Are There Any Updates On The Harmony Gold Dub Of Dragon Ball?

[inninnin]

I'm just curious about this... I mean, while Dragon Ball movies 1 & 3 have been found, the Harmony Gold dub of the episodes (however many they dubbed) are almost impossible to find; no full episodes or even short clips, with the exception of one 30 second clip on YouTube.

Does anybody have any new information about this or what?

[MasenkoHA]

Not sure if we can have new updates on something from 30 years ago.

The only thing I’m really aware of is the first Latin American dub Zero y el Dragón Mágico (Zero and the magic dragon) which ran for 60 episodes, before rights transferred from Video Doblajes to Cloverway, was based on the Harmony Gold dub (hence Goku being named Zero) and I think the scripts themselves may have been based on 60 episodes worth of scripts Harmony Gold had for its English dub.

Our Latin American posters would probably have a lot more insight on that dub though

[inninnin]

Not sure if we can have new updates on something from 30 years ago.

The only thing I’m really aware of is the first Latin American dub Zero y el Dragón Mágico (Zero and the magic dragon) which ran for 60 episodes, before rights transferred from Video Doblajes to Cloverway, was based on the Harmony Gold dub (hence Goku being named Zero) and I think the scripts themselves may have been based on 60 episodes worth of scripts Harmony Gold had for its English dub.

Our Latin American posters would probably have a lot more insight on that dub though

Yes. I heard about that weird Latin American dub of Dragon Ball. So far, it's the closest thing we have to seeing the Harmony Gold dub episode-wise.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Not sure if we can have new updates on something from 30 years ago.

Think he meant actually having full episodes of the dub itself rather than just information in itself. The Big Green dub of DBGT's A Hero's Legacy is also extremely rare but hopefully these two dubs will eventually surface.

Even finding the Blue Water / Westwood dubs with good quality is hard, too. Too bad none of these had official VHS or DVD home media releases as that would have helped a lot.

[PacificOceanDub]

Once upon a time, when I was really little, I was sitting in my family room, watching Dragon Ball on Cartoon Network while my parents had a bunch of people over. It must’ve been a birthday or something..

Anyway, one of our guests (a dude who was probably in his early 20s) saw what I was watching and said something like “Oh wow, Dragon Ball, I used to watch that when I was a kid.” And I thought “he must be mistaken, Dragon Ball(Z) has only been around in the States for the last 4 years or so.” Years later, when I found out about the Harmony Gold Dub, I remembered that guy and I thought, “Hmm. That guy would have probably been a little kid in 1989, I wonder if he saw the little bit of the Harmony Gold Dub that actually aired on TV back in those days.”

Now I wish I could go back in time and ask him stuff about it.

[DrBriefsCat]

There was a rumor going around that Family Home Entertainment released the first three episodes on VHS in very limited quantity. No actual copies have turned up, though.

Once upon a time, when I was really little, I was sitting in my family room, watching Dragon Ball on Cartoon Network while my parents had a bunch of people over. It must’ve been a birthday or something..

Anyway, one of our guests (a dude who was probably in his early 20s) saw what I was watching and said something like “Oh wow, Dragon Ball, I used to watch that when I was a kid.” And I thought “he must be mistaken, Dragon Ball(Z) has only been around in the States for the last 4 years or so.” Years later, when I found out about the Harmony Gold Dub, I remembered that guy and I thought, “Hmm. That guy would have probably been a little kid in 1989, I wonder if he saw the little bit of the Harmony Gold Dub that actually aired on TV back in those days.”

Now I wish I could go back in time and ask him stuff about it.

The Harmony Gold dub itself aired in very limited markets. The only known airing of Movies 1 & 3 was in Philadelphia and it is believed a couple of TV episodes aired in Detroit.

[Cure Dragon 255]

If it helps I saw a clip of "Zero" fighting "Zedaki" ... god they were obsessed with the letter Z.

[DBGod]

Not sure if we can have new updates on something from 30 years ago.

Think he meant actually having full episodes of the dub itself rather than just information in itself. The Big Green dub of DBGT's A Hero's Legacy is also extremely rare but hopefully these two dubs will eventually surface.

Even finding the Blue Water / Westwood dubs with good quality is hard, too. Too bad none of these had official VHS or DVD home media releases as that would have helped a lot.

