Pokémon USA's/DuArt's Dubbing of the Animé and Movies

[Vernikova]

Recently, the dub of Movie 11 aired and kept all of the BGM that's not lyrical. If not all then most. Jorah correct me if I'm wrong. When PUSA/DuArt dubs the animé episodes, they keep some BGM some and add music where there is none. The exception for this would be the Riolu episodes.

So why do think they dub the movies and episodes differently? They can keep the music for episodes but why do you think they refuse to do it?

 

[The Ebon Blade]

Movies bring in more money and publicity. So, I assume they want to try and perfect it as well as they can. With the episodes there a little more lax about that. Even though it's 4kids, if you watch the audio commentary version of the First Movie and some of the other movies, they answer those kinds of questions.

 

[randomspot555]

Simply put, the movies are operated on a much larger budget. Look at the quality of animation compared to the series at the time any movie released (besides Movie #1, which had animation even WORSE than the early parts of Kanto). More money means they can use the music and pay for the rights a bit easier and justify the cost.

 

[The Ebon Blade]

Simply put, the movies are operated on a much larger budget. Look at the quality of animation compared to the series at the time any movie released (besides Movie #1, which had animation even WORSE than the early parts of Kanto). More money means they can use the music and pay for the rights a bit easier and justify the cost.

actually, the animation is all done in japan (accept for some random add ins and such). and movie 1's animation wasn't as good as the others but I wouldnt call it bad.

 

[Jorah]

I haven't actually watched movie 11 all the way through yet, but I presume everything was kept ^^

Simply put, the movies are operated on a much larger budget. Look at the quality of animation compared to the series at the time any movie released (besides Movie #1, which had animation even WORSE than the early parts of Kanto). More money means they can use the music and pay for the rights a bit easier and justify the cost.

That's a popular idea, but there's evidence that negates it:

Specials

- Chronicles kept no original BGM (only 4Kids non-movie to do so)
- Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon kept all and only original BGM (first non-movie to do so)
- Pikachu's Island Adventure kept no original BGM (only PUSA dub to do so)
- PMD2 kept all and only original BGM (can't remember PMD1)
- Pokemon Ranger 1 Deoxys had a mix of dub and original BGM like normal episodes
- Pokemon Ranger 2 Riolu episodes kept all and only original BGM

Movies and TV

- Movie 9 replaces a track
- 4Kids Movie 1-3 have no original BGM and the shorts don't keep the original BGM (I know this is true for the 1st short, not sure about 2 and 3 because I haven't watched them)
- Movie 5 (from what I remember) replaces the opening title theme but keeps in a Japanese song exactly as it was - never been done before or again
- Movie 6 is the only film to have the same ending theme as Japan - they translate some of it and keep some in Japanese (perhaps because the song May hums and the BGM goes along with the song?) and they actually dubbed Polka O Dolka
- Movie 7 replaces the ending theme and all the instrumentals of the Japanese ending theme throughout the movie, which is kind of opposite what happened in movie 6
- They don't keep the movie tracks in episodes that they have used in the movies
- 4Kids sometimes kept original Japanese movie 1 tracks in episodes and, rarely, movie 2 tracks in episodes, despite not using it in them in the movies
- 4Kids actually used original Pokemon BGM in other shows they dubbed
- They'll dub songs that the characters actually sing with the original BGM but won't if it just plays in the backround (Takeshi's Paradise, Team Rocket Forever, Nyasu no Uta) - why not change the background music, too? Except they kept "Gotta Dance" in the background which of "King and Queen for a day" the only song completly dubbed through
- - - They keep song instrumentals which surely must cost more than "normal" BGM
- such as Advance Adventure (both 4Kids and PUSA) OK! (only 4Kids have kept this) Poketaari Monsutaari (only PUSA) and PUSA kept the karaoke version of "Watashi, Makenai!" when they didn't "need" to but when it plays with the actual song, they didn't replace with a karaoke version (DP May returns)
- PUSA replaced "Team Rocket Forever" with Japanese lyrics playing with a karaoke version - never done before
- Music that is kept varies tremendously from episode to episode with PUSA from DP, tghe lowest being 2 (Dustox's leaves) and the highest being 17 (Dawn's Early Night)

To the dub, at least, surely movies are like an extra long episode because all they have to do is dub. Do they really need more money for more dubbing? Would their music budget be bigger just because it is a movie if all they're supposed to do is dub? I actually don't know what the answer is.

From what I've heard from Dogasu, usually animes tend to keep all the original BGM, or none of it and Pokemon is quite rare in using both dub and original BGM. Not sure if I've remembered that correctly.

Anyway, what I think is that 4kids couldn't be bothered to make up new music for every movie after the 3rd. All the dub music 4Kids used in AG (except the songs) were made in season 1 or movie 1 or 2. They've only used movie 3 music in that movie, I think. I have no idea why either. PUSA have made their own music, and they said this was to make it more "hip" (not lying) but PUSA have added improved tracks through DP and improved it a lot in Battle Dimesion. But why bother when they could keep the original BGM? I dunno. I think the evidence shows that they have enough money to buy the music, they just don't want to. Movies are going to be more commercial the episodes so I suppose they'll spend more money to buy it. But even the evidence there is completly contridictory since they'll use movie tracks in episodes that they didn't use in movies and will add music where there was originally silence.

