Founded in 1988, Streamline Pictures was the first company to bring over and dub anime uncut on video in the US. While all of Streamline's dubs and productions were uncut, the infamous Carl Macek did the script rewrites to make it more suited for the American audiences. While it wasn't bad as Macekre with the totally different character names and hackjobs, the script rewrites were more than enough to anger the most hardcore anime fans in the already long Dubbing Versus Subbing debate. While many companies release dub/sub VHS tapes at the time, Streamline Pictures went for the dub only approach. On their laserdisc releases and some of their DVD releases you can have both Japanese and English audio, but no subtitles. Akira and Twilight of the Cockroaches were the only releases with subtitled versions available(on TotC, the subtitles were — poorly — done by Macek himself). There were actually subtitled versions done for D, and the Miyazaki films, but they were only released as film prints (there were a few roadshows back around 1992). There also was one instance of Harmony Gold releasing subbed anime, as part of the Robotech Perfect collection which had two episodes of Robotech, and the corrisponding two episodes of one of the three Japanese series that made it up with rather poor subtitles. Each set got approximatly halfway through it's source series.
While the original dub of Akira is known as the Streamline dub, the dub was originally commissioned for the Hong Kong market, before the founding of Streamline Pictures. The same is true for the original dub of Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
After Streamline Pictures went under and other anime companies later picked up the rights to their catalog, some (Urban Vision) chose to keep the Streamline dub on their releases while others (Bandai Entertainment, Pioneer\Geneon) chose to do altogether new dubs. ADV Films did mostly the latter, but kept a few in the original form. And of course, Disney decided to produce dubs of the Miyazaki films 15 years later.
Voice actors include:
- Richard Allen
- Stephen Apostolina
- Robert Axelrod
- Robert V. Barron (died 2000)
- Catherine Battistone
- Bob Bergen
- Cyn Branch
- Steve Bulen
- Wally Burr
- Richard Cansino
- William Capizzi (died 2007)
- Russell Case
- Frank Catalano
- Ardwight Chamberlain
- Louise Chamis
- Cheryl Chase
- Cam Clarke
- Tony Clay
- Lara Cody
- John Dantona
- Rachel Davies
- Mari Devon
- Julie Diamond
- Juliana Donald
- David Ellenstein
- Richard Epcar
- Sam Fontana
- Michael Forest
- Rebecca Forstadt
- Eddie Frierson
- Barbara Goodson
- Melora Harte
- Milton James
- Eleni Kelakos
- Alexandra Kenworthy
- Art Kimbro
- Jason Klassi
- Steve Kramer
- Gaye Kruger
- Joyce Kurtz
- Wendee Lee
- Carl Macek (died 2010)
- Svea Macek
- Julie Maddalena
- Kerrigan Mahan
- Dave Mallow
- Edward Mannix
- Michael McConnohie
- Melanie McQueen
- Diane Michelle
- Karlyn Michelson
- Lisa Michelson (died 1991)
- Edie Mirman
- Iona Morris
- Daran Norris
- Joan-Carol O'Connell
- Tony Oliver
- Fred Patten
- Bodie Plecas
- Tony Pope (died 2004)
- David Povall
- Simon Prescott
- Jan Rabson
- Mike Reynolds
- Lia Sargent
- Ernie Sheesley
- Brianne Siddall
- Gregory Snegoff
- Michael Sorich
- Melodee M. Spevack
- Bonnie Stauch
- Barry Stigler (died 2005)
- Doug Stone
- Sam Strong
- Kirk Thornton
- Dean Wein
- Clifton Wells (died 2000)
- Bruce Winant
- Jeff Winkless (died 2006)
- Daniel Woren
- Tom Wyner
Note: on the later releases with the Streamline dubs, on the intro it will have Carl Macek's name on it.