I might know someone who has all the episodes already transferred on VHS in Hi-Fi Stereo recorded SP. I think its about time I get my hands on them myself for my own collection this was an interestingly good dub for the short while it was around. Just wish it could have lasted longer.

[superrayman3]

I might know someone who has all the episodes already transferred on VHS in Hi-Fi Stereo recorded SP. I think its about time I get my hands on them myself for my own collection this was an interestingly good dub for the short while it was around. Just wish it could have lasted longer.

Do you mean the Westwood / Blue Water dubs? Or do you mean the Harmony Gold dub? Sorry to ask but your post isn't very clear as to which dub you're specifically referring to, especially when multiple dubs are being brought into the discussion.

[MasenkoHA]

If it helps I saw a clip of "Zero" fighting "Zedaki" ... god they were obsessed with the letter Z.

Can we just appreciate that the name Zedaki doesn’t sound any less foreign than Yamcha/Yamucha. If anything it sounds like an attempt to sound more Japanese for some reason. Same with changing Oolong to Mao Mao (well more Chinese on that way)

I don’t want to say the Harmony Gold dub would have been shit (their dub of Mystical Adventure is way more tolerable than Funimation’s....thing) if it had actually become a thing but I’m also really glad we don’t know the characters as Zero, Bongo, Squeaker, and Whiskers the Wonder Cat.

I do like Lena as a name though even if it would have been weird when Bulma wears outfits that say Bulma all the time.

Lena: Oh no Bulma definitely is not my name. It’s just my favorite brand of clothing.

[Cure Dragon 255]

Its just an observation, I liked what I heard of it. I'm not condemning it or anything.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I hope that full episodes of this dub still exist. It would be great to have archived for historical purposes, I'm skeptical about the VHS release of episodes 1-3, with how obsessive some of us here are with collecting Dragon Ball it is strange no one has come across it but hopefully one day we will see hard evidence of its existence.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Its just an observation, I liked what I heard of it. I'm not condemning it or anything.

That short clip sounded like they made a pretty decent dub, too bad it's impossible right now to even watch a full episode of this dub.

I hope that full episodes of this dub still exist. It would be great to have archived for historical purposes, I'm skeptical about the VHS release of episodes 1-3, with how obsessive some of us here are with collecting Dragon Ball it is strange no one has come across it but hopefully one day we will see hard evidence of its existence.

On YouTube there's folks saying full episodes exist but haven't been shared publicly.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Its just an observation, I liked what I heard of it. I'm not condemning it or anything.

That short clip sounded like they made a pretty decent dub, too bad it's impossible right now to even watch a full episode of this dub.

I hope that full episodes of this dub still exist. It would be great to have archived for historical purposes, I'm skeptical about the VHS release of episodes 1-3, with how obsessive some of us here are with collecting Dragon Ball it is strange no one has come across it but hopefully one day we will see hard evidence of its existence.

On YouTube there's folks saying full episodes exist but haven't been shared publicly.

I would be interested in seeing those HG dubbed episodes if they were to surface in the future, because it just blows my that someone attempted to bring Dragon Ball over here a good five years before FUNimation even existed as a company. And that was all while DBZ was already in full swing over in Japan at the time so the era in which this dub was produced is quite an interesting footnote in the history of the series here although the dub ultimately had such a limited run and ended up fading away after a short period of time.

I gotta say though, some of the bizarre name changes (Whiskers the Wonder Cat????) does add a certain cheese factor to it as a dub made in the late '80s.

[JohnnyCashKami]

I gotta say though, some of the bizarre name changes (Whiskers the Wonder Cat????) does add a certain cheese factor to it as a dub made in the late '80s.

That's Karin, right? I'd even take that over "Korin". Not sure why they bothered to change a letter on his name, maybe to make it sound somewhat male than female (because the 'a' in other languages has a tendency to be used for women whereas men are o/e or etc).

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I gotta say though, some of the bizarre name changes (Whiskers the Wonder Cat????) does add a certain cheese factor to it as a dub made in the late '80s.

That's Karin, right? I'd even take that over "Korin". Not sure why they bothered to change a letter on his name, maybe to make it sound somewhat male than female (because the 'a' in other languages has a tendency to be used for women whereas men are o/e or etc).

