
Ocean Productions, Inc. (also known as The Ocean Group, Ocean Media, and Ocean Studios) is a well-known Canadian studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They're responsible for the dubbing of quite a few anime series, as well as a few foreign language live action films and original English language productions. They're probably most well known for their work on nearly every release in the Gundam franchise up until 2010, and for being the unofficial dubbing studio of the works of Rumiko Takahashi.
Their most prolific clients include Viz Media (who mostly nowadays use either Studiopolis or Bang Zoom! Entertainment), Geneon (now defunct), and Bandai Entertainment (now defunct), among others. They were also used by Funimation and Central Park Media in their early days. Keep in mind that the use of the voice actors in Ocean's talent pool does not mean Ocean had anything to do with the production (for example WildBrain and its legacy subsidiaries Studio B Productions, Nerd Corps Entertainment, DHX Media, and DiC Entertainment have used the Vancouver talent pool extensively, as have the other two major Vancouver animation companies Mainframe Entertainment and Atomic Cartoons); Ocean is just a production company based in Vancouver that pulls from the same voice pool the rest of the studios do (it's a very common misconception). Also do not forget that there is a non-union sister studio in Calgary, Blue Water Studios. All shows listed were recorded in Vancouver unless stated otherwise.
Not to be confused with Ocean Software, an 80s/90s video game company.
The Ocean Group has dubbed the following:
- Angel Links (Blue Water)
- Beyblade Burst (Main studio and Blue Water)
- Black Lagoon
- Cardcaptor Sakura
- Cardfight!! Vanguard (Blue Water)
- Ceres, Celestial Legend (Blue Water)
- Crest of the Stars (Blue Water)
- Death Note
- Deltora Quest (Blue Water)
- Di Gi Charat Nyo! (Blue Water)
- Doki Doki School Hours (Blue Water)
- Dokkoida?!
- Dragon Ball
- Dragon Ball (Twice. A short lived dub in Vancouver for the Pilaf saga and first movie only, recorded at BLT Productions, and another dub for all 153 eps with Blue Water)
- Dragon Ball Z (Going by the edited episode count, the main studio dubbed about 19% of the series as well as Tree of Might in affiliation with Saban and Funimation, an uncut dub of the first three Dragon Ball Z movies (including a redub of the aformentioned Tree of Might) in affiliation with Pioneer and Funimation, and a separate 61% of the series in affiliation with Westwood for Europe and later Canada. Would also continue to serve as the editing and video post-production facilities for the later Funimation in-house dub episodes, and their writers would contribute some scripts throughout the entire run.)
- Dragon Ball GT (Blue Water)
- Dragon Ball Z Kai (unreleased, but many actors have confirmed that Ocean did indeed dub it)
- Dragon Drive
- Elemental Gelade
- The Vision of Escaflowne (Bandai dub, which is included with Creator/Funimation's release as a bonus, in addition to the all-new Director's Cut dub done by Funimation for the show's 20th Anniversary)
- Fatal Fury specials and movie series
- Flame of Recca (Blue Water)
- Full Moon (Blue Water)
- Futari wa Pretty Cure (Blue Water)
- Future Boy Conan (2021 dub)
- Future Card Buddyfight (Blue Water)
- Galaxy Angel
- Galaxy Express 999 (movie) and Adieu Galaxy Express 999
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OVAs
- Gintama (starting with the third series, Gintama°, Commissioned by Crunchyroll)
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (Blue Water)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
- Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Blue Water)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (Movie used main studio AND Blue Water)
- .Hack//Roots
- Hamtaro
- Hikaru no Go
- Hunter × Hunter (Blue Water; 1999 series)
- Infinite Ryvius
- Inuyasha
- Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
- Jubei-chan (Blue Water)
- Key the Metal Idol
- Kiznaiver
- Kishin Corps
- Kurozuka
- The Law of Ueki (Blue Water)
- LBX: Little Battlers eXperience (Main studio and Blue Water)
- Magical Stage Fancy Lala (Was primarily handled by Blue Water and Saffron Henderson was the Non-Singing Voice for the titular character)
- Maison Ikkoku
- Mega Man: Upon a Star (1993) (OAV)
- Mega Man Powered Up (it's interesting to note that although many characters from the 1993 OAV and the 1995 cartoon also made an appearance in this game, none of the original actors from either series got their roles back, as it was NOT done in the main studio, but Blue Water)
- Mega Man X (Blue Water) (Mega Man X8, Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X)
- Mega Man X: Command Mission (Blue Water)
- MegaMan NT Warrior
- Monster Rancher
- My-HiME and My-Otome (Blue Water)
- Nana
- Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge
- Please Save My Earth (OAV)
- Powerpuff Girls Z
- Project A-ko (OAV)
- Ranma ½
- Ronin Warriors
- Saber Marionette J (except J Again, which was dubbed first by Animaze, J to X Blue Water)
- Scan 2 Go (Blue Water)
- Shakugan no Shana (Season 1)
- The SoulTaker
- Starship Operators
- The Story of Saiunkoku
- Strawberry Marshmallow (Blue Water)
- Tobot (All seasons, Main studio and Blue Water)
- We Love Golf
- World Trigger
- Zoids (Most seasons, Chaotic Century was at Blue Water.)
