Dub Voice Actor Guesses/Discussion

[AgedVeteranofShow]

If Knotz does leave at the end of Journeys and Tara remains, I would love to see Tara reprise the role of Bulbasaur and any others

Same here: I also find it unfortunate they tried to hire someone to mimic JCC's James performance when Ted Lewis is still around in the additional cast so they could've theoretically given that role back to him as he was the OG dub James (I preferred Eric Stuart's rendition the most overall of the 4 dub VAs he's had, like most seem to, but it doesn't mean I don't recognize Ted Lewis was dub James from EP002-most of EP008 before Stuart came in last second to fill in at the time), too, personally but it's likely that TPCi wants to be consistent with their own dub team since it's been around so long now (longer =/= better, though, IMHO).

However, it should be a lot less noticeable with Pokemon, if Knotz for whatever reason can't continue they should give Bulbasaur back to Jayne IMHO.

Re: Detective Pikachu, likely another example of TPCi using Rachael Lillis' Jigglypuff audio archive w/o her permission ironically, her Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/rachaellillis?lang=en.

(I don't watch Detective Pikachu at all, thanks for that information!)

 

[snowmint]

Does Michele actually voice act consistently in other projects?

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

Does Michele actually voice act consistently in other projects?

She, in fact, does: she's Shiryuu in the Ikki Tousen Series, IIRC.

 

[PaperSplash]

"They signed the contract" on the use of the reused audio. Even Lillis seems made her Jigglypuff clip keeps getting reused to this day.

That's one of the things that should change with a union contract. If I understand those correctly, it makes the client obligated to pay the VAs royalties every time their work is used.

 

[PokeMasterLA]

Does Michele actually voice act consistently in other projects?

I will try to be unbiased and give her credit where credit is due. I think that Michele Knotz is a good voice actress and has good range and versatility when it comes to roles that she originated herself (Piplup, Snivy, Woobat, Skwovet, etc).

I feel like most of the criticism she gets (along with Bill Rogers, Sarah Natochenny, JCC, etc) are from roles that were already originated/established by the 4Kids actors, that they eventually took over back in 2006 and had to “sound alike”.

Hopefully Horizons will be a “clean slate” for the dub, and should the current cast ramain with the new series, they will have the opportunity to voice new characters and have more freedom on how to voice them.

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

That's one of the things that should change with a union contract. If I understand those correctly, it makes the client obligated to pay the VAs royalties every time their work is used.

Interesting: I think only Schemmel's Lucario is likely to be used in the future if so of the remaining 3 dub VA Pokemon voices that have managed to persist through the TPCi Era from the 4Kids Era as both Lillis & Haigney have said they weren't asked to reprise those roles in 2018's VG SSB Ultimate so it was stock audio archive recordings.

I think Sean will likely be able to retain that role in the games, though, those his audio was also recycled from SSB4 he managed to get that role back from Bill in the games as Bill only voiced him one time in Brawl before Sean was given the chance to reprise (and I'm glad he did too, likely because fan preference lies mostly with Sean when the two were compared on various sites).

(How ironic if 4Kids' last VA work on the franchise is permitted to be the only role reprisal that stays put in the future under TPCi for the actual Pokemon themselves in the video games, but we'll see though)

I will try to be unbiased and give her credit where credit is due. I think that Michele Knotz is a very talented voice actress and has good range and versatility when it comes to roles that she originated herself (Piplup, Snivy, Woobat, Skwovet, etc).

I feel like most of the criticism she gets (along with Bill Rogers, Sarah Natochenny, JCC, etc) are from roles that where already originated/established by the 4Kids actors, that they eventually took over back in 2006 and had to “sound alike”.

Hopefully Horizons will be a “clean slate” for the dub, and should the current cast ramain with the new series, they will have the opportunity to voice new characters and have more freedom on how to voice them.

Michele Knotz has had some good roles such as Snivy and Woobat over the years (her Jessie was actually easily the best replacement VA when she first took over in BF in terms of actually "sounding-alike" + very close to dead on matching Lillis in BW when TR turned serious before it devolved back into what it has in XY IMO), but I thought Piplup was just a copy of what Lillis did for Torchic (to be fair, I think the DP dub all around deserved a lot more criticism than it had gotten and it shocks me that it took fans this long to notice it-- for especially the script writing to start coming under fire these days, when back then it was the thing I thought had dropped the most in quality from AG in English even including BF's dub save the VA work, back then) and a bootleg take of that. I don't like Dogasu's taste in VA work at all (what he liked about Ash in DP005 is what I thought was the absolute worst Ash has ever sounded in English including all of BF & MoMP), but he had a fair point there in hindsight.

