UK version - Doogal (2006) Discussion

[–] muppetlass87 18 years ago

I liked the US version, but I also plan on seeing the UK version if I can get ahold of a copy.

I'm a PBS mind in an MTV world....

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[–] DaStooza 18 years ago

I don't understand this at all, why redub the voices, the original voices were excellent, even Robbie Williams who I think is a complete tit, did a really good job as Doogal, and why the hell have they changed the title? It's not Doogal, It's The Magic Roundabout !!! Leave stuff alone. And as for the people who are slagging the movie off please take into account that this is a childrens film and my daughter absolutely loves it, with the proper voices that is, even she might have thought the US dubbed version was a suck fest !! Ha ha.

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[–] OranjTulip 18 years ago

Most likely, the reason for the title change is that in the parts of the U.S., Roundabout has an entirely different meaning. In parts of the U.S., it means a traffic circle/rotary. (Other parts of the U.S. use traffic circle and where I'm from we use the term rotary.) The U.K. meaning of Roundabout, in all of the U.S. is known as a Merry-Go-Round. Though both cultures speak English, we use very different slang for a lot of things. And the translations just don't cross over. Just like the U.S. Pants vs. U.K. Trousers issue as Pants means underwear in the U.K, etc. Then you have major definition differences which in the U.S. are non-offensive but in the U.K. are quite offensive like the word, Fanny because they mean two very different things in each country. This could also explain why they changed the dialog for the movie. If alot of U.K. slang was used in the original version, American kids (and many parents too) wouldn't have a clue as to what they were talking about or they could get confused thinking they meant something else. So, I can understand why they would change the dialog and title. However, I agree, there was no reason to replace the original cast of voice actors for the movie, though. Maybe if we're lucky, when the movie comes out on DVD, it will have the U.S. and U.K. versions on the disk.

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[–] supersonic_723 18 years ago

Just for the record, we use roundabout to describe traffic rotarys (or whatever you call them) here in the UK, and they're a LOT more prominant here (I don't think I've ever seen one in my many trips to the US). We also happen to use the same word for carousel/merry-go-round (but we use those two words for it as well).

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[–] OranjTulip 18 years ago

I take it, on your many trips to the U.S., you never went to Massachusetts? We have rotaries EVERYWHERE! (They exist all over New England, but most prominantly in Mass. Although, I think New England is the only place in the U.S. to have them. Though I could be wrong about that.) Rotaries are one of the banes of my existance. Due to the fact that the rules of the rotary in Mass., changed at one point in time. It used to be that the people entering the rotary had the right of way. Now, it's the people already in the rotary that have the right of way. Problem is, no one ever told the drivers who went by the first rule, that the rule had changed. So, in Mass, you risk your life, everytime you drive in a rotary!

Anyway, I know in the U.K, you use the term roundabout to mean rotary as well. But since you use the term to mean rotary/traffic circle AND merry-go-round/carousel and the U.S. only uses it to mean the former, that is why the title would cause confusion and was changed. That was the point I was trying to make in the first place.

Duct Tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side and holds the universe together.

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[–] Stockade 18 years ago

I'm from London and I've never associated the word roundabout with a merry-go-round or carousel. To me, a roundabout is a 'rotary'.

However, I just want to know if the 60's children's show 'Magic Roundabout' - with the infectious theme song and the carousel on the opening titles - is well known in the States? I'm guessing not. It is famous and notorious for references to drugs, with Dylan the most obvious stoner/hippie, especially during the 'magic' mushrooms episode.

http://www.battlekat.co.uk/

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[–] TR_Wolf 18 years ago

Carousels in the UK arent called Roundabouts, just the rotaries. However the spinny things in playgrounds/parks are called roundabouts.

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[–] lohocla-2 18 years ago

well leave it to americans to take an original piece of work, rewrite it, make it their own with new actors and in the process ruin the name of an otherwise good movie. btw I'm american so no replies from dub-ya supporters.

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[–] FairlyAnonymous 11 years ago

I have not watched the U.K. version, but that would make sense because the lip sync is awful. I was curious, wasn't Doogal based off of a British cartoon? Most Americans probably wouldn't realize that.

