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Local idioms are occasionally adopted in place of direct translation. American cultural and political jokes are occasionally replaced with local references. For instance, a reference to [[Newt Gingrich]] in Quebec is generally replaced with one to [[Mike Harris]]. Most of the recurring characters keep their English names in each French version. Two exceptions are [[Sideshow Bob]] and [[Sideshow Mel]], who are known as [[Tahiti]] Bob and Tahiti Mel in France, as the word ''sideshow'' has no direct translation. In Quebec, the title ''sideshow'' is kept as an Anglicism. Another exception is made for the Simpsons family's dog, [[Santa's Little Helper]], who is called "Le p'tit renne au nez rouge" (the French name for the song [[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]], which literally means "Little Red-Nosed Reindeer") in the Quebec version and "Petit Papa Noël" (name of a French [[Christmas]] song that literally means "Little Santa Claus") in the French one.
Local idioms are occasionally adopted in place of direct translation. American cultural and political jokes are occasionally replaced with local references. For instance, a reference to [[Newt Gingrich]] in Quebec is generally replaced with one to [[Mike Harris]]. Most of the recurring characters keep their English names in each French version. Two exceptions are [[Sideshow Bob]] and [[Sideshow Mel]], who are known as [[Tahiti]] Bob and Tahiti Mel in France, as the word ''sideshow'' has no direct translation. In Quebec, the title ''sideshow'' is kept as an Anglicism. Another exception is made for the Simpsons family's dog, [[Santa's Little Helper]], who is called "Le p'tit renne au nez rouge" (the French name for the song [[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]], which literally means "Little Red-Nosed Reindeer") in the Quebec version and "Petit Papa Noël" (name of a French [[Christmas]] song that literally means "Little Santa Claus") in the French one.


In addition, although the location and setting of the show are not changed in the Quebec dub (still takes place in the United States), many references to the characters watching American TV shows, movies, etc. are changed to references to Québécois ones. For example, a reference to Homer watching ''[[CSI: Miami]]'' in the original was changed to [[Fortier (TV series)|''Fortier'']], a similar Québécois show. Although these changed references would be familiar to the French-Canadian viewer, in real life these would be awkward because almost all Québécois media is unknown in the USA. This is an example of localizing the humour for the Quebec market. In addition, most instances of the word "English" are changed to "French". Due to this, in one episode where Homer visits Canada, the roles of [[English language|anglophones]] and [[francophone]]s are completely reversed, resulting in a stereotypical English Canadian speaking French and a stereotypical French Canadian speaking English. In another episode, English-Canadians were given stereotypical American accents speaking French, even when the main characters from the U.S.A. were not. The same practice is done in the Quebec dub of ''[[King of the Hill]]'', done by the same company and many of the same actors, but to a greater extent: instead of taking place in Arlen, Texas, the show takes place in "Ste-Irène", a Québécois town, and many of the characters' names are changed. However, American flags and pictures of Texas state (such as on the side of police cars) are not edited.
In addition, although the location and setting of the show are not changed in the Quebec dub (still takes place in the United States), many references to the characters watching American TV shows, movies, etc. are changed to references to Québécois ones. For example, a reference to Homer watching ''[[CSI: Miami]]'' in the original was changed to [[Fortier (TV series)|''Fortier'']], a similar Québécois show. Although these changed references would be familiar to the French-Canadian viewer, in real life these would be awkward because almost all Québécois media is unknown in the USA. This is an example of localizing the humour for the Quebec market. In addition, most instances of the word "English" are changed to "French". Due to this, in one episode where Homer visits Canada, the roles of [[English language|anglophones]] and [[francophone]]s are completely reversed, resulting in a stereotypical English Canadian speaking French and a stereotypical French Canadian speaking English. In another episode, English-Canadians were given stereotypical American accents speaking French, even when the main characters from the U.S.A. were not. The same practice is done in the Quebec dub of ''[[King of the Hill]]'', done by the same company and many of the same actors, but to a greater extent: instead of taking place in Arlen, Texas, the show takes place in [[[Ste-Irène]], and many of the characters' names are changed. However, American flags and pictures of Texas state (such as on the side of police cars) are not edited.


