(Split from here - Dagdamor)

Dagdamor
He sure did... do you by "our version" mean a dubbed russian version? I always disliked dubbed movies/shows, but in The Simpsons it's gotta be pretty horrible, it just gets entirely different.
I think dubbing is a weird effort though, it's more of a thing you do for young children that can't keep up with the subtitles. It's like they think that the simpsons is something for a 7 year old.

Kasper
Unfortunately, subtitles aren't popular here (on TV I mean), and many of us don't know English, so dubbing, even badly done one, is the only way. Our Russian translation/dubbing of the Simpsons is a horrible story... the translation usually has many mistakes/missed moments, and the voices are awful since season 9 (and became much, much worse since season 17 ). OTOH, to my surprise, the translation/dubbing of the Movie was unexpectedly good, because another crew was making it.

Sorry for going offtopic

QFT... I once listened to the Spanish dubbing of the Simpsons, it just doesn't work for me Dubbing actually just doesn't work for me period, I'll watch foreign movies with subtitles but NEVER dubbed... not only are things lost in translation, but also you miss the emotion and inflection with which actors respond.

lizard_queen
Yes, that's right it's in America, so let the world hear just how oafish and idiotic we sound in our native tongue!

I remember watching a Japanese film called "Returner" a few years ago. There was a version with subtitles, and a dubbed version. I watched the subtitled one, and afterwards I couldn't imagine watching it dubbed. There were too many funny reactions from characters that I knew wouldn't have been present if I had watched the dubbed version. This is what I meant by "inflection in actor's voices" - such things can make or break a scene.

I'd also watched the film "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", first with dubbing, then with subtitles. The dubbed version looked and sounded so pathetic in comparison.

Subtitles also have their disadvantages... you have to constantly distract from the picture and read the text below. If the action is fast, you can easily get lost. If the translation is decent and the voices aren't too bad, I'm personally not against dubs.

I often hear from people that watching movies/show in the original version is the best way, but what if you just don't know English? Imagine that you want to watch a good Anime and you don't know Japanese. You try to search for subs/dubs, but people tell you that it would only spoil the movie, and that you should learn Japanese now. The same story here, I love to watch the Simpsons in English, but even a year or two ago it was impossible for me, I just wouldn't understand it.

Dagdamor
This is true to some degree, however if the subtitles are in your native tongue, it shouldn't be hard at all to read them and watch the movie at the same time. Maybe it's just me, though I'm not sure how other people think of this.

One example is Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" (an amazingly good movie by the way, I recommend it to anyone), which I saw back at the end of June this year... the movie was naturally in subtitles, as with "The Passion", since Gibson chose to use the native tongue of the Mayans as the spoken language. The English subtitles didn't distract me at all from the movie, and I was still able to pay attention to what was going on. Of course, this is somewhat of a poor example, since the movie was primarily action, and not a "talky" movie.

Dag, I dont speak French, German, Italian... etc but I wouldnt watch a movie dubbed in swedish or english, because it takes away so much from it. To me the sound is just as important as the visuals. Reading the subtitles isnt hard when you get used to it and read fast, so you dont miss a blink of an eye. 

I had this conversation with my cousins from Germany. They said reading the subtitles makes them miss half of the movie.  I said they were slow readers. (Yeah Im mean to my relatives!  ) Subtitles are made short and it's no effort. . In fact, sometimes I cant remember whether I  watched the movie with or without subtitles.

The Simpsons voices are as great as the show itself. I hate seeing it butchered. I also think it sounds real strange  hearing american names like Homer and Marge in german or any other language. The language is part of the culture, so dubbing sounds simply odd to me.  If Germans and some other nations are so fond of their language, they should make their own shows instead of destroying original works. As you can see I'm passionate about this subject. I could go on and on, but I'll stop right here.  For now. 

Kasper,
I dont know how many episodes were dubbed in Swedish before the fans protested.  I didnt know about this either until recently. They mentioned it shortly on tv, right before the Simpsons. So I never actually saw the swedish Simpsons.

Andreas
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree here then. Dubbing as a whole I simply can't stand, I'll watch any foreign film or T.V. show with subtitles, but only grudgingly will I watch it dubbed.

GeorgeHarrison
It's just a matter of habit, I guess. If you watched the Simpsons dubbed for many years, without any possibility to use subtitles instead, you'd get used to that sooner or later I prefer watching the show in English, or with subs, but I still enjoy a dubbed episode - with one condition though, if the episode is from the seasons 3-8. The translation/voices were the best those years.

And about the Russian dubbing of season 17 and later... remember Duck Tales? They were aired here about ten years ago, dubbed of course. Well, the crew that translated that show, now does voices for the Simpsons. :/ It was a horrible choice, their voices were probably suitable for those "ducks", but not for the Simpsons. And like Andreas said, it's always unpleasant when they change voices all of the sudden (and the reason seems to be simple - money...)

Either money, or the voice actor gets seriously ill and/or dies. That happened several time within the last few years for the German Simpsons dub. Since 2004 or so, the voices of Marge, Patty and Selma, Grampa, Barney, Skinner, Hans Moleman, Jasper, Quimby, Rev. Lovejoy, Prof. Frink and some minor characters died.  

Andreas, I was going to ask if they always use same voice for big stars when the dub movies, but you answered already. 

I know you are used to dubbed movies, and good for you! But I wonder, isnt dubbing destroying original work? I believe that an actor's voice is as important as his/her face and body language. It's a tool of expression which allows us to show our true selves. I would hate to see J. Depp or any other great actor/actress be robbed of their voice and replaced with someone else's.

In animated world the voice is even more important and the talent more demanding as the body language is limited in its nature. This has to be well compensated with sound, and voice in particular. This is where talents truly shine through. I cant help but feel sorry for the Simpsons fans who never had a chance to enjoy Lisa's "real" songs and Homer's *real* d'ohs. To me, this is such an important part of the show's magic.

 I am glad though that they decided not to dub american/brit music in Germany.  But how does it work with musicals and other movies that contain musical numbers?

@Dagdamor: Well, I was speaking more generally, not referring to the situation in Russia.


I don't think that an actor is "robbed" of his or her voice and replaced by something that is "not worthy". At least here in Germany, the voice actors are highly skilled professionals as well, and usually, they manage to give a person as much character as the original actor did in his or her native language. As I said, some voice actors even got famous for their voice, and they are used for every movie that shows a certain actor (if possible). Many of them have a remarkable voice that creates its own atmosphere. So it's probably an alteration, but one that is as valuable as the original.


While this is certainly true, the German voice actors surely create a very own "magic" for the German viewers - and as I said, there are quite a few voice actors that have more than enough talent to fill a cartoon charakter with life. In some cases, I even like the German voice a lot better than the original one - one example is Kent Brockman, which is voiced by Donald Arthur in Germany. It's somewhat funny that he's actually a US actor that emigrated from the US to Europe years ago, so he could have lend his voice to Kent for the US version as well.


I must admit that this is usually a weak spot when it comes to dubbing. In many cases, musical numbers and songs are not translated, so this is the only chance where you can hear the original voice of an actor. I guess this is mainly because you can't translate a song lip-sync without losing it's original rhymes etc., and maybe German voice actors can't sing that well. When it comes to the Simpsons, only the actors for the Simpsons kids are quite good when it comes to singing - and I think Sabine Bohlmann, German voice of Lisa, has a wonderful singing voice. But Norbert Gastell, German voice of Homer, can't sing at all, so it usually sounds horrible if they do translate the songs as well. The only shows where songs are translated on a regular base are shows for kids, and sometimes, it sounds pretty well.