List of Dubs from Streamline (some of the shows were redubbed later):[]
- 3×3 Eyes (1992) (distributed by Orion Pictures, later released on DVD by Geneon) [Streamline dub only on VHS and Laserdisc)
- 3×3 Eyes 2 (1997) (distributed by Orion Pictures, later released by Geneon) (Streamline dub only on VHS and Laserdisc)
- 8 Man After (1994) (VHS and DVD only)
- Akira (1988) (later distributed by Orion Pictures, then Pioneer) [Streamline Dub only on VHS and Criterion Collection Laserdisc in the US] (first release in anamorphic widescreen with slight letterboxing)
- Babel II (1995) (VHS and DVD only)
- Barefoot Gen (1995)
- Casshan - Robot Hunter (1995)
- Crimson Wolf (1995) (VHS and DVD only)
- Crying Freeman (1994) (later distributed by ADV Films in original form, with subtitles added)
- The Dirty Pair's Affair on Nolandia (1993) (later distributed and redubbed by ADV Films)
- Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy (1994) (later distributed and redubbed by ADV Films. Nozomi Entertainment is planning to re-release the OVA with both the Streamline and ADV Films dub tracks.)
- Dirty Pair: The Movie - Project Eden (1994) (later distributed and redubbed by ADV Films. Nozomi Entertainment is planning to re-release the film with both the Streamline and ADV Films dub tracks.)
- Doomed Megalopolis (1993) (later distributed by ADV Films, with the Streamline dub kept on DVDs)
- Fist of the North Star Movie (1991) (later distributed by Image Entertainment on VHS/LD/DVD and a new DVD release from Eastern Star)
- Great Conquest: The Romance of Three Kingdoms (1995) (later distributed by Orion Pictures)
- Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) (later distributed and redubbed by Disney)
- Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (1989) (later distributed and redubbed by Disney)
- Lensman (1990) (VHS and Laserdisc only in US)
- Lily C.A.T. (1994) (VHS only)
- Lupin III: Tales of the Wolf (1994) (episodes of the second TV series directed by Hayao Miyazaki)
- Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo (1995) (distributed by Orion Pictures; later distributed and redubbed by Geneon) (released in anamorphic widescreen with slight letterboxing)
- Lupin III: The Castleof Cagliostro (1992) (dubbed version; later distributed and redubbed by Manga Entertainment) (first release in anamorphic widescreen with slight letterboxing)
- Megazone 23 (1995) (later distributed and redubbed by ADV Films) [Parts of Megazone 23 were also Macekred into Robotech: The Movie]
- My Neighbor Totoro (1988) (Released by Troma Films, of all people, in 1993. The dub was distributed on home video by 20th Century Fox. Even later, distributed by Disney, who redubbed it for its release)
- Nadia (1992) (production ceased after 8 episodes; re-released in 1995 as The Secret of Blue Water. Later redubbed and re-released to completion by ADV Films)
- Neo Tokyo (1992) (later distributed by ADV Films, keeping the Streamline dub)
- Planet Busters (1992) (later distributed and redubbed by ADV Films under the original title Birth)
- Robot Carnival (1991) (Only on VHS and Laserdisc in the US)
- Silent Möbius (1994) (later distributed by Miramax Films and Bandai Entertainment; the latter eventually redubbed it; Streamline's dub was only on VHS.)
- Space Adventure Cobra (1995)
- The Professional: Golgo 13 (1992) (later distributed by Urban Vision, with the Streamline dub kept) (first release in anamorphic widescreen with slight letterboxing)
- The Speed Racer Show (1993) (later released on home video by Live Entertainment under the Family Home Entertainment name as "Speed Racer: The Movie")
- Twilight of the Cockroaches (1989) [Only on VHS and Laserdisc in the US] (released in anamorphic widescreen with slight letterboxing)
- Vampire Hunter D (1992) (originally distributed by CBS Theatrical Films, later distributed by Urban Vision) [Streamline dub is on all versions)
- Wicked City (1993) (later distributed by Urban Vision, with the Streamline dub kept)
- Zillion (1990)
- Zillion: Burning Night (1991)