Generally speaking, yes, although in recent times I've noticed there's a consensus there's been a decline in some of the roles Knotz has taken over from the original 4Kids dub VAs (her Jessie is finally being scrutinized from SM onward notably, prior to that only "hardcore" fans like me thought it was genuinely inferior to Lillis' portrayal as early as DP's dub and higher-pitched, but within the context of Ortiz's approach to it as VO director- which is strange because she was part of the main additional cast under 4Kids- its flaws are now exposed to a wider array of fans who prior thought there was no change at all there) + Misty is a role most don't like these days from her including myself, but back in the Mastermind Special, Knotz's Misty may have been the lone saving grace besides Timoney's Dr. Yung of a rather painful, horrid transition period back then IMO.

I agree: what would be smart to do is to relieve Goldfarb of his music duties and keep the OST, keep the current VA cast while bringing back the old main VAs they IMO mercilessly expunged from the Series in late Gen 3, keep the old VAs they let return in minor roles, and the script writing problem I've had with TPCi should be alleviated now that JCC has retired from the franchise if they choose someone who takes it seriously (I hope they do, still hope JCC recovers from his cancer, I did like a lot of his early VA work even if my opinion of almost everything from him generally sunk under TPCi vs. 4Kids oddly enough save his Pokemon voices).

 

[PokeFanForever1]

I hope Charizard never gets a dub voice and they leave it alone like Pikachu, as Lisa Ortiz is the most prone to giving Pokemon dub voices that kept their Japanese voices prior the most of any of Pokemon's dub VO directors (she's a better person than Wayland too, at least, much as I don't like TPCi's handling of the Series one of the best things they did was kicking him off the Series after it was revealed what he possibly did).

Ironic that Tara Jayne Sands is back in the additional cast and they'll still stick with Michele Knotz as Bulbasaur when once again, the original dub VA is right there for it like w/James (when Knotz has always just been imitating what Sands did, much like she's just emulating Stuart's Squirtle performance once TAJ/PUSA stopped using stock archive audio of Eric Stuart's Squirtle voice later on...of course, without his permission, the late TAJ dub also had them using Maddie's "Gotta Dance" in "King and Queen for a Day" in BF too w/o her consent IIRC).

I think Charizard will always be one they never dub over though weirdly enough in one of the other dubs in Partners in Time! Charizard was dubbed over for some reason. And as for Bulbasaur's voice this is because the most recent person to voice the character gets right of refusal, this was confirmed by Lisa Ortiz herself so Michele Knotz would have to willingly give it up in order for it to be handed back to Tara Jayne Sands.

Also speaking of Michele Knotz I've recently been thinking, Pokemon needs a new script adaptor for Horizons, maybe Michele Knotz will be the new script adapter, and I say this because she recently script adapted for an anime on Netflix, so she does now have that experience!

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

I think Charizard will always be one they never dub over though weirdly enough in one of the other dubs in Partners in Time! Charizard was dubbed over for some reason. And as for Bulbasaur's voice this is because the most recent person to voice the character gets right of refusal, this was confirmed by Lisa Ortiz herself so Michele Knotz would have to willingly give it up in order for it to be handed back to Tara Jayne Sands.

Also speaking of Michele Knotz I've recently been thinking, Pokemon needs a new script adaptor for Horizons, maybe Michele Knotz will be the new script adapter, and I say this because she recently script adapted for an anime on Netflix, so she does now have that experience!

:SMDH:, JN132 has Charizard with the only dub voice it has ever had? Speechless, I pray they cut that out here! Why does Lisa Ortiz like dubbing over Pokemon so much that kept their Japanese voices before, I wonder?

Lame. If Knotz departs for whatever reason or is willing to give it up eventually, they need to give Ash's Bulbasaur's dub voice back to Jayne though (do not like how Professor Oak has 7 literal dub VAs over various forms of media on this note, though, there was no need for that many incarnations: one thing I will always praise 4Kids for is they stuck to just the iconic 1 throughout their dub) though IMO.

I liked her script adaptation work on Shaman King 2021, one of the best LA dubs they've done in recent times for me. Hopefully Michele Knotz will do what JCC couldn't for me on the dub's script writing if so: I was always unimpressed by TPCi's handling of that aspect of the dub since Season 9 (of all the people they could've kept from the 4Kids writing staff, he got promoted and kept too? Ugh.) so this is a WELCOME change for me, if so.

 

[snowmint]

I thought Eric Stuart said he filled in for charizard here and there in the 4kids dub?

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

I thought Eric Stuart said he filled in for charizard here and there in the 4kods dub?

He did claim it, but I think he’s mistaken there: he did dub Charmeleon though (but so did TPCi).

Ash's Charizard - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

I pray they don’t dub over Charizard, Shinichiro Miki’s voice has always been kept.