The voice actors frequently used by them have also provided voice talents for the following Western Animation, Anime, films and video games,* , including:
- A Chinese Ghost Story (Animated film)
- Ace Ventura (The animated series) — To an extent as Michael Daingerfield voices the title role.
- Action Man (Both 1995 and 2000)
- Adventures from the Book of Virtues (Third season only)
- Adventures of Mowgli
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
- ALF: The Animated Series and ALF Tales — To an extent as Tabitha St. Germain (credited as Paulina Gillis) voiced Rhonda and Augie.
- Alienators: Evolution Continues
- Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show! (Canadian Talents only)
- Baby Looney Tunes (Canadian Talents only)
- The Barbie Direct to Video films
- The Battletoads pilot
- Beat Bugs
- Being Ian
- The BFG — to some extent as Michael Adamthwaite performs Butcher Boy.
- Bibi Blocksberg (recorded at Blue Water)
- Billy the Cat
- The first three BIONICLE films
- Bob the Builder (U.S. dub of the reboot)
- The BOTS Master
- B.R.A.T.S. of the Lost Nebula
- Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars
- Capertown Cops
- Captain Flamingo
- Captain N: The Game Master
- Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot
- The Care Bears Family — To an extent as Tabitha St. Germain (credited as Paulina Gillis) voiced Swift Heart Rabbit
- Chappie
- Chuck's Choice
- Class of the Titans
- Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island (Canadian Talents only)
- Conan the Adventurer
- Corduroy note
- Corner Gas Animated
- Cosmic Quantum Ray (Canadian Talents only)
- The Cramp Twins (Canadian Talents only)
- Crash: Mind Over Mutant (Canadian Talents only)
- Cybersix (recorded at Ocean)
- Cyboars (recorded at Blue Water)
- Darkstalkers
- Dawn of War series - Both main games and all expansion packs; Canadian Talents only for the sequels.
- The Deep
- Devil Kings
- Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life? (English dub) — To a extent as Claire Corlett voiced Mavis
- Dinosaur Train
- Dino Trux
- D'Myna Leagues
- Double Dragon
- Dr. Dimensionpants
- Dragalia Lost
- Dragon Ball Super — To an extent thanks to Brian Drummond voicing Copy Vegeta.
- Dragon Booster
- The Dragon Prince
- Dragon Tales
- Donkey Kong Country — To a extent as Richard Newman voiced Green Kroc and Kong Fu
- DuckTales (2017) — To a very small extent as Andrea Libman voiced Bramble the Kelpie.
- Ed, Edd n Eddy - and any media that features the characters, including FusionFall, CN City and The Grim Adventures of the KND.
- Edgar & Ellen
- Escape from Planet Earth
- Exchange Student Zero (Series)
- Exo Squad
- Extreme Dinosaurs
- Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes
- Fast & Furious: Spy Racers — Shannon Chan-Kent appears in the second half of Season 6 as a Film Director.
- Fat Dog Mendoza
- Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (Live-action film, but utilized the voice pool for the supporting cast and extras)
- Franklin — To a extent as Richard Newman voiced Mr. Turtle
- Fullmetal Alchemist (2003 series)
- Some post-1990s Inspector Gadget projects:
- Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever
- Gadget and the Gadgetinis
- Gadget Boy & Heather — To a extent as Stevie Vallance voiced Spydra
- Generation O!
