Mr. Men and Little Miss 1997 American dub - good or not?

[Matt Grisham]

I just watched the 1997 American dub of each episode that was found from the VHS tapes recorded from its broadcast in the United States.

It was back early in the summer this year on YouTube and there was something odd about this "dub". The addition of live action segments had nothing to do with the franchise that Roger Hargreaves poured his heart into. Most of the characters were seriously miscast, such as the narrator having the voice of a game show host or Mr. Perfect sounding like Bert Raccoon (given in fact his voice was done by Len Carlson).

Also, the soundtrack has a lot more music than in the original British dub. The music tracks in the UK version were fitting to the segments, but can get repetitive at times.

The only highlight is retaining the original animation from Flicks Films and Marina Productions. Their segments are still the same, just with new music and Canadian VAs replacing the original British music and VAs, as well as minor changes to the original British script.

What are your thoughts on the American dub? Is it superior or inferior to the British dub?

 

[cheril59]

The original animation and SFX are retained from the original British version. But the music for the Canadian English version is composed by American musicians like Manny Corallo, who would later work for 4Kids. Of course, this dub was done by Summit Media Group.

And doesn't Mr. Skinny sound more like Bert Raccoon?

 

[Matt Grisham]

The original animation and SFX are retained from the original British version. But the music for the Canadian English version is composed by American musicians like Manny Corallo, who would later work for 4Kids. Of course, this dub was done by Summit Media Group.

And doesn't Mr. Skinny sound more like Bert Raccoon?

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I've forgotten to point out the SFX when I made this thread. My apologies, it's my first time doing so.

Both Mr. Skinny and Mr. Perfect have the exact same voice, actually. And Mr. Grumpy, to a lesser extent.

 

[Rick Jones]

As much as I saw the show, any memories I have of it were completely overtaken by the version I saw on Boomerang at this point. =_=

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[Matt Grisham]

As much as I saw the show, any memories I have of it were completely overtaken by the version I saw on Boomerang at this point. =_=

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

That's just it. The import to Canada and US for the 1995 series was nowhere near as successful as the original British dub.

The reason why the 2008 version is more popular, because of two reasons: it didn't have live action segments padding the runtime and most of the characters were casted better in both the American and British dubs. They also made the most drastic switch, from morality tales to a sketch comedy format.

Not only that, but characters were given redesigns following the change. The most notable characters are Mr. Nosey and Mr. Lazy.

 

[Matt Grisham]

Now, back to the 1997 show. The intro, for one, was initially thought to be the only thing existing on YouTube. It was until most of the American dubbed segments were found by XJ-Icequeen's friend, John.

 

[cheril59]

And here's another intro for the North American dub.

 

[Matt Grisham]

The strangest of this American dub is the differences between the intro and outro of the series. In America, the theme had a good set of lyrics explaining the characters and their variety of personality traits. But in Canada, the theme is just a hip-hop group of singers singing "Mr. Men" over and over again.

 

[cheril59]

The strangest of this American dub is the differences between the intro and outro of the series. In America, the theme had a good set of lyrics explaining the characters and their variety of personality traits. But in Canada, the theme is just a hip-hop group of singers singing "Mr. Men" over and over again.

Canadian broadcasters really took the humor up to 11 on that one...

Make that 12.

 

[Matt Grisham]

Canadian broadcasters really took the humor up to 11 on that one...

Make that 12.

I'd imagine if the American dub would rerun on Boomerang in the early 2000s, rather than abandoning the master tapes altogether. This would also predate reruns of the 2008 series.

 

[Matt Grisham]

Sure, the show may have new music from composers of Rave Music, such as John Loeffler and Manny Corallo. But they used Canadian voice talent rather than the NY voice talent that 4Kids was known for.

From what I can tell, critics were not impressed. I can imagine them panning the series for its poor voice talent and live-action segments, attempting to capitalize on the success of Shining Time Station. They're better off watching the original British versions.

I know it's hard to believe, but there wasn't any real evidence on the negative reactions to this dub. I mean, I tried to find it through the news and there was no sign of the critics reacting to the 90s Mr. Men cartoon being imported terribly.

 

[Matt Grisham]

"Mr. Grumble Boils Over" is an example of voices being poorly directed in the American dub. For example, both the wizard and Mr. Worry sound rather flamboyant and whiny. You're supposed to accept that they sound like this, but it gets rather annoying after a while.

The only voice I don't have a problem with is Mr. Grumble, who has the best voice in the entire segment. He has a New Jersey accent like Diesel 10, which fits his character pretty well.

 

[Matt Grisham]

Aside from no further evidence of critics panning the series for its obvious flaws and the recent rediscoveries of the American dubbed soundtracks in general, there was also an existing promo for the series.