I've been meaning to make an articolo on this for a while now. As most of te know I really don't like the Nick dub and am a big fan of the 4kids version. Well I might as well share a few of the reasons why.
So the first and biggest reason; the actual dub itself. I think the scrip is kind of cheesy and boring. Where as the 4kids version is littered with jokes that are actually funny ("The quiz in last month's Teen Witch detto 'What would te do if te got to take over the whole universe?' I wrote 'You'll find out soon enough, loser,' and sent it in"). And the subtle adult references they slip in a pretty stellar to. Unlike the Nick dub which has a blatantly più childish script. Most of the fan have watched the mostra since childhood and are in their teens da now, so instead of catering to a whole new audience I think they should have actually aimed the mostra at their old and loyal fan with più adult-like themes.
The secondo thing that really gets me are the voice actresses. 4kids choose the perfect voices; Icy's was cold and cruel, mature and deep with an edge of sass. Stormy's was scratchy and slightly obnoxious. Darcy's low and seductive. Musa's più edgy and...well hip-hop(ish). Stella's was your classic beauty Queen without sounding like a little girl and Flora's soft, sweet, and innocent. Basically their voices suited their personalities so beyond well. And then there's Nick. I don't even think they tried at all; Tecna Lost the cool British accent and sounds way to similar to Bloom and Flora. All the villains sound like whiny pre-teens rather than college graduates--basically they don't even sound evil, più like typical snobby mean girls. And that's not a good thing. And don't get me started on Icy's voice actress...that one annoys the absolute crap out of me. I have nothing against Larisa, I just don't think her voice is right for Icy (she'd make a fine Mitzi). And then there's the sheer fact that they all sound pretty much the same! I don't exactly know how to put it into words...to describe how they all sound the same, but there's just this one quality each of their voices have that is similar to each other's. Again, this is not a good thing. It takes from the uniqueness of each character. 4kids did it right, every single character (even the backgrounders) had voices that were unique to them. And lastly for the vocal section of this articolo is the fact that I don't think the voice attrici are even trying. It all just sounds really fake; when the character gets hurt they always have these melodramatic moans to be upfront about it. Another thing that really comes off as fake and cheesy to me is the crying and the 'sad tone' so to speak. For one it just doesn't sound like crying to me and for secondi the sad tone doesn't even sound sad to me. As opposed to the 4kids dub where the crying was pretty realistic and te can actually hear the distress in their voices when the distress is called for.
The third thing that really has me on edge is the general plot. This is only third as Nick doesn't have as much control over it. Now I'm gonna be really outright about this; It's really pathetic when a dub that supposedly messed up the script (changing Aisha to Layla, Domino to Sparx, the Trix to the Witches, etc)
and plot as well as cut out some scenes does a better job than the original. Now I don't have anything against Rai, they had a very good script themselves. But then comes in Nick--which supposedly stuck to the plot much better than 4kids. Wait what? Are these people really trying to convince me that the dub responsible for meshing 26 episodes into 2 ora long specials (and cut out like a good half ora of the movie) stuck più closely to the plot than the dub that kept all 26 episodes? I know for a fact that if 4kids still had the rights to Winx seasons 5 and 6 would be much better (we probably wouldn't have all that 'go green' crap shoved in our faces, ruining the plot). And even if it did, at least we'd have the old voice attrici to remind us that we're still watching the same show. Season 5 in general was just a joke, a very poor attempt to use a mostra to promote going green--I don't disagree with the message, but there's a time and a place...the very inconstant time slot may have been the time, but Winx sure as hell wasn't the place. Honestly after season 3 (maybe 4, but I had a deep loathing of that season due in part to some numbskull thinking it was a good idea to right the Trix off during that season. te can't just get rid of the main villains!) the Scrivere just went down collina and the mostra became very childish. Hell, maybe it was for the best that the Trix were gone seeing as the villain decay to come in season 5 was unreal. They had so much potential with the Trix, Icy especially, and they wasted the shit out of it. Icy was such a great and merciless villain and they ruined her character very much da placing her head over heels for Tritannus. Speaking of Tritannus, his whole arc was pointless. I feel like season 5 had no connection whatsoever to the four seasons prior--didn't help that it took place on Earth. It was at that point te could start to tell that the writer has run out of ideas. And this didn't get much better in season 6. A good number of their Legindarium creatures are knock offs from other shows, and the theme song had serious references to the Anime K-On
and k-pop band SNSD's Paparazzi Musica video.
