The Many Controversies of Samurai Pizza Cats: Racism, Gag Dubs & Disney Trying to Kill It!

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Samurai Pizza Cats is a controversial American animated television adaptation of the anime series Kyatto Ninden Teyandee (キャッ党忍伝てやんでえ, Cat Ninja Legend Teyandee), produced by Tatsunoko Productions and Sotsu Agency.
The series originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from February 1, 1990 to February 12, 1991 for a total of 54 episodes. Saban Entertainment picked up the North American rights to the series in 1991 and produced a 52-episode English adaption.
But while 52 episodes were produced, initially only 40 aired in the US. Why? In a word... controversy!
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[@redgrain3914]

It was years before the Internet helped me realize that the show about robot cat warriors being shot out of a giant gun on top of a feudal Japanese pizza shop WASN'T a weird dream I had when I was 13.

[@Azuris190]

same for me, but i was muuuuch younger, the memory of the opening was deep in my mind.

[@Moonbeam143]

Everybody has that one show that they think was a dream. For me it was "Wee Sing Together".

[@TheDrunkLee]

@@Moonbeam143 I just looked that up, and im sorry about your childhood

[@TheTrycehyman]

Basically the same happened for me with "The Adventures of T-Rex."

[@Posit_Zero_Blue]

It was this episode that helped me realize seeing the "power rangers" on Night Flight before they were power rangers wasn't a fever dream I had when I was 13.

[@Zorkris]

How could you not love the Pizza Cats. "They've got more fur than any turtle ever had."

[@MrNightshade2010]

funy thing was one or two of the voice actors were from the tmnt cartoon

[@yoliev.217]

And they're stronger than old cheese.... they're stronger than dirt...

[@MarthSR]

@@yoliev.217 But if you step on their tails...

[@OptimumTaurus]

@@MarthSR Then you're gonna get hurt!!

[@doodlestrudel1991]

​@@OptimumTaurusAnd they're fighting crime ALL OVER TOWN!!!

[@NelCelestine]

Ladies and Gentlemen it's time for the Samurai Pizza Cats Fanclub Oath! The Pizza Cats are Samurai, and I'd like to note: their antics take your breath away like furrballs in your throat We kittens are a special breed we never call retreat. Whenever Big Cheese knocks us down we land upon our feet. So hail to thee, oh Pizza Cats. Please ring your little bell. Although you may be pen and ink we know you'll fight like... Pizza Cats!

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

I remember hearing that somewhere else, I think they used it somewhere in the show

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

There we go. I know I'd find that somewhere in the comments.🍕🐱

[@MonoSimio]

@@andrewmalinowski6673 At the end of EVERY episode IIRC lol

[@HenshinFanatic]

@@MonoSimio yeah, right after the forcefully inserted "moral enrichment" section.

[@luissopelana]

All these years and I can recite the Spanish dub version from memory just fine.

[@blackmajic2021]

This show was big in Mexico and they did pretty good at translating it to Spanish, they even adapted the jokes and references to fit Mexican pop culture.

[@pizzarat3275]

They did that wherever the show had a specific localization because the English dub was so successful.

[@gurudeloinusual]

It was a hit in Panama. Gran Quesote, Cuervos Ninjas y el pasito Tun Tun, were some of the most absurds and hilarious names.

[@danielramsey6141]

Goddamn, Mexico really were the Lucky Ones when it came to pop-culture from Japan..

[@blackmajic2021]

@@danielramsey6141 is funny how we had all this anime shows and we didn’t know it was anime hahaha. Dragon ball, dragon ball z, dragon ball gt, sailor moon, saint saiya, mazinger z, robotech, Gundam, Dr. slump, Ranma 1/2, Astro boy, gotcha man, speed racer and so much more!

[@tigrehermano]

actually no, it was a horrible sub. the true scent of the anime was lost. it was about friendship, teamwork, justice and honor and the horrible dubs man... did you know they admitted they DID NOT KNOW HOW TO TRANSLATE so they went their own way and their own script? it was crap man. Watch it in Japanese with subtitles and see the difference. This anime was about so much positive lessons.

[@atomcraft4067]

One of my favourite cartoons growing up. There was so much innuendo with the English dub that I didn't understand at the time but I knew that it was pretty subversive for a kids show.

[@tsukiyumetan5362]

Supposedly they were drunk when they recorded the intro;)

[@PiLLbOt100]

@@tsukiyumetan5362 it's like Dan said the same thing.

[@jeffwolcott7815]

Innuendos make life lone fans, in a way.

[@andrewcarlton6196]

I am surprised that Cheeses sexual orientation and fabulous wardrobe choices did not see more episodes banded. This show made me realize what a "TV" really was.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@andrewcarlton6196 Yeah nothing like an over-the-top Paul Lynde impression for the kids. I think the early to mid-90s was probably the last time you could get away with a character like that.

[@gryphman]

Something kind of amusing is that with the proliferation of the internet, Pizza Cats began gaining a notable Japanese fan base. One of them being the show's lead character designer. The guy's made numerous Pizza Cats doujins, featuring artwork and brand new stories based on that version of the show.

