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I remember how I promised long ago to write an opinion explaining why people
prefer live-action to animations, but I have looked back and have seen that I
did not write my first opinion well despite what JD said. To apologize, here is
a second part going steps beyond the first one.
First of all is the written work. For an example I will use Harry Potter because
it has been translated to screen well and vividly (and as well as I am a very
big fan).
The first book’s short version is: Boy is a famous orphan. He goes to a magic
school. There he must stop an evil wizard from gaining immortality. He does so
and learns more about himself. The End. The long version is: Harry Potter
has always lived under his family’s mercy. (His aunt, his uncle, and his
cousin.) Then he finds out that he’s going to Hogwarts, a magic school. Suddenly
he feels at home in Hogwarts, with his two friends Ron and Hermione by his side.
The three stop Lord Voldemort (the person who killed Harry’s parents) from
getting a stone that gives immortality, and the three are named heroes along
with a few unexpected plot twists. Does the first movie keep all of this?
Well, not word for word, but it does keep most of it. My older brother didn’t
like this, but then again he thought that the first book was boring. Then
what happens when it’s dubbed? I don’t know as I haven’t seen the other versions
on my DVD with English subtitles, but they HAD to keep it the same otherwise who
knows what a brawl there would’ve been between the dubbers and the fans? It’s a
shame that other shows don’t share that fame.
To dub means to name. In this case it would mean to translate. TRANSLATE.
What part of that can the dubbers not understand? DO names have to be changed?
(Was it hard for Disney to translate the Lion King into Spanish? No, and judging
by my limited Spanish, they did a good job) By not translating the animes
faithfully, they are lying to us. They give us a hacked-up censored version and
saw “THAT’S Yugioh!” or “ THAT’S Sailor Moon!” What makes them tear up these
shows, even when they have only a
few vulgar parts (Cardcaptor Sakura)? Censorship.
That’s what it is. 4Kids and DiC were afraid of offending the TV censors. They
didn’t want their dubbed shows to be criticised as “faithful, but vulgar”. Fans
ask, “But those shows weren’t meant for kids! Why would they worry about
censoring?”
Sorry, fans, but like Dr. Frederick Wertham’s 1950 rally against comics,
irresponsible parents believe that all cartoons were meant for kids. Adults in
the US wouldn’t want to be caught watching cartoons (except for the hardcore
fans), so how would new viewers come?
By turning the shows down a notch for a
younger audience. It’s basically like censoring a book. A self-censoring
author will destroy his own work so as not to offend anyone. The only difference
is that this kind of censoring is what Disney did to the Princess Diaries; they
toned it down and added a completely new plot! Does this sound familiar? (Not
that the Princess Diaries is a good book series, but I was kind of sore when
Disney aired the adaptation.)
I’ll stop here. If anyone has questions, email me at
Airsurfer12@hotmail.com. Until the next opinion, matta ne!
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