Non-English versions of The Simpsons
Encyclopedia
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
.
and Dubai's One TV, where it received a following in the area.
The show was finally given an Arabic translation in September 2005, under a title that transliterates as "Al-Shamshoon" ("The House of Shamshoon," In Arabic
, آل شمشون) In addition to being dubbed in Arabic
(with subtitles provided for shots including written English, such as the chalkboards), references to alcohol (Duff Beer & Moe's Tavern), pork (bacon & hot dogs), and numerous other themes have been deleted or significantly modified. For instance, Homer drinks soda-pop instead of beer, eats beef sausages as opposed to pork, eats ka'ak
instead of donuts, and all references to Moe's Tavern were cut. The references to Rabbi Krustofsky, Krusty the Clown's father, were not present. According to Richard Poplak of the CBC
, an ex-Disney employee in Lebanon
told him that, in Poplak's words, "if a TV station can help it, they’ll excise references to Judaism from shows meant for the pan-Arab market." Badih Fattouh, MBC 1's acquisitions and drama commissioner head, said "You must understand that we did not simply dub, but we Arabized the concept, and we toned it down a bit. We toned [down] the language — we Arabized it in the cultural sense."
MBC 1
, a company owned by Saudi Arabia
n sheiks, created the Arabic adaptation. Amr Hosny, a scriptwriter who frequently adapts works for the Arab world, served as the writer. The creative personalities behind Al-Shamshoun were Egyptian. The producers decided to adapt the "classic" episodes, beginning with Season 4, rather than starting with the original episodes. The characters were also given typical Arabic names such as Omar, Mona and Badr for Homer, Marge and Bart respectively as part of the retooling, while voices were provided by leading actors including Egyptian film star Mohamed Henedi
as "Omar", and their hometown "Springfield" was called "Rabeea" (Arabic for Spring) and made it look like an American town with a major Arab population. Poplak said "Although Fattouh and MBC will give no figures, the licence fees from 20th Century Fox
could not have been cheap."
About the original series, Hosny said "I loved it. I take off my chapeau: they are very good artists. And the writers are unbelievable. I loved the character of Homer. There is something very strange about this character. It’s very close to the Egyptian point of view. He’s a very simple and kind person; from some points of view you feel that he’s incredibly stupid, and from some points of view you feel he is wise. Sometimes I felt I was talking about an Egyptian person. Nothing is certain and taken for granted — it’s not ipso facto — and this makes good art." Hosny said that the sheiks who owned MBC interfered in the creative process, making the show more edited and less comprehensible. For instance, Hosny wanted to make a "Little Arab Town" where it would be explained why there were many Arab people living in the middle of the United States. The sheiks rejected Hosny's suggestions. Poplak said "Instead, Springfield remained, and there was no coherent explanation given as to why a full Arab community exists within the middle of Middle America." Hosny wanted Homer to drink she'er, a non-alcoholic malt drink, so dubbing would be easy. The sheiks insisted that Homer drink juice. Hosny also stated that he tried to underemphasize Waylon Smithers
's homosexual attraction for Mr. Burns. Poplak said "Through a steady process of cross-cultural attrition — no bacon sandwiches, no Moe’s Tavern, church becomes masjid (mosque) — The Simpsons was whittled down to a shadow of itself."
The show debuted after al-Iftar on October 4, 2005, the first night of Ramadan
. The show overall had a poor reception. Fattouh said "The show was not a big success. Otherwise, of course, we would have continued to do another season. I would say it was fairly received, but average. This made us reconsider." Poplak said "That’s putting it mildly. MBC’s core viewers were baffled. From most accounts, the show was incoherent." The MBC show had a poor reception in the Saudi Arabian market, described by Poplak as "all-important." Cartoons in Saudi Arabia are perceived as being for children, and adults, puzzled at why cartoons were airing during the post-Iftar time, chose to watch other channels. Arabs who were fans of The Simpsons also had a negative reaction. As'ad AbuKhalil, a professor at California State University, Stanislaus
and a blogger who operates the "The Angry Arab News Service," said that after he saw a promotional segment, "This is just beyond the pale[.]" and "It was just painful. ... The guy who played Homer Simpson was one of the most unfunny people I ever watched. Just drop the project, and air reruns of Tony Danza
's show instead." Fattouh added "You see, culturally, it didn’t cross very well. Maybe the sense of humour is too North American. Comedy is especially a culturally sensitive matter. What you can define as funny is an outcome of learnings, habits, doings, local behaviour — it is the sum of so many factors. Drama is one thing, but with comedy, it is black and white. Deep inside, either you laugh or you say, ‘No, this is not funny.’ They did not think this was funny." As a result, only 34 of the 52 adapted episodes aired.
Poplak said "It is a lesson in cross-cultural adaptation, and a warning of how delicate a powerful piece of television art like The Simpsons actually is."
The show in its unedited form currently airs on Fox Series
with Arabic subtitles.
twice, once in the Canadian
province of Quebec
and again in France
. In both versions, the show is named Les Simpson, as last names are not pluralized in French. The French audio on the Region 1
DVDs is the Quebec dub.
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 India
n accent, while Carl, who has no accent in the American version, also speaks inflected 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 International French
. The Simpson family and most of the townsfolk speak Quebec French
with strong Québécois accents. In the Quebec version the ethnic minorities also have accents. Apu speaks in a creole while Carl has the accent of a Black immigrant from Africa or the Caribbean.
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 Father Christmas") 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- however, this may be a common practice in many foreign dubs of many TV shows. 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 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.
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 pronounced 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
").
Phillippe Peythieu, France's voice of Homer, and Véronique Augereau, France's voice of Marge, first met on the dubbing of the series and are now married, just like their animated counterparts. On April 8, 2007, Peythieu and Augereau hosted "in character" a special prime-time compilation of their favorite Simpsons episodes on French cable channel W9.
Most Québécois who know about the version produced in France are not too fond of it; the humor is completely different. Télétoon
, which broadcasts the Quebec Simpsons dub, also once broadcast dubs from France of Futurama
(also created by Matt Groening) and Family Guy
, two shows similar to The Simpsons whose French dubs were also similar to The Simpsons Parisian dub. Although The Simpsons has been on Télétoon for a much longer period than the other two shows, Futurama and Family Guy are no longer shown on the network, while The Simpsons continues to be aired.
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 phrase
s 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!). "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".
In the Québécois version of the show, "D'oh!" was a simple "Oh!" in the first few seasons, but became the standard "D'oh!" later on, Bart's "Eat my shorts" becomes "Mange de la crotte" (loosely, a less offensive form of "Eat shit"), Bart's "I didn't do it!" becomes "J'ai rien fait" (I did nothing). When Homer tries to throttle Bart, he says "Oh, Mon p'tit verrat" (a Quebec expression, literally "Oh my lil' brat") instead of "Why you little...".
