I recently re-watched the recent Pokemon episode "Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion," and the flashback sequences got me thinking.
Even though it's been 10 years now, I think Cartoon Network seems like an ideal network for showing the lost un-dubbed Pokemon episodes "The Legend of Dratini" (Indigo League era) and "The Ice Cave" (Johto League era), or even on AdultSwim to really play it safe (like when they showed "Dexter's Rude Removal." The Pokemon Company International could probably dub both episodes into English and air them together as an hour-long "lost episode" special! However, there are the reasons these episodes were not dubbed into English, and how they could bypass them today...
"The Legend of Dratini" was banned due to the Safari Zone's trigger-happy warden. When Ash and his friends enter at first, the warden aims his revolver right at Ash, mistaking him for a poacher. Later, he actually fires his guns at Jessie and James, and then later James has the warden at gunpoint too, when they want him to take them to the Dratini.
In today's age, while syndication markets and Kids' WB wouldn't allow such a thing, Cartoon Network could probably show it without much trouble. After all, they've gotten away with some rather "inappropriate" situations on "Total Drama Island" and "Regular Show," and "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" has also featured guns and heavy violence (and this show is rated TV-Y7-FV, just like Pokemon, but sometimes contains WAY more violence.) And of course they had no problem with Yosemite Sam's gun scenes on classic Looney Tunes cartoons (I even remember when "The Bob Clampett Show" aired an old Bugs Bunny cartoon "Tortoise Wins By a Hare," it let the closing suicide gag intact, unlike other airings of the cartoon.)
Some dialogue-changing could also make the scenes appear less severe. The warden could say something along the lines of that pointing the revolver in the face was a force of habit he really needs to kick due to all the previous thieves, and when James is pointing the gun at the warden's head, he can foolishly say something like "I see people do this in movies all the time!" (That could also probably teach kids not to imitate stuff they see in the media!)
"The Ice Cave" was banned due to a Jynx prominently being featured. This was back when Jynx stirred up some controversy of resembling a blackface stereotype, and was before Nintendo went and redesigned Jynx with the purple face.
However, in recent years, this criticism has died down quite a bit. The infamous Christmas episode that started it all, "Holiday Hi-Jynx" is still available on DVD, and I have even seen it on Cartoon Network On Demand, back when they were showing older Pokemon episodes. The original-designed Jynx was also seen in the Orange Island episodes "Stage Fight" and "The Mandarin Island Miss Match," and those two episodes are still available on home video and haven't stirred up controversy.
Though to play it safe, they could probably digitally recolor the black part of Jynx's face purple when dubbing this episode to avoid any possible criticism. It would make sense, as Jynx has had her purple-face design for almost 10 years now.
However, there are a few things that would be different. These episodes were originally filmed in standard-definition, and were even animated on cels (as they were produced before the show switched to digital ink-and-paint.) They were also produced in different seasons, respectively. Though I imagine they could tack the Season 1 dub opening theme onto "The Legend of Dratini," and the Season 5 opening theme on "The Ice Cave." But seeing as they would be billed as "lost episodes," I am sure people wouldn't mind the fullscreen and older animation methods, knowing they were produced back in 1997 and 2002, respectively.
As for the eyecatches, I imagine if The Pokemon Company doesn't have the old "Who's That Pokemon" templates from 1998 and 2001, they could probably just use a more generic template (probably using the instrumental music accompanying the 1998-2003 "Who's That Pokemon" eyecatches) for both episodes. I am pretty sure the "Who's That Pokemon" for "The Legend of Dratini" would be Tauros, and "The Ice Cave" would be Jynx, just like in the Japanese versions.
As for voices, this would most likely mean hearing the current voice cast over the older animation. While it would be a bit unusual, I must admit Bill Rogers has improved his Brock voice, and we also still have the original narrator, and Jimmy Zoppi's James voice isn't too bad. Plus, also remember that Veronica Taylor's Ash voice sounded different in the first dubbing season compared to most of the episodes after that (Ash used to often pronounce Pokemon as "Pokah-mon" in the older episodes.) So Sarah Natochenny's Ash voice probably wouldn't be TOO out of place in "The Legend of Dratini." As for me, I don't care that much about who does the voices, as long as we get to see them dubbed into English anyways
I think this would be a good idea for Cartoon Network. Even though Pokemon is usually geared toward kids, I hate to counter it with Scooby-Doo, but if I must, just remember that "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" had a lot of questionable and violent content for a kids' show. If they can get away with all that, then showing those two "Pokemon" episodes freshly dubbed into English may not be much of a problem. They could probably even air them in prime-time or some other point in the evening due to it being like a special occasion or something. Pokemon being on Cartoon Network DOES bring up this possibility.
