James Marsters Says Dragonball Not Sticking To Original
Posted by Rodneyon 14. 07. 2008in News Chat
As with any adaptation of a TV Series to the big screen there are changes. The purists stomp their feet barking at the inconsistencies like an under socialized comic book collector who hangs out in the shop to debate. Like it matters. Well some of the more die hard anime fans are about to be in an uproar again as the hotly debated adaptation of Dragonball heads to the big screen.
Now one of the lead stars of the film James Marsters has come out to reveal that there are going to be plenty of changes, but he is still confident.
James Marsters, who plays the villainous Lord Piccolo in the movie, recently told the Japanese magazine Jump Square (via the Dragonball movie site) that there are plenty of changes. “Definitely the story of this movie is different from the original.” Uh oh. “But it’s a necessary change,” continues Marsters, “because we need to condense the long story of the original for a movie.”Another bad sign for the purists is Marsters’ admission that “some characters in the original don’t appear in the movie.” — Besides, as Marsters points out, “Though there are differences between the two, I think it is all right if the core part of Dragonball remains.”
Hopefully, that’ll be good enough for the die hards and the newcomers, as well.
The casting has already been challenged but the real fans are upset over the omission of some of the characters that started out the Dragonball saga, and how some of the characters that didn’t arrive until Dragonball Z (the second volume in the story) are going to be introduced or referenced.
There is a LOT of story in Dragonball. They are trying to condense five American seasons of the series to one movie. And they want it to be a good story that works on screen. They are not attempting to retell the Dragonball story, or continue where the cartoon left off. This is all new stuff. Personally I have no emotional investment in Dragonball so I fall in their target demographic. If they ONLY wanted the Dragonball fans to be drawn to this, they could have gone purist. As it is, they are hoping to capture the spirit of the anime and make something new from it.
As a die hard Transformers fan I have seen MANY incarnations over the years, and honestly I think the franchise is better off for it. I am not a fan of all of the variations, but at the core it is still Transformers. The movie is just one more version. Perhaps the same could be said about Dragonball. You can still be a fan of the movie continuity as well as the anime continuity, or the manga line etc. Marsters is content that the spirit of Dragonball is still there, so the fans can appreciate it in parallel.
This post was written by :
Rodney who has written 8899 posts on The Movie Blog
visit author's website | Contact the Author
“The purists stomp their feet barking at the inconsistencies like an under socialized comic book collector who hangs out in the shop to debate. Like it matters. ”
——————————
You are essentially MOCKING everyone who comes to The Movie Blog. We all hang out at this site in order to debate (our love of films and film culture). Thanks.
I do so with tongue in cheek Jim. I am an avid comic collector and have engaged in such debates.
And there is a big difference between the under socialized purist who flings poo at anything that doesnt live up to his standards and open discussion and debate about a book or movie.
I think any changes to a comic book like Dragon Ball are necessary.
The first Dragon Ball comic ran over 17 volumes which are about 190 issues.
Cuts are bound to happen…
When making an adaptation for this, some characters are left out because:
a) They are too bizarre and unrealistic to incoporate into live-action(like the shape-shifting Poar and Oolong, though elements from these characters where translatted into another villains that appears here, Mai);
b) In the big scheme of the movie are they’re just pointless, this is a story of Goku, first and foremost, through a somewhat Hero’s Journey-style, A New Hope-like type adventure, we have the wise old man, Master Roshi who will teach him to become a true master, in this context, Krilin would be entirely pointless, the same goes for Tien and Caos;
A lot of people debate over Goku being a high-school finalist, but in a way there’s nothing wrong with that.
The notion of a live action Goku that at that age can’t tell the difference between a man and a woman(an early running gag in the comic) or event do simple math would be insulting to the character itself.
It might fly in the comics and the TV show, but do you really want that in a live action movie?
Master Roshi’s design changes are also interesting, but for our sakes, in the comic, this character would resemble a cross between an escapee from the nut house and a pedophile.
I could go on… but you know where I’m getting at.
Fair enough, Mr. R. I do love to hang at the local comic purveyor’s shop and dish on comics… not to relay why they suck or how i could do better, but rather to gather more info and get differing opinions.