My conclusion: they're all crazy. I don't know whether they just think they're improving it or what.

 

[Vernikova]

You went really in depth Jorah. O.O

Movies bring in more money and publicity. So, I assume they want to try and perfect it as well as they can. With the episodes there a little more lax about that. Even though it's 4kids, if you watch the audio commentary version of the First Movie and some of the other movies, they answer those kinds of questions.

4Kids didn't keep movie BGM until Movie 4 though.

 

[Jorah]

I know I usually write quite small posts XD That's about the largest post I've ever posted without it having millions of quotes. But I thought I may as well put all the contradictory evidence in there that I can think of at the moment so at least I can go back to it when I need to. And it kinda shows the lack of logic in what music they keep, rather than it all being about they can't afford to keep it as some people think. But perhaps someone else can interpret the evidence better than me.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

- The Riolu episodes only have original BGM - no episode or special has ever done this before

Actually, they did do that before (Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon kept the entire Japanese track.).

 

[randomspot555]

I know I usually write quite small posts XD That's about the largest post I've ever posted without it having millions of quotes. But I thought I may as well put all the contradictory evidence in there that I can think of at the moment so at least I can go back to it when I need to. And it kinda shows the lack of logic in what music they keep, rather than it all being about they can't afford to keep it as some people think. But perhaps someone else can interpret the evidence better than me.

Wow that wall of text was very informative. I'm hardly a "Pokemon Movie" expert and that post is mainly why I'm not: The movies are like the most inconsistent part of the franchise. While D/P and Battle Dimension have been really good, the movies themselves from the same era/writers/producers/ have been sub-par.

Maybe I can ask this question: Are the writers, producers, animators, etc... of the two D/P movies (Darkrai and Shaymin) the same who work on the Sinnoh episodes of the anime, or are they two separate teams?

 

[Blue_Drifblim]

Yeah, Pokemon isn't the first anime to mix the original and dub soundtracks. Zatch Bell, The Prince of Tennis, Kiki's Delivery Service, Escaflowne(FoxKids ver), Battle of the Planets, and Tokyo Pig are shows that have also done this. As to why they do this... I have no idea. Pokemon has always been like this so I don't have a problem with it. I'm just glad they don't replace all the music in the show. I think PUSA has kept reasonable amounts of original music in their recent episodes, and that's good enough for me. Keeping the original soundtrack wouldn't be bad either... I mean, they do it in the movies, why not the show? Maybe they just like playing with us.. That's probably the answer.

Edit: Oh, I got the list of the other anime at... another website. XD

 

[Vernikova]

I'm pretty sure they're the same randomspot555. They just have a larger budget for better animation and stuff.

 

[The Ebon Blade]

I'm pretty sure they're the same randomspot555. They just have a larger budget for better animation and stuff.

I should look into this. You see, when 4kids was around, they had different writers for the anime and the movies. Now, they were all on the same staff, but they had different writers.

 

[Jorah]

Actually, they did do that before (Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon kept the entire Japanese track.).

Hey, I was writing that for a long time, I was bound to forget something XD I also forgot about PMD keeping all the original BGM haha. I included what happened to other specials, too

Wow that wall of text was very informative. I'm hardly a "Pokemon Movie" expert and that post is mainly why I'm not: The movies are like the most inconsistent part of the franchise. While D/P and Battle Dimension have been really good, the movies themselves from the same era/writers/producers/ have been sub-par.

Maybe I can ask this question: Are the writers, producers, animators, etc... of the two D/P movies (Darkrai and Shaymin) the same who work on the Sinnoh episodes of the anime, or are they two separate teams?

XD Sorry, I tried putting it in list form so it's easier to read because I did start it to write it as a normal paragraph but thought it would end up huge

Yeah, Pokemon isn't the first anime to mix the original and dub soundtracks. Zatch Bell, The Prince of Tennis, Kiki's Delivery Service, Escaflowne(FoxKids ver), Battle of the Planets, and Tokyo Pig are shows that have also done this. As to why they do this... I have no idea. Pokemon has always been like this so I don't have a problem with it. I'm just glad they don't replace all the music in the show. I think PUSA has kept reasonable amounts of original music in their recent episodes, and that's good enough for me. Keeping the original soundtrack wouldn't be bad either... I mean, they do it in the movies, why not the show? Maybe they just like playing with us.. That's probably the answer.

Edit: Oh, I got the list of the other anime at... another website. XD

But is mixing dub and original music rare? I don't know

 

[Vernikova]

None of those shows air anymore Jorah so I guess it is rare.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Assuming that it's actually American studios coordinating the entire special, that'd be wrong; the Japanese music in that would actually be licensed specifically for that. The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon's Japanese version is actually a dub. Any music "kept" between the two would simply be ShoPro/OLM using their own licenses to their music.

No, they didn't coordinate the entire special. The Japanese people were actually the ones who wrote and coordinated it (The credits to MMoMP pretty much confirmed it due to all of the Japanese names in it.). All America did was air it in their country first. Now, if you had mentioned the stage show "Pokemon LIVE!", yeah, America did definitely coordinate the entire thing.