But we can forget about "Electric Soldier Porygon" being dubbed and shown on Cartoon Network
Even though it's been 10 years now, I think Cartoon Network seems like an ideal network for showing the lost un-dubbed Pokemon episodes "The Legend of Dratini" (Indigo League era) and "The Ice Cave" (Johto League era), or even on AdultSwim to really play it safe (like when they showed "Dexter's Rude Removal." The Pokemon Company International could probably dub both episodes into English and air them together as an hour-long "lost episode" special! However, there are the reasons these episodes were not dubbed into English, and how they could bypass them today...
"The Legend of Dratini" was banned due to the Safari Zone's trigger-happy warden. When Ash and his friends enter at first, the warden aims his revolver right at Ash, mistaking him for a poacher. Later, he actually fires his guns at Jessie and James, and then later James has the warden at gunpoint too, when they want him to take them to the Dratini.
In today's age, while syndication markets and Kids' WB wouldn't allow such a thing, Cartoon Network could probably show it without much trouble. After all, they've gotten away with some rather "inappropriate" situations on "Total Drama Island" and "Regular Show," and "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" has also featured guns and heavy violence (and this show is rated TV-Y7-FV, just like Pokemon, but sometimes contains WAY more violence.) And of course they had no problem with Yosemite Sam's gun scenes on classic Looney Tunes cartoons (I even remember when "The Bob Clampett Show" aired an old Bugs Bunny cartoon "Tortoise Wins By a Hare," it let the closing suicide gag intact, unlike other airings of the cartoon.)
Some dialogue-changing could also make the scenes appear less severe. The warden could say something along the lines of that pointing the revolver in the face was a force of habit he really needs to kick due to all the previous thieves, and when James is pointing the gun at the warden's head, he can foolishly say something like "I see people do this in movies all the time!" (That could also probably teach kids not to imitate stuff they see in the media!)
"The Ice Cave" was banned due to a Jynx prominently being featured. This was back when Jynx stirred up some controversy of resembling a blackface stereotype, and was before Nintendo went and redesigned Jynx with the purple face.
However, in recent years, this criticism has died down quite a bit. The infamous Christmas episode that started it all, "Holiday Hi-Jynx" is still available on DVD, and I have even seen it on Cartoon Network On Demand, back when they were showing older Pokemon episodes. The original-designed Jynx was also seen in the Orange Island episodes "Stage Fight" and "The Mandarin Island Miss Match," and those two episodes are still available on home video and haven't stirred up controversy.
Though to play it safe, they could probably digitally recolor the black part of Jynx's face purple when dubbing this episode to avoid any possible criticism. It would make sense, as Jynx has had her purple-face design for almost 10 years now.
However, there are a few things that would be different. These episodes were originally filmed in standard-definition, and were even animated on cels (as they were produced before the show switched to digital ink-and-paint.) They were also produced in different seasons, respectively. Though I imagine they could tack the Season 1 dub opening theme onto "The Legend of Dratini," and the Season 5 opening theme on "The Ice Cave." But seeing as they would be billed as "lost episodes," I am sure people wouldn't mind the fullscreen and older animation methods, knowing they were produced back in 1997 and 2002, respectively.
As for the eyecatches, I imagine if The Pokemon Company doesn't have the old "Who's That Pokemon" templates from 1998 and 2001, they could probably just use a more generic template (probably using the instrumental music accompanying the 1998-2003 "Who's That Pokemon" eyecatches) for both episodes. I am pretty sure the "Who's That Pokemon" for "The Legend of Dratini" would be Tauros, and "The Ice Cave" would be Jynx, just like in the Japanese versions.
As for voices, this would most likely mean hearing the current voice cast over the older animation. While it would be a bit unusual, I must admit Bill Rogers has improved his Brock voice, and we also still have the original narrator, and Jimmy Zoppi's James voice isn't too bad. Plus, also remember that Veronica Taylor's Ash voice sounded different in the first dubbing season compared to most of the episodes after that (Ash used to often pronounce Pokemon as "Pokah-mon" in the older episodes.) So Sarah Natochenny's Ash voice probably wouldn't be TOO out of place in "The Legend of Dratini." As for me, I don't care that much about who does the voices, as long as we get to see them dubbed into English anyways
I think this would be a good idea for Cartoon Network. Even though Pokemon is usually geared toward kids, I hate to counter it with Scooby-Doo, but if I must, just remember that "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" had a lot of questionable and violent content for a kids' show. If they can get away with all that, then showing those two "Pokemon" episodes freshly dubbed into English may not be much of a problem. They could probably even air them in prime-time or some other point in the evening due to it being like a special occasion or something. Pokemon being on Cartoon Network DOES bring up this possibility.
But we can forget about "Electric Soldier Porygon" being dubbed and shown on Cartoon Network