I am with you on the different TF incarnations too. This newest one is very “anime” and jsut comes off too silly for my tastes… The last cartoon (2-3 years ago) wasn’t bad, but they tried to cram too much back story into it. ANd all in all they are all too “kiddy”… I know they are looking for kids to like it, but just because you want a family friendly fare doesn’t mean it has to be childlike.
NOW, let me tell you how i could do DB better… ;-)
i agree. it’s quite impossible to stick to the original. with so many bizarre characters, i wish Guillermo del Toro took a stab at this.
I actually dig the current Transformers Animated series but mostly because I am enjoying it alongside my kids.
The Energon and Cybertron versions were far too pokemon’d and over the top goofy. This new one has some of that still, but it is about the bots, not the team of kids with their mini bots. lol
I honestly don’t know how they COULD do a Dragonball movie without major changes, so I think I am with Marsters on this one. As long as the core part remains.
I think Hollywood has to learn that some properties simply can’t be turned into live-action movies, even with all the special effects in the world and I guess they have to learn it the hard way.
SPEED RACER was example number one and DRAGONBALL will be number two. Let’s hope that WATCHMEN won’t fall into this category as well.
I’ve always found the whole Dragonball thing to be incredibly boring and never saw the big deal, but I was still shocked as all hell that one of the main actresses in this film was from the fucking REAL WORLD.
That alone made it pretty clear to me this movie isn’t going to be all that great. To me at least.
In Dragonball’s case, change is good.
The show’s got a story and mythology that’s about as well-imagined as “Star Wars” or “Lord of the Rings,” but the main problem is that it was all executed very poorly. As a result, you’ve got people joking about retarded attack names, constipated Super Saiyans, and how it takes ten episodes for someone to open a fridge. Anyone who doesn’t take the time to sit through every episode (all 5 million of them) will completely miss why it’s appealing in the first place.
With “Dragonball,” I’m hoping for more “Transformers” than “Speed Racer.” Something that re-invents the franchise just enough to get everyone interested in it again.
With dragonball obviously you need to re-invent the core ideas and translate them into live-action. If you try to mirror the comic/cartoon, it will always fail. I however would be much more interested in a DragonBall Z movie that did this.
And if this is a success, you can be sure we will see Dragonball 2 which will likely lean towards the overall story of Dragonball Z
I just cant see this having any kind of success, so I doubt we will see a second one, but lately it seems the only movies coming out are ones with a predecessor.
The source is the Dragonball movie site. There’s also a new set report up on my site as well, we get this stuff before anyone ;)
im 22 and cartoons made up a huge amount of my childhood….my father (RIP) and I watched GI Joe, Transformers, and Dragon Ball (Z) all the time, and i remember it with much fondness….my biggest problems with these new hollywood releases based on old cartoons (gi joe, tformers, dragon ball) is that they are changing the things that mad those shows great….
michael bay couldve made his corny robot blockbuster, it didnt have be transformers, for me i would have liked the movie better if it was called something else. the name that comes with these titles mean something to some fans…im not a rabid in house fanboy but it does dissappoint me when people take things that have a special place in my mind and turn them into something else..
and now the goofy, whimsical, funny, fantasy that is dragon ball, is being turned into a high school emo pos…and please dont tell me this had to be done…as someone said before in del torro was attached we could’ve seen oolong, pu’ar, and krillin. the lather being a major character….why cant goku be a young warrior roaming the world, why cant yamcha still be a desert thief….these changes dont need to be made…and i think sticking to the original story and feel of the original would make for a better movie…sorry…rant over
james masters doesnt look like hed be a bad goku you guys…better then justin ass lick anyways
and yes the story must change because its not a 30 episode series people its a 2 hour movie (isnt this obvious?)
as long as they dont bastardize the characters or change the story too much like chris pointed out
btw i know he wont be goku- i know hes going to be piccolo. im just saying..he looks like he can pull off a goku
i personally would like to see marsters to pull off a vegeta, he’s got that arrogant look and he’s an awesome actor.
The “crazyness” drew in the children. It was the wacky side of the show that made kids want to watch it.