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

I could be wrong, but I don't think he ever said anything like that. Are you thinking of Charmeleon? Because Eric Stuart did voice Charmeleon.

He has said Charizard sometimes, but it’s likely Eric forgetting which line he did voice.

There was also this time when the 4Kids cast wasn’t sure whether they dubbed the Porygon Seizure episode, Maddie and Eric thought they did but Michael as well as Veronica debunked that they didn’t.

 

[PaperSplash]

Also speaking of Michele Knotz I've recently been thinking, Pokemon needs a new script adaptor for Horizons, maybe Michele Knotz will be the new script adapter, and I say this because she recently script adapted for an anime on Netflix, so she does now have that experience!

Yeah, I've been thinking she'd be a good fit for that role as well. Though as far as I'm aware she's implied she was done after season 25, or at least will have less involvement.

I thought Eric Stuart said he filled in for charizard here and there in the 4kods dub?

Charizard was dubbed in EP056 ("The Ultimate Test"), so that's probably what he was referring to. Not sure if there are any other episodes where he was dubbed as far as the English version goes.

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

Yeah, I've been thinking she'd be a good fit for that role as well. Though as far as I'm aware she's implied she was done after season 25, or at least will have less involvement.

Charizard was dubbed in EP056 ("The Ultimate Test"), so that's probably what he was referring to. Not sure if there are any other episodes where he was dubbed as far as the English version goes.

Interesting! I wonder who the dub's script writer will be now that James Carter Cathcart can't continue in that capacity due to his severe illness? I really hope whoever it is does NOT replicate his style in the TPCi era, though, heck even not 4Kids' style and just stick closely to the Japanese script in Horizons (bringing back 4Kids' sense of humor would be welcome though, TPCi's slang-y & alliterative humor was incredibly unfunny to me-- both dubs had TRio rhyming a lot, though, but that intensified when DuArt took over the current dub from TAJ onward IMO).

Hmm...so EP056 and JN132 are the only times Charizard has had a dub voice, looks like Eric wasn't misremembering there after all, my bad! (though curious why would they do that in the 4Kids era early on when they apparently left it alone afterward? IIRC that was an episode they kept 100% of the OST in, too, very weird choice!).

Ash's Charizard has never been dubbed over to date, praying it stays that way, as Ash's Bayleef wasn't so fortunate and for the first time ever in English...just got dubbed over in JN permanently when even in DP's dub TPCi just followed suit from 4Kids and kept its Japanese seiyu Mika Kanai's voice from Johto through AG in the OG dub run.

Ash's Bayleef - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

 

[Poke Trey]

Michelle could still be around, but it's definitely pointing nope for her. Though a thing I don't mind sticking around and I know I'm going to get flack for this is the score. I still think Goldfarb is 1 of the better dub composers we have and him being on still wouldn't be a bad thing. Though I could also see him leave since he's been around for so long, in that case I hope Geoff Li can take over, since he has been showing signs in these recent episodes and in all the Paldea Partners shorts to be essentially his successor.

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

Michelle could still be around, but it's definitely pointing nope for her. Though a thing I don't mind sticking around and I know I'm going to get flack for this is the score. I still think Goldfarb is 1 of the better dub composers we have and him being on still wouldn't be a bad thing. Though I could also see him leave since he's been around for so long, in that case I hope Geoff Li can take over, since he has been showing signs in these recent episodes and in all the Paldea Partners shorts to be essentially his successor.

Since I slam Goldfarb (like most) for his dub score and Gopal for the placement of it (Akhil deserves the most blame for how much of the OST he chooses to replace, IMHO), the one thing I have liked from him are his Movie EDs which are actually beautifully done in comparison to a lot of what he's done: when I hear those, I ask why the score and Anime dub OPs are the way they are- TPCi must tell him to do it that way (his Evolutions stuff was okay, I suppose, but I don't get why they had him do a dub score for that regardless).

The thing I'm looking most forward to is that the dub will have a new script adapter/writer for the FIRST time since September 8, 2006 as JCC is no longer working on the Series due to his illness (I'm NOT happy how it happened though, much as I have made it clear how much I'm not a fan of where he took a lot of the roles he assumed after 4Kids got sacked and TPCi took over, I never wanted him to get CANCER or sick because of it- I truly hope he recovers from his pretty sad illness: no one deserves that). I really, really hope the new writer/writing staff try a new approach to the dub's writing since Battle Frontier, truly do.

 

[Charmander4]

I honestly didn’t mind Knotz’s Squirtle during the Battle Frontier era as it sounded very close to Eric Stuarts’.

But her Squirtle as of XY-Present sounds more high pitched and raspy. Also Tara Sands’ Bulbasaur voice had more personality and emotion, and I wished she would’ve been allowed to reprise the role during Journeys.

