Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle

Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle (ドラゴンボール　魔ま神じん城じょうのねむり姫ひめ, Doragon Bōru　Majin-Jō No Nemuri Hime, lit. Dragon Ball: The Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle), also known as Dragon Ball: Sleeping Beauty in Devil Castle^[2], is the second Dragon Ball movie. Originally premiering on July 18 at the 1987 Toei Cartoon Festival (along with movies from the Saint Seiya, Hikari Sentai Maskman, and Chōjinki Metalder series).

As with its predecessor, it features mostly new animation, but reuses pieces from various episodes of the Dragon Ball television series.

Summary[]

Eleven year old Goku seeks out Master Roshi to ask to be accepted as a student just before Krillin, a monk from a far off city, arrives for the same reason (and uses a Dirty Magazine as a bribe). Master Roshi sends them on a quest far to the west, where "five mountains stand, called the 'Devil's Hand'." In a castle there, there lies the legendary, and beautiful, "Sleeping Princess." Whoever brings back the Sleeping Princess will become the old pervert's student. The two boys set out, and Krillin uses all the standard tricks to trip Goku up.

A little later, Bulma, Oolong, Yamcha, and Puar, who are on summer vacation, arrive at Kame House to find Goku. Master Roshi says that the two boys have gone far to the west for training, so the friends fly in Bulma's Capsule jet to the Devil's Hand. When they near the castle, the jet is attacked by demons, and Bulma is taken to the castle. The owner of the castle, Lucifer, pretends to treat her as a guest, until it becomes time to awaken the Sleeping Princess. In the meantime, Goku and Krillin fight monsters, and Yamcha drops in on Bulma just before the butler Igor can drain Bulma of her blood through a giant syringe (Bulma's blood is to be used to toast the awakening of the Sleeping Princess). Then, Launch (in her bad, blonde state) arrives to steal the Sleeping Princess, which is really a giant jewel. Everyone is captured and encased in a wall of rock.

It is the night of a full moon, and the moonlight is used to power the jewel (the full-moonlight is to be used to destroy the Sun and begin the Reign of Darkness). The moonlight also turns Goku into a Great Ape, who then goes berserk and grabs Good Launch. Great Ape Goku's tail is cut by Yamcha and Puar, which reverts him to his base form, and everyone then escapes. They find and fight Lucifer, and Goku uses a Kamehameha to move the Devil Castle Cannon towards Lucifer, and it kills Lucifer. The heroes escape, and Krillin acts contrite, but does not actually apologize to Goku for his behavior.

The two boys return to Kame House with good Launch; and Master Roshi, mistaking Launch for the princess, takes them both on as students. Roshi tries to take advantage of Good Launch only for her to sneeze and attack him with her gun before sneezing again.

Timeline placement[]

The movie takes place at the start of Goku and Krillin's training under Master Roshi.^[3]

Releases[]

This film premiered at the "Toei Manga Matsuri" film festival, where it was shown as part of a quadruple feature alongside Saint Seiya: The Movie and the film versions of Hikari Sentai Maskman and Choujinki Metalder. In 2006, Toei Animation released Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle as part of the final Dragon Box DVD set, which included all four Dragon Ball films and thirteen Dragon Ball Z films. These were presented in a new widescreen transfer from the original negatives with a 16:9 aspect ratio that was matted from the original 4:3 aspect ratio. While Harmony Gold USA had the rights to Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle, they only ever used footage from it in their opening for Dragon Ball.

Between 1996 and 1998, the Creative Products Corporation would make the first legally licensed English dub of this film. It's unknown if it aired on TV, but it was, at some point, released onto VHS and VCD by Regal Entertainment/Regal Home Video, compiled together with Mystical Adventure. It features a pretty accurate script, although censored in some areas.

In 1995, Funimation acquired the movie, along with the two other Dragon Ball movies and the series itself. It wasn't until 1998, however, that the Sleeping Princess would see a release on home video. FUNimation produced an in-house dub for the movie, unprecedented for any of their Dragon Ball properties at the time, although many voice actors were replaced they dubbed the series. Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle was released on VHS in both edited and unedited formats, although both versions contained altered opening and ending sequences.