No one could “do justice” to the imagery of the cartoon because people dont look anything like that. Goku would have to be 5 feet tall and 250lbs to look like he did, and frankly that hair might pass for a cartoon, but on a real person… forget it. That would be retarded.
I think the movie will be fine because it is an adaptation. If this was supposed to be a direct link, then it would be killing it. No movie based on a cartoon ever keeps it all the same. Not because they don’t want to. They cant. What works for a toon wont work for a real person.
This damn movie will suck which is too bad!! :( He won’t even look like Piccolo!! :(
I don’t know why there’s too much whining going and the freak’n movie is not even out yet. Remember guys this is a HIgh Budget Film, theres more to the movie that we dont know yet, we just need wait either we like it or not. So whiners, cry babies and fans alike just sit back and relax and quit whining. We’ll judge this movie when its out.
I remember when all the Transformers whining was going on, where is it now? maybe there is still some, but cmmon its a great movie, seeing Optimus Prime and the rest of Autobots and Decepticons look so real, just like what every fan have dreamed of seeing. There favorite cartoon, or comics in real life. So why can’t be Dragonball be thesame way? This is just another version of DB, but this one is based on the real World.
I wonder why they let him say this.
Now that he spilled the beans on the movie, every Dragonball fan and every country where Dragonball’s seeped into the culture are simply going to boycott it.
They “let” him say it because he lives in a country that exercises freedom of speech.
What he said is nothing to worry about for Dragonball fans. And nothing he said was a real surprise. But some people will read the worst of it and foolishly boycott a movie based on passing statements.
Did you really think 5 seasons of storyline and every last character who ever made an appearance was going to be in a 90 minute feature film?
More proof of the freedom of paying disrespect to other cultures in one particular country
Kracken, please for the love of god, tell me just how THIS now qualifies as racist? And yet another accusation from behind the safety of your fake email account.
He is saying that despite the changes, they were necessary. He is also confident that the fans will still like it.
But you think thats disrespectful to an entire culture that they didnt try to include 5 seasons of stories?
Rodney, I think what Kracken believes is racist is the fact that the majority of the cast in Db is Asian whereas the main character is Caucasian. Seeing that Goku is based on a character in Chinese Mythology, it would seem that the main character in the film should be Asian, no? So, before you start typing, say your sentences out loud to check whether you sound like an Ameri- I mean idiot… I quote “But you think that’s disrespectful to an entire culture that they didn’t try to include 5 seasons of stories?” So wrong, so, so very wrong. Come on, use your brain. I can guarantee you that not all Db fans would be slighted by the fact that not all the characters or seasons would be accounted for in the movie. The dismissal of seasons is not enough to make fans weep, but the insertion of an unworthy actor is.
Malachi…. the majority of the cast that IS Asian are being played by asians. Goku was not asian, he is an alien that people falsely decide was asian looking because it was chinese mythology on a japanese show.
I don’t look like an idiot because you have formed an opposing opinion so please becareful to read what you type before you make stabs at the american culture calling them idiots on mass with your false pretense of slipping the tongue in text.
Your opinion of an “unworthy actor” is not an offense to an entire culture (which only a very small percentage are dragonball fans) when you have no clue as to the final performance of this actor. He might suck, but you are just making assumptions before you have seen the movie.
There is nothing in Dragonball that is an offense to the Asian culture just because someone wrongly assumed that all cast had to be played by asians.
I wonder how can someone get the stupid idea that I’m being racist when they are assuming everything about the world from a caucasian’s standpoint.
No, YOU assume that we think everything in the world is from a Caucasian’s standpoint.
No one is complaining about the Asian characters being played by Asians. After all, from the tainted shallow minded caucasian’s point of view we should have white actors play them too.
Your statements come out as racist when you assume that because a white guy is playing the pale skinned tail sporting ALIEN, that its wrong.. because it should be an asian playing him.
You are making a pre-judgement against the casting based ENTIRELY on race. That is racism.
He might suck, but it won’t be because of the colour of his skin. It will be because he couldn’t act. But then he might be the only good thing in the movie. We don’t know. We haven’t seen the movie yet. Your judgment is wholly because he is white and you assume Goku was Asian.
