Jeff Nimoy- Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

[MarcFBR]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

i know you were unhappy with the 3 movies being put together and you wanted to use the 3rd one as a special, or video rather then shoehorning it into the movie (movie 3 being the movie with willis, and the kids going to america and all that)

which leads into my question

i remember an interview with you before the movie was out in the 'official' movie magazine fox and some publisher did for the digimon movie where you talk about the 3rd part and how the older kids get captured and the younger kids have to save them and all that

at what point did the japanese plot of the older kids getting kidnapped by Endigomon/Lopmon get cut out of the american movie? was anything written for it that was good before it was cut? anything dubbed? always been something thats dug at me a bit knowing that at least at SOME point there was a bigger dub of movie 3 imagined (although ive always preferred the version in the movie to the original version of movie 3, full japanese version is boring as hell)


edit- as ive been reminded on AIM just a minute ago, the box of the vhs and dvd also mention the plot point of the younger kids rescuing the older kids also

 

[Jeff Nimoy]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

[quote author=godofchaos link=topic=1647.msg27834#msg27834 date=1167502372]
i know you were unhappy with the 3 movies being put together and you wanted to use the 3rd one as a special, or video rather then shoehorning it into the movie (movie 3 being the movie with willis, and the kids going to america and all that)

which leads into my question

i remember an interview with you before the movie was out in the 'official' movie magazine fox and some publisher did for the digimon movie where you talk about the 3rd part and how the older kids get captured and the younger kids have to save them and all that

at what point did the japanese plot of the older kids getting kidnapped by Endigomon/Lopmon get cut out of the american movie? was anything written for it that was good before it was cut? anything dubbed?  always been something thats dug at me a bit knowing that at least at SOME point there was a bigger dub of movie 3 imagined (although ive always preferred the version in the movie to the original version of movie 3, full japanese version is boring as hell)


edit- as ive been reminded on AIM just a minute ago, the box of the vhs and dvd also mention the plot point of the younger kids rescuing the older kids also
[/quote]

When we first got the movies, we were only shown the first two, because of some hold up in getting the third one. We loved the first two, and saw no problem combining them. When we got the third one, Bob and I realized how boring it was, and we saw no reason to keep it. Terry wanted to keep it, but lose the first movie! So we had a big meeting about it with all the network heads (one exec had a great line when he said "I spent a week watching the third movie last night"). When we left that meeting, I thought we were all agreed to go in my direction, but somehow, our immediate bosses were still forcing us to make the third movie work in combination with the other two. Rather than keep fighting, and bring all the network execs back again, Bob and I realized we had better just do what they wanted and let the chips fall where they may. But that fight festered all the way through to my eventually leaving the series.

Anyway, we thought of a plot that could carry throughout all three movies, and we only took footage from the third movie that supported that plot. The Japanese plots meant nothing to us, so there was never a decision of what to keep from their plots, it was all about the footage. I think considering our extreme problem of forcing this third movie into the other two, we did a good job in making it make sense, but I never wanted to use any of that third movie. Instead, I suggested dubbing the whole third movie in it's entirety,a s a seperate release, either on DVD, or on FOX KIDS. We probably would've kept the Willis story line, and it would'nt of been crammed into the first two movies where it didn't belong.

 

[MarcFBR]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

i agree, when i first got a japanese vhs of the third movie, longest goddamn thing on the planet, i kept falling asleep, everything about it just screams boring

normally when someone tells me half of something has been cut out i look at it with a negative eye, but i really do think the dub improved it and made it a touch less of a sleep aid

 

[Ninetalesuk]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

I agree with ya... I really, really hate the Japanese version of the third film... too long, too boring and the music... too dull! The dub made it much, much, MUCH better. Much more exciting, much everything! I wonder if the Japanese who watched this in the cinema had a good nap...

 

[CyberDramon]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

[quote author=Jeff Nimoy link=topic=1647.msg27818#msg27818 date=1167501278]
[quote author=Ninetalesuk link=topic=1647.msg27817#msg27817 date=1167501195]
Ah... that explains the strange new name for Gatomon... You were pretty quick with the new woman cast-in, huh? I'll bet you were pretty glad that mistake was fixed before you found out that Gatomon Digivolved into Angewomon...
[/quote]

I was just glad it got fixed before it went on the air!
[/quote]


Note: This is not a question, but merely a statement in case something actualy does happen on Savers...

Boys:

Agumon
Gaomon
PawnChessmon White
Kamemon
Falcomon

Girls:

Raramon
PawnChessmon Black

I'm pretty sure Kudamon is male too, because none of the Royal Knights are female, as far as I know... (yes, Crusadermon/RhodoKnightmon was actualy male... he just looked like a girl wearing pink armor and throwing flowers around, but that was all part of a pun. 'Rhodo' can also be translated as 'Lord' making his name 'LordKnightmon' (Kightmon's Mega). However, 'rhodonite' is a pink stone (that his armor is made out of), and the nite/knight thing is part of the pun. Also, Celebi says those flowers he was throwing around were probably Rhodorendrons... )

Anyway, the Mega of PawnChessmon White is KingChessmon, and the Mega of PawnChessmon Black is QueenChessmon.

[/informative post]

 

[Flarg]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

Hey Jeff, I have another question. How do you feel about the love triangle between Tai/Sora/Matt? Were you happy with the way it ended up or would you have rather seen something different?

 

[Suzaku]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

Flarg: He already answered that.

This question kinda ties in with Naruto; I know you said Naruto was a lot of work and had a lot of notes, is that because of the emphasis on trying to keep it close to the Japanese version?

Compared to Digimon, a rather unknown franchise in the US at the time, Naruto already had a rather significant (and considerably purist) fandom. Was there a specific focus on appeasing those fans by keeping it close, and what are some differences in the directing and producing those kinds of dubs?