Trust me I Amore that song and I caught the reference in their them song right away. And also this;
Image credit to Uni Di Noi Winx's blog.
At least 4kids was original in its scripts and its complessivamente, generale plots. Sesaons 1-3 were very original and enjoyable and the villains were actually evil.
Moving on; ever since Nick got it's hands on the poor mostra it's become increasingly and nauseatingly childish and girly. The characters point literally everything (even the obvious) out. And Stella's fashion obsession isn't even cool anymore. I could tolerate her Amore of cloths and shopping in 4kids, but with the Nick version it's been 'Oh we're going on a boat? New outfit!' 'One episode only jungle adventure? New outfit!'. That's painful to watch. And the outfit designs are way to girly. Heels with everything, the new and rosa school uniform that looks like it's fresh out of Mean Girls. Regina George called, she wants her clothing back.
How about Tecna and Musa. We have Musa our hip-hop loving, baggy pants and sneaker clad tomboy, now running around with ridiculously long hair (that only works for Icy, please get your own hair cut...you too Darcy) and rosa mini-skirt. And Tecna, our typical and awesome group nerd who was seemingly opposed to wearing such 'silly' attire. She didn't care for keeping up with the latest trends, but here we are in season 6 where she's worrying about what to wear on her dates. And then there's the fact that everything glitters to the extreme. I Amore me some sparkles, but that shiz has me ready to drop kick my Televisione set. And also...Icy's freaking voice! To make it worse, I think the girlishness is what's really making the mostra so childish. On the other hand, 4kids managed to take a mostra with faeries and magic and fashion and still keep it badarse.
Speaking of girly fashion; the transformation overload is killing me. I swear Faragonda detto something in season 3 about the Enchantix being the highest level and hardest to earn transformation. What happened to that? Okay I'll be fair, one transformation each season is fair enough. But like 5?! Sopix, Lovix, Zoomix (was that even a thing, I don't even know anymore)? I can't even keep track of all of these. And then season 5 there's Harmonix (was there even a point to that one) and Sirenix. And now we have both Bloomix (crappy naming da the way) and Mythix. Nope. Just nope. Way too many. When I was little I used to mentally beg for the Trix to get new looks, now I'm sitting before the screen muttering "please no please no please no" in some psychological brake down induced trance.
And can we get a mention about how mostra offy the Winx have become. Okay they had to get the people of Earth to believe, fair enough. But then Bloom goes up there in season 5 and puts on a little mostra for all of Gardenia to watch, adorned with fireworks and everything. And then the fact that they use their temporary teaching job to brag about their achievements. And lets not forget how just recently in season 6 Stella ran over to the students of Limphea college and blasted a pile of autographed foto in their faces without any permission o requesting. That never happened in 4kids. In fact the Winx hated on Icy for upholding such an inflated ego.
And lastly, for now, Nick's means of promoting the show. Between the lack of ads about the new episodes and the vast amount of hiatuses te can flat out tell that Nick doesn't care about the show. I don't even know when the new episodes premire, I have to find out online as Nick is too preocupied with advertising for that episode of Spongebob that we've all seen like 10 times to care about Winx. 4kids on the other hand seemed to really enjoy owning Winx. The staff took the time to type up blogs for each main character (Trix too) on their site and decorated (in a sense) the Winx webpage on holidays.
Seriously, anyone remember this. They even Revamped it for April Fool's day, I would know, I was super excited to see 'the Trix have taken over the site' sprawled across the scene. Sure Nick has a mini webpage for Winx but it's just like all the other standard Nick ones with a few games (which 4kids also had) and such--never revamped, never had character blogs. As for advertising; I can never find this (but lord have I been looking, let me know if anyone found any of these) 4kids would actually do voice overs advertising for Winx. I remember one Valentine's giorno they actually had Icy and Stormy's voice attrici do a little skit about Icy smugly bragging about all the chocolates boys bought her and Stormy muttering "you haven't't had a boyfriend in years". Please tell me this was a thing and that I wasn't just imagining it o remembering it wrong. And after the skit they would announce 'watch Winx Saturday 7:00...6:00 central." Come on, if that's not dedication what is?
Long story short, it's a darn shame 4kids Lost the right to Winx and an even bigger shame that Nick ruined the mostra so greatly. That in mind I Amore this mostra loads, I simply miss the version I grew up with.
