Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo

The Mystery of Mamo (ルパン三世ルパンVS複製人間 Rupan Sansei: Rupan tai Fukusei Ningen) is a Japanese animated film made in 1978 under the direction of Soji Yoshikawa. It was the first film that was made based on the story of the character Lupin III, created by Monkey Punch. The film's plot follows master thief Arséne Lupin III and his attempts to foil Mamo, a wealthy and powerful recluse, and his bid for immortality.

Dubbing History
Around the time of the films original release, an English dub of the film was produced by Frontier Enterprises, commissioned by Toho. This dub was made with the intention of being shown on Japan Airlines Flights. This dub was also available from the Los Angeles branch of Toho for booking to play at local theaters. This version has no credits for the voice cast on any known prints and as such, the full cast has yet to be verified. Goemon is known to have been voiced by Frontier Enterprises owner William Ross, while Zenigata was voiced by Tokyo-based writer Greg Starr, a role he “doesn’t remember much about”. Lupin is also known to have been voiced by Tom Clark, as mentioned on his talent agency. This dub was the most faithful to the original Japanese script, though most of the names were changed to Western-sounding alternatives (Jigen became ‘Dan Dunn’, Fujiko became ‘Margo’, Goemon became ‘Samurai’ and Inspector Zenigata became ‘Detective Ed Scott’).

Due to copyright problems with TMS Entertainment, the Toho dub would not be released commercially. It's this fact that prompted Carl Macek with Streamline Pictures to create a new dub of the movie, using the same cast used to previously dub The Castle of Cagliostro. This dub was released on VHS in April of 1995. Loosely based on the Toho dub and its script, this adaptation made various alterations to the film's original dialogue.

A third dub, produced by Manga Entertainment UK was made the following year for the PAL market under the title of The Secret of Mamo and released on July 8, 1996. The main reasoning was to avoid possible legal disputes with the estate of Maurice Leblanc (the creator of the original Arsène Lupin) and thus this dub changes Lupin's name to "Wolf III". The script was also based on the original Toho dub.

The fourth dub produced by Phuuz Entertainment for Pioneer Entertainment was released on DVD on July 29, 2003 using a new anamorphic print taken from the Japanese DVD. This dub utilized the cast for the second TV Series that was currently being dubbed. Similar to their dub of the series, their dub of the movie has received criticism due to their liberal approach with translating the original Japanese dialogue including 21st Century pop culture references and added profanity, along with removing the film’s ending theme “Lupin Ondo.”

All 4 dubs of the movie are included on the 2013 DVD release by Discotek Media. The Toho/Frontier dub was extensively restored and reconstructed from an edited version of the dub released on a previous Italian DVD release of the film, as well as copies of the dub provided by fans.

Cast
Note that the names under Frontier's dub (unless noted above) are meant to be treated as speculation via vocal recognition within other Frontier-dubbed productions and are subject to change as new information comes to light.