- George of the Jungle (2007) (Season 1)
- Geronimo Stilton
- G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (DiC seasons only)*
- The Godfather (Canadian talents only)
- Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Canadian Talents Only)
- Help! I'm a Fish (English dub; Canadian Talents Only)
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)
- Hero: 108
- The Hollow
- Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5
- Hurricanes
- Iron Man: Armored Adventures (this was actually recorded at Ocean)
- Most of Jetlag Productions' videos
- Jimmy Two-Shoes — Tabitha St. Germain provided the voice of Heloise, to a lesser extent.
- Jingle Bell Rock
- Johnny Test (besides James Arnold Taylor)
- Justice League — Ian James Corlett voiced a couple minor roles in two episodes.
- Kid vs. Kat
- King Arthur & the Knights of Justice
- Kong: The Animated Series
- Krypto the Superdog
- The Last Kids on Earth
- Lalaloopsy (2013 series recorded at Blue Water, Continuity Reboot We're Lalaloopsy used talent from the main studio)
- League of Super Evil
- LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale
- LEGO Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar
- LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles (Canadian Talents only)
- LEGO Marvel Avengers: Climate Conundrum
- Liberty's Kids (Canadian Talents only)
- Lion of Oz (Vancouver Talent only)
- Littlest Pet Shop (1995)
- Llama Llama (Canadian Talents only)
- LoliRock
- The Loud House — Ian James Corlett has voiced a number of minor roles
- MacGyver (1985) (Seasons 3-6) — Live-action TV series, but utilized the voice pool for the supporting cast and extras
- Mack & Moxy (Canadian Talents only)
- Madeline
- Martin Mystery
- Martha Speaks
- Marvel vs. Capcom 3 — To a small extent as Paul Dobson provided the voices of Doctor Doom and Shuma-Gorath.
- Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
- Max Steel (2013)
- Mega Man (Ruby-Spears) (recorded at Ocean)
- Michel Vaillant (recorded at Ocean)
- Molly of Denali
- Monster Beach
- Monster Buster Club (Vancouver Talent only)
- ¡Mucha Lucha! (Canadian Talents Only)
- Mummies Alive!
- My Little Pony
- My Little Pony Tales
- G3/G3.5 My Little Pony
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (talent from both the main studio and Blue Water have done voices on the show)
- Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend — To an extent as Michael Daingerfield voiced Actaeon, Pam Hyatt voiced the Jealousy Spirit, and Lenore Zann voiced Persephone.
- NASCAR Racers
- Nerds and Monsters
- The New Adventures of Peter Pan (Recorded at the main studio and Blue Water)
- Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (Canadian Talents only)
- Hulk Vs. (same as above)
- Planet Hulk (same as above)
- Thor: Tales of Asgard (same as above)
- Ninjago
- Noddy franchise:
- Teryl Rothery played Mrs. Skittles in the North American dub of Noddy's Toyland Adventures produced for The Noddy Shop.
- Several voice actors from the main studio played roles in the North American dub of Make Way For Noddy.
- The Norm of the North sequels
- Ōban Star-Racers
- One Piece Film: Strong World — Scott McNeil voices Shiki, carries over to the series itself
- Open Season: Scared Silly (Canadian talents only)
- Packages from Planet X
- Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
- PAW Patrol (Vancouver talents only)
- Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy (Canadian Talents Only)
- Polly Pocket
- [PROTOTYPE] (Canadian Talents only)
- Pucca
- Punch-Out!! (Wii) — To a extent as Richard Newman voiced Bear Hugger
- PJ Masks — To a extent as Claire Corlett is the current voice of Greg / Gekko.
- Rainbow Ruby (Canadian Talents only)
- Ratchet & Clank (2016) (Canadian Talents only)
- Rated "A" for Awesome
- Ready Jet Go!
