MovieChat Forums > Samurai Jack (2001) Discussion > New voice for Aku...

New voice for Aku...

posted 11 years ago by Sam_Sung_Sang
9 replies | jump to latest

Tartakovsky has expressed concern, in the event of a possible film or series revival, with re-casting the voice of Aku. The loss of Iwamatsu Mako was heartbreaking, and there's certainly no one who can play the role in quite the same way that he did.

A more than suitable replacement would be Sab Shimono. He is well known as the voice of Uncle on "The Jackie Chan Adventures," in addition to hundreds of other voice and live-action roles. He also notably played Jack's father in "Samurai Jack," so he's been right under Tartakovsky's nose since the beginning.

Though he usually performs using his normal speaking voice, in his lower register, Shimono sounds almost indistinguishable from the late Mako. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeHSUs9BfsA)

If there is any chance that Jack's story may see a proper conclusion, the selection of Sab Shimono for Aku should be a no brainer.

[–] Riding_With_The_Valkyries 11 years ago

I do like the voice of Uncle. Also, I'm of the guy who replaced Mako's voice in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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[–] LeavesfromtheVine 10 years ago

I agree, if Greg Baldwin could play his part once, he can do it again.

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[–] barsoomian 10 years ago

I believe that Ian McShane could pull it off as well.

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[–] crawen77 10 years ago

Now THAT would be awesome.

[–] theyfoughtforska 8 years ago

first thing i thought when i heard of the comeback

id be willing to even hear spliced edited cuts of the past episodes into new stuff if it were possible to make it smooth/clean. prob. be expensive and time consuming AF though lol

I kinda wanna say Dimaggio [Bender-futurama], but i know there's others..

[–] mr_greylon 8 years ago

Or Maurice LaMarche, just because his with his range, I'd be shocked if he couldn't pull off a convincing Aku.

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[–] theyfoughtforska 8 years ago

Ooooooh yea, eh. that'd be awesome.

i loved his 'Mr. Freeze' in Batman: Arkham City

[–] septembermorn321 7 years ago

Tim Curry

[–] GhostWriterX 7 years ago

As others have mentioned before, Greg Baldwin would be the logical choice to replace Mako as Aku.

Baldwin took over for Uncle Iroh in Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and continued to voice him in The Legend of Korra. Here is clip of Baldwin as Iroh to show you (or remind you) of the similarity in their voices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsCwAjtYSho

Baldwin also voiced Aku in the video game Cartoon Network: FusionFall. Here is a snippet of what he sounds like in the role.

https://youtu.be/fvzNcS0krg0?t=2m19s

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