[@andrewsuryali8540]

What's more amusing is that it's the Samurai Pizza Cats version that's getting a new Japanese fan base. It's totally whack to see actual Japanese otaku watching the English language series with Japanese subs.

[@andrejg4136]

@@andrewsuryali8540 it's so different that it legitimately counts as it's own version. That's why the Gridman anime have a handful of references to SSSS.

[@KhayJayArt]

Huh

[@attackofthecopyrightbots]

Very true I’ve seen surprisingly large amounts of Japanese fanart

[@Larry]

I owned a couple of the Pizza Cats figures back in the day, as they were pretty cheap. But looked for them recently and they go for ridiculous amounts of money on eBay now.

[@MellowGaming]

I thought we had figures here. The show was huge with me and my mates at school. Seems like we got it before the US too.

[@only257]

@@MellowGaming coolest 🎥

[@MrTheMighty]

Drat!

[@SubaruMalibu]

It's unfortunate, they go for hundreds of dollars each. I want Speedy, Guido and Polly on my shelf, but not *that* bad.

[@LoneTiger]

I saw this one in Mexico in Spanish. "Los Gatos Samurai" They were funny, the jokes were clear and if I recall right all episodes were shown. 😸

[@Darkman9000]

Samurai Pizza Cats and Ghost Stories are probably the only two examples of gag dubs that are not only official, but greatly exceed the original Japanese version in every possible way

[@Octo-Genius]

the rights reverted? then it's time for Tatsunoko VS Capcom 2, with Samurai Pizza Cats and Speed Racer. someone get me mr capcom on the line

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Anything over another Marvel vs Capcom: infinite type situation. Also we need those pizza cats in a fighting game.

[@Chyna_Doll]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu Or a platformer. or an RPG. Hell, I’d settle for a racing game, at this point.

[@mr.goblin6039]

I’d love it if they remastered the older game and added more characters to it, then put it out on newer consoles. I think, even by today’s standards, Tatsunoko vs Capcom looks pretty good, though that has to do with the fact that it was stylized and not whatever the heck MvCI was.

[@techramancer]

Capcom vs Marvel vs Tatsunoku vs SNK vs Nether Realms vs DC vs Power Rangers vs Amalgam Comics

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@mr.goblin6039 One thing the non-japanese version of the game lacked was animated segments actually done by Tatsunoku themselves. Apparently there was some kind of conflict when they brought the game over so instead that's why we got all those udon created static story comic pages instead.

[@jorgediazo9725]

I loved this cartoon when I was in high school in Panama, it was really funny. The Spanish-dubbed version took a lot of liberties and made fun of celebrities and events of that era in Latin America.

[@truvak]

Así es, yo los vi en México y no importaba cuantas veces los repitieran, siempre eran muy divertidos.

[@xerb14]

La Intro era lo mejor 🤣🤣 , y las historias super divertidas .....

[@MalekitGJ]

Eso fue porque vimos el dub mexicano. Dios te salve de la version gallega.

[@truvak]

@@MalekitGJ JAJAJAJA no mames, eso explica porque aquí los chistes eran de gallegos! xD

[@Slayerthecrow]

"Gender Bender Butterflies" sounds like a Futurama episode, I will watch it.

[@canaisyoung3601]

There was an episode called The Butterjuk Effect, where Leela and Amy get hooked on performance enhancing drugs as part of a death sport where women dress as butterflies and fight each other. There was also an episode where Bender gets a robo-sex change after scamming his way into an Olympic vuctory ("Bend Her").

[@ikagura]

@@canaisyoung3601 It was a weird episode

[@jekblom123]

"Gender Bender" was also a mockery name for Bender wen he was wrestling.

[@OllieV__nl]

It's one of the episodes I remember from my childhood. It was ridiculous. I don't remember anything happening to Polly though and Big Cheese... who can tell?

[@bootsthecat6718]

For a show that I only ever saw a few episodes of, I still vividly remember the theme song

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Right?! I remember it always being on at the worst time of day like in the early morning that I would almost always somehow miss. And yet that theme song is drilled in my brain for all time.

[@Mickylad]

Half the battle is getting the theme tune right

[@allature]

That theme was certified banger

[@christianfamilyman4476]

I Watched the entire video JUST to hear the Theme song....... Very Disappointed.

[@bigchillphil]

Same

[@ndlmous]

I don't know why but I can truly appreciate the name Big Al Dente

[@docsavage4921]

Just checked, Crunchyrolls site is a slog to search through. Vrv is a better front end to the same content, and features an easy to use search engine.

[@saruki0132]

"put some Gundam, some Garfield.." it all makes sense now

[@Hektols]

So Disney was the reason they were not in the Tatsunoko VS Capcom game? Another reason to resent them. One of the funniest episodes was the when they visited the island where the Princess exiled the people who pissed her off just to find out that they turned it into a holiday resort, they even had a statue of her.

