Texan Dedede

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About

Texan Dedede refers to memes and discussions about King Dedede's voice in the English dub for the animated Kirby: Right Back At Ya! television show in the early 2000s. Voiced by Ted Lewis, King Dedede was given a Southern or "Texan" accent in the 4Kids voice dub of the show. Some fans consider King Dedede's personality and voice-over in the English dub to be a parody of George Bush, former President of the United States. Many fans subsequently expressed either disdain or nostalgia for the inexplicable accent choice, which is very different from the show's original Japanese voiceover.

Origin

Hoshi no Kaabii first aired in Japan in 2001. It was licensed by 4kids Entertainment and first aired in America on September 1st, 2002, under the name Kirby: Right Back At Ya!

Ted Lewis voiced the main antagonist of the show, King Dedede, giving him a thick Southern or Texan accent. The stylistic choice to voice King Dedede with a Southern American accent can be seen in clips from the show's English dub, as compiled by YouTuber^[1] RitaFox1 on October 12th, 2011, gathering over 400,000 views in 12 years (seen below, left).

An example of King Dedede's original Japanese voice was posted to YouTube^[2] by Nathaniel Tan on July 1st, 2021, gathering over 19,000 likes in two years (seen below, right)

Spread

On August 25th, 2012, DeviantArt^[7] user ShadowScarKnight posted a version of Dedede dressed in a Southern costume (seen below).

Anonymous asked: What's your opinion about king DeDeDe? WHATCHA GOT THERE, LIL MISSY? IS DATA PITCHFORK? DIDA FARMAH LEND DAT TO YA? НУЕНЕНЕНИНИНА! block answer

A discussion on Reddit's /r/Kirby shows several users citing King Dedede's Southern accent as their favorite interpretation of the character.^[3]

On February 1st, 2019, X^[4] user @Teh_Stof wrote, "Kirby reanimated reminded me how much I adore Ted Lewis as King Dedede. / Played him like a damn rich Texan oil tycoon. Brilliant." The post gathered over 200 likes in five years (seen below, left).

An April 3rd, 2021 post by X^[5] user @Bee_Kirby read, "Dedede's 4kids angry texan voice doesn't fit the game version of him at all but I'm so attached to it that I read any dialogue he has in that voice anyway," gathering over 200 likes in three years (seen below, right).

Holly Jolly TBae @Teh_Stof Follow Kirby reanimated reminded me how much I adore Ted Lewis as King Dedede. Played him like a damn rich Texan oil tycoon. Brilliant. 8:01 AM Feb 1, 2019

Bee'Jam Blues E @Bee_Kirby Dedede's 4kids angry texan voice doesn't fit the game version of him at all but I'm so attached to it that I read any dialogue he has in that voice anyway 8:21 PM - Apr 3, 2021 Follow

On February 7th, 2022, Redditor^[6] /u/StrawberryToufu posted a meme referring to King Dedede as a Texan, gathering over 1,000 upvotes in two years (seen below).