- ReBoot
- Redwall — To a extent as Tracey Moore voiced Warbeak Sparra
- Rekkit Rabbit
- Rescue Heroes — To an extent as Lenore Zann voiced Wendy Waters
- Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy
- Robin and the Dreamweavers
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1998) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Island Of Misfit Toys
- Sabrina: The Animated Series (Canadian Talents only)
- Sabrina's Secret Life
- Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch
- Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat — To an extent as Hiro Kanagawa voiced The Foolish Magistrate
- Sailor Moon (DiC dub) — To an extent as Tracey Moore was the first voice of Sailor Moon and Toby Proctor was the second voice of Tuxedo Mask
- Salty's Lighthouse
- Samurai 7
- Sausage Party (Canadian Talents only)
- Scarface: The World Is Yours (Canadian Talents only)
- Scary Godmother
- Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed (Live-action film, but utilized the voice pool for the supporting cast and extras)
- Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century
- Silverwing
- Skysurfer Strike Force (recorded at Ocean)
- Shadow Raiders
- Slugterra
- Sly Cooper (2016)
- Space Strikers
- Spider-Man Unlimited
- Spy Kids: Mission Critical — To an extent as Sir Awesome is voiced by Richard Ian Cox
- Star Beam
- Stargate Infinity
- Stargate SG-1*
- Stellaluna (The DTV movie)
- Stone Protectors (recorded at Ocean)
- Storm Hawks
- Street Fighter
- Street Sharks (Canadian Talents only)
- Strawberry Shortcake:
- Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures
- Strawberry Shortcake: The Berryfest Princess (recorded at Ocean)
- Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City — To an extent as Andrea Libman reprises her role of Lemon Meringue from BBA
- Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures
- Super Dinosaur (Vancouver talent only)
- Super Duper Sumos
- Supernoobs
- Sushi Pack
- Tales From The Far Side
- Sylvanian Families — To an extent as Tabitha St. Germain (credited as Paulina Gillis) voiced Ashley Evergreen.
- Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation*
- The Ten Commandments (Vancouver talent only)
- Toad Patrol — To a extent as Long John Baldry voiced Mistle Toad.
- ToddWorld
- Tom and Jerry Tales
- Total Drama — To a small extent as Caitlynne Medrek of the Blue Water division voices Dawn.
- Transformers
- Transformers: Generation 2 (Commercials and show promos, with Gary Chalk voicing Silverbolt and Leadfoot in the former and narrating the latter)
- Beast Wars
- Transformers Armada
- Transformers Energon
- Transformers Cybertron
- Transformers: Go-Bots
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015) — To a extent as Ian James Corlett voiced Shadow Raker
- Trollz (Canadian Talents only)
- Tweenies (American dub) — To an extent as Tracey Moore voices Milo.
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger — To an extent as Matt Hill voices Andy.
- VeggieTales — To an extent as Lee Tockar and Brian Drummond have voiced a handful of one-shot characters.
- Video Power (The Power Team segments)
- Voltron Force
- Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad
- The Wacky World of Tex Avery (Canadian Talents only)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (Vancouver talents only)
- Warriors of Virtue
- Weird-Ohs
- What's with Andy? — To a extent as Ian James Corlett voiced Andy
- Will and Dewitt — To an extent as Richard Ian Cox voices Dewitt
- Wishfart — To a extent as Brian Drummond voices The King of the Underworld
- World of Warcraft— To an extent as Scott McNeil voices Duraos
- X-Men franchise:
- X-Men: Evolution (recorded at Ocean)
- Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) — To an extent as Mark Hildreth voices Quicksilver.
- Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (English dub; Vancouver Talent only)
- Yakkity Yak
- Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim
- Yvon of the Yukon
Some tropes that The Ocean Group is most well known for:
- Only So Many Canadian Actors: Many of their voice artists often overlap with this trope, appearing in several other Canadian-produced animated (and sometimes live-action, as is the case with Teryl Rothery and Scott McNeil) works, and occasionally with actors from the Montreal and Toronto pools (albeit mostly for animation).
- The Other Darrin: Many examples. Their dubs had issues with recasting on several occasions:
- Ranma ½: Happened with Ranma himself (both boy and girl), Kodachi Kuno (twice), Cologne, Dr. Tofu, the Jusenkyo Guide, and Nabiki Tendo (temporarily).
- InuYasha: Happened with Sora, Eri, and Kohaku in the original series, and Kagome, Sesshomaru, Lady Kaede, and (once again) Kohaku when the show was revived for The Final Act.
- Maison Ikkoku: The dub was put on hold after episode 36, and revived years later. Many voices changed, including Yusaku Godai, Ikuko, Yotsuya, Kozue, Ritsuko Chigusa, Kentaro's mother, Kentaro's father, and Kentaro himself.