BF for May’s Squirtle was always Eric Stuart. That’s why you didn’t mind it.

Ash’s Squirtle got voiced by the imposter when it came back in AG189

 

[Charmander4]

Michele Knotz didn't actually take over Squirtle until the BW dub era, to clarify, it was still TAJ/PUSA using stock audio archive of Eric Stuart in Season 9's dub from Seasons 1-most of 5 dubbed at the time:

Ash's Squirtle - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

(The late TAJ dub had a lot of slimy VA/VO practices, in general, before Goldfarb showed up & everything started to head back downhill in general w/the dub for me, I think the lowest point for me personally with the dub was S9-10 overall PRIOR to XY+ for this reason- they used Stuart's Squirtle audio without his permission in Battle Frontier + Diamond and Pearl Season 1 while they used Maddie's Meowth from PS06 "Gotta Dance" singing in AG165 dubbed too).


They "didn't" actually do that, to clarify, but the only three 4Kids VA performances for Pokemon that have survived the TPCi recasting purge in video games are three to this day indeed: Rachael Lillis' Jigglypuff only in video games as in the Anime they opt for Michele Knotz instead (Rachael confirmed on Twitter she wasn't asked to return to do so for it or Goldeen, they used stock audio archive w/o her consent for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2018 and it's interesting because Sarah Natochenny's Chansey was used in that game), Michael Haigney's Snorlax (again, recycled), and Sean Schemmel's Lucario only in video games (Bill Rogers only does the role in the Anime post-4Kids nowadays, as he lost Lucario in the VGs and they reverted back to Sean Schemmel who was the original dub VA for him ironically in the last production 4Kids did for Pokemon, once he got to return back to the franchise in mid DP proper).

Ash’s Squirtle wasn’t voiced by Eric Stuart when it came back in AG.

May’s Squirtle did continue to use Eric Stuart audio for quite awhile in the Mirage special and the dub post AG145.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

Charizard was dubbed in EP056 ("The Ultimate Test"), so that's probably what he was referring to. Not sure if there are any other episodes where he was dubbed as far as the English version goes.

Was it though? I just rewatched the episode, and I couldn't tell, it was really hard to hear it. I don't think it was dubbed, though.

Hmm...so EP056 and JN132 are the only times Charizard has had a dub voice, looks like Eric wasn't misremembering there after all, my bad! (though curious why would they do that in the 4Kids era early on when they apparently left it alone afterward? IIRC that was an episode they kept 100% of the OST in, too, very weird choice!).

I don't think any Charizard in the anime has ever had an English voice, period. Not just Ash's, but all of them.

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

Ash’s Squirtle wasn’t voiced by Eric Stuart when it came back in AG.

May’s Squirtle did continue to use Eric Stuart audio for quite awhile in the Mirage special and the dub post AG145.

Bulbapedia claims otherwise (they might've screwed up though and it may have already had switched to Michele Knotz for AG190), they say TAJ used Eric Stuart's stock audio for Squirtle like they did in Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon.

I agree on May's Squirtle using Stuart stock audio though for sure from S1-5 after AG145 in BF, and from what I heard, they used Eric's Blastoise stock audio in DP045 "Top Down Training" too in Season 10/early DP for Gary's Blastoise 100% that said.

Was it though? I just rewatched the episode, and I couldn't tell, it was really hard to hear it. I don't think it was dubbed, though.

I don't think any Charizard in the anime has ever had an English voice, period. Not just Ash's, but all of them.

I thought so too, tbh? Interesting stuff, I'm hearing what you're hearing?

 

[PokeFanForever1]

:SMDH:, JN132 has Charizard with the only dub voice it has ever had? Speechless, I pray they cut that out here! Why does Lisa Ortiz like dubbing over Pokemon so much that kept their Japanese voices before, I wonder?

Lame. If Knotz departs for whatever reason or is willing to give it up eventually, they need to give Ash's Bulbasaur's dub voice back to Jayne though (do not like how Professor Oak has 7 literal dub VAs over various forms of media on this note, though, there was no need for that many incarnations: one thing I will always praise 4Kids for is they stuck to just the iconic 1 throughout their dub) though IMO.

I liked her script adaptation work on Shaman King 2021, one of the best LA dubs they've done in recent times for me. Hopefully Michele Knotz will do what JCC couldn't for me on the dub's script writing if so: I was always unimpressed by TPCi's handling of that aspect of the dub since Season 9 (of all the people they could've kept from the 4Kids writing staff, he got promoted and kept too? Ugh.) so this is a WELCOME change for me, if so.

I said in one of the OTHER dubs, one of the foreign dubs - though I can't remember which one. In the English dub Charizard keeps it's voice.