So the first and biggest reason; the actual dub itself. I think the scrip is kind of cheesy and boring. Where as the 4kids version is littered with jokes that are actually funny ("The quiz in last month's Teen Witch detto 'What would te do if te got to take over the whole universe?' I wrote 'You'll find out soon enough, loser,' and sent it in"). And the subtle adult references they slip in a pretty stellar to. Unlike the Nick dub which has a blatantly più childish script. Most of the fan have watched the mostra since childhood and are in their teens da now, so instead of catering to a whole new audience I think they should have actually aimed the mostra at their old and loyal fan with più adult-like themes.
The secondo thing that really gets me are the voice actresses. 4kids choose the perfect voices; Icy's was cold and cruel, mature and deep with an edge of sass. Stormy's was scratchy and slightly obnoxious. Darcy's low and seductive. Musa's più edgy and...well hip-hop(ish). Stella's was your classic beauty Queen without sounding like a little girl and Flora's soft, sweet, and innocent. Basically their voices suited their personalities so beyond well. And then there's Nick. I don't even think they tried at all; Tecna Lost the cool British accent and sounds way to similar to Bloom and Flora. All the villains sound like whiny pre-teens rather than college graduates--basically they don't even sound evil, più like typical snobby mean girls. And that's not a good thing. And don't get me started on Icy's voice actress...that one annoys the absolute crap out of me. I have nothing against Larisa, I just don't think her voice is right for Icy (she'd make a fine Mitzi). And then there's the sheer fact that they all sound pretty much the same! I don't exactly know how to put it into words...to describe how they all sound the same, but there's just this one quality each of their voices have that is similar to each other's. Again, this is not a good thing. It takes from the uniqueness of each character. 4kids did it right, every single character (even the backgrounders) had voices that were unique to them. And lastly for the vocal section of this articolo is the fact that I don't think the voice attrici are even trying. It all just sounds really fake; when the character gets hurt they always have these melodramatic moans to be upfront about it. Another thing that really comes off as fake and cheesy to me is the crying and the 'sad tone' so to speak. For one it just doesn't sound like crying to me and for secondi the sad tone doesn't even sound sad to me. As opposed to the 4kids dub where the crying was pretty realistic and te can actually hear the distress in their voices when the distress is called for.
The third thing that really has me on edge is the general plot. This is only third as Nick doesn't have as much control over it. Now I'm gonna be really outright about this; It's really pathetic when a dub that supposedly messed up the script (changing Aisha to Layla, Domino to Sparx, the Trix to the Witches, etc)
and plot as well as cut out some scenes does a better job than the original. Now I don't have anything against Rai, they had a very good script themselves. But then comes in Nick--which supposedly stuck to the plot much better than 4kids. Wait what? Are these people really trying to convince me that the dub responsible for meshing 26 episodes into 2 ora long specials (and cut out like a good half ora of the movie) stuck più closely to the plot than the dub that kept all 26 episodes? I know for a fact that if 4kids still had the rights to Winx seasons 5 and 6 would be much better (we probably wouldn't have all that 'go green' crap shoved in our faces, ruining the plot). And even if it did, at least we'd have the old voice attrici to remind us that we're still watching the same show. Season 5 in general was just a joke, a very poor attempt to use a mostra to promote going green--I don't disagree with the message, but there's a time and a place...the very inconstant time slot may have been the time, but Winx sure as hell wasn't the place. Honestly after season 3 (maybe 4, but I had a deep loathing of that season due in part to some numbskull thinking it was a good idea to right the Trix off during that season. te can't just get rid of the main villains!) the Scrivere just went down collina and the mostra became very childish. Hell, maybe it was for the best that the Trix were gone seeing as the villain decay to come in season 5 was unreal. They had so much potential with the Trix, Icy especially, and they wasted the shit out of it. Icy was such a great and merciless villain and they ruined her character very much da placing her head over heels for Tritannus. Speaking of Tritannus, his whole arc was pointless. I feel like season 5 had no connection whatsoever to the four seasons prior--didn't help that it took place on Earth. It was at that point te could start to tell that the writer has run out of ideas. And this didn't get much better in season 6. A good number of their Legindarium creatures are knock offs from other shows, and the theme song had serious references to the Anime K-On
and k-pop band SNSD's Paparazzi Musica video.