[@videojomo]

Sure, who doesn't love Animal Crossing!

[@mightyfilm]

Disney was sitting down HARD on Saban's properties that they only acquired because they bought The Family Channel from Saban. There was no reason for them to release any of them, and that's why even Fox Kid's properties that Saban wound up owning at the time didn't get any official release. No Eek! The Cat DVD's, you see. And when they did, they left much to be desired. Incomplete, Comedy Central edits of the first two seasons of The Tick with episodes missing, anyone? They did release some of the Marvel cartoons Saban produced, but this was long before that buyout. And they refused to release full seasons of 90's Spider-Man because they thought it would hurt reruns on Toon Disney.

[@JeffreyPiatt]

Disney acquired Saban From News Corp , they had been merged into the Fox Family Worldwide Division that ran the Fox Family channel and the Fox kids programming. Disney only wanted the TV network but Rupert refused to sell it without the whole division since it was all running at a loss and had that Albatross of a agreement with CBN to give the 700 club a timeslot. But Disney hated owning all of the library they inherited especially the Saban one even creating BVS Entertainment to hide the Disney name from being connected to them. There plan was to end power rangers after wild force until some former fox kids staff there saved it. They managed to still cancel it by buying out the EU network to remove the remaining support. For a lot of the older Anime titles Saban adapted the only way there escaping the Disney Vault is for the rights to expire and for the original owner to give to rights to a new company.

[@CircleFly]

They're responsible for that? Wow, Disney is truly an awful company.

[@gabrielneri2820]

disney was screwing up the "capcom vs" series even before MvCI DAMN!

[@SirIkeMedia]

Video starts at 2:15

[@wetstinkysocks490]

Thanks 🤙

[@shinigamihedgehog]

Thanks. I actually finished what I was doing before the video even started.

[@MybeautifulandamazingPrincess]

People like you are modern day heroes 🙏

[@valentino1569]

Ty

[@lilformersmatt]

At UDON we published the Samurai Pizza Cats Official Fanbook in 2019, which is a direct translation of the Japanese book originally published in 2012. Features artwork, character designs, detailed episode summaries , and creator interviews. According to the book, one of the reasons that contributed to the strange English dubs was that the Japanese voice actors improvised a ton, so the final product never matched original the shooting script, and the North American team just threw their hands in the air over it. Though it was 30 years ago, I'm sure the details will always be foggy.

[@RedZeshinX]

I pored through that book when I was quarantining last year, lots of incredible insight, history and details that make it an absolute must have for any SPC fan for sure! 🐱🍕💗

[@davidmcgill1000]

Wait, so even the Japanese broadcast was also essentially a gag dub? That's insane.

[@livvy94]

That makes a lot of sense!!

[@darkhierophant4914]

Yeah, i was puzzled by the "rat" reference. I mean "kitsune" is the literal translation to "fox".

[@jaryRim]

Guess they thought foxes weren't "villainy" enough so they called him a rat even though foxes were already known for their cunning.

[@mitchfletcher2386]

@@jaryRim Actually, it was to make sure people wouldn't be confused. After all, plenty of U.S. people know about "cat and mouse", but how many Americans know about "cat and fox", or even kitsunes?

[@EccentricGentelman]

I remember watching this and wondering how the cats kept their secret identity. Considering their outfits do nothing to cover their faces, everyone can see their pizza parlour turn into a giant gun, there's a PA announcement and they even painted a safety line outside.

[@OptimumTaurus]

I always figured that was part of the gag

[@marctoad]

My favorite cartoon of all time. Fondly remember watching this and then the Mario Bros. Super Show in a block on YTV after school as a kid in Canada,

[@only257]

@SørenCast Z agreed 😊

[@beauwalker9820]

Having both shows on one channel sounds awesome. Now both are on Tubi.

[@Michael-590]

I was about 5 years old in 1993, so my memories of Samurai Pizza Cats and the Super Mario Bros cartoons from back then are fuzzy. It was only when I was teenager that I started to rewatch the Super Mario Bros 3 cartoon. And thankfully, one of my cousins used to own a treasure trove of old cartoon episodes on VHS.

[@Klutzybear]

Samurai Pizza Cats: The 1st Abridge series. This show introduced me to anime, and damn, did I love growing up with this series. Screw Disney for trying to suffocate this series. Nobody can stop them from cueing that bird!

[@kyonkochan]

For years I unknowingly would do a Paul Lynde impression because I loved the voice they gave the Big Cheese. Later on after learning that the voice was based on him I discovered a lot of Paul Lynde's work and I love the man.

[@aaronsarchive82]

He was great. As a kid, I loved him as Templeton in Charlotte's Web.

[@_PrimetimePranks]

Watch his Hollywood Squares shows !

[@jerryharris6342]

The Paul Lynde impersonation truly sells the show. I snicker every time Seymour speaks.

[@jandafin]

Roger from American Dad is based on Lynde, too.

[@kyonkochan]

@@aaronsarchive82 Yeah, he has such a natural voice that lends itself well to being a cynic.