There are two important changes in Simpson French dub. First, the departure of Patrick Guillemin at the end of season 9 and secondly the French adapters and Michel Modo (who died recently) during season 19.
voices are:
1 Formerly voiced by Jean-Louis Millette
The speech of Homer
, Lenny, Carl, and other lower-class characters in the Quebec version occasionally resembles joual
, the working-class speech.
version and is broadcast by ProSieben in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; ORF1
in Austria; and SF 2 in Switzerland. The show is named Die Simpsons and the episodes appear uncut and dubbed, with written or sung English subtitled in German. The animation of the show is not changed. In the blackboard scene, Bart reads the phrase translated, before laughing when the bell rings and jumps on his skateboard (as seen in any other version). Homer's alveolar
catch phrase
"D'oh!
" has been translated to "Nein!" (meaning "No!") rather than leaving it as the meaningless interjection
that is his annoyed grunt. The language in general is a bit harsher and more swear words are used; Bart and Homer often say "Arsch" ("ass") instead of 'butt'. Also, when Homer tries to throttle Bart he says "Du mieser Kleiner..." ("You miserable little...") instead of "Why you little...". In the earlier seasons signposts etc. were translated with a subtitle, but this is later replaced with a voiceover as in the Brazil
ian version. The show's twenty-first season is aired at Tuesdays, 8:15 pm, but they air two reruns every day at 6:10 pm.
While things always get "lost in translation" during any dubbing process, the German version of The Simpsons is infamous for countless mistakes as a result of poor translation. In most cases, the translator of the German dialogue simply is not familiar with certain aspects of American pop culture or the meaning of phrases. However, this is not only a problem of the German version of The Simpsons.
A second general problem is the content of political jokes which can only be understood by people who know the facts and persons (i. e. jokes about several former American presidents).
Before moving to commercial Pro Sieben, the show was initially shown on public broadcaster ZDF
, before moving to Swiss pay-TV channel Teleclub and then Premiere, another pay-TV service. The team responsible for bringing the show to Germany clearly had a hard time imagining that an animated show was aimed primarily at a teenage and adult audience and early episodes from these seasons are "toned down" to make them more appropriate for children.
is still Reverend Lovejoy. Lovejoy's name seems to be the only one ever (partially) translated into German for some episodes (Reverend Gottlieb). Gottlieb is a real German first name - albeit outdated - meaning "to love God".
In earlier episodes, Homer's name was pronounced Hoo-muh, because the German translators didn't know how to pronounce his name correctly. The same thing happened with Apu's surname; he became "Apu Nahasapeemapetilan" temporarily. Also in some episodes, Troy McClure became Kevin McClure.
The voice of Homer is very different to the original version, because the voice actor Norbert Gastell wanted Homer to have a funnier voice. Marge's voice is not as rough as in the original. This difference is very obvious when the characters start to sing, because the songs are not translated (but subtitled) due to the rhymes.
Translated characters:
The German voice actors are:
Link with photos and sound samples:
List of English and German voice actors including all seasons:
Translated character names:
All of these being literal translations of their names.
the series itself is not dubbed but subtitled.
The Simpsons Movie
, however, did receive a dubbed version, in which José Jorge Duarte, Cláudia Cadima, Carla de Sá, and Manuela Couto
provided the voice of Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa respectively.
twice, once in Latin 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 isn't 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, Sideshow Bob as Bob Patiño 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, "Rasca" and "Pica" literally translate as "It itches" and "It scratches" so it is the most accurate translation).
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 (the same happens in Futurama). The region 1 DVDs include the Latin American audio.
states that writer Wallace Wolodarsky
went to several countries, including Mexico and Germany, to cast the foreign versions. The most memorable cast dubbed from seasons 1 through 9 and was:
Translated character names:
During season 9, Huerta quit playing Bart over a pay dispute, and was replaced by Claudia Motta. Before season 16, the main cast had a legal issue with Grabaciones y Doblajes because it wanted the actors not to be in the National Association of Actors
, and they were in that association, so as a result, the whole cast was fired. Beginning at season 16, they were replaced by new actors, and Huerta returned to do both Bart's and Marge's voice, as well as directing the dub during seasons 16-18 and the movie. The movie used the post Season 15 voice actors, despite an attempt to boycott the movie by the original voice actors, done because the National Association of Actors had promised that the original actors would dub the movie. The boycott attempt failed, and since then several of the actors have declared that they would not be returning to the series, even if Fox itself asks them to return. The current voice actors have been criticized by some viewers.
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, and Antena 3 had to find a substitute for Revilla's voice (as opposed to Dan Castellaneta's).
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. 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.
. Started at August 2010, with season 10
. But Marge Simpson
's voice is not very clear like English. Many fans in South Korea
were interested in the Korean version, but it did not make a lot of new fans.
started airing on the Bulgarian branch of the cable television Fox Life
. The show was named "Семейство Симпсън" (literally "Simpson Family"). There were rarely any mistranslations in the scripts, only the untranslatable word puns were changed to such in Bulgarian, albeit not nearly as creative as the originals. In mid 2006 dubbed versions of seasons 5 through 7 started running on the Bulgarian Fox Life
after numerous reruns of the previous seasons. The dub quality was a little lower than the one of the first four seasons and almost the entire voice cast had been replaced. Minor mistranslations occurred from time to time, but they were not anything significant. In early May 2007 dubbed versions of the 8th and 9th season started airing on the Bulgarian Fox Life
with the same voice cast as in the previous three seasons. On September 18, 2007 a dubbed version of the 10th season started running on the Bulgarian Fox Life
. On September 15, 2008 started the 11th season and right after it the 12th, 13th and 14th. On September 15, 2009 started the 15th season and after it the 16th and 17th.
, 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. The move was heavily criticized by Chinese media. The Simpsons Movie, however, has been dubbed into Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese.
and the show is named Simpsonovi. Directed by Zdeněk Štěpán. The movie
is named Simpsonovi ve filmu. The Czech version is also broadcast in Slovakia
since there, there is no own Slovak
dubbed version.
The Czech voice actors are:
Translated character names:
Czech Republic is a country with long and rich tradition of dubbing. Almost all films are dubbed. Czech viewers are therefore very demanding about quality and creativity of translations and voice acting.
Czech version in Simpsons is very popular in Czech Republic, often it is considered to be better than English original. It is mainly because of casting of voice actors: Martin Dejdar
(Bart), Helena Štáchová (Lisa) and Jiří Lábus
(Marge - note that Marge is dubbed by male voice actor) belong to the most popular Czech actors and their voice acting style is very distinctive, very different from English version. Even minor characters usually have their own voice actor. Kent Brockman is dubbed by Vladimír Fišer, one of the best known Czech newsreaders. Except voice actors of Homer Simpson (Vlastimil Bedrna had to stop acting because of health problems), Krusty the Clown and some minor characters, cast remains almost unchanged.
Quality of translation varies - earlier series were usually translated by several translators who did not collaborate, it led to serious inconsistency in translation, even in catchphrases. "D'oh" is sometimes rendered as "sakra" - "damn", "excelent" is translated both "výtečně", both "výborně"; "why you little" becomes "ty jeden mrňavej" - mrňavej is a pejorative word for something little, eat my shorts is translated in many ways, most often rhyming, as: "polib si elipsy" - "kiss your ovals"). It is because catchphrases are not employed in Czech cinema and Czech viewers were not familiar with this phenomenon. Guest stars are also quite rare in Czech version.
