Axis International

**Axis International** was a dubbing studio based in Hong Kong which specialized in dubbing Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong films. Most of these were from Toho, Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, And various smaller companies. They are notable for being the very first professional dubbing studio in Hong Kong. Notable works include *Gamera vs. Barugon*, Gamera vs. Gyaos, The Big Boss, Godzilla Vs. Hedorah, Fist Of Fury, Godzilla Vs. Gigan, Godzilla Vs. Megalon, Hanuman And The Seven Ultramen, And *Space Firebird 2772.*

## Background

Axis International was founded by former British Naval Intelligence officer and sports commentator Ted Thomas. In the late 1950s, After a couple years of working in broadcasting, Ted was commissioned by Run Run Shaw too help dub films from his company, Shaw Brothers, into English. Ted enjoyed his experience working on Shaw Brothers’ films, Which would make him later open his own dubbing company in the early 1960s.

In the early 1960s, East-asian companies realized they could make more money out of their films if they exported them overseas with an English dub ready-made. Axis International was the first and the cheapest, Making them the go-to dubbing company for several film companies. Most writing sessions would begin with a company calling up and commissioning a film to be dubbed. Then, a translator (usually Ron Oliphant) would record what scene needed to be dubbed and would count the syllables and pauses for what was needed to lip sync in the scene, Which would become the basis for the English script.

The dubbers themselves were only required to know how to do two things, have fast reactions and a unique voice with good inflections, with actual acting part of it being seen as additional. Most dubbing sessions would begin by bringing in male and female broadcasters from Radio Hongkong, their spouses, or actors who had applied via a newspaper advertisement that asked for help. A clique quickly started to grow which Ted and Ron would gather together for dubbing, which from the very beginning had a bit of an RHK influence.

The voice group was represented by Hong Kong expats of many nationalities, but notably, a cycle of Canadian men appeared in prominent roles throughout the group's history, partly because their voices more easily passed as American. First was Nick Kendall, Ted's fellow disc jockey at RHK during the 1950s and 1960s. Nick voiced many major roles in the first known Axis dubs in 1963/1964 and is last heard in 1967. Starting in 1966, a different, unidentified man with a characteristic Canadian accent began to replace Nick in lead roles. It is he who dubbed Wang Yu in all known dubs of his Shaw Brothers films starting with *The One-Armed Swordsman* in 1967, and with that film he became the group's go-to voice for young, heroic leads. Starting around 1969, a Canadian working as movie critic for the *South China Morning Post* named Jack Moore became David Chiang's go-to voice. Jack then mostly replaced the unidentified Canadian man as the young heroic type in Hong Kong martial arts films - exceptions to this are a reprise of Wang Yu's voice in *The Chinese Boxer* and (probably most famously) Cheng Chao-An in *The Big Boss*. All of the unidentified Canadian man's other roles from 1970 to his last known role in 1972 are in Japanese films. Jack Moore's last known roles are also in 1972, and from around 1973 onward, the young leads in Axis dubs were mostly played by Chris Hilton and Warren Rooke - British and Australian RHK broadcasters, respectively. A Canadian photographer/war correspondent named Ian Wilson (who has not been identified by voice) is known to have appeared in dubs throughout the second half of the 70s, and a Vancouver newsman named Rex Ellis was a frequent dubber from 1968 to 1975.

Microphones and tape for the film to be recorded on would be set up by engineers, and the films would be recorded in the conventional looping format. Because of the tight schedule, Axis usually didn’t have time to re-record a loop or even review it, as it might halt production on another dub they had to finish. Most dubbing sessions would take around 12 to 20 hours in total, With dubbers working from around 6 PM to midnight. With this schedule, Around six or seven films could be finished in a month.

After the dubbing sessions were complete, The dubbed reel would be sent over to whichever company had commissioned the dub. The company would then pay back about 9,000 HKD and the dubbed film would be copied so it could be shipped to the distributor that had bought the rights to that film in whichever country the company was based in. The dubs would also be used in export prints.

Axis International had many locations throughout the years, With them either being in Kowloon's walled city, Small houses on the edge of town, Or a flat with the living room made into a studio and the bedrooms being the projector rooms. However, It wouldn't be until the mid-late 70s until Axis had a designated recording studio. In the mid-late 1970s, Shaw Brothers had commissioned Axis specifically to dub their films and the films they distributed into English. At the same time, The casting process started to become more professional. Interviews for dubbing would be held at Shaw House with Ron Oliphant seeing what a new intern could do and if they met the requirements.