The episodes are dubbed by a team of voice actors, similar to the one that does the original. The team does about two episodes per day. In general these voice actors also do the characters who were voiced by celebrities in the American version. In the French version, on occasion, official dubbers are brought in. For instance for the episode where [[Mulder]] and [[Dana Scully|Scully]] from ''[[The X-Files]]'' appear the voice actors who do their voices on the French version of the ''X-Files'' guest starred.
The episodes are dubbed by a team of voice actors, similar to the one that does the original. The team does about two episodes per day. In general these voice actors also do the characters who were voiced by celebrities in the American version. In the French version, on occasion, official dubbers are brought in. For instance for the episode where [[Mulder]] and [[Dana Scully|Scully]] from ''[[The X-Files]]'' appear the voice actors who do their voices on the French version of the ''X-Files'' guest starred.

Revision as of 15:33, 19 June 2013

The animated TV show The Simpsons is an American English language animated sitcom which has been broadcast in the United States since 1989 on FOX. In other countries, the TV show started broadcasting later than 1989 either in its original version or in a dubbed version.

By language

French

The Simpsons has been dubbed into the French language twice, once in the Canadian province of Quebec and again in France. The show is titled "Les Simpson" in both regions, following local orthography standards. The French audio on most Region 1 DVDs is the Quebec dub, although very early releases used the European French dub instead. It is one of only a handful of American television shows that have wholly separate versions in Quebec and France, and a number of studies have been made comparing them. In France all the characters speak standard French, with the exception of the ethnic minorities: Apu is given the Indian accent, while Carl, who has no accent in the American version, also speaks affected French. Kirk Van Houten is given a stereotypical Brussels accent, as "Van Houten" is a name which can be assumed to be Belgian. In the Quebec version, only the town élite, such as Principal Skinner and Reverend Lovejoy, speak with a French accent. The Simpson family and most of the townsfolk speak with a strong Quebec accent. In the Quebec version the ethnic minorities also have accents. Noticeably, Carl has the accent of a Black immigrant from Africa or the Caribbean.[1]

Local idioms are occasionally adopted in place of direct translation. American cultural and political jokes are occasionally replaced with local references. For instance, a reference to Newt Gingrich in Quebec is generally replaced with one to Mike Harris. Most of the recurring characters keep their English names in each French version. Two exceptions are Sideshow Bob and Sideshow Mel, who are known as Tahiti Bob and Tahiti Mel in France, as the word sideshow has no direct translation. In Quebec, the title sideshow is kept as an Anglicism. Another exception is made for the Simpsons family's dog, Santa's Little Helper, who is called "Le p'tit renne au nez rouge" (the French name for the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which literally means "Little Red-Nosed Reindeer") in the Quebec version and "Petit Papa Noël" (name of a French Christmas song that literally means "Little Santa Claus") in the French one.

In addition, although the location and setting of the show are not changed in the Quebec dub (still takes place in the United States), many references to the characters watching American TV shows, movies, etc. are changed to references to Québécois ones. For example, a reference to Homer watching CSI: Miami in the original was changed to Fortier, a similar Québécois show. Although these changed references would be familiar to the French-Canadian viewer, in real life these would be awkward because almost all Québécois media is unknown in the USA. This is an example of localizing the humour for the Quebec market. In addition, most instances of the word "English" are changed to "French". Due to this, in one episode where Homer visits Canada, the roles of anglophones and francophones are completely reversed, resulting in a stereotypical English Canadian speaking French and a stereotypical French Canadian speaking English. In another episode, English-Canadians were given stereotypical American accents speaking French, even when the main characters from the U.S.A. were not. The same practice is done in the Quebec dub of King of the Hill, done by the same company and many of the same actors, but to a greater extent: instead of taking place in Arlen, Texas, the show takes place in [[[Ste-Irène]], and many of the characters' names are changed. However, American flags and pictures of Texas state (such as on the side of police cars) are not edited.

The episodes are dubbed by a team of voice actors, similar to the one that does the original. The team does about two episodes per day. In general these voice actors also do the characters who were voiced by celebrities in the American version. In the French version, on occasion, official dubbers are brought in. For instance for the episode where Mulder and Scully from The X-Files appear the voice actors who do their voices on the French version of the X-Files guest starred.

Up to a certain point, the animation of the show was not changed, and what is written in English appears in English, either subtitled in French or spoken by a character in French, in the two French versions. One important exception is the blackboard joke at the beginning of each episode. The Quebec and France versions share these French language blackboard scenes. However, for later episodes of the Quebec version, other text was changed as well, such as movie titles ("Cosmic Wars" became "La guerre de l'espace" [Space War] in the episode "Co-Dependent's Day").