Sometimes translator did not know the rest of series very well, for instance in I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot references to Armin Tamzarian are mistranslated, because translator did not know the context. Other mistranslations are caused by poor English of early translators; in first series, it is very often mistaken kostel (church as building) and církev (church as organization) for English church. However, translation of puns and verbal humour was always very creative and well-praised. Later series are usually translated by one translator, Vojtěch Kostiha.
In early series, there were attempts to use references of Czech culture instead of American if possible (for instance name of Duffman was in early series translated as "Pivoj" in reference to a Czech mythological figure, Bivoj; pivo is Czech for beer, Czech actors are often mentioned instead of American), but later translators usually use original references to US culture, but not always (for instance in The Bob Next Door
other appearances of Sideshow Bob's voice actor Kelsey Grammer are mentioned; in Czech version, there are quoted Hercule Poirot
and John Coffey from The Green Mile
, other dubbing appearances of Bob's Czech voice actor Jaromír Meduna). Also all school-related references usually exploit Czech school system and its specific terminology and tradition.
Songs are sometimes replaced with Czech songs, sometimes English version with subtitles is used. Sometimes the same song is sang in Czech in one episode and translated in subtitles in the other one. English signs are usually read by voiceover, sometimes even by one of appearing characters (if mouth is not shown - chalkboard gag is always read by Bart himself), only rarely translated in subtitles (usually if they appear in same moment as spoken dialogue and voiceover would be impossible).
Dialects and accents are not changed (in Czech language local accent is not as important as in English), except Uter, who remains stereotypical German. Willy sometimes speaks in Moravia
n dialect, sometimes in common spoken Czech.
, the actual series is subtitled, but The Simpsons Movie
was released both dubbed and subtitled. The show is called Simpsonit (literally The Simpsons).
The Finnish voice actors of The Simpsons Movie are:
Translated character names:
and the show is named A Simpson család, it means The Simpson family.
The Hungarian voice actors are:
Translated character names:
is broadcast by Star World
, and is shown in its original English form. It is, however, available in Hindi
on several DTH networks.
since the very beginning of its broadcast run by Canale 5
(in the early 90s); now Italia 1
and Fox
broadcast it. The show is named I Simpson - as foreign names are usually not pluralised in Italian. The animation of the show is slightly changed; whenever something written in English appears on screen, usually by blurring the original text and superimposition
the translated Italian one, very much done in the same way as with the German version of South Park
. This was accomplished with a freeze frame
effect and stock fonts in earlier seasons, delivering a rather crude result. Recent seasons show a definite improvement, with the translated text made to appear almost identical in style
and design
to the original.
The initial blackboard scene is not however graphically modified with a translation; Bart simply reads the phrase translated into Italian.
Another difference is that the ubiquitous "Woohoo!" exclaimed by Homer in the original version is replaced by the word "mitico" (with a long lasting pronunciation: Meeeeeee teeeeee cooow!), which literally means mythical.
Many characters are dubbed with strong local accents: Wiggum, Lou and Marvin Monroe speak with a Naples
accent, Eddie talks like someone from Bari
, Carl with a Venice
accent, Reverend Lovejoy is a Calabria
n, Otto Mann is from Milan
, Fat Tony - obviously - a Sicilian
, Willie is a Sardinia
n. Every reference to Willie's homeland is diverted to Sardinia
.
The Italian voices:
are also translated: while Homer's "D'oh" remains the same in Italian, Bart's "Ay caramba" becomes "E che cacchio" (meaning "What the hell", where "cacchio" is actually a euphemism
for "dick") and "Eat my shorts" becomes "Ciucciati il calzino" (lit. "Suck your sock").
When Homer tries to throttle Bart, his phrase "Why you little..." becomes "Brutto bacarospo...". "Brutto" means "ugly", while "bagarospo"(literally, toadroach) is a non-existent word, a portmanteau of "bagarozzo", which is a Romanesco
word for "scarafaggio" (Eng: "cockroach"), and Italian "rospo" which means "toad".
Among these personalities there are the Italian Minister of Defence Ignazio La Russa
, other Italian politicians like Alessandra Mussolini
and Vittorio Sgarbi
, the Re del Quiz (Quiz King) Mike Bongiorno
, anchor men and journalists like Emilio Fede
and Paolo Liguori, soccer players like Gennaro Gattuso
, Francesco Totti
and Marco Materazzi
, singers like Giorgia
and Jovanotti
, showmen like Fiorello
and Corrado Guzzanti
, plus various other TV and Cinema actresses and actors.
, The show is named ザ・シンプソンズ and has been dubbed into Japanese
and were first broadcast by WOWOW
until 2002 and later on the Fox Channel onwards. The film recast every part with more well known celebrities. However because of fan criticism, the normal voices returned to redub their roles for the DVD release. The movie
is named ザ・シンプソンズ MOVIE and was released in theaters on
December 15, 2007.
is named Simpsoni. The show is broadcast as "lectored" version, which means that only one person reads the whole translated text while the original sound can be heard in the background in a lowered loudness. The text was spoken by Artūrs Skrastiņš
. Airs on TV3 Latvia
, TV6 Latvia
is named Simpsonai. The show is broadcast as "lectored" version, which means that only one person reads the whole translated text while the original sound can be heard in the background in a lowered loudness. The text was translated and spoken by Kristijonas Karinauskas and Džiugas Siaurusaitis and the sound director is Andrius Meškėla. It was done at TV3 Lithuania
.
, Fox Channel Asia, Channel 710 by pressing the I - II button on the remote.
is named Simpsonowie. It has been dubbed into Polish
and was broadcast by TV Puls
since September 1, 2008. Written and sung English remain subtitled. Since Season 3, the show's logo at the beginning of each episode was replaced by a logo saying the show's Polish name, but in Season 1 style.
Since the fall of Communism
in Poland, dubbing has been used almost exclusively in movies and shows produced for children. Canal+ Poland
was also broadcasting the show in "lectored" version just like TVP
and Fox Kids Polska did in late 1990s.
The Simpsons Movie
in Polish
is known as Simpsonowie: Wersja kinowa. Much of the Polish fan community considered dubbing of the movie to be a sacrilege so that most of the post-premiere reviews found the localized version worse than the original one.
The recent TV Puls dubbing of the show itself initially received almost exclusively bad reviews amongst fans of the Simpsons - most of the reviewers point out the poor, frequently changing, and not matching their characters actors, technical faults, etc. Ironically, the bad reception of series' dubbed version caused massive change of opinion about movie's dub, now commonly referred to as "quite good".
After Rupert Murdoch
sold his interests in TV Puls, the dubbing has stopped, as all the staff had signed contracts with Fox
instead of TV Puls. For two weeks reruns were aired instead of new episodes; a few final Season 3 episodes, despite being dubbed (according to Homer's VA, Mikołaj Klimek), never aired. Currently TV Puls have no plans of getting the show back.