With your background in writing, I'm sure you probably prefer the freedom of being able to write what you want based on the footage more than the original script, but are there ever times when you feel like you may be doing a disservice to the fans, or alienating the purists? Are there times when you can just tell that some fans won't be happy with a particular change, or are you focused on writing for the new target audience, whatever it may be?

As a hypothetical follow up, Savers (like Tamers) is considerably more mature than Adventure, and the lead character is a delinquent with a particularily foul mouth and a streak of violent temper. Regardless of how the dub really turns out, would you relish the chance to write for older Digimon characters, with more mature humor and serious themes, or would you prefer to work on it in a more "kid friendly" way?

 

[Jeff Nimoy]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

[quote author=Suzaku link=topic=1647.msg27846#msg27846 date=1167508450]
This question kinda ties in with Naruto; I know you said Naruto was a lot of work and had a lot of notes, is that because of the emphasis on trying to keep it close to the Japanese version?

Compared to Digimon, a rather unknown franchise in the US at the time, Naruto already had a rather significant (and considerably purist) fandom. Was there a specific focus on appeasing those fans by keeping it close, and what are some differences in the directing and producing those kinds of dubs?

With your background in writing, I'm sure you probably prefer the freedom of being able to write what you want based on the footage more than the original script, but are there ever times when you feel like you may be doing a disservice to the fans, or alienating the purists? Are there times when you can just tell that some fans won't be happy with a particular change, or are you focused on writing for the new target audience, whatever it may be?

As a hypothetical follow up, Savers (like Tamers) is considerably more mature than Adventure, and the lead character is a delinquent with a particularily foul mouth and a streak of violent temper. Regardless of how the dub really turns out, would you relish the chance to write for older Digimon characters, with more mature humor and serious themes, or would you prefer to work on it in a more "kid friendly" way?
[/quote]

You know, it really always depends on the Japanese company how far they will let you stray from the original. Some shows go way off (BoBo-Bo), and some say stay as close as possible, right down to the voice casting, trying to get sound alikes as close as possible to the Japanese actors (Naruto to a point). And yes, the closer they want to stay to the original the more notes there will surely be. I don't know why these particular companies want to stay close, so I don't know why Naruto stays close, but if I were to guess, I would say any show with a pre-existing fan base, like Naruto, must be doing something right, so why not follow the original formula. Like you said, FOX KIDS had nothing to lose with Digimon because no one knew about it. So they wanted something that would compete with the big boys. But a lot of it comes down to viewership too. Digimon was on a major network with a lot of affiliates, so they had to produce something commercial for the 11 million fans watching every week. Cartoon Network just doesn't have that kind of reach, so they have to cater to the niche audience, which is the catagory the purists fall into.

Now when you're reaching 11 million viewers, and only 50,000 are purists, then you can understand why the purists aren't catered to on a show like Digimon. But frankly, no, I never cater to purists or the commercial viewer, because the only person I cater to is the boss. If they want it close to the translation, that's what I do, and if they want it way off, I do that. That's my only allegience. Now with YouTube and DVD, everyone gets the version they prefer anyway, so what's the big deal? And no matter what, you can't satisfy everyone.

And as a hypothetical follow up, sometimes I would like to entertain a more adult audience, but there's nothing wrong with the audience I have now.

 

[Jeff Nimoy]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

Well, that's it for 2006. I hope I answered all your questions, because I have to go now. It was great talking to you, and I want to thank Marc (godofchaos) again for inviting me into your chat room. And thanks to everyone for their kind words. If any of you are on myspace, visit me at myspace.com/jeffnimoy to keep up on any announcements. And I promise if I have any news soon, I'll let you guys know too. Take care, and Happy New Year!!!!!

Be safe,

Jeff Nimoy

 

[MarcFBR]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

Once again thanks to Jeff for coming here.

Thread will be left open for questions, but theres no guarentee of when/if Jeff will show up to answer them, so feel free to ask, but be aware they may be answered in weeks, months, or never.

 

[MarcFBR]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

guess i get to ask the first 'post holiday' mass answering session


You mentioned not liking shoehorning Willis into the movies. Was it hard or annoying to shoehorn him into season 2 of the show at all? And was he shoehorned in to cross promote with the movie, or just so the character was mentioned outside of the movie?

 

[the comp]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

you probably won't see this, mr. nimoy, but i would just like to thank you for ansering all our questions and just overalll being a freindly guy. it was great to have my question ansered, and i hope we didn't drive you crazy. ;D

i would also like to say you've got me somewhat interested in voice acting, and if you do see this, would you happen to know what kind of education is needed for it? thanks!

 

[Pazuzu]

Re: Information, Post Your Questions, and Answers

Asked this in the DDS announcement thread, but it's on page 19 so you probably wouldn't see it there.

I'm aware that you'll be busy during the production etc. of DDS but would you be available for comment as the episodes air? I ask because I'm doing my thesis on anime localisation and I'm taking Digimon and Naruto as the two extremes of localisation types. So it'd be fantastic to get the director's point of view on parts of episodes or overall.

 

[koko1]

OMG i can't believe I'm doing this! i have some questions to ask you.

i would like to ask you is who is your favorite digimon? mine is gabumon i think he ROCKS!

thank you sooooo much i never thought i would be able to do this but all thanks to you and WtW i can now.

(sorry for my bad spelling, hope it doesn't stop you)
good luck

 

[lost in thought]

No, it is not thanks to WtW, because the likelihood of you receiving an answer is nil; considering this thread has been over since January. It's done. Read dates.

(and yes, I know Pazuzu replied to it in May, be we ignore Administrator posts. They do not count for bumping.)