I guess FUNi likely thought the translation of his Japanese name sounded too female like, because even though it is pronounced different maybe they assumed that people would misspell it like the woman's name Karen thus the letter from a to o.

[MasenkoHA]

So I gotta say watching more clips I do think Barbara Goodson would have made the best English Goku. It’s a lot closer to Masako Nozawa’s version albeit it has that “80s kids cartoon voice vibe” going for it.But compared to the rest? Colleen Clinkenbeard sounded too feminine. Nadolny can’t really act. Saffron Henderson did a good young boy voice and had much better acting chops but her Goku never sat right with me. She was just obviously better suited for Gohan.

And Delgadillo and Slusar were ummm budget actors.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

So I gotta say watching more clips I do think Barbara Goodson would have made the best English Goku. It’s a lot closer to Masako Nozawa’s version albeit it has that “80s kids cartoon voice vibe” going for it.But compared to the rest? Colleen Clinkenbeard sounded too feminine. Nadolny can’t really act. Saffron Henderson did a good young boy voice and had much better acting chops but her Goku never sat right with me. She was just obviously better suited for Gohan.

And Delgadillo and Slusar were ummm budget actors.

Yeah Goodson's Goku aka Zero sounded pretty good for such a short lived dub made back in 1989, and in terms of the rest i believe that Colleen worked decent as Kid Gohan in Kai but not so much as Goku in Blood Rubies and Nadolny worked better as Goku in DB than Gohan in Z while Henderson's boy voice worked much better as little Gohan in '96 Z than Goku in the 1995 dub.

As for the other two, i believe Delgadillo was only Goku in DB movies 2 and 3 while Slusar was the Blue Water's dub Goku.

[MasenkoHA]

, and in terms of the rest i believe that Colleen worked decent as Kid Gohan in Kai but not so much as Goku in Blood Rubies and Nadolny worked better as Goku in DB than Gohan in Z while Henderson's boy voice worked much better as little Gohan in '96 Z than Goku in the 1995 dub.

That’s pretty much exactly how I feel.

I’ll defend Clinkenbeard’s Gohan to the death even if her greatest asset is not being Nadolny’s laughably inappropriate Gohan but I can’t really defend her Goku. The two boys are entirely different characters with different upbringings. Nozawa understood that. None of the English va’s appeared to.

Nadolny, if nothing else, her voice for the characters was much much better suited for Kid Goku than Gohan even if her acting could be umm questionable at best. Especially when emoting was required.

Henderson I dunno. It’s funny she was hired for Goku first and then just given the role of Gohan because it just suits the latter so much better. It lacks this fearless no shame quality that Goku should have. Her Goku voice ends up sounding like practice for Gohan. Her actual acting is fine though.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

, and in terms of the rest i believe that Colleen worked decent as Kid Gohan in Kai but not so much as Goku in Blood Rubies and Nadolny worked better as Goku in DB than Gohan in Z while Henderson's boy voice worked much better as little Gohan in '96 Z than Goku in the 1995 dub.

That’s pretty much exactly how I feel.

I’ll defend Clinkenbeard’s Gohan to the death even if her greatest asset is not being Nadolny’s laughably inappropriate Gohan but I can’t really defend her Goku. The two boys are entirely different characters with different upbringings. Nozawa understood that. None of the English va’s appeared to.

Nadolny, if nothing else, her voice for the characters was much much better suited for Kid Goku than Gohan even if her acting could be umm questionable at best. Especially when emoting was required.

Henderson I dunno. It’s funny she was hired for Goku first and then just given the role of Gohan because it just suits the latter so much better. It lacks this fearless no shame quality that Goku should have. Her Goku voice ends up sounding like practice for Gohan. Her actual acting is fine though.

Yeah, even though Collen's kid Gohan voice in Kai is basically her Luffy from One Piece even if not exactly the same it does at least fit him much better than Goku in the movie one re dub.

True, even though Nadolny's acting left much to be desired it did fit Goku in the DB dub way more than it did Gohan in Z and that is especially the case of the four year old version of him at the start of the UUE redub of Z.

Indeed, i honestly don't think the way Henderson played Goku in the 1995 dub with her gentle sounding boy voice really fit his tough and naive character though as you said it much certainly proved to fit in with the younger Gohan's character way more.