned mainly for Goku and Krillin, and various incidentals throughout. I have some vocal range, but not a lot. Krillin would probably have been my best bet.

[Hellspawn28]

I was like 7 years old in 1998 and 8 years old in 1999. I didn't care for DB at the time until around late 2000 or early 2001. I was more in Pokemon and Star Wars at the time then DBZ.

[dbboxkaifan]

I don't know. When I was 13-16 I had a wider range of voices, because it wasn't too deep. Nowadays, I would only be good for a deep voiced villain, like Cell.....(my Cell impression isn't bad) or Super Buu...(a much better impression). I would have auditioned for Kai, if it was open.

Wakamoto's Cell isn't deep, the English Cells are.

[DarkPrince_92]

Wakamoto's Cell isn't deep, the English Cells are.

Obviously. It was implied. Dude was talking about auditioning for Funimation, so I figured it was self-explanatory.

[Scarz]

I think I was 13 around that time. I would've killed to play any of those unnamed civilians you see throughout the anime either gasping, screaming, or reacting to something. I probably wouldn't have mind trying out for the voice of Lime from the filler episode.

[Sun-Wukong]

I would have been 4, so... Gohan?

[shonenhikada]

I would have been 4, so... Gohan?

Your the monkey king ?

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

In 1998 and 1999 I would've been 1 and 2 years old, so yeah...Perhaps I could've been Baby Gohan's crying.