Handler: I changed it as little as possible. There were times where there were things like grunts, which ADR writers usually throw in to fill silences that can then be edited out later as needed by the director. I stayed so close to the original the Japanese version didn't record a grunt at a certain point I wasn't going to put it into the script. I had such respect for the production value and the quality of "Bebop," I wanted to make the same judgment calls that they made.

When I sit down to write a scene I ask, "What was the writer's intention; what was the creative team's intention; what are they trying to do?" Then I look at the direct translation. There's always something lost in the direct translation, and I try to find out what's missing. Then I add that to the English text while maintaining the show's mood and intention.

The biggest problem with ADR writing is that most writers look at the translation and try to figure out how to get lines to fit characters' lip flaps. That way you end up with something that just doesn't work tonally or thematically. You have to think through it as a writer, as if you were writing it originally. Think about what the scene does, how it fits in the overall arc. Then you can play off the translation.

Williamson: And that's exactly how we approached it. A friend of mine was one of the leads for that episode and he said that if we were going to do this we couldn't hold back on it. We need to take the genre and spin it.

Charles: Like Mel Brooks. He can't make a movie now without being blasted about being anti-this or anti-that. But it's all just humor.

Williamson: I hate political correctness, I can't stand it, it drives me insane. People lose their sense of humor when they start talking about political correctness. You can't lose the ability to laugh at yourself. So if you are going to do something, don't do it half way because I think you offend more people like that.

Handler: I thought it was hilarious. I didn't think there was any malice in it at all. I think the series earned the right to spoof Blaxploitation films by spoofing every other film genre out there. They even spoof their own audience.

Williamson: I said to the actor that we hadn't decided whether he's black or Hispanic, so give him a taste of a Hispanic accent, but when he gets excited or loses his cool have him forget what accent he's using. With the girl we were going for dumb blonde, dumb, dumb, awful, dumb blonde. And at the end you find that she's actually really smart and just putting on that persona. Everything in the show is a ruse, a question about what is real and what isn't, and we used that developing the voices for these people.

Charles: The beauty of this show, besides the collaborative effort of wonderful actors, a wonderful director, wonderful writer, is that the animation is so wonderful; it has depth, it has layers, and that's what we rise to meet. Spike is not just a tough guy, Faye is not just a femme fatale, Ed is not just a kid. We were blessed to work with great material.

All are eager to do the upcoming movie, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," if they are asked, having found the "Cowboy Bebop" experience one of the most rewarding in their careers. If this band of artists, so passionate about the work, is any indication of the trajectory anime dubs could take, perhaps the die-hard sub fans will let down their guard long enough to recognize that talent and hard work doesn't poison the sanctity of these Japanese art form.

Cowboy Bebop © Sunrise / Bandai Ent.