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spiderbraidsFeaturing a particularly bad 4Kids alteration...
3x05: The Sea of Fear / Mission to Tides
Unedited: We open with the situation on Andros, and Bloom and Layla talking about the invasion of Andros in the Alfea garden.
Edited: We skip those scenes and head straight to the girls' dorm.
The pixies get turned into the Winx.
Unedited: "Bloom" speaks with her normal voice.
Edited: She speaks with a pixie-like high-pitched voice.
(In the next episode, the Winx speak in the pixies' voices in both versions.)
4Kids tries to justify the appearance of a flashback to the destruction of Domino...
Unedited: Bloom tells Layla "We won't stand by either. We're gonna use all our power to help." This leads into the flashback.
Edited: Bloom tells Layla that every time they mention Baltor, she keeps getting flashbacks to the destruction of Sparks.
A good deal of criticism against this episode was levied against the whole thing about Icy getting a fire power and not using it against the Winx, and it turns out to be on 4Kids... Immediately following the above scene, Icy is using a flame she is holding to light up a few cups in their hideout:
Unedited:
Icy: They're here to save Andros.
Darcy: Acting all tough and courageous.
Stormy: Valtor is right. They're SO naive.
Icy: They think they can interfere with Valtor's plans. I don't know whether to call them arrogant or stupid. It won't be long before they see that their spells are useless.
Edited:
Icy: This new power Baltor gave me is cool!
Darcy: Baltor gave you a new power?
Stormy: We know she's his favorite but don't worry. She'll mess it up like she always does!
Icy: Spoken like a real witch. But true, although perhaps Baltor will be different. Nah, eventually he'll disappoint me. But in the meantime it could be fun.
Also, the CG-ish effects had not been finished for the walls in the hideout (4Kids aired this episode before the original Italian), so there's plenty of "greenscreen" in the background instead (!)
At least with the Sphere of Truth, there was a gap of half a season between 4K's change and when it bit them in the backside, but in this case the change backfires on them literally less than five minutes later :-\ I thought surely TF would have no excuse to prefer the 4Kids version here, but more on that anon...
That wasn't the only issue viewers had with the battle, though...
Unedited: After Icy gets shot out of the sky, the girls decide to play a trick on Darcy and Stormy. Musa goes in to attack Stormy. Darcy attacks Musa and Musa counters. We see Icy make her icepad. Layla sneaks up on them and shackles them together.
Edited: Icy gets shot out of the Sky, and Bloom says: "You'd think you'd understand the balance of power now, Icy. Whenever you face us, you lose" as 4K cuts straight to Icy making her icepad, then Layla sneaking up on Darcy and Stormy, skipping the whole bit of Musa running interference.
The issue here: Some viewers thought Darcy should have been able to sense Layla sneaking up on her (a la Bloom back in the second episode). The original version would not have had these issues, because it shows Musa distracting her.
Although Nick's version doesn't cut out the scene (or any other scene, in fact), there are still some differences in the dialog. Bloom: "When you mess with the Winx, you get burned!" :-D
When I wrote my summary of the unedited, I mentioned some of these changes, with extra attention paid to the new power stuff, because surely the original writers wouldn't have been that sloppy (and they weren't :-))... TF commented:
"So how do they justify Fake Bloom speaking in Bloom's voice? I like it better in my version.
Despite the new power problem, I prefer 4Kids' Trix dialogue. It's just plain better."
(Insert slow blinking emoji here)
TF didn't elaborate, but if this is a matter of her finding the original's dialog more bland or something, well, to me, a sensible plot >> good dialog... and in any case, when the ep aired in the US, TF pointed out how much of a trick they missed in 4Kids with this blatant plot hole, when Icy gets shot out of the sky, and just drops to the sea:
"I would have had Bloom say the first part, but then say 'Fire beats ice.' Then Icy could fall, but right herself and show off that new fire-based power Baltor gave her with a little 'Then let's fight fire with fire' line. It's cheesy, but so is Icy sometimes."