By the early 1980s, Axis had been losing traction due to other dubbing companies being more successful and more professional in the eyes of companies, which caused Axis to be considered obsolete. This, combined with the dwindling number of actors, caused the company to go defunct in 1982.

## Films dubbed by Axis International

#### Anime Films

* *The Littlest Warrior* (1961)
* *Adventures Of Sinbad* (1962)
* *The Legend Of The Chinese Gods* (1975)
* *Space Firebird 2772* (1980)

#### Live-Action Films

* *The Secret Of The Telegian* (1960)
* *Matango* (1963)
* *Atragon* (1963)
* *Dogora* (1964)
* *Judo Showdown* (1965)
* *Gamera Vs. Barugon* (1966)
* *The War Of The Gargantuas* (1966)
* *Return Of Daimajin* (1966)
* *Secret Agent 101* (1966)
* *Ninjascope,* The Magic World of Ninjas (1967)
* *Gamera Vs. Gyaos* (1967)
* *One Armed Swordsman* (1967)
* *Trail Of The Broken Blade* (1967)
* *The Assassin* (1967)
* *Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell* (1968)
* *Genocide* (1968)
* *Golden Swallow* (1968)
* *The Sword Of Swords* (1968)
* *The Bells Of Death* (1968)
* *Crimson Bat, The Blind Swordswoman* (1969)
* *Trapped, The Crimson Bat* (1969)
* *Watch Out, Crimson Bat* (1969)
* *Return Of The One Armed Swordsman* (1969)
* *The Flying Dagger* (1969)
* *Space Amoeba* (1970)
* *The Magic World Of Watari* (1970)
* *The Chinese Boxer* (1970)
* *The Heroic Ones* (1970)
* *Valley Of The Fangs* (1970)
* *Godzilla Vs. Hedorah* (1971)
* *The Big Boss* (1971)
* *Lake Of Dracula* (1971)
* *Battle Of Okinawa* (1971)
* *Human Target* (1971)
* *The Invincible Iron Palm* (1971)
* *The New One Armed Swordsman* (1971)
* *The Anonymous Heroes* (1971)
* *Duel Of Fists* (1971)
* *The Duel* (1971)
* *Vengeance!* (1971)
* *Godzilla Vs. Gigan* (1972)
* *Fist Of Fury* (1972)
* *10 Fingers Of Steel* (1972)
* *King Boxer* (1972)
* *Fury Of King Boxer* (1972)
* *The Avenger* (1972)
* *Duel In The Tiger Den* (1972)
* *Furious Slaughter* (1972)
* *The Big Fight* (1972)
* *The Good And The Bad* (1972)
* *Tough Guy* (1972)
* *The Boxer From Shantung* (1972)
* *Way Of The Dragon* (1972, English speaking characters in Mandarin cut)
* *Hapkido* (1972)
* *Lady Whirlwind* (1972)
* *Godzilla Vs. Megalon* (1973)
* *Professional Killers: Assassins Quarry* (1973)
* *A Girl Called Tigress* (1973)
* *Black Panther* (1973)
* *Bloody Ring* (1973)
* *Dragon Blows* (1973)
* *End Of The Wicked Tigers* (1973)
* *Fist Of Unicorn* (1973)
* *The Girl Named Iron Phoenix* (1973)
* *Knight Errant* (1973)
* *Kung Fu's Hero* (1973)
* *The Rage Of Wind* (1973)
* *Smugglers* (1973)
* *Stranger From Canton* (1973)
* *The Black Belt* (1973)
* *The Chinese Dragon* (1973)
* *The Chivalrous Line* (1973)
* *The Dragon And The Tiger* (1973)
* *The Iron Man (1973)*
* *Tiger Jump* (1973)
* *Iron Ox: The Tiger's Killer* (1973)
* *Hanuman And The Seven Ultramen* (1974)
* *Tornado Of Pearl River* (1974)
* *Tiger From Hong Kong* (1974)
* *Five Shaolin Masters* (1974)
* *Hanuman And The Five Kamen Riders* (1975)
* *The Supergirl Of Kung Fu* (1975)
* *The Flying Guillotine* (1975)
* *Outlaw Cop* (1976)
* *Mars Men* (1976)
* *Wonsan Operation* (1976)
* *Bruce's Deadly Fingers* (1976)
* *The Killer Meteors* (1976)
* *Great Hunter* (1976)
* *Shaolin Temple* (1976)
* *Fist Of Fury 2* (1977)
* *Last Fist Of Fury* (1977)
* *Invincible Armour* (1977)
* *Duel With The Devils* (1977)
* *Along Comes A Tiger* (1977)
* *10 Magnificent Killers* (1977)
* *The Shaolin Invincibles* (1977)
* *The Flash Legs* (1977)
* *Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue* (1977)
* *Men Of The Hour* (1977)
* *Strife For Mastery* (1977)
* *Double Double Crosser* (1977)
* *The Dragon, The Lizard, And The Boxer* (1977)
* *The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin* (1977)
* *Executioners From Shaolin* (1977)
* *Lady Exterminator* (1977)
* *Five Deadly Venoms* (1978)
* *Snake And Crane Arts Of Shaolin* (1978)
* *Deadly Strike* (1978)
* *My Life's on a Line* (1978)
* *Unique Lama* (1978)
* *Stranger From Shaolin* (1978)
* *Dual Flying Kicks* (1978)
* *The Eighteen Jade Arhats* (1978)
* *Snake In The Eagle's Shadow* (1978)
* *Shaolin's Born invincible* (1978)
* *Kung Fu Master Named Drunk Cat* (1978)
* *Assassin* (1978)
* *The Crippled Avengers* (1978)
* *Invincible Shaolin* (1978)
* *Heroes Of The East* (1978)
* *Death Duel of Kung Fu* (1979)
* *Dance Of Death* (1979)
* *Mystery Of Chess Boxing* (1979)
* *Hell's Wind Staff* (1979)
* *Marvelous Stunts Of Kung Fu* (1979)
* *The Kid With The Golden Arm* (1979)
* *Gamera, Super Monster* (1980)
* *Challenge Of The Tiger* (1980)
* *Deathquake* (1980)
* *Super Power* (1980)
* *Snake In The Monkey's Shadow* (1980)
* *The Kung Fu Warrior* (1980)
* *Return To The 36th Chamber* (1980)
* *Kung Fu Zombie* (1981)
* *King Of Prodigal Boxers* (1981)

