MovieChat Forums > The Magic Roundabout (2006) Discussion > Re-Dubbed from English to American??

Re-Dubbed from English to American??

posted 17 years ago by KaiRea
11 replies | jump to latest

Okay I was just talking to my friend about this film, and he told me that Whoopi Goldberg did a voice in it. I said no (he's Canadian and I'm English), everyone was from this country except fro Kylie Minogue. So then he pointed me to this page.

My honest reaction is 'WTF???' This is a movie that has been re-dubeed FROM English, TO English. Why? What's the point? It's not even as if the English actors are complete unknowns. Okay I admit that Americans probably don't know Robbie Williams, and also probably don't know Kylie Minogue, but honestly. Let's look at the list, shall we?

Ian McKellan.
Bill Nighy.
Jim Broadbent
Joanna Lumley.
Tom Baker (doctor who).
Ray Winstone.
Lee Evans.

All these people are internationally known. They've all been in Hollywood films. So why the need to re-dub into exactly the same language? It makes no sense.

Has anyone come across this before? Does anyone else think it's a very weird and unnecessary practice?

[–] StrangeFruit42 17 years ago

You'll find dozens of discussions about this topic on this and on the board for the US version ''Doogal''.

Not sure why they did it, maybe they thought US kids wouldn't understand that Cockney slang all of them were talking. *a-hem* But the worst thing is, and I hope you're sitting, that they rewrote all of the dialogues, added some very bad jokes, nobody will understand already because they were really only funny for a week for the US public. Then: Chevy Chase for example is the blue Moose. Why a voice for a silent character, you'll ask. Yes! The moose is talking now, and he's NOT funny. Plus there's a narrator, that's Dame Judi Dench still, but totally unnecessary in my book.

You can see from my comment that I'm (and I'm far over the age of the original target group) a sucker for the British version. I loved all the voices and 99% of the jokes to death.

***********************
http://www.billnighy.net - GET THE official EXPERIENCE

[–] KaiRea 17 years ago

If they were going to alter so much, why not just write an entirely different film rather than stealing one and then not using its plot? *rolls eyes*

[–] laurence01 13 years ago

If they were going to alter so much, why not just write an entirely different film rather than stealing one and then not using its plot? *rolls eyes*

Actually that might be a tribute to the English version of the original program, which re-wrote the plot rather that tranlating the original French scripts. As to casting Americans I would imagine it is because there are so many words in the UK which either mean nothing (or something completly different) in the US. This would be much harder for children to follow than it would adults

[–] Dragula_75 16 years ago

Actually Kevin Smith was the moose and Chevy Chase was the train.

[–] SDockorockerty 16 years ago

Well it flopped horribly in the USA and everyone hated it so there...

[–] lysergic-acid 16 years ago

i just watched the british version and, personally, didn't think it was all that great. but i'm not exactly their target demographic. i'm not british, and even if i were, i'm probably not old enough to remember the original show, but at the same time, i'm too old for it now.

i dunno, maybe it's an age/cultural bias, but i just didn't enjoy the film that much. personally, i don't think it would have made much of a difference for their box office success if they'd left the voices alone (though they might as well have saved the money IMO).

it's just not a film with a wide mainstream appeal. it lacks the charm and depth of other family films, like Monster's Inc. or Toy Story. and without the nostalgia factor, it's just not a very good movie to be honest. it's not very adult/teenager-friendly either. the characters/themes/dialog are all very juvenile--even for a kid's movie.

[–] lastaria 15 years ago

It's not supposed to be adult/teenager friendly and the dialogue is supposed to be juvenile so actually it did a very good job. I think you were missing the point. Movies like Monsters Inc and Toy Story are not made just for kids they are made for the family, this was made for little children and adults from Britain and America with a sense of nostalgia. It ticked all the right boxes in these regards.

Unless you are a child under 6 is a nostalgia Brit (or French person for their version) then you really wont get this, probably should not have watched it and are not best placed to judge.

Chris Thorpe

"The lore of the mind counts further than the words of the mouth."

[–] uruseiranma 15 years ago

I'd really like to see the original English cast. I hated what the American studios did to it. They really pop-cultured it to death. A key point is Dylan's numerous references, or even when the skeletons rise up and start doing all these terrible dead man/pirate jokes or something to that extent.

Well played, Clerks -Leonardo Leonardo, Clerks Animated Series

[–] DoctorsFavDalek 15 years ago

Here is a bit I found on youtube, giving at least a great idea of Tom Baker's Zeebad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn1sRzz5bpk&feature=related

When I look like this I'm funny. When I look like this I'm not.

[–] sekhmet_lion 15 years ago

And the american version still has Kylie & Ian McKellan in it?!

[–] tenisthesupermonkeyrapma 15 years ago

Yeah, maybe it doesn't make sense to use a video and add completely different audio, but unless I'm mistaken that's kind of the premise of the difference between the British and French versions as well...

Speaking as an American who purposely saw the British version and couldn't find the American one, I can corroborate that most Americans wouldn't know most of this cast. We know Ian McKellan from XMen and Lord of the Rings, primarily. Kylie Minogue is also a name we recognize because some of her songs were played here. Maybe some people even remember Robbie Williams from when he had mild success here a little while back. The others, pretty much not. I mean, sure, some people know them, but they're not commonly recognized names.