[@jarrado1]

I loved this show! Screened in New Zealand in the 90s. I used to “tape” the episodes on vhs!

[@banzaibobA7V]

Showing our age. I still refer to recording a show on our PVR as "taping" it XD.

[@SleeperInTravel]

Haha I used to tape these, too, when they aired in the USA back in the 1990s. I think they used to air in the afternoons, in syndication, on the UPN network. Good ole days lol

[@Michaeljack81sk]

A western rescript of a Japanese show that actually improved it? Whoa, that was unexpected

[@Michaeljack81sk]

@IDK Man I have but let's face it, they're vanishingly rare compared to abominations like Battle of the Planets

[@r.l.royalljr.3905]

To this day I always watch Dominion Tank Police in the English dub. While I don't have any issues with the Japanese voice acting, for some reason the Japanese soundtrack is just jarring, and the English soundtrack seems to mesh a lot better with the visuals.

[@willthomas2310]

It might've been surprising back than, but now good english dubs are more common

[@Michaeljack81sk]

@@willthomas2310 Naturally, i'm referring to adaptions from that era not today

[@raphaelbrown6314]

@idkman2844 i don't its jarring at all i mean other animes did that as well Not all male characters need to have deep voices bro and honestly i don't mind it he still goku at the end of the day

[@T4G0E]

I watched Samurai Pizza Cats every day before school in like 3rd grade. Never met another person IRL who even heard of it. It was so ahead of its time. Gag dubs and 4th wall breaking humor are mainstream staples nowadays, but this shit felt so weird and avant-garde as a child back in the '90s.

[@fullweezy3553]

Yeah man for years I thought this show was some kind of fever dream I had as a kid

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

It was one of those many things like the original dub of dragon Ball it was on it like 5:00 a.m. or something. Almost nobody wanted to get up that early just to watch a show. It's funny too it never really got a a reshowing of any kind as far as I'm aware. You'd think that Disney would have slapped that thing right on their Disney XD channel or something but oh no, no chance in hell of that happening.

[@CartoonTriper]

and in Mexico is really popular, even the dub is full of Mexican Pop Culture

[@LizardOfOz69]

Same with our Hebrew dub here in Israel.

[@captainsteroid2454]

I don't know who downvoted this video, but I say we send him/her to PRISONER ISLAND! >:O

[@DisgruntledDoomer]

Maybe it was the tacky Surfshark ad that made them do it... (Yeah, it might pay the bills, but VPNs seem to be the only ones advertising on KZbin anymore, and it gets tiresome.)

[@MassHystarix]

Lol 3hrs ago and you got a heart on a 4 year old video

[@shattaredentertainment4782]

Youd be rewarding them for there behavior. Dont you remember what prisoner island really is?

[@superomegaprimemk2]

Must be followers of the Big Cheese!

[@phibbykaden]

@@shattaredentertainment4782 Eh, that's more of a last resort.

[@ReplayStation]

I LOVED Samurai Pizza Cats when I was a kid! I never met anyone else that had even heard of it. It was so freaking funny.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Like the original Dragon Ball dub they put it on at like 5:00 a.m. so I don't think many people were aware of it. It is an absolute treasure though. Before 4kids ruined the term localization forever these guys were trailblazers.

[@MyMomSaysImKeen]

The opening song still gets in my head occasionally

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@MyMomSaysImKeen Considering the duo that put it together I'm not surprised it's a catchy ear worm.

[@stulog]

I had the same problem. Even to this day of I bring up Samurai Pizza Cats to anyone - even those roughly my age - nobody knows what I'm talking about. Before watching b this video I was starting to wonder if the entire existence of Samurai Pizza Cats was in my imagination

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@stulog Considering all traces of its existence were pretty much been covered up or buried in the subsequent nearly 30 years since it came out it makes perfect sense. None of the toys or games or any of the stuff related to it ever made it to the US or I don't think outside of Japan at all. I guess there was some VHS tapes but I've never seen them anywhere. It's one of those weird rare situations where it actually became more obscure as time went on and after Disney bought Saban it was completely and utterly buried even deeper.

[@melanyebaggins]

The words 'Samurai Pizza Cats' has lived rent free in my head for decades, and this video was so satisfying to watch. It confirmed and reorganized the fragments of memories I had of watching it, thank you 😁

[@MarcoFD]

i love how they were just winging it scriptwise due to the lack of japanese script info.

[@MasterShake9000]

It’s like a parallel of how the Funimation version of Shin Chan just wrote their own English scripts because the Japanese scripts were too difficult to properly translate into English language / American culture

[@only257]

Watch rainbow brite 🍿

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@MasterShake9000 There was definitely an influence even if it was indirectly. I'd always heard that they lost the scripts (with samurai Pizza cats) and just had to make it up as they went along. However it happens it's probably one of the most brilliant localizations I've ever seen.

