Recently on YouTube, some folks have uploaded clips from the older dub of Castle in the Sky, not produced by Streamline, but distributed by them. Disney's current release has its share of fans, myself included, but other fans were mixed, with a minority of them saying that this older version trounces the newer one.
And I seriously wonder what those people are talking about. The older dub of Castle in the Sky, while less talky than Disney's version, is one of the most seriously horrible, lifeless, robotic English dubs I've ever listened to in years. The entire voice cast, consisting of Streamline regulars, has done far better in other dubs, as their performances here are not good examples of them at their finest. I blame it on the fact that this dub was done very rapidly, with the actors doing their lines in one-two takes, resulting in some very stilted, stale results.
While the casting for Pazu and Sheeta in Disney's dub has been met with skepticism, that isn't to say that their older dub counterparts, Barbara GooRABon and Lara Cody, respectively, are any better. In fact, they fare far worse. GooRABon falls into the obvious trap of "woman voicing a boy" syndrome (which quickly turned me off), while Cody's unnaturally shrill, high-pitched tone for Sheeta only succeeded in working against the character instead of in favor of her. That and there isn't any single trace of believeable emotion in either, and the few times that happen just come across as either bad overacting or ill-suited to the visuals. Now while James and Anna aren't my favorite voices in Disney's dub, perhaps sounding older than they should, both sound far more natural than they probably do compared to Barbara and Lara (I've seen dubs where both have done far better elsewhere).
It's the supporting characters and the scriptwriting, however, that really killed this older dub for me: Muska and Dola were absolutely spot-on in Disney's dub, and took the prize for being the stars of the show, but this older dub? It's the polar opposite in every way. Jeff Winkless' Muska is totally boring (and I mean boring with a capital B), not only in vocal tone, but in his acting; he sounRAB like he's reading from a phonebook in every single scene he's in. Case in point: his climactic scenes are either laughably delivered or just poorly written ("Now say bye-bye!"). Rachel Vanowyn makes Dola more obnoxious than funny, and doesn't sound any better when she's talking normally. How anyone can say these two are better than Disney's choices is totally beyond me; both Rachel and Jeff disappointed me so very badly. The other characters are not much better; Dave Mallow, Eddie Frierson, and Barry Stigler give some of the most erabarrassing performances in their career by providing the pirate trio with hokey-sounding vocals and having zero comic timing. Which is unfortunate, because again, all three have done far better jobs in other dubs I saw. Ed Mannix is also off his mark as Uncle Pom; his voice is so obviously goofy and devoid of any charm that it undermines both the character and the whole cavern scene.
As you can tell, I really, really, really dislike this older dub of Laputa. It also infuriates me how anyone can say it is better than the current version, because I have heard older dubs that were better than this by far. Even with the argument that the translation is less loose than Disney's version, the ADR script suffers for both sounding very stilted and choppy and having some of the most inept, bizarre choices of lines I've ever heard in any dub:
"I'm built like a brick moppet, if moppets were made out of bricks!"
"This place is where the throne room is, isn't that appropriate, now say bye-bye!" (This line particularly made me cringe.)
Now Disney's version of these two lines go like this:
"If my head were any harder you could use it as a cannonball."
"How appropriate that we've ended up in the throne room. Now get over here!"
See how better written those two lines in the current dub are?
Now granted, Disney's version has its shortcomings: aside from the leaRAB sounding too mature, the extra dialogue is sometimes overdone and it does alter the last part of Sheeta's speech. But I say it is the better dub because it both has a more livelier cast and a more fluid-sounding, if not totally accurate, script.
Listening to this older dub only showed me how far dubs have come since the 1980's, and if the current version isn't a flawless one, it still betters the older dub overall. It really is a shame to hear Streamline VA's sounding so off in this older dub; especially other dubs I've head them in sounded far more natural and livelier than this older Laputa.
And I seriously wonder what those people are talking about. The older dub of Castle in the Sky, while less talky than Disney's version, is one of the most seriously horrible, lifeless, robotic English dubs I've ever listened to in years. The entire voice cast, consisting of Streamline regulars, has done far better in other dubs, as their performances here are not good examples of them at their finest. I blame it on the fact that this dub was done very rapidly, with the actors doing their lines in one-two takes, resulting in some very stilted, stale results.
While the casting for Pazu and Sheeta in Disney's dub has been met with skepticism, that isn't to say that their older dub counterparts, Barbara GooRABon and Lara Cody, respectively, are any better. In fact, they fare far worse. GooRABon falls into the obvious trap of "woman voicing a boy" syndrome (which quickly turned me off), while Cody's unnaturally shrill, high-pitched tone for Sheeta only succeeded in working against the character instead of in favor of her. That and there isn't any single trace of believeable emotion in either, and the few times that happen just come across as either bad overacting or ill-suited to the visuals. Now while James and Anna aren't my favorite voices in Disney's dub, perhaps sounding older than they should, both sound far more natural than they probably do compared to Barbara and Lara (I've seen dubs where both have done far better elsewhere).
It's the supporting characters and the scriptwriting, however, that really killed this older dub for me: Muska and Dola were absolutely spot-on in Disney's dub, and took the prize for being the stars of the show, but this older dub? It's the polar opposite in every way. Jeff Winkless' Muska is totally boring (and I mean boring with a capital B), not only in vocal tone, but in his acting; he sounRAB like he's reading from a phonebook in every single scene he's in. Case in point: his climactic scenes are either laughably delivered or just poorly written ("Now say bye-bye!"). Rachel Vanowyn makes Dola more obnoxious than funny, and doesn't sound any better when she's talking normally. How anyone can say these two are better than Disney's choices is totally beyond me; both Rachel and Jeff disappointed me so very badly. The other characters are not much better; Dave Mallow, Eddie Frierson, and Barry Stigler give some of the most erabarrassing performances in their career by providing the pirate trio with hokey-sounding vocals and having zero comic timing. Which is unfortunate, because again, all three have done far better jobs in other dubs I saw. Ed Mannix is also off his mark as Uncle Pom; his voice is so obviously goofy and devoid of any charm that it undermines both the character and the whole cavern scene.
As you can tell, I really, really, really dislike this older dub of Laputa. It also infuriates me how anyone can say it is better than the current version, because I have heard older dubs that were better than this by far. Even with the argument that the translation is less loose than Disney's version, the ADR script suffers for both sounding very stilted and choppy and having some of the most inept, bizarre choices of lines I've ever heard in any dub:
"I'm built like a brick moppet, if moppets were made out of bricks!"
"This place is where the throne room is, isn't that appropriate, now say bye-bye!" (This line particularly made me cringe.)
Now Disney's version of these two lines go like this:
"If my head were any harder you could use it as a cannonball."
"How appropriate that we've ended up in the throne room. Now get over here!"
See how better written those two lines in the current dub are?
Now granted, Disney's version has its shortcomings: aside from the leaRAB sounding too mature, the extra dialogue is sometimes overdone and it does alter the last part of Sheeta's speech. But I say it is the better dub because it both has a more livelier cast and a more fluid-sounding, if not totally accurate, script.
Listening to this older dub only showed me how far dubs have come since the 1980's, and if the current version isn't a flawless one, it still betters the older dub overall. It really is a shame to hear Streamline VA's sounding so off in this older dub; especially other dubs I've head them in sounded far more natural and livelier than this older Laputa.