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.[1] 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 marked with an asterisk (*) 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.
Notes
- At one time it was speculated that the Toho dub was dubbed by Peter Fernandez and his Speed Racer voice actors based in New York. Due to the manner in which the dub was produced, this is impossible. This is notable due to the speculation getting out of hand to the point that Lupin was listed as one of Fernandez's roles in his obituary on the New York Times.
Lupin III (The Mystery of Mamo) - English Export Trailer
"Lupin III Can do Anything!"
- Frontier also dubbed an international trailer for the film. They lacked a vocal-less dubbing track, as the soundtrack fades out before characters speak, and sound effects are used to make it less obvious. At one point, Kiyoshi Kobayashi as Jigen can be heard saying "kuso" (Japanese expletive, often translated to English equivalents such as damn it or shit) before the soundtrack fades.
- The name changes in the Toho Dub;
- Daisuke Jigen is renamed Dan Dunn
- Goemon Ishikawa XIII is renamed Samurai
- Fujiko Mine is renamed Margo
- Inspector Zenigata is renamed Detective Ed Scott
- Mamo's real name, Howard Lockwood, is renamed "Foward Fughes"
- Stuckey is renamed "Heinrich Gissinger". This is a dub change consistent through all the dubs.
- Kirk Thornton is often miscredited as Goemon in the Streamline dub. Ardwight Chamberlain and Kirk Thornton's voice roles are often mistaken for one another.
- Footage from the Toho Dub was used along with The Castle of Cagliostro in the 1983 Dragon's Lair-style arcade game Cliff Hanger. Many of the parts were redubbed using the games voice actors (using the poor techniques used to overdub the Japanese soundtrack of Cagliostro), with only a couple of pieces of dialogue intact.
- As mentioned above previously, the Toho dub on Discotek Media's DVD release was sourced from an Italian DVD release. Though as this release featured an edited Italian TV dub (similar to the English version, the Italian version of Mamo has 4 dubs) the Toho dub was cut to match the censored video. Discotek's release patched a complete version together using a poor quality Bootleg VHS Rip previously in circulation online (though with heavy hiss reduction and cleanup) and vocal-less bits of the Japanese soundtrack.
- When Lupin tells Goemon and Jigen that they should travel towards the ocean, his lips don't move at all, despite his face being clearly visible throughout. This error was repeated in the Toho and Manga dubs, but was corrected for the Streamline and Geneon dubs - Lupin does not say anything in the Streamline dub, while a related line is given to Goemon in the Geneon dub.
- Goemon is inconsistently referred to as 'Samurai' (an artifact from Toho's original English dub) and Goemon throughout the Manga dub. Mamo's real name is still referred to as Foward Fughes as well.
Video Releases
| Distributor | Year | Format | Dub | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streamline Pictures | 1995 | 
| Streamline | NTSC | United States | 
|
| Manga Entertainment | 1996 | Manga | PAL | United Kingdom | 
| |
| Image Entertainment | 1998 | 
| Streamline | All NTSC | United States |
|
| Pioneer Entertainment | 2003 | Pioneer | 1 NTSC | |||
| Yamato Video | 2005 | Toho | 2 PAL | Italy | 
| |
| Manga Entertainment | 2008 | Pioneer | United Kingdom |
| ||
| Discotek Media | 2013 | All | 1 NTSC | United States |
| |
References
- ↑ Tom Clark | Foreign narrator catalog (in Japanese). Retrieved January 27, 2018.
External Links
- The Mystery of Mamo (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo at the Internet Movie Database
