Agapio Racing Team
Encyclopedia
Agapio Racing Team was an infamous Finnish
dubbing company that dubbed a number of cartoons for VHS release and Finnish television on MTV3
and Nelonen
. They also did regular dubbing of many cartoon releases by Future Films. The company became notorious for their lack of emotional content, even more so than Golden Voice. This would eventually lead to the company's disassembling in the early 2000s after their last dubbing effort, Digimon
(its dubbing was taken over by Tuotantotalo Werne
, but the last half of the second season of the show has been seen in original language form, with subtitles).
before it, Agapio has received heavy criticism for the overall quality of the voice acting. The voice actors were most often accused of lacking any emotion in their performances. The recording voice-level for the dubs were often low and the actors would rarely go to any great lengths to make actions such as screaming, laughing or crying seem credible on screen.
Agapio also decided inexplicably to dub several theme songs. Most notorious of these was the theme of Flipper and Lopaka
which received wide criticism (the show aired on MTV3
at a time when Nelonen
was still a low-profile channel by comparison). Additionally the company also dubbed the singing portions of Alvin and the Chipmunks
and Casper
, once again with little regard to the actors' actual singing ability and with rigidly translated lyrics. Such segments have been dubbed by the later Tuotantotalo Werne
but were for instance left intact by Golden Voice.
However, by far the most notorious criticism came from the company's Digimon
dub, which eventually led the company to become disbanded.
My Little Pony had previously been dubbed by Golden Voice.
The themesongs of Flipper & Lopaka, Calimero and Digimon were both re-recorded for the Finnish version and noted for featuring low-level singing by the voice-crew.
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
dubbing company that dubbed a number of cartoons for VHS release and Finnish television on MTV3
MTV3
MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
and Nelonen
Nelonen
Nelonen is a Finnish commercial TV channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1989 on the HTV cable network, which name was changed first to PTV4 and then to Nelonen. It started on June 1, 1997. Nelonen, in Finnish, means the glyph of the number four. The channel is...
. They also did regular dubbing of many cartoon releases by Future Films. The company became notorious for their lack of emotional content, even more so than Golden Voice. This would eventually lead to the company's disassembling in the early 2000s after their last dubbing effort, Digimon
Digimon
, short for , is a Japanese media franchise encompassing digital toys, anime, manga and video games. The franchise's eponymous creatures are monsters of various forms living in a "Digital World", a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.-Conception and...
(its dubbing was taken over by Tuotantotalo Werne
Tuotantotalo Werne
Tuotantotalo Werne is a Finnish company that provides audio-visual productions in Finland and all across the Baltic.They are also known for a number of children's cartoon dubs made for MTV3 and Nelonen, largely supplementing the now defunct Agapio Racing Team in the early 2000s...
, but the last half of the second season of the show has been seen in original language form, with subtitles).
Points of criticism
Much like Golden Voice OYGolden Voice OY
Golden Voice OY was a Finnish dubbing company that operated during the late 80s and dubbed several cartoons that were released on VHS. Their works have at various times been released by Octagon Invest, Sesam Video, Backlund & Co and Future Films...
before it, Agapio has received heavy criticism for the overall quality of the voice acting. The voice actors were most often accused of lacking any emotion in their performances. The recording voice-level for the dubs were often low and the actors would rarely go to any great lengths to make actions such as screaming, laughing or crying seem credible on screen.
Agapio also decided inexplicably to dub several theme songs. Most notorious of these was the theme of Flipper and Lopaka
Flipper and Lopaka
Flipper and Lopaka is an animated series produced by the Australian production company Yoram Gross. It previously aired on Australia's Seven Network at various times. It currently airs on Australia's ABC3, a channel dedicated to children's television programs.- Setting :The series takes place on...
which received wide criticism (the show aired on MTV3
MTV3
MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
at a time when Nelonen
Nelonen
Nelonen is a Finnish commercial TV channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1989 on the HTV cable network, which name was changed first to PTV4 and then to Nelonen. It started on June 1, 1997. Nelonen, in Finnish, means the glyph of the number four. The channel is...
was still a low-profile channel by comparison). Additionally the company also dubbed the singing portions of Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
and Casper
Casper
Caspar, one of the Three Biblical MagiCasper may refer to:-Given name:*Casper , 5th Century ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque*Caspar Badrutt , Swiss businessman and pioneer of alpine resorts...
, once again with little regard to the actors' actual singing ability and with rigidly translated lyrics. Such segments have been dubbed by the later Tuotantotalo Werne
Tuotantotalo Werne
Tuotantotalo Werne is a Finnish company that provides audio-visual productions in Finland and all across the Baltic.They are also known for a number of children's cartoon dubs made for MTV3 and Nelonen, largely supplementing the now defunct Agapio Racing Team in the early 2000s...
but were for instance left intact by Golden Voice.
However, by far the most notorious criticism came from the company's Digimon
Digimon
, short for , is a Japanese media franchise encompassing digital toys, anime, manga and video games. The franchise's eponymous creatures are monsters of various forms living in a "Digital World", a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.-Conception and...
dub, which eventually led the company to become disbanded.
Famous dubs
- Montana JonesMontana Jonesis a comedy adventure anime television series which was broadcast in Japan on NHK from April 2, 1994 through April 8, 1995. Studio Junio and REVER created the 52 episode series as a joint production. Montana Jones has a similar atmosphere to Sherlock Hound, a joint of Rever and TMS Entertainment...
- My Little PonyMy Little PonyMy Little Pony is a brand of toy ponies marketed primarily to girls produced by the toy manufacturer Hasbro. These ponies can be identified by their colorful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks...
- Calimero & Friends
- Casper (1990s cartoon)
- Flipper & Lopaka
- Digimon Adventure (episodes 1-26)
My Little Pony had previously been dubbed by Golden Voice.
The themesongs of Flipper & Lopaka, Calimero and Digimon were both re-recorded for the Finnish version and noted for featuring low-level singing by the voice-crew.
External links
- I hate Agapio racing team, features sample clips.