Omni Productions

"Darnit! I'm gonna send them to Hell."

Omni Productions is a Hong Kong-based company responsible for the hilariously bad English-language dubs of the Japanese Generation 1 animated series: The Headmasters, Super-God Masterforce, and Victory. Founded by Rik Thomas, the studio's other work includes the Heisei and several Millennium era Godzilla movies, '70s through mid-'80s Shaw Brothers films, Jackie Chan's Police Story, Riki-Oh: Story of Ricky, many '80s "Ninjasploitation" films, Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins, and several dubs of various anime series made for the Animax network, such as Ranma ½, Dragon Ball, Detective Conan, InuYasha, and Cardcaptor Sakura.

The dubs

"Something strange has happened! Now there are two Optimus Primes!"

Fortress Maximus has come himself! Okay! Then I shall get Fortress Maximus to fight me! Heh heh huh! Scorponok says terrible things, "Life Can Be Sacrificed for Peace on Earth"

Known variously as the "RTM 1 dub" (from the Malaysian TV channel on which the dubs were first discovered) the "Star TV dub" and the "Singapore dub" (from the Singaporean TV channel STAR TV, on which they grew to prominence), Omni Productions' dubs of these three series have gone down in infamy for a combination of reasons. Clearly produced by a small number of people with little knowledge of the source material, the English translation is...rudimentary at best. Although it is often touted as being wholly inaccurate, it actually manages to render the intent of the dialog correctly more times than not. It is, however, the way in which it proceeds to mangle the translation so much with clumsy English, run-on sentences, non sequitur lines and just generally inappropriate language that creates its distinctively surreal and hilarious qualities. Of particular note is the replacement of Japanese swear words and curses with incredibly tame English accusations such as the recurring "Darn" and "You are an evil man!" This is further "enhanced" by the vocal performances themselves: due to an allegedly extremely tight budget and deadlines, the first take was seemingly used for almost every line read, no matter how stilted or awkward, resulting in some absolutely legendary deliveries. In addition, the shows were not dubbed in their original order (Masterforce was dubbed first, followed by Victory and finally The Headmasters), which led to even more inconsistencies with character names and terminology.

Characteristics

'Billy, you okay?'
'Not really... find the Power Pack!'Hot Rod and Blaster's touching final conversation, "The Tale of Master Star"

Generally, the dub employs American names and terminology, but in some instances, the scriptwriter(s?) were apparently unable to find the correct equivalent, leading to the dub's single most famous attribute: its collection of new names for various characters and concepts. Some of these names are based on a misinterpretation of the Japanese pronunciation of the names, and some are pulled straight out of thin air. Some of the more ludicrous instances include:

• Blaster as "Billy"
• Metroplex as "Phillip"
• Jazz as "Marshall"
• Blurr as "Wally"
• Spike Witwicky as "Sparkle"
• Carly Witwicky as "Carrie"
• The Matrix as "The Power Pack"
• Energon cubes as "Power Packs"
• Chaar as "Jollo"
• Fortress's battleship, Maximus, as "Spaceship Bruce"
• Hot Rod as Rodimus Prime (pronounced "Roadimus Prime")

"Tell me, what's your name?"
"Optimus Prime. I'm Japanese."

The process proved especially difficult for the writers when the characters had no American equivalents. This only affected a few members of the Headmasters cast, who all wound up with new names. The Super-God Masterforce cast, on the other hand, were all renamed as their American toy-equivalent characters (Ginrai as Optimus Prime, Minerva as Nightbeat, etc.), while the Japanese-exclusive characters either managed to retain their original names (Overlord, Metalhawk) or followed tradition by winding up with loony new ones. The Victory characters, meanwhile, mostly managed to keep their Japanese names, but a few still slipped through the cracks. Wacky examples include:

• Soundblaster as "New Soundwave"
• Twincast as "Blaster"
• Raiden as "Grimlock"
• Jack as "Sappo"
• Both Sixknight and Greatshot as "Sixshot"
• Browning as "B.M."
• Jan Minakaze as "Meekon"
• Dashtacker as "Batchtaster"
• Holi as "Fixit"
• Deathsaurus as "Deathsanras"
• Grand Galvatron as "Unicorn"
• Athenia as "Sydneya"

It doesn't end with the names...

• Sixshot's title "Ninja Commander" inexplicably became "Ninja Consultant".
• Characters who have a mouthplate are given "muffled" voices, evidently produced by the actors covering their mouths with their hands.
• "Wally" speaks unusually slowly (though this is forgivable, as few people can talk as fast as John Moschitta).
• Both Soundwave and "New Soundwave" speak with a single, normal voice, as opposed to the Soundwave effect we're used to, even in the original Japanese show.
• The word "idea" is consistently pronounced like "idear" by several characters, and Decepticon is sometimes pronounced by the narrator as "Decepticun", a reflection of the British and/or Australian accents of the performers involved.
• Likewise, the planet Cybertron is often pronounced as "Cyberton." In the dub of Masterforce (which was recorded prior to the dubs of Victory and The Headmasters), the planet is instead known as "Autobot", thanks as a result of a mix-up with the term "Cybertron" (the Japanese term for "Autobot"). A Hasbro Singapore executive corrected them in time for the dubs of Victory and The Headmasters.
• Characters seem unable to show even the most basic emotion convincingly.
• Sometimes the verb "Transform" is translated to "enlarge".
• Wheelie doesn't speak in rhyme.
• The Dinobots speak normally.

We could go on like this forever.

Ownership

Sunbow Productions legally acquired ownership of the Omni Productions dubs at some point prior to the company's rebranding as Sunbow Entertainment in 1995, branding every episode with the Victory opening sequence (with the English word "Transformers" masked in over the title card) and English-language closing credits. These credits were rendered in the traditional font of the original The Transformers cartoon series, and even featured the original closing theme tune from the first season. All 115 dubbed episodes are included in this Sunbow-modified form as part of the Hasbro-owned Transformers rights package for licensees.

Cast

The actors used by Omni Productions were not named in the closing credits, making their identities a mystery. A few have been identified, however:

• Simon Broad
• John Culkin
• Rik Thomas
• Jack Murphy
• Pierre Tremblay
• Elizabeth Oram
• Marc Mulloy
• Henry Coombs

Home video releases

After circulating in the fandom for years via bootleg VHS tapes, the Omni Productions-dubbed episodes saw several official DVD releases in the 21st century.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Main articles: Maverick Entertainment / Metrodome

• Transformers: Takara (2002)
• The Takara Collection Vol 1 — Transformers: Headmasters (2005)
• Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (2007)

Australia

• The Transformers: Headmasters (2007)
• The Transformers: Super God Masterforce (2008)
• The Transformers: Victory (2008)
• The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (2009)

United States

• Despite demand from U.S. based fans, the Shout! Factory releases of Headmasters, etc. do not include the Omni Productions audio tracks, due to concerns from Hasbro about their appropriateness and accuracy. Darn it!