Dragonballgt.com DBGT Interviews

By: The Great Saiyaman

What is GT? Well the answer to that question was "answered" by FUNimation on February 12th, 2003 in a series of interviews on dragonballgt.com under the link-heading "What is GT?". FUNimation had intended to hype up the GT series and get fans pumped up and excited about what was to come. Unfortunately for them, it had the exact opposite effect.

After years of butchering DBZ, FUNimation was now announcing that they were presenting a "new, unlike anything else in the world, enhanced" version of GT, complete with a brand new rap theme song. They included 4 different interviews, 3 versions of the song (a 30 second, one minute and 2 and a half minutes version) along with a "sneak peek" clip. (which simply showed SSJ4 Goku punching it out with an enemy from the later part of GT for about 30 seconds, to the beat of FUNimation's new rap song) Fans went berserk with anger at FUNimation, and literally 95% of every DBZ website and message board then attacked them heavily and cursed them out for what they did, and their mail servers were bombed with complaints.

Unfortunately, FUNimation didn't care what the fans thought. At least that's how their main executives thought. (Many from FUNimation have actually both publicly and privately admited to strongly disliking, and even hating of FUNimation's new "score") "They're wrong, we're right," was the mentality the executives took. (The same "right" people responsible for 61.5% of the entire dub of DBZ being based off of heavily mistranslated scripts, mind you) The closest thing to a response fans got was a letter that read,

"Dear DBZ fan, I am sorry that having a rap type modern song offends you. We feel that the music will keep the show rocking for the core audience of 2-11 year olds that Cartoon Network wants to keep watching the show. We also think the 12-17 year olds will dig it. As far as the 18+, well some may not. That is why they will like the DVDs with the original Japanese soundtrack and uncut, with English subtitles. I hope that you understand. "

FUNimation's VHS'es and DVD's wound up selling very well, better than their previous DBZ had been and so, FUNimation as always credited their "genius" and "bringing fans straight into the action" (ie, skipping the first less-action oriented 16 episodes) for the sales success. (Didn't Toei CREATE the show? C'mon, FUNi, you have to give them SOME credit. All you're doing is dubbing it.) Their reasoning was because Dragon Ball GT was a "mainstream anime" and as such, to them that meant that it could only succeed with their "improvements" (ie, FUNimationizations, Americanizations, etc.) as the "wider viewing audience" "needs" to have things dumbed down for them.

Anyway, with GT about to show in early October I figured I'd immortalize FUNimation's stupidity here as their backfired press release is bound to be taken down soon after the CN premier. So without further ado, here are FUNimation's "What is GT?" interviews.

1. Gen Fukunaga, President

"Hello, I'm Gen Fukunaga, President of FUNimation Productions. Thanks for joining us. We're so excited to have you fans, uh, following the Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball sagas, and now we're embarking on Dragon Ball GT, the long-anticipated sequel to the Dragon Ball Z franchise. We're really glad that we can, uh, bring this to you, it's been a worldwide phenomenon. We can expect to see higher power levels, higher impact, more action, and Super Saiyan 4. So- stay tuned and join us, join us in this great journey, and the rest of my team will be telling you what's coming up.


2. Barry Watson, Producer

"Hey, I'm Barry Watson, I'm the producer here for Dragon Ball GT and we are in the middle of production right now and I wanted to take a moment and tell you a little bit about what you can expect.. on it. For those of you who are not familiar with Dragon Ball GT, it's the next big thing in the Dragon Ball line. Uh... it's got the cast of characters you love- Goku, Trunks, Vegeta, as well as a host of new and exciting characters with Pan and Geeru and.. a whole new season of new an exciting villians. Uh, for those of you familiar with uh, Dragon Ball GT, let me tell you that this is a whole new look- at what you've seen before. We've redone the music, we've redone the sound effects, we're pumping up the energy and the dynamics throughout the entire series to give you more of the stuff you love with Dragon Ball Z, more action, more excitement, uhh... you've, you've got the Goku going Super Saiyan 4, you've got all kinds of new plot turns and twists. So, it's something you don't want to- mi-miss because it's a, uh, brand new fresh dynamic look at an exciting series. So, uh, get ready, because it's a whole new look and expect the unexpected with Dragon Ball GT. Heheh..." (sips a cup of coffee as the image fades out.)


3. Jeremy Carlile, Script Supervisor

My name is Jeremy Carlile, I'm the- script supervisor here at FUNimation Productions. Uhm... the first thing that really stuck out to me about Dragon Ball GT is how vastly different it is from Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Uh.. the action is more intense; the storyline is more involved, erm, the characters, have a whole new look and have new wrinkles to their personality that... really allow them to befleshed out more than they have been in the past. Uh... all of these things together really- propel the storyline into... new realms and... new things for the Dragon Ball series that haven't been necessarily seen before. Uh... we're all very excited about it up here and fans.. of the Dragon.. Ball franchise should be pleasantly surprised with some of the newer aspects of the show annnd they can really see uh, how Dragon Ball G-GT is magnifying and going beyond what made Dragon Ball Z so great."


4. Stephany Nadolny, Voice Actor

"Okay. Hey everybody, this is Stephany Nadolny the voice of Goku from Dragon Ball GT. Let me tell you, Dragon Ball GT is going to be fabulous, you have to check it out. It's full of suspense, action, drama. It's a, it's a whole new flair with, with, modernized animation with cool colors. You gotta check it out. Heh heh heh heh heh! (chibi Goku voice) 'Because I'm Goku. (does the "firing up a Kamehameha" motion.) Kaaaameeeehaaaaameeeee.... (looks to the side then looks back at the camera) HAAAAAAA!' Hmmhmm heh heh ha ha ha!"