[@theskyrax670]

It's like they watched it on mute and decided "Yeah let's just make a whole new show"

[@Poglavnit_Pferdefuhrer]

Ghost Stories ftw

[@dementedwarlock4375]

I remember watching the dub version when I was a kid. Had to watch it every morning before school then I would sing the song all day long... "WHO DO YOU CALL WHEN YOU WANT SOME PEPPERONI!!"

[@MartianInAHumansBody]

I was so lucky with the content on YTV in the 90s. This was a great watch.

[@JamesSerapio]

Seriously... Samurai Pizza Cats, Transformers: Beasties/Beast Wars, Reboot

[@Sgt_Glory]

@@JamesSerapio it was a golden era

[@vincenegra2612]

Being part of the first Wave was awesome, the 90s were a great time to be a kid!

[@YukonWilleh]

also pj fresh Phill

[@Sgt_Glory]

@@YukonWilleh And Snit!

[@assualtcrab]

Fun fact, a lot of the design choices were from Bandai meddling and interference for their toy lines, hence the very intentional SD Gundam look of their super flight armor & the inclusion of the Supreme Catatonic/Nyagoking robot all as mid season upgrades.

[@siegeofdarkness8212]

"He Man never punched, kicked or hit anyone with his sword." - I don't know how you kick someone with a sword but I'd pay money to see it done

[@ikagura]

Raiden in mgr

[@andrejg4136]

You can kick a sword as an improvised projectile...

[@littlemoth4956]

@@ikagura Was boutta say. Put that sword on your foot and go full ninja

[@darktoylord]

6:16 Thank you for the heads up on the Olestra. I feel like this is a "Knowing is half the battle" moment :D

[@fieldtrippin1]

“Samurai Pizza Cats! I hope you liked the show, it’s the best that we can do.” Theme song Fun show when I was kid.

[@trealsteve]

Meta. 😭

[@taridean]

OMG!!! Used to love watching this show growing up in Zimbabwe 🇿🇼. It was riddled with innuendos & clever little digs at other cartoons. The theme tune was unforgettable. I remember the lyrics to this day.

[@T4G0E]

Stronger than old cheese, stronger than dirt!

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@T4G0E You mess with these cats you're gonna get hurt.

[@taridean]

@@T4G0E "Here come the Pizza Cats. They're so bad. They've got more fur than any turtle ever had!" 😁

[@joeybergeron]

🍕 Samurai Pizza Cats 🍕 - The greatest whacky scripted cartoon with a super catchy theme song we had back then. I watched it every time it was on.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

And now the pizza cats oath: Pizza cats oh Pizza cats come ring your little bells though you may be just pen and ink you'll always fight like pizza cats.

[@isaacescalera9643]

I remember the line in the samurai Pizza cats theme song, "Sorry for the show, it's the best that we can do." Man if I only knew lol

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Yeah they were being pretty honest there with a thin veil of parody. The saddest thing of all is the fact that once Disney got their hands on it it was doomed to just sit on a shelf or an adult until the license expired, what a waste. And the fact they wouldn't even let the Japanese company who had it put him into games and stuff that's low.

[@thejagman22]

Actually the line was, "WE HOPE YOU LIKED the show, it's the best that we could do." Followed by "If we thought you could do better, then we'd leave it up to you." Sorry, but it's like, permanently scarred on my brain. This is why I can't remember passwords....

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@thejagman22 Somebody on here did the whole SPC fan club oath I immediately remembered it as I read it but I definitely don't remember it as well as they did.

[@isaacescalera9643]

@@thejagman22 you're right! I went back and listened to it and remembered it was the shows outro not intro.

[@theskyrax670]

Disney straight up just stole a Japanese IP lowkey

[@rahn45]

Samurai Pizza Cats: The TFS dub of DBZ before the internet was a thing.

[@fitnessabcvideo]

The dub is better than the original

[@lutherheggs451]

Its just not good period

[@minicle426]

Given that the original very much tanked (and has been long forgotten about) in Japan. I'd say that marks a success.

[@felineki]

@@minicle426 It didn't tank, it got higher ratings than Nadia which aired the same year. The toys and VHS tapes didn't sell very well, though. Of course this was when VHS tapes for anime were $60 per two episode tape.

[@assualtcrab]

@@minicle426 Yeah that's an old dis-proven rumor, the Japanese version pulled an impressive TV viewership numbers of 10% during its original TV run (as in 10% of the population with TVs at the time was watching it) which were the sort of numbers Shonen Jump hits like Naruto were pulling in the early 2000's. Also in 2012 when the DVD boxset was released in Japan it was in the top 10 selling charts for weeks, coming just behind the new Ghibli release at the time. SO its far from long forgotten over there.