Despite the initial bad opinion, the show was one of most popular shows on TV Puls. Now this show is available on Fox Polska and begins from season 6. This version was subtitled by Master Film.
The Polish voice actors are:
Most episodes were voiced by Irina Savina and Boris Bystrov
. For Season 17, the voicing actors were changed to Lyudmila Gnilova
and Oleg Forostenko; for Season 18, they were changed once again to Nina Lunyova and Alexander Kotov. As the change of the actors resulted in protests among Russian fans who were used to the established voice actors, Savina and Bystrov were brought back after Season 18.
Contrary to the series, a full dub was created for The Simpsons Movie
.
version of the Simpsons. Instead of that, Slovak television station
s use the Czech
dubbed version.
in English with Swedish subtitles. However, in 1993, the network decided to start dub The Simpsons to increase ratings, and the show was moved to a more child-friendly time. After a public outrage the dubbing was dropped after only six episodes and the show was moved to a more adult time. Bart was voiced by Annica Smedius and Homer by Per Sandborgh
. A dub of the movie was released with The Simpsons Movie
DVD, with Annica Smedius providing the voice for Bart once again.
, the first 17 seasons of The Simpsons
had been broadcast by M1
dubbed into Ukrainian
, in 2004-2008. However previously the show was available to Ukrainian audience on Russian TV channels that had licence to broadcast in Ukraine
. The public tend to appreciate dubbing and translation.
As for now, The Simpsons is now broadcast on Ukrainian TV channel 2+2, however, the FOX programming pack is bought by 1+1 group (1+1
, 2+2, City) which includes The Simpsons. In 2011 2+2 aired seasons from 18 to 20.
Ukrainian version of "The Simpsons" is recognized by the creators as the most approximate to the original material.
Almost all character names remained intact. Only names of animals were translated literally. Marge's voice is similar to original one, although Homer's voice is considerably different: he grumbles much less than in the original and speaks quicker. All references to American realities, politics and celebrities are replaced with local references. Word play jokes are also substituted with similar Ukrainian jokes (sometimes very different from the original).
Yuriy Kovalenko does Abraham Simpson
, Moe Szyslak
, Cletus Spuckler
and Kent Brockman
both in the series and film. In the series, he and other three actors do all other characters. Valeriy Legin appeared just in Season 1-2 (doing a number of characters including Montgomery Burns
and Reverend Lovejoy
), and in film (doing Krusty the Clown, Mayor Quimby
, Fat Tony
and Montgomery Burns
).
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
animated sitcom which has been broadcast in the United States since 1989 on FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. In other countries, the TV show started broadcasting later than 1989 either in its original version or in a dubbed version
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
.
Arabic
The show was first broadcast in the area in its original language with Arabic subtitles on networks like Showtime ArabiaShowtime Arabia
Showtime Arabia, as it was called to distinguish itself from its U.S. counterpart , was a subscription television service in the Middle East and North Africa. It was a joint venture between KIPCO and CBS Corporation , CBS Corp being a minor partner...
and Dubai's One TV, where it received a following in the area.
The show was finally given an Arabic translation in September 2005, under a title that transliterates as "Al-Shamshoon" ("The House of Shamshoon," In Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, آل شمشون) In addition to being dubbed in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
(with subtitles provided for shots including written English, such as the chalkboards), references to alcohol (Duff Beer & Moe's Tavern), pork (bacon & hot dogs), and numerous other themes have been deleted or significantly modified. For instance, Homer drinks soda-pop instead of beer, eats beef sausages as opposed to pork, eats ka'ak
Ka'ak
Ka'ak or Kahqa is the Arabic word for "cake", and can refer to several different types of baked goods produced throughout the Arab world and the Near East.-Bread rings:...
instead of donuts, and all references to Moe's Tavern were cut. The references to Rabbi Krustofsky, Krusty the Clown's father, were not present. According to Richard Poplak of the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, an ex-Disney employee in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
told him that, in Poplak's words, "if a TV station can help it, they’ll excise references to Judaism from shows meant for the pan-Arab market." Badih Fattouh, MBC 1's acquisitions and drama commissioner head, said "You must understand that we did not simply dub, but we Arabized the concept, and we toned it down a bit. We toned [down] the language — we Arabized it in the cultural sense."
MBC 1
MBC 1
MBC is a free-to-air, pan-Arab general television channel.Satellite transmission started from London in September 1991, making MBC the first independent Arabic satellite TV station, with an estimated audience of more than 130 million Arabic-speaking people around the world.MBC has recently moved...
, a company owned by Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
n sheiks, created the Arabic adaptation. Amr Hosny, a scriptwriter who frequently adapts works for the Arab world, served as the writer. The creative personalities behind Al-Shamshoun were Egyptian. The producers decided to adapt the "classic" episodes, beginning with Season 4, rather than starting with the original episodes. The characters were also given typical Arabic names such as Omar, Mona and Badr for Homer, Marge and Bart respectively as part of the retooling, while voices were provided by leading actors including Egyptian film star Mohamed Henedi
Mohamed Henedi
Mohamed Henedi is an Egyptian comedy actor born in Giza, Egypt in 1965 and has gained a cinematic bachelor's degree. Mohamed Henedi started his career in 1991 in short appearances in theaters and cinemas, and achieved huge success in his two films Esma'eleya Rayeh Gaii and Sa'ede Fel Gam'a Al...
as "Omar", and their hometown "Springfield" was called "Rabeea" (Arabic for Spring) and made it look like an American town with a major Arab population. Poplak said "Although Fattouh and MBC will give no figures, the licence fees from 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
could not have been cheap."
About the original series, Hosny said "I loved it. I take off my chapeau: they are very good artists. And the writers are unbelievable. I loved the character of Homer. There is something very strange about this character. It’s very close to the Egyptian point of view. He’s a very simple and kind person; from some points of view you feel that he’s incredibly stupid, and from some points of view you feel he is wise. Sometimes I felt I was talking about an Egyptian person. Nothing is certain and taken for granted — it’s not ipso facto — and this makes good art." Hosny said that the sheiks who owned MBC interfered in the creative process, making the show more edited and less comprehensible. For instance, Hosny wanted to make a "Little Arab Town" where it would be explained why there were many Arab people living in the middle of the United States. The sheiks rejected Hosny's suggestions. Poplak said "Instead, Springfield remained, and there was no coherent explanation given as to why a full Arab community exists within the middle of Middle America." Hosny wanted Homer to drink she'er, a non-alcoholic malt drink, so dubbing would be easy. The sheiks insisted that Homer drink juice. Hosny also stated that he tried to underemphasize Waylon Smithers
Waylon Smithers
Waylon Smithers, Jr., usually referred to as Smithers, is a recurring fictional character in the animated series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer. Smithers first appeared in the episode "Homer's Odyssey", although he could be heard in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open...
's homosexual attraction for Mr. Burns. Poplak said "Through a steady process of cross-cultural attrition — no bacon sandwiches, no Moe’s Tavern, church becomes masjid (mosque) — The Simpsons was whittled down to a shadow of itself."
