Reviews of the Sonic franchise's voice actors

[CSD]

These are reviews I posted on MovieTome.com for the proceding voice-actors. More will be added the more I review.

--Jason Griffith [Sonic from Sonic X onward]- Rated 1/2 stars out of 5

"There are people who say that Griffith doesn't give emotion to Sonic, and he does: inappropriate sarcasm, wimpiness, phoniness, and best of all, (this is the kicker!) emotionlessness! He's not the "voice actor for Sonic;" he's the cheap replacement they gave him after zero-heartedly firing anyone and everyone with talent from the VA cast. Heck, he's not a voice actor at all; he's a fecking insult to a video game SYMBOL who's had it hard enough without Griffith. If you will openly admit that you don't care about Sonic, why do you even bother? Burn in hell, Griffith. Your Usopp sucks, too."

[I should have also added that his Shadow is bland, emotionless (and we know that Shadow isn't emotionless), and doesn't help that "emo persona" people tend to associate with Shadow (and we know even more that he's not emo.)]

--Ryan Drummond [Sonic from Sonic Adventure to Sonic Advance 3]- Rated 5 stars out of 5

"Ryan Drummond is a man of sheer talent. Not only has he given the best portrayal of Sonic the Hedgehog out of every one of the hero's VA's, (save for Jaleel White, just because Drummond wouldn't fit in White's era, and because White did a great job, too), but because he's always managed to give convincing, properly emotional, and perfectly silly performances in even his smallest of roles. From a goofy mime to a hyperactive Padres fan, from advertising casinos and organic foods to singing and dancing like a pro, (on and off-camera), Ryan Drummond is an acting gift to the world: a man who clearly loves what he does, and makes us love him for it."

--Bella Hudson [Blaze the Cat, Wave the Swallow, Tikal the Echidna (Sonic X), and Shahra the Genie, most notably]- Rated 3 1/2 stars out of 5

"Bella Hudson is one of the more respectable VA's SEGA put into the Sonic series; she gives an overall decent and convincing portrayal of her characters. My only real problems with her is a lack of variation in her different characters' voices, and the fact that she's pretty much the 4Kids [prostitute] for the Sonic franchise: any new female character comes along, they just toss Bella into it. And, as pointed out by Spaction3 earlier [on MovieTome], I'm surprised that she actually wasn't thrown into Princess Elise's role. "


I intend to review Dan Green in the near future. Expect a good score, with points dropped for his portrayal of Knuckles. I'll explain why when it's up. Also expect the VA's of Rouge (both Lani and Kathleen, no mercy for either), as well as Tails's Amy Palant. I may just review them on here instead of MovieTome, due to reviewing there involving me needing to hear all of their roles outside of the Sonic franchise, and I don't have the resources or patience. XD

[CSD]

Here's the next batch of VA reviews, starting with, (as "promised")...

--Dan Green [Knuckles from Sonic X onward] Rated 4 1/2 stars out of 5

"Dan Green is not only a prolific voice actor for *gag* 4Kids, but he's also one of the very best VA's they've got with them, which is saying a LOT. The characters he can pull off, from the stern, serious and proud Yami/Atem to the young and gentle Yugi himself, almost always succeeds with believability shrouded in flying colors. I mean, he does Treeko, too. That's just bizarre!

However, (regretably), I'm one of the many who finds he was miscast as Knuckles the Echidna, tending to add a greater degree of gruffness, and a seemingly older "age," to Knuckles' voice than necessary. He does, however, manage commendable emotion and believability to the situations at hand; I'll give him that.

Overall, he's a talented VA in a company without enough of it. As long as he enjoys his job, which I doubt he doesn't, I urge him to keep on going. Great having you, Dan!"

--Kathleen Delaney [Rouge from Sonic X onward] Rated 1 star out of 5

"You know, I'm pretty sure Rouge outgrew that [skank] persona people were giving her LONG before Sonic X came to America, but Kathleen Delaney did nothing but drag it back in. Sure, Rouge is sexy and can be manipulative, but this is pathetic. Everyone already says that Delaney makes Rouge sound like a 40-year old smoking prostitute; I'm just driving it home a little more.

As far as her acting is concerned, it actually USED TO BE commendable; That's the only reason I give her a "1" and not a "[1/2]". Now, however, such as in Sonic '06, it's downright atrocious. Any kind of emotion she gives Rouge is completely inapproriate, whether Rouge is supposed to be shocked or angry (Delaney makes her sound HAPPY [let me dig a little deeper here: the Scepter of Darkness, or whatever, get's destroyed, when Rouge shouts like she's happy. The scepter is the only thing at the time that can stop Mephiles, THEIR ENEMY!]), or concerned about Shadow and angry that the world is willing to turn against her -arguably- closest friend, (Delaney doesn't make Rouge sound like she honestly gives half a crap about Shadow).

Actually, throughout Sonic '06, Rouge sounds completely uninterested, be it about the situation at hand, or at the fact that she's holding a freaking CHAOS EMERALD IN HER HANDS! Isn't Rouge supposed to ADORE jewels?!

