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Disney movies dubbed in French Not too long ago, my son was watching the Disney Pixar movie 'Cars'. When I was getting the DVD ready, I noticed that there was an option to watch the movie in French. I played it in English but that got me thinking while watching the movie with my son. How did they characterize Mater in the French version? I mean, his accent is very deep southern USA. How would that possibly get translated into French? Does the French version of Mater have a Parisian accent but with a funny voice? Or do they give him a regional accent too? I know that they changed the name of the character 'Mater' in the French version to 'Martin', I believe, but that's all I know. Anyway, I was just curious because I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of changes have to be made when American movies, like this one, get dubbed into French.
Jan 10, 2014 2:49 AM
Answers · 4
I have not seen this film, but I can give you a general comment on dubbed American film. - Films can be dubbed in Quebec or in France or both (France has a law, if you want to export a film there, you have to translate it there. Quebec is not fussy but some prefer to do a version in that province anyway to appeal better to the public.) The fact that 2 version can exist is sometimes a problem. You get used to certain voices. Also, for example, Mighty Ducks. In cinema, it was the Quebec version (funny) and in stores it was the French one (less funny, they changed jokes! The "Oreo league" became the "chocolate-vanilla league") I have no idea why the French version ends up in Quebec shops when a Quebecker version exist, but it happens. - That said, in general, they don't keep accents in dubbed versions, unless it makes sense in the plot. If that actor was supposed to be French, they usually make him another nationality to keep the idea of a foreigner. Like in Home Alone. Some of it IS in France, but they say it's Spain I think. In the Simpson, they say it's France when it is, but characters are not supposed to understand each other (but we do even with accents) so it's all weird. - Usually, an actor get dubbed by the same dubbing actor for all his career if he's a big Hollywood star. There have been some exceptions, in some film, I heard (for example) the voice known to me as Sylvester Stallone doing Arnold Schwarzenegger, and that is very very annoying. Some actor dubbed themselves, like Jodie Foster, her French is now perfect (but she sounded flat for her first few films!!). Often the actor hired to dubbed someone sounds a bit like the original actor, but not always. It still surprise me when I hear an actor speaking for real for the first time (I've watched dubbed films for 30 years) sometimes their real voice disappoint me. (Like Rosie Perez, what a bad voice !)
January 10, 2014
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