[@PrincessOzaline]

This was a really great video. As a long time anime fan, and one for whom Samurai Pizza Cats was a very early entry into her repitroire I'm going to disagree that SPC is "Better". I think they're both great. Dubs are good, subs are good... And SPC fits the tone of the original series. But I think a lot of the Kyatto jokes could land better than they do with the current subtitles, and some of the kyatto jokes do land well and are cut down in unsatisfactory ways in the dub. Particularly the gag near the end where the the city is destroyed by a secondary character after the main character is revealed to be alive. I realize that some of the jokes in the original resonate stronger with me than the average fan because of my affinity for show runner Satoru Akahori (who has other works blending the mundane, futuristic and traditional notably Sakura Wars and Saber Marionette). But there are moments of queer expression, and outrageous humor that are lost in SPC. But yes SPC is a good adaptation, and the best adaptation we could get at the time really. Again thank you for the very well researched and well thought out video. I appreciate it as a fan who is trying to dig into this a bit more.

[@felineki]

Yes, unfortunately the subbing job on Teyandee isn't that great. Even putting aside the parts that are difficult to translate, there are quite a few odd choices, mistakes and censorship throughout. Still, I am very grateful that Discotek and Crunchyroll have made the show available after decades of being buried!

[@chrislail3824]

This show was so good! The English dub is fantastic

[@Homeschoolsw6]

Samurai Pizza Cats wasn't a dub (translation). The show was localized (@ll new dialog...with no scripts) in Canada, and is full of 80s and 90s pop culture references. Along with being rad AF.

[@101Mant]

@@Homeschoolsw6 by that logic Ghost Stories isn't a dub, but everyone calls it one. Was the show recut and redited with new scenes like Battle of the Planets or Robotech? If all that changed is the audio everyone calls if a dub.

[@Homeschoolsw6]

@@101Mant It's original audio. There wasn't a script to play off. They couldn't get them in time for some reason. So they made it all up. There's no Japanese.

[@T4G0E]

@@101Mant It is technically called a "gag dub", tvtropes has a page about it.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

I'd still take this translation, localization, "gag dub" over anything 4kids ever did.

[@kodykaluzny145]

Finally !!! Now I have a video to reference when people look at me like I have three heads for saying “ I loved the Samurai Pizza Cats!” Or “remember that giant gun on top that would shoot them out ?!?”

[@vincenegra2612]

Right~😆

[@gundamdunham7479]

I remember this way back in the day when I was growing up 25 years ago. A clip of the show was playing in the background in one episode of VR Troopers, another Saban property.

[@nicholashurst780]

People who oppose English dubbing of anime don't seem to realize that just translating the Japanese dialogue into English is as much of a artistic choice on what to write as the dubbing process is

[@IanHollis]

I loved this show back in the day!

[@PhinioxGlade]

We got it in 92 here in Australia. Both times I watched the series it was board casted out of order as the final episode was show somewhere in the middle of the run.

[@RoyvanCruchten]

I loved this cartoon back in the days 💙💙💙

[@ArticulatedDoom]

I just started watching the video...I dunno if he tells us that. Lol

[@HeadCannonPrime]

Oh damn! That was a commercial from WB20 in Detroit! I absolutely would have seen that at the time.

[@kurowasanabe]

AS SOON AS SOMEONE FIND THE SCRIPT WE MIGHT BEGIN THE SHOW

[@Sirenhound]

5:42 "Prime Minister Kitsune..." 5:46 "The Prime Minister: A FOX!" Yes I know, you just told me!

[@Atalas5]

the Samurai Pizza Cats theme song is second only to the Ducktales theme in how much of an earworm it is.

[@theskyrax670]

Clearly, you have not heard the theme songs to Digimon and Beetleborgs.

[@Atalas5]

@@theskyrax670 oh, I have, I just still rank this song as more of an earworm than those.

[@JoeNayDoh]

Hit me right in the feels with that Ronin Warriors name drop

[@WOWMonsterShow]

I LOVED Dynaman on Night Flight (and the one special they did.). Some of the Kids in the Hall were even involved. Would love to see a history of Dynaman.

[@Mechanicoid]

I have these sitting somewhere on my bootleg DVD Night Flight collection. I always remembered watching a power rangers type show when I was kid, and then it all came back when I rewatched them years later.

[@aaronsarchive82]

@@Mechanicoid A Night Flight DVD collection??? I need to know more. Do you have content they don't have on the streaming channel?

[@Mechanicoid]

@@aaronsarchive82 I got these way back in the early to mid 2000s. I found a bootleg sight that had rips of the first 26 episodes and some episodes of New Wave Theater. The quality is as good as a decent VHS rip, but it has the commercials and no censoring due to rights.

[@p1sstoph3]

@@Mechanicoid one of their shorts episodes in the late 80's, like 89-90, had pee-wee's cousin on it and a sketch about "what is an idiom" and I wish to god I could find it. It also had teenage mutant ninja ponies, which was just paper figures on popsicle sticks and I recall them being like, "oh, no, it's the cheese shredder!" and it had a cheese shredder with eyes taped to it.

[@Mechanicoid]

@@p1sstoph3 archive.org/details/nightflightcompilation09of12 the Internet Archive might be a good start. There seems to be a decent chunk of Night Flight materials there. I have about 52 hours worth of NF stuff and even after all these years I haven't cataloged as well as I could have.

