As a gamer who grew up watching Dragon Ball Z, I can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia and sadness upon hearing about the passing of Doc Harris. Back in the day, his narration was an integral part of my childhood, and his voice was synonymous with the epic battles and adventures of Goku and his friends.
In 1996, when “Dragon Ball Z” began airing in the U.S., Funimation (now known as Crunchyroll LLC) brought Ocean Studios on board to dub the anime that later became renowned as one of the greatest animated TV shows ever made. However, this initial dub was eventually discontinued and replaced by another version handled jointly by Cartoon Network and Funimation themselves. During Ocean’s tenure, Ian James Corlett voiced the lead character Goku, while Doc Harris and Gilbert Auchinleck took care of the show’s narration. Regrettably, Harris passed away this weekend at the age of 76, and Corlett expressed his condolences on social media in honor of him.
As reported by Broadcast Dialogue, Doc Harris died at the Vancouver General Hospital on Saturday following a reported minor surgery last month. Ian James Corlett, whose other credits include Mega Man and Beast Wars: Transformers, divided his tribute to Harris into two posts. In the first Instagram post, Corlett described how he met Harris, whom he called “one of the greats”:
In my budding career, Doc played a colossal role. He wasn’t just a talented DJ; he embodied music, always immersed in it. His passion for movies was equally noteworthy. Our first encounter took place at the music store when I sold him some audio equipment. Eager to make connections, I cultivated a bond with him. Before long, he generously invited me into his circle. We collaborated on comedy skits and musical parodies, among other things. What stood out was the contrast between his polished on-air speech and his rather colorful off-air conversations.
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Beyond their work together on Dragon Ball Z, Corlett and James also contributed to other Vancouver-based productions such as Barbie, Camp Candy, Captain N: The Game Master, and Harris was famously known as the “king of malapropisms” by Corlett. However, they didn’t get a chance to have lunch together during Harris’ recent visit to Vancouver this past summer. Corlett concluded his post with a heartfelt message saying, “Sorry Doc. I owe you one. Actually, I owe you a hundred lunches” and “RIP DOC 💔🤘🏽”. Tragically, Harris passed away just seven months after the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise, Akira Toriyama, died at the age of 68.
In his second Instagram post, Ian James Corlett started off by saying how Doc Harris was “gracious of spirit to help out a young gun like me. A guy with essentially little to no experience.” He then recalled the time when Harris compared him to Ghostbusters and Spaceball actor Rick Moranis:
One time, he gave me one of the most flattering compliments I’ve ever received. We were working together and I was trying out my ‘young, nerdy’ voice, when he said, “You remind me of Rick Moranis…” I blushed at the comparison. But then he added, “Actually, he was my engineer (not on-air talent) at a Toronto station when I first started using him for comedy bits…” This revelation left me speechless. Knowing our shared history, his compliment carried even greater weight.
In the later stages of his professional journey, Doc Harris not only excelled in radio work but also contributed his distinctive voice to various ventures such as “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”, “Monster Rancher”, the video game “Hulk”, and “Aegis Defender”. Here at TopMob, we join Ian James Corlett in expressing our heartfelt condolences to Harris, offering our sympathy to his family and friends.
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2024-10-08 02:07