The show debuted after al-Iftar on October 4, 2005, the first night of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
. The show overall had a poor reception. Fattouh said "The show was not a big success. Otherwise, of course, we would have continued to do another season. I would say it was fairly received, but average. This made us reconsider." Poplak said "That’s putting it mildly. MBC’s core viewers were baffled. From most accounts, the show was incoherent." The MBC show had a poor reception in the Saudi Arabian market, described by Poplak as "all-important." Cartoons in Saudi Arabia are perceived as being for children, and adults, puzzled at why cartoons were airing during the post-Iftar time, chose to watch other channels. Arabs who were fans of The Simpsons also had a negative reaction. As'ad AbuKhalil, a professor at California State University, Stanislaus
California State University, Stanislaus
California State University, Stanislaus, also known as Cal State Stanislaus or simply Stan State is a campus in the California State University system which was established in 1957 in Turlock, California. It is also the only campus in the CSU system to offer a bachelor's degree in cognitive studies...
and a blogger who operates the "The Angry Arab News Service," said that after he saw a promotional segment, "This is just beyond the pale[.]" and "It was just painful. ... The guy who played Homer Simpson was one of the most unfunny people I ever watched. Just drop the project, and air reruns of Tony Danza
Tony Danza
Tony Danza is an American actor best known for starring on the TV series Taxi and Who's the Boss?, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards...
's show instead." Fattouh added "You see, culturally, it didn’t cross very well. Maybe the sense of humour is too North American. Comedy is especially a culturally sensitive matter. What you can define as funny is an outcome of learnings, habits, doings, local behaviour — it is the sum of so many factors. Drama is one thing, but with comedy, it is black and white. Deep inside, either you laugh or you say, ‘No, this is not funny.’ They did not think this was funny." As a result, only 34 of the 52 adapted episodes aired.
Poplak said "It is a lesson in cross-cultural adaptation, and a warning of how delicate a powerful piece of television art like The Simpsons actually is."
The show in its unedited form currently airs on Fox Series
Fox Series
The Fox Series Channel or simply Fox was a Middle Eastern version of the American Fox Channel. It launched in 2008. The channel was relaunched as Fox on March 1, 2011.-Reception:The channel gained a positive following at the start...
with Arabic subtitles.
French
The Simpsons has been dubbed into the French languageFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
twice, once in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and again in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In both versions, the show is named Les Simpson, as last names are not pluralized in French. The French audio on the Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
DVDs is the Quebec dub.
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
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...
is given the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n accent, while Carl, who has no accent in the American version, also speaks inflected French. Kirk Van Houten is given a stereotypical Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
accent, as "Van Houten" is a name which can be assumed to be Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. In the Quebec version only the town élite, such as Principal Skinner
Seymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
and Reverend Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
, speak International French
Standard French
Standard French is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language...
. The Simpson family and most of the townsfolk speak Quebec French
Quebec French
Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....
with strong Québécois accents. In the Quebec version the ethnic minorities also have accents. Apu speaks in a creole while Carl has the accent of a Black immigrant from Africa or the Caribbean.
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
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
in Quebec is generally replaced with one to Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
. Most of the recurring characters keep their English names in each French version. Two exceptions are Sideshow Bob
Sideshow Bob
Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of...
and Sideshow Mel, who are known as Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
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
Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
, who is called "Le p'tit renne au nez rouge" (the French name for the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. He is popularly known as "Santa's 9th Reindeer" and, when depicted, is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through...
, which literally means "Little Red-Nosed Reindeer") in the Quebec version and "Petit Papa Noël" (name of a French Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
song that literally means "Little Father Christmas") 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
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
in the original was changed to Fortier
Fortier (TV series)
Fortier is a French-language Canadian television series which debuted on February 8, 2001 on TVA.Anne Fortier is a criminal psychologist who works with the investigators of SAS , a fictional police division specialising in crimes involving mental illnesses...
, 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- however, this may be a common practice in many foreign dubs of many TV shows. 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
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
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
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
, 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.
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
Mulder
Mulder is a Dutch surname deriving from a former Dutch word for "miller", mulder.- People named Mulder :*Allan Mulder, Australian politician*Bob Mulder, Dutch football player*Boyito Mulder, Dutch figure skater...
and Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
from The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
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 pronounced 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
Co-Dependent's Day
"Co-Dependent's Day" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season. The episode aired on March 21, 2004.-Plot:Homer, Bart, and Lisa see the newest Cosmic Wars film, The Gathering Shadow, and the movie turns out to be less than what they expected. At home, Marge suggests that Bart and...
").
Phillippe Peythieu, France's voice of Homer, and Véronique Augereau, France's voice of Marge, first met on the dubbing of the series and are now married, just like their animated counterparts. On April 8, 2007, Peythieu and Augereau hosted "in character" a special prime-time compilation of their favorite Simpsons episodes on French cable channel W9.
Most Québécois who know about the version produced in France are not too fond of it; the humor is completely different. Télétoon
Télétoon (Canadian TV channel)
Télétoon is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel that specializes in animation programming. Télétoon is owned by Teletoon Canada Inc; a 50/50 partnership between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment...
, which broadcasts the Quebec Simpsons dub, also once broadcast dubs from France of Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
(also created by Matt Groening) and Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, two shows similar to The Simpsons whose French dubs were also similar to The Simpsons Parisian dub. Although The Simpsons has been on Télétoon for a much longer period than the other two shows, Futurama and Family Guy are no longer shown on the network, while The Simpsons continues to be aired.
Catchphrases
In July 2007 Matt GroeningMatt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
said in an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
that the actor (Phillippe Peythieu) who does the voice of France French Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
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 phrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
s 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!). "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".
In the Québécois version of the show, "D'oh!" was a simple "Oh!" in the first few seasons, but became the standard "D'oh!" later on, Bart's "Eat my shorts" becomes "Mange de la crotte" (loosely, a less offensive form of "Eat shit"), Bart's "I didn't do it!" becomes "J'ai rien fait" (I did nothing). When Homer tries to throttle Bart, he says "Oh, Mon p'tit verrat" (a Quebec expression, literally "Oh my lil' brat") instead of "Why you little...".