[@PiedraDeIjada]

It was one of my favourite shows when I was little. Though I saw an even slightly more chaotic Version: the German one. It was a translation of the US one, but sometimes the translation was off? For example in the intro the part about the "bad birds and ninja crows" was translated to something about Fledermäuse (bats) and Krabben (crabs). So weird.

[@MikeStavola]

This was the show that really got me into fansubbing back in the day.

[@joeholt9704]

Fansubbing?

[@RicardoCon94]

@@joeholt9704 fan made/unofficial subtitles

[@ghobot21]

Agreed!

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

When the internet started really becoming a thing and especially P2P stuff the fan-subbing community was incredible. If it's between never watching a show because you don't know Japanese and maybe a slightly loose translated fansub always I'll always go fansub.

[@MrDuxfield]

This was one of my favourite cartoons as a kid. It was shown for a short time on tv in New Zealand in the 90's. Also I had to chuckle when I THOUGHT I heard Dan say; " . . . . join us for for screaming on Twitch." Dan screams on Twitch. lol

[@dougsealy199]

YEAH BOI! I am a Kiwi living in Japan and I too loved this show I think I was somewhere between 7-10 when it was on after school!!!!!!

[@Christofinity]

I'm a Kiwi 90's kid aswell. @Doug Sealy, I don't recall it being on TV in NZ after school. From my memory it was screened in the morning at 8am.

[@ThomasMHead]

Samurai Pizza Cats!! "They're fighting crime! All over town!!" That show was hilarious! I'm happy you covered it! ✌🍕

[@RUNTCH]

I'm surprised Prince's estate hasn't already smacked this video off for that soundbite

[@brianknapp6215]

My daughter (who's in her 20's) recently discovered the show on Tubi- she's officially an addict!!

[@robbiehill5463]

Tubi is where I found it as well I've been binge watching it lately.

[@JeiHeirumaru]

This was my first anime, and what started a long road to my weebness

[@williamcrowe2576]

I'm probably one of those guys who grew up with this show. I even had a VHS copy of "Samurai Pizza Cats the Movie" which was a strung together version the first and last episodes of the series.

[@PrinceDavid]

I used to watch this before Sailor Moon at like 6AM in the 90s.

[@hopefullyeverafter5684]

30 years later, and I still find myself singing that theme song... Looking at the comments and seeing I am not the only one... :)

[@unstoppableExodia]

Samurai Pizza Cats was one of my favorite shows back in the day. I still love it. For me it was easily more enjoyable to watch than ninja turtles, street sharks biker mice etc. I watched it on Agro’s cartoon connection in Australia in 1992 for the first time

[@LikaLaruku]

It w the Yugioh Abridged of cable TV. Been thinking of rewatching it for some time now. Aside from this & Robotech, Voltron was quite a bit different from 100 Beast Golion & nothing after the first series is canon in Japan.

[@danielwilliamson6180]

I remember Samurai Pizza Cats when it aired on ITV in the UK in the early 90s.

[@MasterShake9000]

This show explains my love of Funimation’s Shin Chan. Also please do an episode on Shin Chan!

[@jessragan6714]

"A cross between Rugrats and The Simpsons? Nah, we're totally turning this into South Park for American audiences."

[@adamantium9491]

I FREAKIN LOVE this show,the theme song always reminded me of The B52's,you know a show is good when you liked it as a kid,and love as an adult,and all the innuendoes where just the cherry on top

[@felineki]

As a huge fan of this show in both forms, I'm very happy to see a more accurate description here of how the Saban-dubbed version related to the original: that while being a complete rewrite, it was very true to the series' original spirit. For far too long people have been misinformed into thinking that the original show was something completely generic and boring and that it was only the Saban dub that completely transformed it into a self-aware comedy, while the truth is indeed that it was already like that over in Japan. As far as toys go, Bandai was the show's main sponsor. They were heavily involved with the show's development, and the inclusion of the giant Nyagoking (Supreme Catatonic) robot was something they forced on the staff late in production, leading to a lot of headaches. The running gag with Yattarou (Speedy) never being able to pilot this giant robot due to some contrived obstacle always preventing him at the last minute was the writers' attempt at payback for this.

[@toons8744]

As a result of the situation with the dubbing we now know that Garfield(yes that Garfield) had a one night stand with one of the samurai pizza cats

[@mitchfletcher2386]

It was Polly. He apparently had a one-night stand with Polly.

[@OlivierGabin]

Seen as a teen in France, bought the DVD years later... and it's a GREAT nonsensical show ! I love it !

[@ethanstatler1827]

This show both weirdly awesome, and super adorable, unlike any show I've ever heard of before.

[@krono5el]

my school trappers and notebooks were covered in spc drawing when it released. still love those designs so much : D

[@felineki]

The character designer loves the show and is still drawing the characters to this day on his blog.

[@LMvonLebkuchen]

They are SO COOL! Anime anthros, but but ancient Japan, but also ROBOTS. 🤩

[@andrejg4136]

Polly is adorable and I will not hear a word to the contrary.

