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This is one of the shorter sections, but these rumors have been prevalent enough to warrant including them. Whether it be theatrical premieres of some of the movies, to there being a "lost" movie / OVA, to there even being a DBZ movie 14... you know you have heard them. Some of these rumors are not far from the truth, but do need some logical clearing up.

RUMOR: The DBZ movies were originally widescreen / my movies are cropped!

STATUS: Technically, no.

EXPLANATION: There is a lot of truth and misinformation to this discussion, along with some necessary explanation. One thing is true: the DragonBall Z movies were, indeed, originally premiered and released in widescreen format (in theaters, and on home VHS / LD). What most people fail to realize, however, is that these movies were originally animated in full-screen, traditional 4:3 format. For the Japanese release, the movies had "black bars" placed on the top and bottom portions of the screen; they were not cropped, but rather simply covered up. (Click image on left for full-size). While nothing important was lost, some image was indeed obscured. This, in turn, also carried over to the run of fansubs in the US. Here we are with tons of fans thinking they are getting the "original" format for their movies, completely oblivious as to the actual nature of the print. Along comes FUNimation (and in the case of movies 1-3, FUNimation / Pioneer), releasing all of the movies in full-screen!

Well, American fans... we were in for a treat (up until 2008, anyway). We were the ones getting the full picture... not the Japanese fans! FUNimation used the original 4:3 prints, rather than using the same "cropping" / "covering" technique used by the Japanese. For a full comparison with three full-sized images, directly ripped / captured from the source, check out this image (NOTE: very large image).

Furthermore, many fans seem to think that a good portion of their picture is being "cropped out," when this can actually be explained, without tossing any blame on anyone other than the original designers of the television set! Due to the limitation of glass-technology in early televisions, it was impossible to produce a rectangular image. To compensate for this, a process called "over-scanning" was developed. In order for the image on the television to stretch across the entire viewable area, and not have black borders surrounding it, parts of the image are "off-screen," so to speak, outside of the "NTSC safe-zone."

There are actually two areas in the safe-zone: action-safe and title-safe. The action-safe area is approximately 90% of the viewing area (576 x 432 on a 640 x 480 window). On most televisions, everything produced within this window should be seen. The title-safe area is defined as approximately 80% of the viewing area (512 x 384 on a 640 x 480 window). On even the most badly-adjusted television sets, you should be able to see anything within this window (which is most often titles and logos; companies definitely want these to be seen). So if you are "not seeing" something you think you should, chances are it is simply outside of the "safe zone." Here's an image (using the same screen shot as above) for comparison's sake. Note that if you're playing DVDs back on your computer, there is no over-scan, since you are not playing back on NTSC-specific hardware.

Unfortunately, FUNimation announced that they would be releasing "remastered" versions of the DBZ TV series in a "widescreen" format, which is not the same case as the movies, in that the TV series was intended to be seen in 4:3 / full-screen. To achieve this "widescreen" effect, FUNimation literally did crop (fully remove) approximately 20% of the vertical resolution (despite only gaining approximately 5% of the horizontal resolution through their "remastering" process). How does this relate to the movies, though? Beginning in 2008, FUNimation began a series of double-feature movie releases in this same faux-"remastered" style, removing the top and bottom of the image to achieve a "widescreen" aspect ratio. If you refer to the beginning of this discussion, you will remember that these movies were intended to be seen in "widescreen" from the beginning, so we now have a case of personal preference and level of fandom when it comes to making a decision on what is "right" or "wrong" with regards to the image.

Hopefully now you see the full picture!

RUMOR: Some of the (animated) DBZ movies will have theatrical premieres in the US.

STATUS: Not likely. Unless it's 2006.

EXPLANATION: It has not happened yet, and probably will not. Early rumors cited DBZ movies 5 and 6 being played as a double-feature. Especially now, with interest fading, there is a very good chance that it will NEVER happen. If the fabled live-action movie ever comes to pass, it may or may not be a theatrical premier... but since we do not even really know if it will be made, it is mostly irrelevant, anyway.