- Dragon Ball Z: Happened when Funimation decided to move the dub in-house, and the entire Ocean cast was fired. Most of them came back though when their dub was revived for Canadian and European markets for the Trunks Saga onwards. Notably, they had three Gokus (Ian James Corlett, Peter Kelamis, and Kirby Morrow).
- Shakugan no Shana: Happened again, when Funimation chose to continue the dub in-house instead of getting Ocean back from the first season, which was originally licensed by Geneon, due to a 2-year long delay caused by the Geneon/Universal merger red tape that was occurring at the time.
- Project AKO: The opposite, where the Ocean cast replaced another cast after the first film, which was dubbed by Manga UK.
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Another case of Ocean taking over for another cast. The actual TV series was dubbed by the California-based Animaze, while Ocean handled the recap movies, which was technically the same material. Partial case of this and Dueling Dubs.
- Mega Man Powered Up: Due to the Calgary-based Blue Water being used as the recording studio, as opposed to the main Vancouver-based studio, everyone was recast. While some of the recasts were understandable due to some of the characters being younger than their '90's iteration (Mega Man being voiced by Cole Howard instead of Ian James Corlett, for example), some were less so (Dr. Wily being voiced Dean Galloway as opposed to Scott McNeil).
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Due to a Canadian voice actors' strike, the Ocean cast couldn't return, and the show was instead given to Ocean's non-union sub-studio, Blue Water.
- Saber Marionette J: Happened with Cherry and Luchs in the original show, and the almost entire cast for Saber Marionette J to X. Contrary to popular belief, they were not replaced with Animaze when J Again was dubbed,
because it came first.
- Monster Rancher: Happened with Genki, Golem and Monol.
- Ronin Warriors: Bizarrely happened with half the cast for episode 2 (and only episode 2), and other random members changed for one episode at a time at other points due to the tight schedule of dubbing. According to legend, episode 2 was such a bad case because many members of the cast had caught a nasty head cold that was going around Vancouver (it was eventually discovered that episode 2 was actually recorded first as a pilot, with many voices changing for the series proper, and this episode never being redubbed for consistency). Years later when the sequel OVAs were dubbed, many voices changed again.
- Madeline: Quite egregious. The titular character has a new VA and the other VAs are shuffled around or replaced with every new season of the show. Examples include Chantal Strand and Andrea Libman, among others.
- Barbie: Kelly Sheridan was retired as the voice of Barbie in DTV movies produced in Canada and was replaced with Diana Kaarina. The former did come back to do the voice of Barbie in DTV movies, but she was eventually replaced by Erica Lindbeck.
- A non-dubbing example: Dr. Robotnik had different voice actors in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Underground (Long John Baldry in Adventures and Gary Chalk in Underground). Interestingly, his voice in the pilot for Adventures was provided by Jim Cummings, who is based in Los Angeles and is otherwise unassociated with Ocean.
- The Vision of Escaflowne: Happened with the dub for the 20th Anniversary Director's Cut version. Funimation started creating an all new dub in-house with their usual voice actors, replacing the original Canadian cast. The original Canadian dub is still being included on the home video release as an added bonus.
- Beyblade Burst: Both Ocean AND Blue Water ARE The Other Darrin for the franchise as all of the previous Beyblade series were dubbed in Toronto. Though over time, they too would be replaced with actors from the LA vocal pool.
- Powerpuff Girls Z: This was understandable since the original cast of the 1998 series (i.e. Tara Strong, Tom Kenny, etc.) would've been INCREDIBLY expensive to hire for a low budget anime, as well as the fact that most of them rarely do anime dubs in general.
- Future Card Buddyfight: Due to a nearly two year-long gap between the dub going on hiatus in the middle of it's second season and resuming at the start of it's fourth season, several characters were recast, including Gao (from Sabrina Pitre to Melissa Dorsey), Kuguru (Maddie Duke to Emma Duke) and Zanya (Shawn Seward to Kas Nixon).
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: For the English version of the HD Remaster, NYAV Post will be redubbing both series (
Fridge Logic suggests they could have just made the HD Remaster sub-only to avoid having to go through the trouble of redubbing the series from scratch, or could have used Ocean's budget studio Blue Water to fill in the gaps).
- Relationship Voice Actor: Kirby Morrow and Kelly Sheridan were well known for this, regardless if their roles were main characters or minor one shots.