Axis International

Axis International was a dubbing studio based in Hong Kong which specialized in dubbing Japanese, Chinese, and Hong Kong films, Mostly from Toho, Shaw Brothers, and Golden Harvest. They were most famous for being the very first dubbing studio in Hong Kong, as well as dubbing every Godzilla film made in the 1970s. Other notable works include Gamera Vs. Barugon, Gamera Vs. Gyaos, Prophecies of Nostradamus, The Dragon Lives Again, Space Firebird 2772, and Macross: Do You Remember Love?

Background

Axis International was founded in Hong Kong by former British Naval Intelligence officer and sports commentator Ted Thomas. In the late 1950s, After a couple years of working in broadcasting, Ted was commissioned by Run Run Shaw, Founder of Shaw Brothers, To help dub their films into English. Ted enjoyed his time working on Shaw Brothers’ films, And would later open his own dubbing company in 1960 named Axis International.

One of their first jobs was to dub The Secret of the Telegian, A sci-fi drama from Toho. From this point onward, They would become an incredibly successful company as east-asian companies during this time realized they could make more money out of their films if they exported it overseas with an English dub. According to Ted Thomas, Most writing sessions would begin by a company calling him and commissioning a film to be dubbed. Then, a translator (Usually Ron Oliphant or later, Eddie Chan or Matthew and Elizabeth Oram) would record what scene needed to be dubbed and would count the syllables and pauses for what was needed to lip sync in the scene, which would then be the basis for the English script.

Most dubbing sessions would begin by bringing in people from RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong), Or advertisements in the newspaper asking for actors to help them in the production. The Dubbers were only required to have two things, Fast reactions, and a unique voice with good inflections. Microphones and tape for the film to be recorded on would be set up, and the films would be recorded in “loops”, which were small lengths of tape ranging from around thirty seconds to a minute. Because of the tight schedule, They usually didn’t have time to re-record a loop or even review it, as it would halt production on another dub they had to finish. Most dubbing sessions would take around 12 to 20 hours, Working from around 6 PM to Midnight, and about six or seven films would be finished in a month.

When the dubbing sessions were complete, The dubbed reel would be sent over to whichever company had commissioned the dub, And they would pay Axis about 9,000 HKD. The dubbed film would then be copied so it could be shipped to whichever distributor had bought the rights to show that film in whichever country the company was based in.

Axis International had many locations; According to Matthew Oram, The first studio was in a run-down film set, And one of the later locations was a former cinema in Diamond Hill called “Ken-Shing Studio”, which they possibly used sometime in the mid-to-late 1970s. Other locations would either be in small houses on the edge of town, or in a series of flats with the living room made into a studio and the bedrooms being the projector rooms.

By the mid-1980s, Axis had been losing traction due to other dubbing companies being more successful and more professional in the eyes of companies, Which caused Axis to be considered obsolete. This, Combined with the dwindling number of actors, Caused the company to go defunct possibly sometime in 1986. However, This wouldn’t be the last of Axis International, As it would inspire generations of dubbing companies to come, Most notably Omni Productions, Which held a plethora of Axis alumni.

 Dubbed works 


 * The Secret of the Telegian (1960)
 * Matango (1963)
 * Atragon (1963)
 * Dogora (1964)
 * Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
 * The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
 * Ninjascope (The Magic World of Ninjas) (1967)
 * Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
 * Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
 * Genocide (1968)
 * Crimson Bat, the Blind Swordswoman (1969)
 * Trapped, the Crimson Bat (1969)
 * Watch Out, Crimson Bat (1969)
 * Space Amoeba (1970)
 * Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
 * The Big Boss (1971)
 * Lake of Dracula (1971)
 * Battle of Okinawa (1971)
 * Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
 * The Way of the Dragon (1972)
 * Fist of Fury (1972)
 * Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
 * Professional Killers: Assassins Quarry (1973)
 * Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
 * Hanuman and the Seven Ultramen (1974)
 * Heroes Two (1974)
 * Evil of Dracula (1974)
 * Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)
 * ESPY (1974)
 * Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
 * Hanuman and the Five Kamen Riders (1975)
 * Feng Shen Bang (1975)
 * Heroes in the Ming Dynasty (1975)
 * Mars Men (1976)
 * Lung men bei chi (1976)
 * Outlaw Cop (1976)
 * Zero Pilot (1976)
 * General Stone (1976)
 * Lady Karate (1976)
 * Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon (1977)
 * Return of Bruce (1977)
 * 99 Cycling Swords (1977)
 * Shaolin Tamo Mystique (1977)
 * Wu Jiao Wa (1977)
 * The Invincible Armour (1977)
 * The Instant Kung-Fu Man (1977)
 * Duel in the Desert (1977)
 * Duel With The Devils (1977)
 * The Last Fist of Fury (1977)
 * Green Dragon Inn (1977)
 * The Four Shaolin Challengers (1977)
 * The Dragon Lives Again (1978)
 * Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978)
 * Two Great Cavaliers (1978)
 * The Eighteen Jade Arhats (1978)
 * Legendary Strike (1978)
 * Shaolin’s Tough Kid (1978)
 * Killer of Snake, Fox of Shaolin (1978)
 * Deadly Strike (1978)
 * Death Duel of Kung Fu (1979)
 * Dance of Death (1979)
 * Space Firebird 2772 (1980)
 * Gamera, Super Monster (1980)
 * Deathquake (1980)
 * Shaolin Raiders of Death (1980)
 * Imperial Navy (1981)
 * Wolf Devil Woman (1982)
 * Dragon Blood (1982)
 * Two Heroes Shooting Stars (1982)
 * Strike of the Thunderkick Tiger (1982)
 * Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)
 * The Return of Godzilla (1984)
 * Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984)
 * Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984)
 * Super Ninja (1984)
 * Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko (1985)
 * The Dancing Warrior (1985)
 * Police Story (1985)

 Talent Pool 


 * Ted Thomas (Director, Voice Actor)
 * Matthew Oram (Director, Voice Actor)
 * Barry Haigh (Director, Voice Actor)
 * Chris Hilton
 * George Montgomery
 * John Culkin
 * Linda Masson
 * Michael Kaye
 * Michael Ross
 * Ron Oliphant
 * Rik Thomas
 * Warren Rooke
 * Warwick Evans

 Sources 


 * Interview with Ted Thomas: https://youtu.be/S41hRiy5wAc
 * Interview with Matthew and Elizabeth Oram: https://youtu.be/v_AOdFsuAvU