English Pokémon dub gets new voice director: Tom Wayland to be guest at Anime Boston

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English Pokémon dub gets new voice director: Tom Wayland to be guest at Anime Boston

Tom Wayland, an American voice actor, anime producer and director, has announced via the Anime Boston Web site that he is the new voice director of the English-language Pokémon anime. Wayland will be a guest at the convention March 21-23.

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Yay? is all I can say. xD
 
He did Fullbody in One Piece (4Kids), he also worked on Patlabor. So he should be reasonable. And by that I mean everything stays the same.
 
Did you really have to mention 4kids in a thread about a new director for the dub? ;p

That's interesting. I didn't really think about voice directing when I heard about the change, more voice mixing. Either way, it's not going to be any monumental changes for the dub.
 
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Depends. Maybe this guy can correct some of the various complaints people have.

Or perhaps the sky will open and hellfire will scorch the earth.

Eh, depends.
 
Wow! This is surprising news!

But I've never heard of this guy, though. Then again, I only watch 3 different 4Kids dubs. So that would probably explain why I've never heard of this voice director before. LOL. ^^;


Anyway, when I read that they hired a 4Kids voice director, I got all excited! XD

But then, after reading that article, I was disappointed....



I was hoping they'd hire someone like Michael Haigney. Because quite frankly, I LOVED his work! And if they were to hire him, any time that one of the older Pokemon appeared (like Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Geodude, or Psyduck), he could provide his voice for those Pokemon in D/P!

That would've been awesome, in my opinion!! XD


Oh well. And speaking of Michael, I'm not even sure that he still does voice directing work for 4Kids. I mean, I could've sworn that Eric Stuart was credited as the voice director for the 8th movie (and I gotta admit that surprised me! I had no idea he could voice direct!). So I wonder what's happened to Michael Haigney, since it appears as though he no longer does voice directing work for 4Kids....
 
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This is AMAZING news! This show will most likely improve greatly because of this! The last voice director wasn't that great. Most 4kids voice directors are really good!

Lisa, yes Eric Stuart is a 4kids director. He directed every single episode of both Yu-Gi-Oh! & GX. I think he also directed Movie 6.
 
Doubt it.

The old director was NOT working for PUSA, but the same company, TAJ, that 4Kids was using.

It will be almost identical to what it has been, and what it was in season 9. They don't tell the VA's to drop "g" in "-ing," that's the writers. They just direct the VA's in the way they want to move along the scene.
 
TAJ was only in seasons 1-5 with 4kids. 4kids did not use TAJ's director for Pokemon at all. 4kids had their own director. They only used TAJ for their studio.

This however was not the case for PUSA. They used TAJ's director for the show.

EDIT: The director tells the actor how to portray the character. They tell the actors what sounds good and what sounds bad. Hopefully, this one will only accept terrific acting from the cast.
 
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Actually TAJ was involved until AG005 at most with 4Kids, but the original point remains. I don't think it will make that much difference in the end.
 
A new director? How entertaining, does that mean the dubbing for episode 52 and beyond has started?
 
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Hmmm,
I'll be attending Anime Boston. Does anyone want me to get a pic or some answers to questions?
 
Well, for starters, you could ask which studio will be dubbing Season 11...
 
TAJ was only in seasons 1-5 with 4kids. 4kids did not use TAJ's director for Pokemon at all. 4kids had their own director. They only used TAJ for their studio.
Actually, they used Armen Mazlumian (the same guy who works for PUSA on seasons 9 and 10) and Michael Haigney (he used to be TAJ employee but goes to 4Kids later).
Actually TAJ was involved until AG005 at most with 4Kids, but the original point remains. I don't think it will make that much difference in the end.
Actually, TAJ works on Pokémon until You're a Star, Larvitar and also on first two Advanced eps, since these were done as Sneak Peak when work on season 5 were still continued. Everything else since Adress Unown to Pasta La Vista is 4Kids exclusive.
Anyway, when I read that they hired a 4Kids voice director, I got all excited! XD
Actually, if AnimeNewsNetwork's article about this guy is true, he only work for 4Kids as VA and even that in only small roles.
 
Still, even if that guy is a VA (who works for 4Kids apparently), I've never heard of him. Probably because they were minor roles, like you said.

Anyway, I would prefer if Pokemon USA hired Michael Haigney, just because I like him. I've listened to all 3 audio commentaries of Pokemon, and I think he's awesome! XD
 
If it helps you, it seems Michael Haigney and Tom Wayland works together on some animes. Interestingly enough, all of these animes were done in TAJ.
And I somehow missed before that Tom Wayland were Voice Director for Mew Mew Power, which is 4Kids thing. It also appears he have big voice role in Mew Mew Power.
 
Anyone wondering about who they'll get for future characters? Save 4Kids castaways (Zoppi/Parsons, previously Kayzie Rogers, Robert O'Gorman, Matt Mitler, David Lapkin), they've been relying specifically on alternative NY VAs, those who've never been in TV broadcast works or are totally new to the field in general. Now that they've got a previous 4Kids alumnus working on the show, it's possible we may get an occasional familiar VA added to the mix. I wouldn't hold my breath, but it's something to keep an ear out for.

One thing I really hope Wayland'll remedy is the way Pokemon voices are done. First off, there's a little more to it than just saying the name over and over. It ought to be about making them sound somewhat like animals, and not just people talking weird. Bill Rogers usually has the right idea (his Combusken was fantastic...), but that leads to my second point, which is that I hope they get out of using only the core cast for Pokemon voices. Rogers is good, but he can only go so far, and Zoppi is quickly becoming the new Stuart of Pokevoices, which AIN'T a good thing. 4Kids had their problems, but at least they could spring for different VAs to put in Pokevoices once in a while. TAJ, meanwhile, couldn't even keep Kayzie Rogers around for Wobbuffet and Mime Jr...
 
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