Again, interesting information! I can see why you would do that with anime with such practices. I'd probably do the same if I watched that style of animation more often. I just assumed the producers would use professional talent so as to get the best possible product in the marketplace. You would think I'd know better considering the rather bad English dubbing on most foreign films, especially those produced primarily for Japan and China and later exported to the US.

This whole discussion is very interesting! I had no idea about any of it. Thanks for sharing! Like I mentioned before, I've only dabbled in the anime/Japanese animation a bit. Studio Ghibli and a few others. I've watched a handful this challenge and I'm glad I did. They've turned out completely different than what I was imagining and in a good way.
I forgot to mention this one for the non-fiction animation. But please correct me if I'm wrong! I totally forgot I have "Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs special" that would work, too.

Because of the low profit margins on anime, English dubbing doesn't pay much. I'm guessing that a popular show like Pokemon paid a little more than usual because of its popularity and the fact that its voice cast (at least in its first eight seasons) were all theater-trained New York actors (and did an excellent job) and tried to match the Japanese voices from the original as closely as possible. And I'm sure Studio Ghibli films pay more, although given the caliber of actors hired for Ghibli films (Patrick Stewart, Mark Hamill, Uma Thurman, Michael Keaton, Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, Cloris Leachman, James Caan, Lucy Liu, Chloe Grace Moretz, etc.), I'm guessing the name actors are willing to take a cut in pay for the prestige of doing a Ghibli film.

Speaking of which, WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE, Ghibli's most recent film, has an excellent English dub track, with a cast led by Hailee Steinfeld, Ellen Burstyn, Geena Davis, John C. Reilly and Kathy Bates. It's also a wonderful film and, dare I say it, Ghibli's best, IMHO, since PRINCESS MONONOKE.

I haven't seen that one, but all of the other walking with series are animated, so I don't see why Allosaurus would be any different.

I just finished the first episode of Marvel's Avengers Assemble. It was watchable, but nothing extremely special. It seemed like it was more of a cash in on the popularity of the movie.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was way better, dare I say, within shouting distance of JLU.

I've been working my way through another non fiction animation, Prehistoric Predators. It's not total animation like the Walking with series, but at least half of every episode is animated. I just finished the episode on the short faced bear.

While looking for something on Dish to start the challenge off with, I came across a cute show on Nicktoons, called Breadwinners. While I probably won't make any special effort to make sure I don't miss it, I would watch the show again.

I've run out of MLP: Friendship is Magic episodes again...bummer. The second half of season five isn't until September. I wonder if Netflix will get them as they're released or will have to wait until the end of the season.

I have been doing some research and have found some interesting stuff, some of which I hope to watch. I was going to start with Princess Iron Fan (1941), but decided to go with Niko: The Journey To Magika (2014) instead.

I just finished an episode of The Cleveland Show on Cartoon Network. I've only seen a couple episodes so far, but it almost seems as good as Family Guy.

Binging on my first Bob's Burgers tonight. I think I love it. Besides the obvious voice talent, I'm guessing there is some creative types from Home Movies involved, which was nearly perfect.

I just broke open my prize from the Sci Fi Challenge, and watched the first episode of Thunderbirds. I hadn't seen the show in years, but it still holds up, being a great show.

saw Transformers: The Movie (1986) over at AFI Silver - what an odd fun movie. talk about action, action, action. I was little lost on who was who, but that really didn't matter

That's understandable. New characters introduced, and old ones getting killed off and all.

I'm enjoying the Commander McBragg shorts on YouTube. I hadn't seen them in years.

It is one of my favorite animated movies. I remember watching it back in the day and being shocked at a lot of the older characters getting killed off when nothing like that really happened in the series. I guess that is one way to make room for the new toys.

So glad you're getting to use your prize from last month! Glad it still holds up, too. I've had bad luck with a couple of shows I loved as a kid that just don't hold up as I've gotten older.

I totally agree with this. It was so heavy on the action and the characters just get a bit lost.

Woke up early, and decided to start on my challenge viewing for today. I just finished Volume 4 of MASK. Got 4 discs left before I finish the show.

I finished Cowboy Bebop a couple of days ago. With the seemingly increasing appearances and screen time of the absolutely annoying (to me) character "Ed" I became less and less interested. So much so that I didn't bother with the last 3 episodes as they were on the next disc and I didn't want to bother after the last set of 6 I'd watched.

The case on the copy I received was damaged and I was going to submit a replacement request but changed my mind after the viewing and, considering I was unlikely to do a repeat viewing anytime in the future, was able to obtain a refund instead. Keep in mind that I generally dislike anime of any type and that played a large part in my decision. As the series progressed I found there were just too many tropes from that form to suit my tastes in spite of this one having possibly the fewest I've seen in a anime type series.

Maybe you should try Neon Genesis Evangelion, sure there's kids, but you get to watch them suffer. Alot.

I've seen a few Evangelion films and in each of them, there's some threat that pops up at the beginning and the only person that can possibly save the day is some kid that is naturally good at driving a robot but he's unstable or emotionally immature, so some other person on the good side doesn't think the kid should do it. The kid eventually gets better at robot driving, because he'll have caused some accidents during the first fight but at the end he saves the day and then a bunch of crazy shit happens too that might make sense if one followed the series.

They all reminded me of Robotech that did the same thing except for the crazy shit at the end like crucifixions showing up for some reason.

That being said, I didn't mind watching them once but watching others felt like rewatching the first one and I have no desire to see a different one following the same basic storyline. All I've seen out of the series is just a few of the films and I've never looked into what's gone on in the universe other that from what I've seen.

Is the regular series any different and do other films in the series have different plots? It just didn't sit right with me that a series that gave the appearance of a grand scale basically recycled itself over and over.

I just watched the movie of this and I agree about "Ed." She was the worst character. The rest of the movie was pretty good. I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I didn't watch the series as I think she'd have driven me nuts with her voice.

That is very true. Just watched the first movie and the main boy character just couldn't catch a break. His dad...yeah.

This kind of sums it up for me. The kid is whiny and annoying, though I think his dad is an ass, too. I still have the last two movies to watch so I can knock them off my "to watch" list this month, but I can't say that I'm looking forward to them.

Since I'm nearing the end of MASK, I'm debating starting another DVD series. Thunderbirds will always be a possibility anyways, because I don't lump in Blu Rays in the same group as DVD's.

I just finished another episode of Prehistoric Predators. This episode was about the Hyenaedon. After I finish this show, I rented Allosaurus on Amazon Instant Video. If there had been a buy option, I would have bought it instead.

Hmmm...a tough nut to crack you are, Bob. I'm trying to think of anime that's the polar opposite of BEBOP to recommend to you. I've had luck with civilians when I've recommended the Miyazakis, esp. CASTLE IN THE SKY and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, both theatrical films. (And make sure your grandchildren are there also.) As for series, how about a hardcore anime sci-fi nonstop action series like "Armored Trooper Votoms"? Or a straightforward historical drama series like "Rose of Versailles"? Or the Rurouni Kenshin OAV spin-offs known in the U.S. as "Samurai X"? They're the anime equivalent of Japanese samurai films. Just some suggestions.

and the one utterance of 'shit' in the movie - the kid behind me let out a little gasp


did anyone see the new Mickey Mouse short on Disney Channel tonight? - 'One Man Band' - it was pretty funny.

I've figured out a good way to approach the challenge. Every now and then, I'll do a full animation day, but for the most part, during the day I watch what I want, but come the time when everyone is in for the night, I binge on animation.