In 2005, the film was re-released on DVD both individually and in a box set with Mystical Adventure and The Path to Power. This 3-disc box set was reissued in a thinpak variety in 2008. In 2011, FUNimation re-released all four Dragon Ball movies in a new thinpak DVD collection with the opening and ending sequences restored to the original Japanese footage. Furthermore, Goku's final line in the previous English release, "What did you say to her?" (said as he, Krillin, and Master Roshi back away from Launch immediately before the end credits) is removed (he is silent in the Japanese subs during that moment).

In the summer of 2005, Toonami UK aired another dub of the movie entitled Sleeping Beauty in Devil Castle done by AB Groupe in France. Some European releases of the movie include this English dub as an alternate audio track, although it is nearly impossible to tell without any known copies in circulation.

Dub Edits[]

Dialogue changes[]

In the FUNimation English version, Yamcha and Puar are already aware of Goku's Great Ape transformation and know to attack the tail. In the Japanese version, everyone is surprised by the transformation and Krillin figures out the tail weakness from when they were sparring previously.

Cast[]

This movie marks the very first appearance of FUNimation Entertainment's new cast of voice actors even before the Ginyu Saga had been broadcast on TV or released to VHS.

According to Mike McFarland, roughly 150 actors around the Dallas–Fort Worth area auditioned for parts in this movie, but ultimately only eight were chosen. Stephanie Nadolny, Tiffany Vollmer, Meredith McCoy, Brice Armstrong, and many of the other voice actors were not yet hired, and different actors were used. Only four of the eight are still active in the voice acting business.

A third English version from Speedy features an unknown voice cast.

Music[]

• OP (Opening Theme): "Makafushigi Adventure!"
• ED (Ending Theme): "Romantic Ageru Yo"

Battles[]

• Goku and Krillin vs. Ghastel
• Krillin vs. Devil's Castle Ogres
• Goku vs. Ghastel
• Goku and Krillin vs. Devil's Castle Ogres
• Goku vs. Ghastel
• Goku vs. Ghastel and Devil's Castle Ogres
• Goku vs. Devil's Castle Ogres
• Launch (Bad) vs. Devil's Castle Ogres
• Goku vs. Devil's Castle Ogres
• Goku (Great Ape) vs. Krillin, Yamcha, Oolong, Puar, and Launch (Good)
• Goku and Krillin vs. Lucifer
• Yamcha vs. Igor

Trivia[]

• This is the only one of the original Dragon Ball movies in which the Dragon Balls are not a part of the plot.
• The scene where Goku turns Great Ape and holds Launch with his hand was a homage to King Kong. The same situation also happened previously during the Pilaf Saga with Bulma.
• This movie is referred to as Sleeping Beauty.
• The plot summary on the DVD case identifies Goku as a Saiyan, a fact which would not be revealed until the appearance of Raditz much later, in Dragon Ball Z.
• The 6th Shunsuke Kikuchi music package for the franchise starts here. The cues were designated "M4XX", and this package would makes its series debut in Goku Goes to Demon Land. They were recorded on June 24, 1987.
• The post-2011 Funimation release of this movie is incorrectly set to 12 FPS when it should be 23.976 FPS, resulting in framerate issues. This is most apparent when Goku and Krillin are racing - the incorrect frame rate makes them appear to float (the pre-2011 Funimation release has the proper frame rate).
• Goku's final line in the pre-2011 Funimation English release, "What did you say to her?" (said as he, Krillin, and Master Roshi back away from Launch immediately before the end credits) is removed from the post-2011 Funimation release (he is silent in the Japanese subs during that moment).

Gallery[]

Cover Art Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle poster Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle poster Dragon Ball: The Movies Volume 16 Bulma is woken after the crash by Igor Lucifer introduces himself Krillin fights off the demons Goku finds the Sleeping Princess Bulma believes its a costume party Oolong's transformation runs out Launch on her bike The Dragon Ball Gang The gang takes a picture to celebrate their victory

References[]

External links[]

• Anime News Network - Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
• Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle at the Internet Movie Database

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