Save the dub.

With all the recent heated talk about Pokémon USA going to switch the voice cast, a bunch of fans have got together and started a mail campaign to help save the US dub show.

If you want to help out, just read below the image to see how you can send a letter or email to Pokémon USA stating how you feel about your beloved Pokémon Animé.



There is also an online petition located at www.petitiononline.com/pkmnRB. This petition to Pokemon USA was created by Pokemon Rebirth and written by Gemma Bright (gemma.bright@gmail.com).

As many of you know, Pokémon USA has recently taken over the licensing rights for Pokémon from 4Kids Entertainment, who have been running it for the last 8 years. However, from e-mails we received from Eric Stuart and Veronica Taylor, two of the major voice actors who have been with the dub of the show since 1998, have said that since Pokémon USA is dubbing the show from Season 9 onwards, the company has decided to hire new voice actors... not just new ones to continue such as other tv shows have done, but new actors to IMITATE the current voice actors and try and get the same sounding voices.

Apparently, the upcoming 10th Anniversary special is going to be used as a testing ground for these new voices, but the voice actors for the 9th Season have yet to be chosen, possibly using this special as a test to see what us fans think... So, there is time to save it:

Many of the fans of the Animé across the community have suggested starting a Mail-In campaign in order to convince Pokémon USA that the dub should continue to be made with the previous Voice Actors, those who have put their hearts and souls into these characters for 8 years and have become attached to the characters.

While the show will still look the same, have the same plot lines, twists and so forth, the Voice Actors are what make a show and changing the voice actors mid-stride is just wrong and, in our opinion, bad for the franshise. We need to let Pokémon USA know how we feel about the current voice actors and any possible changes they make. The way we suggest to do this is to either send an e-mail to the Pokémon Company (feedback@pokemon.com) or, preferably, to send a snail mail to:

Pokémon USA, Inc.
ATTEN: Animation Director
400 Madison Avenue
21st Floor
New York, NY 10017
United States

and

Corporate Offices
Pokémon USA
1177 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Sample letters can be found here and below by PPN+.

PokeUSA_Letter 01 (.pdf) Adobe pdf format

PokeUSA_Letter 01 (.doc) Microsoft Word format>

A working ONLINE Word Processor can be found at http://www.ajaxwrite.com/, try it if you don't have MS Word or another text tool.

More resources and supporters can be found at Save Our Voice Actors, a nice site put together by Pie, from BMG. Go on and add your name to those that support our cause.

3/22/2006

Pokémon USA, Inc.
ATTEN: Animation Director
400 Madison Avenue
21st Floor
New York, NY 10017
United States

Pokémon USA
ATTEN: Animation Director
1177 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Pokémon USA, Inc.
ATTEN: Animation Director
777 108 Ave NE #2000
Bellevue, WA 98004
USA

feedback@pokemon.com

Dear Sir or Madam:

It has come to our attention that, besides using a team of sound-alike voice actors/actresses for the 10th anniversary Pokémon special, you are also considering replacing the original voice acting cast of the series from the next season onward. As long-term fans of the dub this news has caused us much disappointment.

We, the fans, believe that replacing the main cast at such a late stage would cause interest in the Pokémon animé (and possibly the franchise as a whole) to noticeably decrease. We feel this is because many viewers enjoy watching the show just to hear their favorite voice actor or actress perform, and they wouldn't imagine the characters sounding any different.

We all love the VAs for the major characters. There are other ways to save money than to change the VAs. Making fewer edits on episodes should save quite a bit of money and time. Keep the fan base (which consists not just of kids, but of people of all age groups) strong first, then the money will roll in on its own. That way, we'll all be happy.

With this in mind, we hope that you will consider such a decision very carefully.

Sincerely,


______________________________

Please take a minute and support our beloved dub version, thanks.

There is also an online petition located at www.petitiononline.com/pkmnRB. This petition to Pokemon USA was created by Pokemon Rebirth and written by Gemma Bright (gemma.bright@gmail.com).