Well, that is what we would have said up until early 2006, when FUNimation announced that DBZ Movie 12 (entitled by FUNimation as Fusion Reborn) would be seeing a limited theatrical release in March alongside (for some strange reason) DBZ Movie 6 (entitled by FUNimation as The Return of Cooler). A review of this theatrical debut can be heard on Episode #0019 of our podcast.

In addition to this, it was revealed in 2007 that the live-action movie would indeed (finally) be created by 20th Century Fox, with a release date set for August 2008 (but later rescheduled to 2009).

RUMOR: In the Bardock TV special, before Bardock begins his final assault on Freeza (at the end of the feature), you can see Freeza's ship hidden within the shadows of one of the two suns, and Coola's ship in the other.

STATUS: False.

EXPLANATION: This is simply not true. The Bardock TV special originally aired 17 October 1990; the fifth DBZ movie (which would have been the first introduction of Coola) premiered 20 July 1991. Unless there was some major planning going on, there is no way there could have been such a hidden "easter egg", as Coola was not even created yet, and would not be seen for nearly another full year! Talk about seeing the future...!

This rumor originates from some actual substance, however. At the beginning of the fifth DBZ movie, we do see Coola watching the "event" (being the destruction of Planet Vegeta at the hands of his brother Freeza) from his own spaceship, which logically cannot be all that far away. When Bardock looks up and sees two suns, fans put two and two together and assumed Coola's spaceship was hidden in the other sun (the screen zooms in on the sun to the right, which Freeza's ship is hidden within the shadows of).

RUMOR: There is a DragonBall GT movie where Goku Jr. fights Vegeta Jr.

STATUS: False.

EXPLANATION: There is certainly a fight between Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr., but it does not take place in any sort of movie or special! First, let us clear up the whole "movie" mystery; there are no DragonBall GT movies, although there is a single TV special (in fact, you can read all about the TV special here on this site). The TV special takes place 100 years after the "end" of DBGT with an old Pan and her great-great-grandson, Goku Jr. It is a sort of "coming of age" story with this very fragile, very unsure Goku Jr. coming to learn of his potential.

Now, with that in mind...

The very last television episode of DragonBall GT (episode 64) has an "epilogue" before its end that takes place 100 years in the future (seeing a connection here?). This epilogue takes place after the TV special, with Goku Jr. already able to become a Super Saiyan and ready to battle at the Tenka-ichi Budôkai. Goku Jr. prepares himself for the match when his opponent walks onto the stage. The screen pans up someone with white boots, blue tights, & pointy hair...

It is Vegeta Jr.! The two begin their battle as Pan spots the original Goku out in the stands... and... well, we are probably spoiling a little too much if you have not gotten that far, so we will stop there.

What probably confused most fans was the length of time it took to get to the end of DragonBall GT (as well as its TV special) in North America, despite the fact that it had come out in Japan in 1997 (and therefore images and information had been online for years). To make a long story short, there is no DBGT movie (though there is a TV special), and Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. cannot do battle in a movie that does not exist (though you can see a brief glimpse of their fight in the final DBGT episode).

RUMOR: There is a "Lost Movie" / OVA.

STATUS: Somewhat (see below).

EXPLANATION: Yes and No... this one's pretty complicated to explain. For extremely detailed information, please visit our "There is no OVA!" section. There you can find an extremely detailed history, screen shots, synopsis, and more!

RUMOR: There is a DBZ Movie 14.

STATUS: False.

EXPLANATION: No. You could be thinking of either the Playdia game "Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku" ("The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans") and the associated home animation releases, or the 10th Anniversary DragonBall (no Z) movie, "Saikyô e no Michi" ("The Path to Ultimate Strength"). There is not anything else that could really be mistaken for another animated DBZ movie...