The Ocean Group dub (commonly referred to as the Ocean dub) was the very first English dub track produced for Dragon Ball Z. The Ocean Group, a production company located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was contracted by Saban Entertainment/FUNimation in 1996-1998 to dub the first 53 episodes of the series. These episodes, which were recorded at Ocean Studios (located in the same building as the Ocean Group headquarters), comprised the first two seasons of the series. As of 2010 it has been rumoured that ocean are producing a dub of the japanese hit dragonballz kai. No official date has been released yet but the dub is set to hit the UK, Ireland and The netherlands. Kix(sky channel) has hinted a re broadcast of dragonball(blue water) and dragonball GT (blue water).
History
FUNimation Entertainment (an American company specializing in the production, marketing, and distribution of anime and other entertainment properties) acquired the rights to the wildly popular Japanese television series Dragon Ball and its sequel, Dragon Ball Z, in 1995. They immediately began work on an English dub for Dragon Ball and completed the first 13 episodes of the series by 1995. The network ratings for Dragon Ball were poor, however, and so FUNimation opted for the more action-oriented Dragon Ball Z, instead. It is worth noting that, at the time, FUNimation was a relatively new company (having been founded in 1994) and did not have the financial wherewithal to produce a dub entirely on their own. Therefore, they collaborated with other production and entertainment companies to meet their ends; namely BLT productions, for Dragon Ball, and then Saban Entertainment, for Dragon Ball Z. Another point worth mentioning is the fact that FUNimation drew from the same Vancouver voice over talent pool for both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Therefore, the same voice actors appeared in both shows, albeit, some in different roles. That aside, Dragon Ball was put on indefinite hold and work on the first English dub track of Dragon Ball Z commenced in 1996, with the Ocean Group dubbing the first 53 episodes (first two seasons).
During its formative years, the show had difficulty finding its target market/audience; principally, due to poor marketing with the show airing at awkward timeslots. As a result, financing for the series worsened to the point where Saban Entertainment (the distributor of the series and its major financer) and FUNimation (the series' producer) parted ways. However, not long after, the series' target audience was eventually found when the first two seasons (dubbed by the Ocean Group) aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block during the summer of 1998. Ratings were positive and the series had found new life, thus, warranting its continued dubbing. By this point, FUNimation no longer required the services of the cast at Ocean studios. From episode 54 onward (the beginning of season 3), FUNimation began using their in-house talent, based in Ft. Worth, Texas, to dub the rest of the series. Until these new episodes were recorded and produced, re-runs of the Ocean dubbed Saiyan and Namek sagas ran indefinitely for months.
When season 3 of the series finally hit the airwaves, in September of 1999, an uproar was heard from the international audience. They were displeased with the new actors introduced to the series citing, in particular, the American accents applied to the characters. They voiced their displeasure to FUNimation who, in an effort to maintain overseas markets, contracted back the Ocean Group to begin work on an "international" dub of Dragon Ball Z. Dubbing of this version commenced in 2000, starting at episode 108, and ended in 2002, finishing at episode 276; thus, completing the series. Episodes 108-276 of the international dub were recorded and produced, by the Ocean Group, at Westwood Media (another production studio located in Vancouver) as Ocean Studios was booked for other recording sessions at the time. It is worth noting that this 108-276 dub was created solely for the purpose of TV airings and, therefore, had much lower production values than the Ocean/Saban collaboration of the first 53 episodes. For example, an original soundtrack was not produced for these episodes. Instead, musical tracks from other shows which the Ocean Group had worked on, primarily Mega Man and Monster Rancher, were recycled and incorporated into their 108-276 dub of Dragon Ball Z.
Once production of Dragon Ball Z was complete, work on the series' sequel, Dragon Ball GT, commenced. According to Michael Dobson, the Ocean Studios actors were in line to dub the series; having begun pre-production and casting for roles. However, Ken Morrison, president of The Ocean Group, had intended on paying the actors considerably less than they had received on their work during Dragon Ball Z. The actors refused this salary cut and so production of the series was moved over to The Ocean Group's lesser known branch, Blue Water Studios in Calgary, Alberta. They ended up dubbing the series as well as Dragon Ball Z's prequel, Dragon Ball.
The United States (CN:USA) and Canada (YTV) received the Ocean Dub from episodes 1-53. From episode 54 onward, both received the FUNimation dub. Canada, however, began receiving the Ocean dub from episode 168 onward due to a spat between FUNimation and YTV. The United Kingdom (CN:UK then CNX), and The Netherlands (Yorin) received the Ocean dub from episodes 1-53, the FUNimation dub for eps 54-107, and then the Ocean dub, once again, for eps 108-276.
