Agapio Racing Team Oy (also known as Nordic Agapio) was a Finnish dubbing company that dubbed a number of cartoons for VHS release and Finnish television, primarily MTV3 and Nelonen. They also did regular dubbing of many cartoon releases by Future Films. The company became notorious for the lack of immersion and professionalism, even more so than Golden Voice.[1] The company eventually disassembled in 2002 after their last dubbing effort, Digimon Adventure, was taken over by Tuotantotalo Werne following public outrage (Only for the last half of the second season being aired in its original language with Finnish subtitles).

Agapio Racing Team cast is sometimes referred to as "Digimon cast" after their work on Digimon, by people and fans who don't necessarily know their names.

About the company edit

Just as Golden Voice before it, Agapio Racing Team has received mixed to negative opinions, mostly for their voice actors being accused of lacking immersion 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. Some foul language was also used in Digimon dubs.[2] The actors were mostly teenagers who were inexperienced. The quality of the scripts has been criticized as well, though a former Agapio employee stated that the translations usually came from translators outside the studio and were often nonsensical, and the breakneck speed that Agapio was forced to work at due to these delays only made things worse.[3]

Agapio also decided inexplicably to dub several theme songs, with little regard to the actors' actual singing ability and with rigidly translated lyrics.[4] Most notorious of these was the theme of Flipper and Lopaka, which aired on MTV3. Additionally the company also dubbed the singing portions of Alvin and the Chipmunks and Casper, which were later re-dubbed by Tuotantotalo Werne, while other dubs such as Golden Voice left these segments intact.

It wasn't until their Digimon dub for Nelonen caused controversy regarding the company's lack of professionalism, which led to their downfall and eventual disestablishment.

However, the company has later received a cult following, despite mixed opinions still remaining.

Actors edit

  • Pauli Talikka[5]
  • Eeva Penttilä
  • Valtteri Korpela
  • Antti Kainiemi
  • Lauri Putkonen
  • Oskari Paavonkallio

List of dubs edit

My Little Pony and The Smurfs 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.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ everything2.com https://everything2.com/title/Agapio+Racing+Team. Retrieved 2020-04-24. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[title missing]
  2. ^ everything2.com https://everything2.com/title/Agapio+Racing+Team. Retrieved 2020-04-24. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[title missing]
  3. ^ Nyt: Agapio Racing Teamin tarina: Tämä mies oli luomassa Digimonia ja muita legendaarisia dubbauksia, Jutta Sarhimaa. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  4. ^ "Agapio Racing Team, proof that in dubbing cartoons, talent mattereth not". boards.straightdope.com. 24 October 2001. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  5. ^ "Agapio Racing Teamin tarina: Tämä mies oli luomassa Digimonia ja muita legendaarisia dubbauksia". Helsingin Sanomat. 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2020-05-16.

External links edit