France
The French voice actors are:| Character | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson, Abraham Simpson, Otto Mann | Philippe Peythieu |
| Marge Simpson, Selma Bouvier, Patty Bouvier, Jacqueline Bouvier | Véronique Augereau |
| Bart Simpson, Jimbo Jones (since season 7) | Joëlle Guigui |
| Lisa Simpson, Milhouse Van Houten, Maggie Simpson | Aurélia Bruno |
| Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Waylon Smithers, Carl, Barney Gumble, Lou, Troy McClure, Rainier Wolfcastle, Comic Book Guy, Snake, Lionel Hutz, Chalmers, Duffman, Herbert Powell (voice 1), Guibole, Roger Meyers (voice 4) | Patrick Guillemin (seasons 1-9) Pierre Laurent (since season 10) |
| Moe Szyslak, Lenny, Willie, Cletus, Eddie, Arnie Pie, Louie, Database, Lance Murdock, Scratchy (voice 1), John Frink, Disco Stu, Murphy Gencives Sanglantes (voice 2) Roger Meyers (Voice 3) | Roland Timsit (seasons 1-4) Gilbert Levy Gilbert Levy Gilbert Levy is a French actor and voice actor, best known for the French voices of Moe, Lenny, Willie, Frink, Cletus, etc. in The Simpsons animated sitcom, starting with the fifth season. He is also notable for dubbing over the roles of Jimbo, Jimmy, Mr. Mackey, etc. in the French dub of the... (since season 5) |
| Montgomery Burns, Krusty, Clancy Wiggum, principal Skinner, Dr Hibbert, Marvin Monroe, Kent Brockman, Joe Quimby, Tahiti Bob, captain McCallister, Hans Taupeman, Gil, Jasper, Kirk Van Houten, Snyder, Larry, Kang, Nick Riviera, Dewey Largo, Fat Tony (voice 2), Scratchy (voice 2), Herbert Powell (voice 2), Roger Meyers (voice 2), Marge's father (voice 2). | Michel Modo† (seasons 1-19) Gérard Rinaldi (since season 19) |
| Edna Krapabelle (since season 7), Elizabeth Hoover, Sarah Wiggum, Maude Flanders, Agnes Skinner, Doris, Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten, Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon, Bernice Hibbert, Mona Olsen, Itchy, Nelson, Jimbo Jones (seasons 2-6), Kearney, Dolph, Rod Flanders, Martin Prince, Wendell Borton, Lewis, Uter, Janey Powell, Sherri and Terri, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders (since season 2) | Régine Teyssot |
- The dialogue is adapted by Juliette Vigouroux and Alain Cassard until season 19, the dialogue was done by Regine Teyssot now.
- Artistic direction by Christian Dura
There are two important changes in Simpson French dub. First, the departure of Patrick Guillemin at the end of season 9 and secondly the French adapters and Michel Modo (who died recently) during season 19.
Quebec
The QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
voices are:
| Character | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Hubert Gagnon Hubert Gagnon Hubert Gagnon is an actor in the Canadian province of Quebec. He is best known as the voice of Homer Simpson in the Quebec version of The Simpsons, the voice of Mel Gibson in many movies, and also the character Picabo on the québécois TV show Les Oraliens. He also dubbed the character Vernon... |
| Abraham Simpson Abraham Simpson Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson... 1 |
|
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Béatrice Picard Béatrice Picard Béatrice Picard is a Canadian actress. She is best known as the Quebec French voice of Marge Simpson in The Simpsons. She is a nominee in the 2008 Genie Awards for Best Lead Actress in Ma tante Aline in which she plays the titular character.- External links :... |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Johanne Léveillée |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... |
Lisette Dufour Lisette Dufour Lisette Dufour is a Québécoise voice actress who is better known as the French voice of Lisa Simpson on The Simpsons.She also did a number of French dubbings, including most notably Pocahontas in the Disney movie.-References:... |
1 Formerly voiced by Jean-Louis Millette
Jean-Louis Millette
Jean-Louis Millette was a French-speaking Quebec actor and writer.Millette's television career spans over thirty years: he was a cast member of many of the best-known series in Quebec, including the children's series La Ribouldingue , L'Héritage, Symphorien and Montréal P.Q. Jean-Louis Millette...
- It is adapted by Benoit Rousseau with the help of Johanne Léveillée .
The speech of Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
, Lenny, Carl, and other lower-class characters in the Quebec version occasionally resembles joual
Joual
Joual is the common name for the linguistic features of basilectal Quebec French that are associated with the French-speaking working class in Montreal which has become a symbol of national identity for a large number of artists from that area...
, the working-class speech.
German
The Simpsons has been dubbed into one single German languageGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
version and is broadcast by ProSieben in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; ORF1
ORF1
ORF eins is an Austrian television channel. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955.ORF eins is one of four public TV channels in Austria. ORF eins broadcasts TV series and featured films, whereas ORF2 focuses on cultural programming and information. ORF Sport Plus is the...
in Austria; and SF 2 in Switzerland. The show is named Die Simpsons and the episodes appear uncut and dubbed, with written or sung English subtitled in German. The animation of the show is not changed. In the blackboard scene, Bart reads the phrase translated, before laughing when the bell rings and jumps on his skateboard (as seen in any other version). Homer's alveolar
Voiced alveolar plosive
The voiced alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plosives is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is d.-Features:Features of the voiced...
catch phrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
"D'oh!
D'oh!
"D'oh!" is a catchphrase used by the fictional character Homer Simpson, from the long-running American animated sitcom The Simpsons . It is typically used when Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him...
" has been translated to "Nein!" (meaning "No!") rather than leaving it as the meaningless interjection
Interjection
In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...
that is his annoyed grunt. The language in general is a bit harsher and more swear words are used; Bart and Homer often say "Arsch" ("ass") instead of 'butt'. Also, when Homer tries to throttle Bart he says "Du mieser Kleiner..." ("You miserable little...") instead of "Why you little...". In the earlier seasons signposts etc. were translated with a subtitle, but this is later replaced with a voiceover as in the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian version. The show's twenty-first season is aired at Tuesdays, 8:15 pm, but they air two reruns every day at 6:10 pm.
While things always get "lost in translation" during any dubbing process, the German version of The Simpsons is infamous for countless mistakes as a result of poor translation. In most cases, the translator of the German dialogue simply is not familiar with certain aspects of American pop culture or the meaning of phrases. However, this is not only a problem of the German version of The Simpsons.
A second general problem is the content of political jokes which can only be understood by people who know the facts and persons (i. e. jokes about several former American presidents).
Before moving to commercial Pro Sieben, the show was initially shown on public broadcaster ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
, before moving to Swiss pay-TV channel Teleclub and then Premiere, another pay-TV service. The team responsible for bringing the show to Germany clearly had a hard time imagining that an animated show was aimed primarily at a teenage and adult audience and early episodes from these seasons are "toned down" to make them more appropriate for children.
Characters
Nearly all of the characters carry their American names; there are only just a few characters which are translated, especially animals. For example Reverend LovejoyReverend Timothy Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
is still Reverend Lovejoy. Lovejoy's name seems to be the only one ever (partially) translated into German for some episodes (Reverend Gottlieb). Gottlieb is a real German first name - albeit outdated - meaning "to love God".
In earlier episodes, Homer's name was pronounced Hoo-muh, because the German translators didn't know how to pronounce his name correctly. The same thing happened with Apu's surname; he became "Apu Nahasapeemapetilan" temporarily. Also in some episodes, Troy McClure became Kevin McClure.
The voice of Homer is very different to the original version, because the voice actor Norbert Gastell wanted Homer to have a funnier voice. Marge's voice is not as rough as in the original. This difference is very obvious when the characters start to sing, because the songs are not translated (but subtitled) due to the rhymes.
Translated characters:
- Sideshow BobSideshow BobRobert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of...
: Tingeltangel Bob (literally "Honkytonk Bob"), Sideshow Bob
- In early episodes solely translated as Tingeltangel Bob, afterwards taken over the original.