Not knowing it was a 4Kids change, TF actively disliked this plot hole more than this review excerpt would suggest, as she was quite frustrated at Icy fumbling away "the perfect opportunity for a good fight and some good lines" (her actual words from the same review) by not doing/saying the above, and considered it an example of very bad Winx writing (alongside Diaspro never mentioning her issues with Bloom in 2x14, another result of 4Kids changes), so you'd think she'd automatically favor the version that avoids the problem, by not giving her those new powers... Anyways, one has to wonder how TF might have reacted to the Nick "you get burned" line :-\
TF also didn't like Darcy and Stormy getting shackled for the whole "Darcy should have sensed Layla sneaking up on her" thing and complained that they "totally got screwed over by the writers" (again, actual words) but when I posted a video of the scene to illustrate that it's the 4Kids cut, rather than the writing, that makes them look bad, she apparently didn't notice the cut since she only wrote: "How can you stand to watch your version? The voices are so horrible!" She always liked citing the voices as a reason to prefer the 4Kids dub, even telling me at one point "You may not care about voice acting, but I think it's a huge part of a successful show." But again, you'd think that the writing is of similar importance, if not more so, and you'd also think that she'd prefer the version that doesn't make the Trix look like the writers have been "taking a page or two from the stereotypical bumbling villain book" (again, from TF's review)
Back when season 3 was still airing, I made a blog post about new rules for Winx writers, and one of them was aimed directly at this plot hole: "If significant time is spent with a character having earned a new power, said power shall come into play in the next battle." In discussion elsewhere, other fans were willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt that they might have had a good reason to not have Icy use it immediately (as if there could ever be such a reason), but TF suggested that they should have had her make that reason explicit, and responded to my blog post: "Or the reason for not using it will be at least muttered under the breath of the character." Spoiler alert: The only time any of the Trix do use fire in a battle, it's Darcy rather than Icy who does so :-\
3x05: The Sea of Fear / Mission to Tides
Unedited: We open with the situation on Andros, and Bloom and Layla talking about the invasion of Andros in the Alfea garden.
Edited: We skip those scenes and head straight to the girls' dorm.
The pixies get turned into the Winx.
Unedited: "Bloom" speaks with her normal voice.
Edited: She speaks with a pixie-like high-pitched voice.
(In the next episode, the Winx speak in the pixies' voices in both versions.)
4Kids tries to justify the appearance of a flashback to the destruction of Domino...
Unedited: Bloom tells Layla "We won't stand by either. We're gonna use all our power to help." This leads into the flashback.
Edited: Bloom tells Layla that every time they mention Baltor, she keeps getting flashbacks to the destruction of Sparks.
A good deal of criticism against this episode was levied against the whole thing about Icy getting a fire power and not using it against the Winx, and it turns out to be on 4Kids... Immediately following the above scene, Icy is using a flame she is holding to light up a few cups in their hideout:
Unedited:
Icy: They're here to save Andros.
Darcy: Acting all tough and courageous.
Stormy: Valtor is right. They're SO naive.
Icy: They think they can interfere with Valtor's plans. I don't know whether to call them arrogant or stupid. It won't be long before they see that their spells are useless.
Edited:
Icy: This new power Baltor gave me is cool!
Darcy: Baltor gave you a new power?
Stormy: We know she's his favorite but don't worry. She'll mess it up like she always does!
Icy: Spoken like a real witch. But true, although perhaps Baltor will be different. Nah, eventually he'll disappoint me. But in the meantime it could be fun.
Also, the CG-ish effects had not been finished for the walls in the hideout (4Kids aired this episode before the original Italian), so there's plenty of "greenscreen" in the background instead (!)
At least with the Sphere of Truth, there was a gap of half a season between 4K's change and when it bit them in the backside, but in this case the change backfires on them literally less than five minutes later :-\ I thought surely TF would have no excuse to prefer the 4Kids version here, but more on that anon...