Yeah, as if choosing a white guy who cannot act over an asian guy who looks much more like Gokuu isn’t by itself racist.
BTW, Rodney, why do you have to start by calling everyone criticizing Chatwin racist? No one brought up any race arguments before you did.
So you have already decided that EVERY ASIAN ACTOR can act better than Chatwin? And there is STILL no justified reason why the ALIEN MONKEY BOY should be Asian. Its never be said, hinted or even illustrated that he is Asian.
You keep dodging that and keep ranting about how this movie will suck because they hired a white guy. Yeah. Hollywood conspiracy. They are attempting to discredit all Asian cultures by pissing on a kiddie toon and making the ALIEN LEAD be played by a white guy.
I dont call anyone who crticizes chatwin racist. I call the people who ignorantly assume the movie will be bad because he is WHITE a racist. Because that is what it means to be a racist. Prejudice based on skin colour.
Why do you keep thinking the alien is an asian?
The character Goku is based on is the Monkey King from “Journey to the West”, a Chinese folktale, so clearly he is suppose to be somewhat Asian. If Toriyama-Sama retold the story in his manga, he would have been heavily condemned and the tale he created would have probably been boycotted. Obviously he didn’t want or need the disparagement and ridicule so he said that Goku came from space- end of problem? No… Some people will argue, for Goku in the live action film, that because he is from outer space, he is not Asian. Ok, ok, fine, we should settle for a Caucasian alien rather than an Asian alien… Why again? Give me a good reason, please.
Have you seen The Forbidden Kingdom? Sun-Wukong (whom Goku is based on) is portrayed by the mighty Jet Li- Oh snap!!! I just realised… he is asian… Whereas Chatwin isn’t… 7 months of training and he’s still going to use a stunt double? I don’t understand why they couldn’t use a person who has studied martial arts to play Goku. Chatwin playing Goku is like Denzel Washington playing Batman. ***EPIC FAIL***
And which martial arts is it that has Goku the ALIEN not asian shooting energy from his fists and flying?
Just curious.
And the character of Goku is NOT based on the monkey king.
Epic Fail.
What nonsense!!! You evidently are not a fan of DB for the reason that EVERY DB fan knows for a fact that the foundations of Goku were bloody based on Sun Wukong aka the Monkey King from Journey to the West!!! He’s just not as monkey-like (furry you know), he even turned into the Oozaru- in case you don’t know, it’s a were-monkey. Stop being foolish and gain the will power to at least do some investigation into the characters before you question a fan!!!
Oh yeah, and also, get your head out of the clouds. There are no martial arts which involve flying!!! But there are MANY which involve manipulating spiritual energy aka Qi/Chi or Ki if you’re Japanese… Qi is a didactic concept in many Chinese, Korean and Japanese martial arts. But I wouldn’t expect someone like you to know it. I’ve been studying 6 different martial arts since I was 8 and I still study them because of people like Goku/TMNT/Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan/Tony Jaa/ Chuck Norris. Here are some examples of those martial arts which involve influencing Qi: Aikido, Shen Chi Do, Kung Fu and Wushu. ***Curiosity absolved***
Goku is totally based on Sun Wukong… bakayarou… How could you not know that? He even turns into a massive monkey (Oozaru).
“And which martial arts is it that has Goku the ALIEN not asian shooting energy from his fists and flying?” LOL!!! R U SERIOUS??? OMDZ!!!! Only an american could come up with that… Jesus… That is too funny, listen mate, that flying only exists in movies okay? Peter Pan does not exist and you can’t fly on clouds. Ahhh… that made my day!!! Thanx :) !!!
Guess I dodged that bullet Justin…. Im Canadian.
And this fictional character… which you claim is based on a monkey would explain the tail, and that his legend started in Japan in MYTH doesn’t automatically identify his nationality.
So which is it… the monkey, the alien, the were monkey.
Still not seeing how all this means he MUST be played by an Asian?
People of Earth! Lend me your energy!
I’m gonna drop a Spirit Bomb right on top of this bitch!