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[–] Flosive 11 years ago

I was curious, wasn't Doogal based off of a British cartoon? Most Americans probably wouldn't realize that.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144059/

Doogal (Dougal) first appeared in the French TV animation 'Le manege enchanté', he spoke his French with a heavy English accent and his name was Pollux http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv3GCO3KFXQ (I don't know which year these linked episodes are from).

The series became incredibly popular in Britain when in 1965 Richard Thompson began translating the show into a more sedate form for the BBC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNUdhFIVHA

In 2005 a computer animated British movie of 'The Magic Roundabout' was made (edit: which I now realise you were referring to) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0339334/, it didn't do very well, possibly because it was so different from the original TV series, at least that's the reason I haven't watched it.

That 2005 movie was redubbed with American actors in 2006 and repackaged as 'Doogal' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763304/

And in writing that I found the answer (I then put in the title) to the question I came here to ask - wtf is this 'Doogal' film anyway? I think I'll watch the 2005 version sometime soon, people here seem to like it.

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[–] FairlyAnonymous 11 years ago

Here is what I have picked up:

The UK version got amazing reviews and tons of awards. The cover art on the AMERICAN version even says it won a lot of awards... in the U.K...

HOWEVER, the American version is loathed by most. It was rather deceiving that the American version was advertised as award winning even though only the U.K. version won awards.

I have yet to see the U.K. version, but most people seem to like it. The American version is pretty bad because the lip sync is off by a bit and it was kind of lame at times. The animation was good though.

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[–] Flosive 11 years ago

Scanning down the list of The Magic Roundabout (2005) credits this was clearly a French/British production, the Pathé logo opening the film I found on youtube was also a big clue, so I was wrong to say this was a British animation. But I can't find mention of awards linked to any of the versions.

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[–] FairlyAnonymous 11 years ago

The box art said winner of several awards (not Oscar or Academy) and I remember the trailers did as well. Merp.

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[–] Flosive 11 years ago

haha this is pretty funny/crafty/desperate of them. I found this picture of the dvd cover showing the "Film Advisory Board Inc Award of Excellence" and a quote from 'FAB' - "LAUGH-OUT-LOUD FUNNY!" -

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91DgDdhSAUL._SL1500_.jpg

All the award means is that the film is completely inoffensive and suitable for children.

http://www.filmadvisoryboard.com/aoe/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_Advisory_Board#Criticism_of_the_.22S eal_of_Excellence.22

According to Gelf Magazine "the Film Advisory Board relies on donations from the movie studios to stay in business", I'll leave it up to you to decide what that means.

As it turns out, the Film Advisory Board doesn’t review movies per se, it just determines which ones are suitable for children. "We're not critics," Stokes says. "Critics are people who say the 'yay' or the 'nay'. We don’t do that. If we can't say something good about a film, we don’t give them an award." For certain movies that the Board is invited to prescreen and decides to bestow its award upon, Stokes will submit a positive blurb to the film's publicity team, as in the case of 'Deck the Halls.' Complicating this relationship, though, is that the Film Advisory Board relies on donations from the movie studios to stay in business. Stokes maintains that the funding plays no role in deciding which movies to grant awards or blurbs.

http://www.gelfmagazine.com/archives/the_gone_with_the_wind_of_rock_co medies.php

The late director Dave Borthwick was certainly award winning, as I'm sure were many other people involved, but not for any version of this particular movie.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/12/dave-borthwick

TL;DR It looks like a con job to me

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[–] FairlyAnonymous 11 years ago

Hahaha that is funny. I'm glad you found that out. This makes my life much easier to comprehend.

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[–] Flosive 11 years ago

Well I thought it was interesting anyway, each to his own I guess.

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[–] FairlyAnonymous 11 years ago

It is interesting and funny.

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[–] suzan28 10 years ago

I didn't know that there was a US version...

but I think that I saw the original series when I was around 7....or so....

it was on TVO, which is showing it now for me.....and it was I believed called Doogal and the magic round about......

I think that they even had books to go with it...I don't know if I owned the books, or they were borrowed from the library...but they are long since gone...since can't believe it was more then 40 years ago...

this movie is kind of fun.....but for me it's kind of dark.....to say the least...

susan

I'm sure that yes, they could have used UK actors, the like of the one that was on house...I could have definitely heard him in this series....hugh laurie, yeah...or others like that

I do wonder if the original will ever come on dvd, I'd love to see it, provided that it doesnt' cost too much

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