In July 2007 Matt Groening said in an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien that the actor (Phillippe Peythieu) who does the voice of France French Homer says "T'oh!" instead of Homer's trademark "D'oh!". This comes from the actor misreading the line the first time he did Homer's voice and has been that way ever since. In the Parisian version of the show, many other catch phrases are also translated: Bart's "Eat my shorts" becomes "Va te faire shampouiner" ("Go shampoo yourself", similar to "go to hell"). When Homer tries to throttle Bart, his phrase "Why you little..." becomes "espèce de sale petit..." (literally "you dirty lil'..."). The France French version has also its popular catchphrases, to translate some terms that in the original versions are not catchphrases. Thereby, instead of "Oh my god!", Homer says "Ouh pinaise!", a deformation of "Oh punaise!" (Oh darn!), a watered-down form of the expletive "Oh putain!" (Oh damn!).[2] "Oh pinaise!" is in French as much essential to characterize Homer as "D'oh" is in English. Homer is also unable to pronounce some terms like "bibliothèque" (library) and says "bibiliothèque".[2] These catch phrases are translated in the Canadian French version as well: "Eat my shorts" becoemes "mange la crotte" ("eat shit") while "Why you little..." becomes "mon p'tit verrat" ("you little brat").

Gérard Rinaldi, after March 2012, was replaced by Xavier Fagnon.

Italian

I Simpson have been aired in Italy since October 1, 1991. The main voices are by Tonino Accolla (Homer), Liù Bosisio (Marge), Ilaria Stagni (Bart), Monica Ward (Lisa). While all of the character names remain in English, some have been modified, possibly to be easier to understand and recognize as a name to the audience: most notably, Moe became Boe (and all shots of his bar's sign are graphically modified accordingly), Edna Krabappel is named Caprapall and Chief Wiggum is Commissario Winchester. All characters having roles in their name (Principal Skinner, Chief Wiggum, Groundskeeper Willie, etc.) or English words (Fat Tony) have received literal translation for their title, with Sideshow (Mel and Bob) becoming Telespalla (the word did not exist in Italian before the show, but it is a good translation since spalla is the role of a sideshow).

Spanish

The Simpsons is dubbed into the Spanish language twice, once in Mexico targeted to all Spanish-speaking countries in America, and again in Spain. In both versions, the show is named Los Simpson, as last names are not pluralized in Spanish (although is not uncommon that many people write it as "Los Simpsons"). There are many differences between the two versions, as there are differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and that spoken in Latin America. In Latin America Homer is translated as Homero, but in Spain it is not translated. Other translations in Latin America but not in Spain are: Barney Gumble as Barney Gómez, Chief Wiggum as Jefe Gorgory, Ralph Wiggum as Ralf/Rafa Gorgory, Reverend Lovejoy as Reverendo Alegría and Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby as Alcalde Diamante. Itchy and Scratchy are translated in the two versions: Tommy y Daly for Latin America, and Rasca y Pica for Spain (however, "Pica" and "Rasca" literally translate as "It itches" and "It scratches" so it is the most accurate translation). Sideshow Bob is Bob Patiño in Latin America, and Actor secundario Bob in Spain.

The animation of the show is not changed, and what is written in English remains in English in the Spanish versions. In the blackboard scene, we hear Bart reading the phrase translated. After the introduction, in the Latin American version we hear the Spanish name of the episode said by Homer, while in the Spanish version, it appears subtitled. Texts within the show are usually voiced by a narrator in the Latin American version, while they are subtitled in Spain. The region 1 DVDs include the Latin American audio.

Many fans of the series and the rest of the Spanish cast were very sad after the death of Carlos Revilla due to his excellent work voicing Homer Simpson,[3][4][5] and Antena 3 had to find a substitute for Revilla's voice (as opposed to Dan Castellaneta's).[6] Carlos Revilla also dubbed the appearance of KITT in the episode The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace, like he did in Knight Rider. There are other characters that conserve their frequent voice in Spain: like Mulder and Scully from The X-Files, or Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil. They are dubbed by the same actors who dub Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce in Frasier.

The Spanish version of the Simpsons also distinguishes itself by using more literal translations of what the characters are saying, while in the Mexican version, it is common to hear local jokes or expressions, as well as references to Latin American pop-culture. The Spanish translation would most likely seem very salacious to a Latin American audience, and viceversa. In both versions the guest stars are always voiced by that actor's particular Spanish voice counterpart. In this way if the Spanish public is expecting to hear Glenn Close they actually hear the voice they usually equate to that actress.