## Talent Pool

Voice Actors
* Angel Chapman
* Andy Chworosky
* Barbara Laney (†)
* Barbara Walter
* Barry Haigh (Director, Voice Actor) (†)
* Caroline Levy
* Chris Hilton (†)
* Colvyn Haye (†)
* Daniel Oliphant
* Gary Sauve
* George Montgomery
* Graham Earnshaw
* Harvey Gamecock (Tony Moore)
* Harold Archer (Hal Anderson) (†)
* Ian Wilson (†)
* Jack Murphy
* Jack Moore (†)
* John Wallace (†)
* Linda Masson
* Lynne Wilson (†)
* Mandy Cooke
* Michael Kaye
* Michael Ross
* Nick Kendall (Director, Voice Actor) (†)
* Ron Oliphant (†)
* Rick Thomas
* Peter Boczar
* Penny Archer
* Saul Lockhart
* Simon Broad
* Sidney Oliphant
* Ted Thomas (Director, Voice Actor) (†)
* Warren Rooke

† deceased\*

## Sources

* Interview with Ted Thomas: https://youtu.be/S41hRiy5wAc
* Interview with Matthew and Elizabeth Oram: https://youtu.be/v\_AOdFsuAvU
* Interview with Peter Boczar: https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2020/07/25/chasing-kung-fu-dreams-peter-boczar-on-acting-and-dubbing-in-hong-kong/
* Interview with Warwick Paul Evans: https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2018/08/25/from-dracula-to-dubbing-warwick-paul-evans-on-his-varied-career-in-hong-kong-entertainment/
* Interview with Vaughan Savidge: https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2018/06/06/but-still-vaughan-savidge-on-his-hk-dubbing-career/
* Interview with Ted Thomas: https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2017/05/17/man-of-a-thousand-voices-hong-kong-voice-actor-ted-thomas-on-his-prolific-dubbing-career/
* Interview with Linda Masson: https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2023/04/16/hong-kongs-hidden-voice-acting-gem-linda-masson-on-her-dubbing-career-in-the-1960s-and-70s/
* Interview with Simon Broad: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vllAauDdIeHD8TGpmBBHm8s1v7bdTDDh/view?usp=sharing
* Interview with Michael Ross: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1\_VSzlJnOO4gy65XtmJAv1UHjIIfdsdhq/view?usp=sharing