Trivia / Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door

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• Celebrity Voice Actor: The English dub features veteran actor Nicholas Guest (the real-life brother of Christopher Guest) as Rashid.
  • Likewise, in the original, Rashid is played by Mickey Curtis, best known in Japan as a rock singer and TV personality, in his anime debut.
• Directed by Cast Member: In the English dub, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is the ADR Director as well as Chris Riley's voice actress.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Despite at one point being widely available, in recent years the film has become incredibly hard to find as it is not available on any streaming platforms, isn't available for digital purchase, and was not included on the complete series Blu-Ray. The only current means to watch it officially is to buy an out-of-print DVD second hand, or a PAL-region exclusive Blu-Ray. It was briefly available on Tubi in 2023, but has since been removed.
• The Other Darrin:
  • In the Latin American Spanish dub, Yamil Atala voiced Spike due to his original voice actor Genaro Vásquez moving to Canada at the time.
  • The whole cast was replaced for the French dub due to being licensed by a different distributor here. This move was contested by many fans, as the series local dub is very highly regarded back there.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Once the decision was made to make the film a stand-alone interquel rather than a prequel (see What Could Have Been), it left the creative team with a specific window for telling a story with the full Bebop crew during the series. The story would have to take place at some point after the ending of Episode 9 (when Ed had joined the crew, thereby completing the full roster), but prior to the events of Episode 24 (wherein Ed, Ein, and Faye had both left the Bebop). Watanabe ultimately settled on the interim between Episodes 22 and 23.
• Role Reprise:
  • Voice actors returning from the TV series include Kōichi Yamadera as Spike, Unshō Ishizuka as Jet Black, Megumi Hayashibara as Faye and Aoi Tada as Ed.
  • The same goes for the English dub, which features Steve Blum as Spike, Beau Billingslea as Jet, Wendee Lee as Faye and Melissa Fahn as Ed.
• Studio Hop:
  • Though Sunrise was still involved, the film's animation was handled by Bones, as most of the series' staff went over to that studio after it ended.
  • While the original anime was licensed by Bandai Entertainment in North America, the film was licensed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for a worldwide release.
• What Could Have Been: Shinichiro Watanabe's original idea for a Cowboy Bebop movie was a prequel detailing Spike's time in the Red Dragon syndicate and his past with Vicious and Julia. However, he realized one of the defining characteristics of the series was the lack of exposition or backstory. Thus, he revised the movie into a standalone story - Knockin' On Heaven's Door was the result.

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