The first 53 episodes of the Ocean dub were released on VHS and DVD (distributed by Pioneer Entertainment in the late 1990s & early 2000s). Pioneer lost their sub-license to distribute these episodes in August of 2003, therefore, VHS/DVD sets featuring the Ocean dub of episodes 1-53 are now out of print. These sets have since been replaced by FUNimation's "Digitally Remastered" re-dubbings of Seasons 1 and 2. These re-dubs feature FUNimation's in-house actors as well as the 14 episodes worth of content missing in the initial Ocean dubbing of the Saiyan and Namek sagas (see miscellaneous facts, bullet #1, for more information regarding cut content). The Ocean dub of episodes 108-276 have not, and will likely never be, released for DVD viewing. Its worth noting that FUNimation Entertainment and AB International own the North American and European distribution rights, respectively, to 108-276 of the Ocean Dub. It is unclear why neither company has capitalized on an official DVD release of these episodes, especially within the countries in which they originally aired.
FUNimation/Pioneer contracted the Ocean Group to dub the first three movies of Dragon Ball Z in 1997-1998. These three movies are often considered to be the most faithful English adaptations of Dragon Ball Z as they contain: the original Japanese background music, sound effects, no censoring, no editing, and quality voice acting. They have all been released to VHS and DVD.
Editing and Censoring
The Ocean/Saban collaboration of the first 53 episodes (the first two seasons of the series) was heavily censored and edited. In fact, the original Japanese airing of the first two seasons was comprised of 67 episodes, therefore, 14 episodes worth of content was cut from the (initial) English release. Any references to death, scenes of excessive violence, or other content deemed offensive was completely censored or edited out (though in the first four episodes, the word "kill" is used, and both "kill" and "die" are used by Bulma in episode 30. Also, characters like Raditz, Goku, Dodoria, etc. are still killed, though the term "sent to another dimension" is used often to describe it). For instance, whenever Nappa destroys a building or city, he complains about it being evacuated. The Ocean dub of episodes 108-276 also had censoring although to a significantly lesser extent. Contrary to popular belief, the Ocean Group had absolutely nothing to do with this censoring. They were strictly responsible for ADR work.
Miscellaneous facts
- Several actors from the episode 1-53 dub returned for the 108-276 dub. However, by the end of the series, many had left. The most notable were Peter Kelamis, who played Goku, and Saffron Henderson, who played young Gohan.
- When the Ocean Group returned to dub the series, they began at episode 108 and not where they initially left off, at episode 53. It is not known exactly why they skipped over episodes 54-107, however, it is likely they began at episode 108 as that is where FUNimation was with their dub in 2000. A fan petition, created in 2003, was made in an effort to get the Ocean cast to dub episodes #54-107. There are currently just over 1200 signatures in support of it.
- Ian James Corlett stopped voicing Goku after the Saiyan Saga (his final episode was #37). This was because he wasn't being compensated for the character's several, now trademark, yells.
- Peter Kelamis stopped voicing Goku during the Cell Saga (his final episode was #143) in order to focus on his career as a comedian. Kirby Morrow was Kelamis' replacement and the final voice of Goku for the Ocean dub. He began work on episode #144 and stayed through to the end of the series (episode #276).
- Saffron Henderson, who voiced young Gohan from the very beginning, had to leave the series due to her wedding conflicting with her alotted work schedule for the series. Her final episode was #150.
- Production values for the 108-276 dub seemed to increase significantly in the Fusion and Kid Buu sagas. Casting was far better, the quality of voice work from the actors improved, audio effects to assist the actors were incorporated to a greater extent, and new musical tracks finally began to appear. It is assumed that a more relaxed production schedule for these sagas was responsible for this jump in quality.
- When approached by a fan at AniMagic2002, Scott McNeil (who was still in the midst of dubbing 108-276 of the series) stated that the constant changing of directors was one of the big reasons for the often variable quality in the 108+ dubbing. According to him, upwards of 5 directors had worked on the series by 2002, each with their own take on how things should be done. Furthermore, when asked who was behind the 108-276 Ocean dub, McNeil answered that he did not know.
- Interestingly enough, the 108-276 Ocean version still has the closed captions for the FUNimation dub whenever dialogue is changed. For instance, in Kibito Kai's flashback where Buu nearly kills Bibidi, in the FUNimation version, Bibidi says "I'm the one who created you, you stupid idiot!" But in the Ocean version he says "I'm the one who created you, you ungrateful fool!" However, the closed captions say "stupid idiot" instead of "ungrateful fool".
- In the 108-276 Ocean version (168-276 in Canada), the words "kill", "death", "die", or "dead" are never used at first (except for a time during the tournament when Krillin uses a figure of speech), being (sometimes ridiculously) replaced from their use in FUNimation with "hurt", "leave", "destroy", or "gone". However, in Episode 236, Gotenks is Born, Piccolo uses the word "kill" and Buu uses the word "die" and "dead" twice. From here, the fear of using these words has permanently vanished, though admittedly this may be because the word "Kill" appears in an episode title two episodes later.