All in all, Kathleen was just a terrible choice for Rouge from the beginning, but like Jason Griffith, she decided she should drag herself down even farther off the credibility charts the longer she had the role. I honestly think Spax [like with Bella Hudson, he wrote a review that shows up below mine on MovieTome] should watch some clips from the new Sonic games, (he calls Sonic '06, "Sonic the Disaster"), and update his review. I think it would be more accurate. "


I should update again today with more, including Lani Minella (original Rouge). I just wanted to get these two out of the way right now.

[CSD]

--Lani Minella [Rouge from Sonic Adventure 2 to Sonic Battle] Rated 4 stars out of 5

"Lani Minella is a perfect example of the difficulties of English dubbing.

Let me explain: in Sonic Adventure 2, with her full role as Rouge just beginning, her portrayal of Rouge was, based on the positive reviews of her fans, overrated. Rouge's voice would sometimes be either choppy, like she was trying too hard to match her voice work with the mouth movements of the character, or downright fussy and irritating.
However, when Sonic Heroes came around, and a San Francisco team took the programming reigns, her work was almost flawless: gone was the fussiness and choppyness of SA2, which coincides with being able to just act and not have to match up voice with pre-made cutscenes, (character movements is based on the VA's work in this case, not vice-versa, like with dubbing). So, yay America. (Ha!)

Quite simply, as long as she wasn't hampered by the boundaries set in the Japanese-made cutscenes, Lani pulled off a convincing and commendable Rouge that I think many of us were sad to see leave."


--Mike Pollock [Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik from Sonic X onward] Rated 5 stars out of 5

"Anyone could easily say that Mike Pollock is a worthy successor to the late Deem Bristow as the voice of Dr. Eggman, (and in some cases he does an even better job), but Mike has constantly shown that he ranks up with VA's like Dan Green as one of the very few excellent's stuck with 4Kids. Mike Pollock is nothing if not prolific: he's worked as the announcer inbetween 4Kids shows, he's done numerous commercial works, and, of course, he's a pro at anime dubbing.

Pollock continuously provides realistic, believable, and properly emotional personalities to his characters; I honestly think that he can never be miscast, (even his Ella [Sonic X] was suitable). Also, like mentioned before, I think he provides an even better job at Eggman, at least NOW, than Deem Bristow would have. Deem always seemed to provide more snarl in his voice-acting than anything else, which would tend to be irritating. Mike makes Eggman sound evil like he is, but also silly like he is; think about it: is Eggman REALLY the evil, threatening, "supergenius" he's SUPPOSED to be? No, he's just a nuisance who really isn't smart enough to realize his opponents weaknesses. (Mike also makes him talk more than unneccessarily snarl).

Besides, once you hear Pollock say [as Eggman]: "I'm like a bad rash: you can't get rid of me!", you love him for life. "

[§Tsunami§]

There was a guy who looked just like Eggman in another anime, but he wasn't a villian that time. Similar voice too (perhaps the same?)

1/2 stars out of 5 for the later Sonic? A bit harsh, eh? He wasn't a failure, I'd give him at least 3 out of 5 for a decent attempt at it.

But the old Sonic, especially from the old shows as well, is plain awesome.

My favorite voice actor of all time is Jim Cummings. I love how he voices Minsc in Baldur's Gate I and II.

[CSD]

Trust me, he deserves his 1/2 star; a 3 is way to generous from anybody. Besides, there's no way in hell his attempts were "decent."

[§Tsunami§]

Alright, alright! He isn't really good. But what if he was reading your comments about him at this very moment? How would you feel if soemone insulted you on a board?

I'm being generous so I don't hurt anyone's feelings. Olivia's feelings, to be precise.

[CSD]

Griffith has stated before that he doesn't even care about Sonic, voicing him or anything. There's very few people who actually like his voice-acting anyway. I think him reading someone who openly states why they don't like him isn't going to make a hell of a lot of difference when the majority of the world hates him already, and he's as apathetic towards it as he is.

Besides, it wouldn't faze me if I was insulted about my work in something I didn't care about -only if it was something I put my heart into. Griffith doesn't do crap, and, like mentioned before, he doesn't care about Sonic. So, really, I have no reason to level with the guy.

Edit: I'm running kind of low on ideas of who I should review next. Any suggestions from anyone?

[CSD]

A bit of a follow-up on Jason Griffith.

I just heard him doing Major Tom in Chaotic. Yeah, he can't do ANYTHING good. He still has that stupid, up-and-down speaking pattern, and doesn't sound like he's even trying. He sounds just like when he does Sonic, which is proof that he doesn't care about putting effort into his work, nor bothers trying. He's still a bad voice actor, and my rating still stands.

[Lili]

I just think that ALL of 4kids tv's actors are (yes I'm going to say it) sh1t. Tails sounds like a little girl, Cosmo voice just bugs me, Cream makes my ears bleed, Vector sounds like a guy clearing his throut, Charmy was voiced by the kid that voices Max in Pokemon(which is okay I guess), Chris' makes me go homicidal, Amy's is pure weird and annoying, Vannila(Cream's mom) sounds like an old lady(so does Rouge). I think that Espio, Tikal and Knuckles are the only decent ones. All this just says,"4KIDS TV SUX" Now I'm gonna be pissed off all day. Crap.

[CSD]

Well, I'm glad I did my part. XD

[~Megan~]

alittle harsh but they do sorta suck!