- Reverend LovejoyReverend Timothy LovejoyReverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
: Reverend Gottlieb, Reverend Lovejoy
- Reverend Lovejoy
- Reverend Gottlieb was used just a very few times, afterwards generally the original.
- Üter: Uter
- In the German version he is always a stereotypical SwissSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in order to avoid confusion.- Hans MolemanHans MolemanHans Moleman is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared in the episode "Principal Charming". He normally appears in a running gag, where he usually suffers unfortunate, nearly fatal, events...
: Hans Maulwurf - Bleeding Gums Murphy: Zahnfleischbluter Murphy
- Bumblebee Man: Bienenmann
- Comic Book GuyComic Book GuyComic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
: Comicbuchverkäufer (literally Comicbook Salesman) - Santa's Little HelperSanta's Little HelperSanta's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
: Knecht Ruprecht - Snowball: Schneeball in some episodes, but generally the original is used.
- Hans Moleman
The German voice actors are:
| Character | Voice actors |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Norbert Gastell |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Elisabeth Volkmann Elisabeth Volkmann Elisabeth Volkmann was a German actress and voice actor, best known for her part in the German absurd comedy series Klimbim , which was watched by millions of viewers in Germany and, later on, as the voice of Marge Simpson in the German dub of The Simpsons... † (season 1 - HABF04) Anke Engelke Anke Engelke Anke Christina Fischer is a German comedian, actress and voice-over actress born in Montréal, Quebec, Canada.Engelke moved to Cologne in 1971 with her parents... (HABF05 - *) |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Sandra Schwittau |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... |
Sabine Bohlmann Sabine Bohlmann Sabine Bohlmann is a German actress and dub voice actor, perhaps most famous as the German voice of Lisa and Maggie Simpson on The Simpsons.... |
| Maggie Simpson Maggie Simpson Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James... |
Sabine Bohlmann Sabine Bohlmann Sabine Bohlmann is a German actress and dub voice actor, perhaps most famous as the German voice of Lisa and Maggie Simpson on The Simpsons.... |
| Abraham Simpson Abraham Simpson Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson... |
1. Walter Reichelt 2. Ulrich Bernsdorff 3. Horst Raspe 4. Michael Rüth |
| Patty Bouvier | 1. Gudrun Vaupel 2. Elisabeth Volkmann Elisabeth Volkmann Elisabeth Volkmann was a German actress and voice actor, best known for her part in the German absurd comedy series Klimbim , which was watched by millions of viewers in Germany and, later on, as the voice of Marge Simpson in the German dub of The Simpsons... 3. Angelika Bender |
| Selma Bouvier | 1. Ursula Mellin 2. Elisabeth Volkmann Elisabeth Volkmann Elisabeth Volkmann was a German actress and voice actor, best known for her part in the German absurd comedy series Klimbim , which was watched by millions of viewers in Germany and, later on, as the voice of Marge Simpson in the German dub of The Simpsons... 3. Angelika Bender |
| Ned Flanders Ned Flanders Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally... |
Ulrich Frank |
| Maude Flanders | Manuela Renard |
| Seymour Skinner Seymour Skinner Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School... |
1. Fred Klaus 2. Klaus Guth |
| Agnes Skinner | 1. Margit Weinert 2. Eva Maria Lahl |
| Edna Krabappel Edna Krabappel Edna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace. She is a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.- Profile :... |
1. Gudrun Vaupel 2. Inge Solbrig Inge Solbrig Inge Solbrig is a German actress and voice actress best known as the German voice of several characters in The Simpsons including Edna Krabappel, Helen Lovejoy, Judge Constance Harm, Crazy Cat Lady, Mona Simpson, Lunchlady Doris, Itchy & Scratchy and a lot of additional voices.She was married to... |
| Elizabeth Hoover | Manuela Renard |
| Moe Szyslak Moe Szyslak Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"... |
Bernd Simon |
| Barney Gumble Barney Gumble Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend. His capacity for... |
1. Gernot Duda 2. Michael Rüth |
| Lenny Leonard | Ulf-Jürgen Wagner |
| Carl Carlson | Peter Musäus |
| Charles Montgomery Burns Montgomery Burns Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer... |
Reinhard Brock |
| Waylon Smithers Waylon Smithers Waylon Smithers, Jr., usually referred to as Smithers, is a recurring fictional character in the animated series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer. Smithers first appeared in the episode "Homer's Odyssey", although he could be heard in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open... |
Hans-Georg Panczak Hans-Georg Panczak Hans-Georg Panczak is a German television actor and voice actor. He is best known as the German voice of Waylon Smithers in The Simpsons, of Mark Hamill in the original Star Wars trilogy, and of Glen Quagmire in Family Guy since the fourth season.-Selected filmography:* Derrick - Season 2, Episode... |
| Krusty | Hans-Rainer Müller |
| Itchy & Scratchy The Itchy & Scratchy Show The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson... |
Inge Solbrig Inge Solbrig Inge Solbrig is a German actress and voice actress best known as the German voice of several characters in The Simpsons including Edna Krabappel, Helen Lovejoy, Judge Constance Harm, Crazy Cat Lady, Mona Simpson, Lunchlady Doris, Itchy & Scratchy and a lot of additional voices.She was married to... |
| Milhouse Van Houten Milhouse Van Houten Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School.... |
Michaela Amler |
| Martin Prince Martin Prince Martin Prince, Jr. is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Russi Taylor. Martin is Bart Simpson's classmate, and is Lisa Simpson's rival in intelligence, as well as Nelson Muntz's favorite target for bullying... |
Michèle Tichawsky |
| Ralph Wiggum Ralph Wiggum Ralph Wiggum is a recurring fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. The son of Police Chief Wiggum and a classmate of Lisa Simpson, Ralph is best known as the show's resident oddball, and is noted for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior... |
Beate Pfeiffer |
| Chief Clancy Wiggum | Thomas Rau Thomas Rau Thomas Rau is the Chief Medical Director of the Paracelsus Klinik in Switzerland and founder of Paracelsus Biological Medicine.-Life and work:... |
| Apu Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also... |
Tobias Lelle |
| Kent Brockman Kent Brockman Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"... |
Donald Arthur Donald Arthur Donald Caldwell Arthur, Jr. is a retired U.S. Navy medical corps vice admiral . He entered the Navy in 1974 and eventually served as the 35th Surgeon General of the United States Navy... |
| Narrator/Voice-over used for English text passages |
Butz Combrinck |
Link with photos and sound samples:
List of English and German voice actors including all seasons:
Catchphrases
| Character | English | German | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
D'oh! | Nein! | No! |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Eat my shorts! | Friss meine Shorts! | Eat my shorts!* |
| Mr. Burns Montgomery Burns Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer... |
Excellent! | Ausgezeichnet! | Excellent! |
- Note, "friss" (from "fressen") translates to "eat" but is usually used in reference to animals. Used in reference to humans, it is pejorative.
Brazilian version
- Homer SimpsonHomer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
: Waldyr Sant'anna (seasons 1-7, and 15-17); Julio Cesar (seasons 8-14); Carlos AlbertoCarlos AlbertoCarlos Alberto is a common Portuguese given name, also found in Spanish .It is the name of several footballers:...