By country

China

In 2006, The Simpsons, along with other shows such as Pokémon, SpongeBob SquarePants and Mickey Mouse cartoons, were banned from being aired during primetime (5:00 to 8:00 PM) in China. This was done so that Chinese cartoons, which were having a hard time competing with foreign cartoons, would gain more viewers. The government had previously tried several things, such as ordering that networks cut down on the number of foreign animated series being aired in 2000 and in 2004, passed a rule that would ensure that 60 percent of cartoon content came from Chinese studios.[7] The move was heavily criticized by Chinese media.[8] The Simpsons Movie, however, has been dubbed into Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese.

Sweden

The Simpsons appeared for the first time on Swedish television on November 29, 1990.[9] The series was originally broadcast on TV3 in English with Swedish subtitles.[9] However, in 1993, the network decided to start dub The Simpsons to increase ratings,[9] and the show was moved to a more child-friendly time.[10] After a public outrage the dubbing was dropped after only six episodes and the show was moved to a more adult time.[10][11] Bart was voiced by Annica Smedius and Homer by Per Sandborgh.[12] A dub of the movie was released with The Simpsons Movie DVD, with Annica Smedius providing the voice for Bart once again.[13]

Hungary

The Simpsons appeared for the first time in Hungary, in Hungarian language on TV3 in September, 1998. The series was the one of the most popular shows on TV3, but after this channel closed, the Viasat 3 (in 2009 this channel stopped the broadcast of episodes and TV6 started them) and the Comedy Central started to broadcast them. In Hungary, the characters of The Simpsons are the most popular cartoon characters - they are in the logo of many summer camps, commercials and cereals. The rating on Hungary's biggest television portal is 9.1/10 now (PORT.hu) and TV6 presents all new double episodes on Sundays (with the new episodes of Futurama and American Dad). The rerun of the show is on Comedy Central (double episodes every day) and on TV6 (reruns on weekdays and Saturdays with double episodes).

India

The Simpsons (द सिम्पसन्स) has aired on Fox India and FX India, in English and dubbed into the Hindi language. Chetan Shashital provides the voice for Homer Simpson in the Hindi dub of the TV series, while during talks of a Hindi dub of The Simpsons Movie, the producers of the planned Hindi dub wanted to choose Boman Irani to voice Homer instead, but that project never came through.[14]

Pakistan

The Simpsons was dubbed for the first time dubbed in Punjabi in Pakistan on Geo TV. All references to drugs, drinking and sex have been removed. It is one of the most popular shows that airs on Geo TV. The original version which is in English also airs but on Star World. Both of the versions are quite popular.

References

  1. ^ Posted by Adam on September 17, 2000 5:46 PM (2000-09-17). "The Simpson clan lives in". randomWalks. Retrieved 2011-09-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b "Les voix des Simpson : "On n'a pas l'étiquette de Marge et Homer" (vidéo)". Ozap.com. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-29. {{cite news}}: Text "Fabien Morin" ignored (help)
  3. ^ "Spanish Carlos Revilla memorial". Web.archive.org. 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  4. ^ "Spanish Carlos Revilla memorial 2". Web.archive.org. 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  5. ^ "Spanish Carlos Revilla memorial 3". Web.archive.org. 2006-05-21. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  6. ^ "Elsemanal.tv article about Revilla's substitute". Web.archive.org. 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  7. ^ MacDonald, Joe (13 August 2006). "China Bans 'Simpsons' From Prime-Time TV". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  8. ^ Grossberg, Josh (14 August 2006). "D'oh! China Bans Bart from Prime Time". E! News. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  9. ^ a b c TT Spektra (2009-12-04). "Tidernas serie fyller 20". Landskrona Posten (in Swedish). p. C6.
  10. ^ a b Peterson, Jens (2007-07-27). "Simpsons – en familj med färg". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  11. ^ Sources from http://www.presstext.se/, a non-free online database of Swedish newspaper articles. Articles from Expressen and Dagens Nyheter, autumn 1993.
  12. ^ "Dubbningshemsidan - Gästbok". Dubbningshemsidan.se. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  13. ^ "DVD Komedi, Simpsons/Filmen (2 versioner/dts/87++) hittar du på Ginza Musik - CD, DVD, Filmer, Spel". Ginza.se. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  14. ^ "Why Saif Ali Khan's bark has no bite". DnaIndia.com. 2011-07-31. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
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