Wakfu (lost unreleased English dub pilot of French animated TV series based on massively multiplayer online game; 2009)

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Wakfu logo.png

Wakfu animated series title card.

Status: Lost

Wakfu is a French animated series based on the MMO of the same name by Ankama Animation. The series initially debuted in 2008 and has since spawned multiple followup seasons, TV specials, spinoffs, toys and other assorted merchandise.

Multiple attempts have been made to try to release the show in English speaking markets. The production chronology of which is not entirely clear.

At the 2009 MCM London Expo, Ankama presented two English dubbed episodes.[1][2] This dub is believed to have been recorded in France by expats, many of whom previously worked on the English version of Code Lyoko, and was allegedly at one point hosted as a sales video for interested broadcasters on a site related to Ankama.[3] The site has since gone offline and footage from that dub can no longer be found online.[4]

An English pilot recorded by Ocean Studios in Vancouver, Canada was shown off to attendees at Anime Expo 2011 in the US. Footage of this dub was posted online.[5] Ocean's sister company, the Calgary-based casting agency Chinook Animation, lists working on five episodes in their portfolio.[6] It's not known if this refers to an entirely separate dub or if this was a joint production between the two Canadian studios. Several actors from Calgary have confirmed their involvement.[7][8]

In 2014, Ankama launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund an English dub of the entire series (to that date).[9] It proved extremely successful, grossing $483,524 out of a $80,000 goal. This dub uses an entirely unique English voice cast from the United States and the United Kingdom.[10] It would later air on Toonami in South East Asia and be distributed by Netflix in most markets.[11][12] The voices used in the crowdfunding trailer differ from the final cast.[13] It featured talent from Los Angeles, USA (namely Ben Diskin and Cassandra Morris). It's not known if those actors were hired on exclusively for the trailer or if they were also involved in an unreleaed pilot.

References