Trust me I Amore that song and I caught the reference in their them song right away. And also this;
Image credit to Uni Di Noi Winx's blog.
At least 4kids was original in its scripts and its complessivamente, generale plots. Sesaons 1-3 were very original and enjoyable and the villains were actually evil.
Moving on; ever since Nick got it's hands on the poor mostra it's become increasingly and nauseatingly childish and girly. The characters point literally everything (even the obvious) out. And Stella's fashion obsession isn't even cool anymore. I could tolerate her Amore of cloths and shopping in 4kids, but with the Nick version it's been 'Oh we're going on a boat? New outfit!' 'One episode only jungle adventure? New outfit!'. That's painful to watch. And the outfit designs are way to girly. Heels with everything, the new and rosa school uniform that looks like it's fresh out of Mean Girls. Regina George called, she wants her clothing back.
How about Tecna and Musa. We have Musa our hip-hop loving, baggy pants and sneaker clad tomboy, now running around with ridiculously long hair (that only works for Icy, please get your own hair cut...you too Darcy) and rosa mini-skirt. And Tecna, our typical and awesome group nerd who was seemingly opposed to wearing such 'silly' attire. She didn't care for keeping up with the latest trends, but here we are in season 6 where she's worrying about what to wear on her dates. And then there's the fact that everything glitters to the extreme. I Amore me some sparkles, but that shiz has me ready to drop kick my Televisione set. And also...Icy's freaking voice! To make it worse, I think the girlishness is what's really making the mostra so childish. On the other hand, 4kids managed to take a mostra with faeries and magic and fashion and still keep it badarse.
Speaking of girly fashion; the transformation overload is killing me. I swear Faragonda detto something in season 3 about the Enchantix being the highest level and hardest to earn transformation. What happened to that? Okay I'll be fair, one transformation each season is fair enough. But like 5?! Sopix, Lovix, Zoomix (was that even a thing, I don't even know anymore)? I can't even keep track of all of these. And then season 5 there's Harmonix (was there even a point to that one) and Sirenix. And now we have both Bloomix (crappy naming da the way) and Mythix. Nope. Just nope. Way too many. When I was little I used to mentally beg for the Trix to get new looks, now I'm sitting before the screen muttering "please no please no please no" in some psychological brake down induced trance.
And can we get a mention about how mostra offy the Winx have become. Okay they had to get the people of Earth to believe, fair enough. But then Bloom goes up there in season 5 and puts on a little mostra for all of Gardenia to watch, adorned with fireworks and everything. And then the fact that they use their temporary teaching job to brag about their achievements. And lets not forget how just recently in season 6 Stella ran over to the students of Limphea college and blasted a pile of autographed foto in their faces without any permission o requesting. That never happened in 4kids. In fact the Winx hated on Icy for upholding such an inflated ego.
And lastly, for now, Nick's means of promoting the show. Between the lack of ads about the new episodes and the vast amount of hiatuses te can flat out tell that Nick doesn't care about the show. I don't even know when the new episodes premire, I have to find out online as Nick is too preocupied with advertising for that episode of Spongebob that we've all seen like 10 times to care about Winx. 4kids on the other hand seemed to really enjoy owning Winx. The staff took the time to type up blogs for each main character (Trix too) on their site and decorated (in a sense) the Winx webpage on holidays.
Seriously, anyone remember this. They even Revamped it for April Fool's day, I would know, I was super excited to see 'the Trix have taken over the site' sprawled across the scene. Sure Nick has a mini webpage for Winx but it's just like all the other standard Nick ones with a few games (which 4kids also had) and such--never revamped, never had character blogs. As for advertising; I can never find this (but lord have I been looking, let me know if anyone found any of these) 4kids would actually do voice overs advertising for Winx. I remember one Valentine's giorno they actually had Icy and Stormy's voice attrici do a little skit about Icy smugly bragging about all the chocolates boys bought her and Stormy muttering "you haven't't had a boyfriend in years". Please tell me this was a thing and that I wasn't just imagining it o remembering it wrong. And after the skit they would announce 'watch Winx Saturday 7:00...6:00 central." Come on, if that's not dedication what is?
Long story short, it's a darn shame 4kids Lost the right to Winx and an even bigger shame that Nick ruined the mostra so greatly. That in mind I Amore this mostra loads, I simply miss the version I grew up with.
