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Dubbing Can Be A Problem...
I have read Debra K.
Chinn’s “International Theatrical
Dubbing: It’s More Than Meets the
Eye” and would like to share a few
experiences with you. When dubbing
is done properly, it enhances
the movie experience, but when it
is done wrong, it can kill a film. I
am from the Czech Republic and
all of the movies that come out
here on video are dubbed. In the
theaters, only about half of them
are dubbed and most of my
friends are thankful for each and
every one that is not.
I remember when Harrison
Ford spoke his first Czech lines in
Clear and Present Danger. The
voice was terrible and the whole
theater began laughing. Moreover,
the titles are sometimes translated
without a true understanding
of what they mean. For
instance, Hot Shots was translated
as Shots Which Are Hot and Private
Parts was translated as Private
Vice.
The dialogue almost always
lacks the wit of the original. The
double-headed dragon in Quest
for Camelot originally says, “We
are the reason why relatives
should not marry.” The dubbed
version said, “We are a genetic
problem.” The joke is lost. The
charm is lost. It is dull. I think “dull”
is the word that describes dubbed
versions best.
I remember most of the
English lines from the Star Wars
Trilogy. When I borrowed Star
Wars on video, I was shocked to
hear very polite dialogue with very
editor@awn.com
little, if any, wit and sometimes a
totally different meaning. For
example in the English version,
Luke says, “I am not afraid,” and
Yoda answers, “You will be!” In the
Czech version Yoda says, “Really?”
These are some examples
of why my friends always shudder
at the thought of seeing another
dubbed movie. In fact, some prefer
to wait for a satellite channel to
show the film in English. One of
my buddies, a huge cartoon fan,
stopped going to theaters to see
the Disney movies because he
hates what Czech dubbing does
to them. Although he is quite
extreme, I have to admit that listening
to Czech versions of Ariel’s
songs was very unpleasant and
painful indeed .
I have done quite a bit of
translating and it is not an easy
job. Sometimes it takes a lot of
effort to come up with the correct
translation, something that really
fits. It takes time. It takes effort. It
takes energy. It seems to me that
the folks who are doing the translating
for movies here are quite
lazy (or very badly paid) at best.
I hope my point of view will
help you in your work, especially
since the new Star Wars Trilogy is
approaching. I hope Fox will not
force them to be dubbed.
Best regards,
Richard K. Taufman
Editor’s Note: I think
Debra’s article showed that some
U.S. studios are placing a new
emphasis on the importance of
proper dubbing. By setting up
complete internal departments to
handle the dubbing process, the
studios are being more involved
and stringent in their standards. I
will be curious to see if you see
any marked changes in the near
future. Please write back after you
see The Phantom Menace. I’ll be
interested to hear what you think
about the quality.
American Dramas?
First, I do believe that the
American animation industry has
advanced in the past 10 years. We
have advanced from only producing
kids cartoons to producing
more “adult” cartoons like The
Simpsons.
I have noticed though that
for the last ten years (1989-1998)
the majority of “adult” cartoons on
prime time are sitcoms like, The
Simpsons, South Park, Bob and
Margaret, etc. Why are most of
the “adult” American cartoons produced
sitcoms? It seems that year
after year, the only thing animation
producers can think to produce
are animated adult sitcoms.
Have any of these American
animation producers ever
thought about producing something
different? How about an animated
drama aimed at adults? Or
even an animated western aimed
at adults? It seems that all the
good writers are aimed at making
viewers laugh instead of creating
dramatic material.
You are probably saying to
yourself, “The idea of dramatized
ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE December 1998 6