[@YesterdaysMoose]

I remember enjoying Samurai Pizza Cats and thought it was very unique. Couldn't tell you what happened in a single episode, though. I was probably too old for the show by the time it aired anyway... 😉

[@sk-sg1dd]

I always loved the random shows that were brought over from Japan, I was always going "wtf is this" and next I know I watched the whole series.

[@raywing00]

It’s always the Americans who have to come up with all these racism and gender and safe zone whatnots nonsense.

[@MarkMeans]

No, it's Liberal Americans who are perpetually "offended". Please don't lump us all together. Half the country has sense.

[@Chris2086]

I couldn't hit the like button hard enough for this.

[@nicholasromig5506]

that theme song IS and has always been in my mind since about 1996

[@horrorstew3577]

"who do U call when you want some pepperoni??"

[@freezestar22]

So there is a translation of that Famicom game that does make it more Samurai Pizza Cats themed, not only in names, but the fact that the creator of the translation "made up most of the script, added a bunch of unrelated jokes, and made a lot of changes to the enemy names".

[@MistaMaddog247]

Yep, and another ROM patch that's a literal translation of the original show. Check both of them out.

[@Julayla]

Oh I played that ROM US Localized version that Romhacking displayed. It's as hilarious as the show I use to watch

[@theotherjared9824]

The series needs to be remade to be exactly like the Japanese version, except they work at a pizza parlor in all versions. That layer of meta humor will be a treat for the 5 fans out there.

[@geardog24]

Ah yes Polly Ester, everyone's 4th favorite catgirl.

[@dragonmaster613]

Plz list other 3.

[@geardog24]

@@dragonmaster613 1. Cheetara 2. Callie Briggs 3. Catwoman

[@GusOfTheDorks]

Lets see.... Aiesha ClanClan NukuNuku The Puma Sisters So shes like 4th on my list. Probably lower if I thought for longer.

[@amtraklover]

No Felecia from Darkstalkers?

[@geardog24]

@@amtraklover she's number 1 in video games for me.

[@ghostchaser1631]

I used to watch Samurai Pizza Cats for a while back in the 1990s. I liked it a lot, so much so in fact that I created my own character who I put to paper one day (sadly, I no longer have that picture). He was an evil SPC who wore armor that was mostly black with white accents here and there and had big, green eyes that had an eerie glow to them. My working name for him was Black Cat/Shadow Cat because of his main color and because his design was inspired to me by the Shadow Borg from Big Bad Beetle Borgs (also because he was their dark and evil shadow in many ways). His story was that Big Cheese had created him using the best attributes from all three main Pizza Cats after having them scanned by his latest monster during a battle, so it would have been like fighting in a hellova mirror for all three of them.

[@tiedomi80]

I had no idea this was on Crunchyroll, and honestly never thought to look! XD Thank you for the great work that you folks do.

[@YukonWilleh]

Its basically MXC but a cartoon I have 2 male cats and one female. guess their names :)

[@joeolivo8847]

Are you getting hype for the new Masters of the Universe cartoon and toy line? All just got announced today

[@zaprowsdower204]

Many thanks to Rifftrax's Disembaudio for providing the dub example.

[@greenlanternhg5141]

Use to love this show, it was hard to catch cause they would air it so randomly, I think I’ve only seen like 15 episodes but I liked it a lot Great video Mr Larson, Producer Greg MP 👍🏽✌🏽

[@ORLY911]

This would make a fun (new) video game, they could reboot the franchise with one.

[@neutroniumranger9036]

They got more fur than any turtle ever had!

[@nine_tails137]

That lyric is so cringe! LOL!

[@RRYGO7]

Samurai pizza cats was the motivation that lead me to begin draw (7 years old at that moment) because there wasn't any merchandise here aside from those VHS.

[@TheTogoRojo]

Great content. Love that you guys are making it.

[@darolhitman3154]

It was big in Germany! Funny like "Oli the Ox" (another Cartoon Show back in the days) and cool like Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

[@ShawnSandiego]

🐱‍👤 YES! I liked them all! It's also a shame Oli the Ox wasn't successful enough to be finished on DVD release by PIDAX though. 😒

[@oxwah]

I loved this show when I could see it. I remember it being on at a really weird time, so I didn't catch very many episodes. The NES game is stellar, too!

[@hollywood21639]

Alright you mentioned Ronin Warriors Dan, now you have to cover it.

[@meromex]

The spanish dub in Mexico was hilarious as well, i loved that show as a kid

[@LikaLaruku]

The Olestra subtitles, lol. Ever hear about Saban's scrapped plans for a westernized half-live-action Sailor Moon reboot?

[@WhitePointerGaming]

What I loved about the show was that it was very much self aware and didn't take itself seriously. It knew what it was, and it was funny as a result. Shame on Disney for blocking their inclusion in Tatsunoko vs Capcom, especially since they never ended up doing anything with the property.

[@theskyrax670]

Just like Transformers RID 2001, which they own through reasons.

[@enigmadrath1780]

8:30 Weekdays at 06:00AM???? Which sociopath picked that time slot?? Poor kids :/