That wasn't the only issue viewers had with the battle, though...
Unedited: After Icy gets shot out of the sky, the girls decide to play a trick on Darcy and Stormy. Musa goes in to attack Stormy. Darcy attacks Musa and Musa counters. We see Icy make her icepad. Layla sneaks up on them and shackles them together.
Edited: Icy gets shot out of the Sky, and Bloom says: "You'd think you'd understand the balance of power now, Icy. Whenever you face us, you lose" as 4K cuts straight to Icy making her icepad, then Layla sneaking up on Darcy and Stormy, skipping the whole bit of Musa running interference.
The issue here: Some viewers thought Darcy should have been able to sense Layla sneaking up on her (a la Bloom back in the second episode). The original version would not have had these issues, because it shows Musa distracting her.
Although Nick's version doesn't cut out the scene (or any other scene, in fact), there are still some differences in the dialog. Bloom: "When you mess with the Winx, you get burned!" :-D
When I wrote my summary of the unedited, I mentioned some of these changes, with extra attention paid to the new power stuff, because surely the original writers wouldn't have been that sloppy (and they weren't :-))... TF commented:
"So how do they justify Fake Bloom speaking in Bloom's voice? I like it better in my version.
Despite the new power problem, I prefer 4Kids' Trix dialogue. It's just plain better."
(Insert slow blinking emoji here)
TF didn't elaborate, but if this is a matter of her finding the original's dialog more bland or something, well, to me, a sensible plot >> good dialog... and in any case, when the ep aired in the US, TF pointed out how much of a trick they missed in 4Kids with this blatant plot hole, when Icy gets shot out of the sky, and just drops to the sea:
"I would have had Bloom say the first part, but then say 'Fire beats ice.' Then Icy could fall, but right herself and show off that new fire-based power Baltor gave her with a little 'Then let's fight fire with fire' line. It's cheesy, but so is Icy sometimes."
Not knowing it was a 4Kids change, TF actively disliked this plot hole more than this review excerpt would suggest, as she was quite frustrated at Icy fumbling away "the perfect opportunity for a good fight and some good lines" (her actual words from the same review) by not doing/saying the above, and considered it an example of very bad Winx writing (alongside Diaspro never mentioning her issues with Bloom in 2x14, another result of 4Kids changes), so you'd think she'd automatically favor the version that avoids the problem, by not giving her those new powers... Anyways, one has to wonder how TF might have reacted to the Nick "you get burned" line :-\
TF also didn't like Darcy and Stormy getting shackled for the whole "Darcy should have sensed Layla sneaking up on her" thing and complained that they "totally got screwed over by the writers" (again, actual words) but when I posted a video of the scene to illustrate that it's the 4Kids cut, rather than the writing, that makes them look bad, she apparently didn't notice the cut since she only wrote: "How can you stand to watch your version? The voices are so horrible!" She always liked citing the voices as a reason to prefer the 4Kids dub, even telling me at one point "You may not care about voice acting, but I think it's a huge part of a successful show." But again, you'd think that the writing is of similar importance, if not more so, and you'd also think that she'd prefer the version that doesn't make the Trix look like the writers have been "taking a page or two from the stereotypical bumbling villain book" (again, from TF's review)
Back when season 3 was still airing, I made a blog post about new rules for Winx writers, and one of them was aimed directly at this plot hole: "If significant time is spent with a character having earned a new power, said power shall come into play in the next battle." In discussion elsewhere, other fans were willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt that they might have had a good reason to not have Icy use it immediately (as if there could ever be such a reason), but TF suggested that they should have had her make that reason explicit, and responded to my blog post: "Or the reason for not using it will be at least muttered under the breath of the character." Spoiler alert: The only time any of the Trix do use fire in a battle, it's Darcy rather than Icy who does so :-\