(since season 18) - Marge SimpsonMarge SimpsonMarjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
: Selma Lopes (seasons 1-7, and since season 14); Mariângela Cantú (season 8); Nelly Amaral (season 9 -13) - Bart SimpsonBart SimpsonBartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
: Peterson Adriano (seasons 1-7); Rodrigo Antas (since season 8) - Lisa SimpsonLisa SimpsonLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
: Nair Amorim (seasons 1-7); Priscila Amorim (season 8-14); Flávia Saddy (since season 15)
Translated character names:
- Santa's Little HelperSanta's Little HelperSanta's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
: Ajudante de Papai Noel - Itchy and ScratchyThe Itchy & Scratchy ShowThe Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
: Comichão e Coçadinha. - Fat TonyFat TonyMarion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico is a recurring character in the animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Joe Mantegna and first appeared in the third season episode "Bart the Murderer"...
: Tony Gordo - Krusty the Clown: Krusty o Palhaço
All of these being literal translations of their names.
Portugal
In PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
the series itself is not dubbed but subtitled.
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
, however, did receive a dubbed version, in which José Jorge Duarte, Cláudia Cadima, Carla de Sá, and Manuela Couto
Manuela Couto
Manuela Couto is a Portuguese actress. She is known of diverse projects of television, cinema and theatre.-Filmography:* The Simpsons Movie - Lisa Simpson* Ilha dos Amores * Tempo de Viver * Coisa Ruim...
provided the voice of Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa respectively.
Spanish
The Simpsons is dubbed into the Spanish languageSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
twice, once in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and again in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. 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
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
is translated as Homero, but in Spain it isn't 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, Sideshow Bob as Bob Patiño 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, "Rasca" and "Pica" literally translate as "It itches" and "It scratches" so it is the most accurate translation).
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 (the same happens in Futurama). The region 1 DVDs include the Latin American audio.
Latin American version
The Latin American Spanish version is dubbed in Mexico by Grabaciones y Doblajes Internacionales (also known as New Art Dub) since season 15. Defunct dubbing studio Audiomaster 3000 dubbed the first 14 seasons. The DVD commentary for season 3's Like Father, Like ClownLike Father, Like Clown
"Like Father, Like Clown" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 24, 1991. In the episode, Krusty the Clown reveals to the Simpson family that he is of Jewish heritage, and that his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski,...
states that writer Wallace Wolodarsky
Wallace Wolodarsky
Wallace Wolodarsky is an American television writer and director. He wrote for The Simpsons during the first four seasons; all of his episodes were co-written with former writing partner Jay Kogen...
went to several countries, including Mexico and Germany, to cast the foreign versions. The most memorable cast dubbed from seasons 1 through 9 and was:
- Homer: Humberto VélezHumberto VélezHumberto Vélez is a Mexican voice actor. He is most widely known for dubbing the voice of Homer Simpson in the Latin American version of The Simpsons.-Animation:*Homero Simpson in the Latin American dub of The Simpsons...
(seasons 1-15)/ Otto Balbuena (season 16, onwards). - Marge: Nancy McKenzieNancy McKenzieNancy Affleck McKenzie is an American historical fiction writer. Her primary focus is Arthurian legend.-Publishing career:McKenzie published The Child Queen in 1994, and its sequel, The High Queen, a year later...
(seasons 1-15)/ Marina Huerta (season 16, onwards). - Bart: Marina Huerta (seasons 1-9, 16 onwards)/ Claudia Motta (seasons 9-15).
- Lisa: Patricia AcevedoPatricia AcevedoPatricia Acevedo is a Latin American voice actress. She was the voice of Sailor Moon in the Mexican/Latin American version, and is arguably among the most popular Usagi actresses. Her voice is easy to distinguish due to its gentle soprano tone, which remains even if she voices a colder or evil...
(seasons 1-15)/ Alexia Solís (season 16, onwards). - Mr. Burns: Gabriel ChavezGabriel ChavezGabriel Chavez is a Latin American voice actor who was the voice of Daisuke Jigen in the Mexican/Latin American dub of Lupin III. He was also the masculine-sounding version of Tsubasa Kurenai in the Cloverway Spanish dub of Ranma ½. Other voice Gabriel Chavez did was the Cancer Man from the...
(seasons 1-15)/ Miguel Ángel Botello (season 16, onwards)
Translated character names:
- Homer SimpsonHomer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
: Homero Simpson. - Chief Clancy Wiggum: Jefe Celso Gorgory (or just Jefe Gorgory).
- Ralph WiggumRalph WiggumRalph Wiggum is a recurring fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. The son of Police Chief Wiggum and a classmate of Lisa Simpson, Ralph is best known as the show's resident oddball, and is noted for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior...
: Rafa Gorgory. - Sideshow BobSideshow BobRobert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of...
: Bob Patiño. - Cletus SpucklerCletus SpucklerCletus Delroy Spuckler is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Hank Azaria. Cletus is Springfield's resident hillbilly stereotype. He is very messy and is usually portrayed wearing a white sleeveless shirt and pair of blue jeans.- Biography :Cletus was...
: Cleto Spuckler. - Itchy & ScratchyThe Itchy & Scratchy ShowThe Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
: Tomy y Daly. - Barney GumbleBarney GumbleBarnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend. His capacity for...
: Barney Gómez. - Reverend LovejoyReverend Timothy LovejoyReverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
: Reverendo Alegría.
During season 9, Huerta quit playing Bart over a pay dispute, and was replaced by Claudia Motta. Before season 16, the main cast had a legal issue with Grabaciones y Doblajes because it wanted the actors not to be in the National Association of Actors
National Association of Actors
The National Association of Actors is the Mexican actors guild. It is a member of the Bloque Latinoamericano de Actores that includes all of the actors' unions in Latin America....
, and they were in that association, so as a result, the whole cast was fired. Beginning at season 16, they were replaced by new actors, and Huerta returned to do both Bart's and Marge's voice, as well as directing the dub during seasons 16-18 and the movie. The movie used the post Season 15 voice actors, despite an attempt to boycott the movie by the original voice actors, done because the National Association of Actors had promised that the original actors would dub the movie. The boycott attempt failed, and since then several of the actors have declared that they would not be returning to the series, even if Fox itself asks them to return. The current voice actors have been criticized by some viewers.
Spanish version
The principal cast is the following:- Homer SimpsonHomer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
: Carlos Revilla (Seasons 1-11, died)/Carlos Ysbert (Season 12 onwards) - Marge SimpsonMarge SimpsonMarjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and her sisters: Amparo Soto (replaced at 4th season by Begoña Hernando due to voice problems with her character; in the 6th season Hernando was replaced by Margarita de Francia due to the same problem) - Lisa SimpsonLisa SimpsonLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
: Isacha Mengíbar - Bart SimpsonBart SimpsonBartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
: Sara Vivas
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, and Antena 3 had to find a substitute for Revilla's voice (as opposed to Dan Castellaneta's).
Carlos Revilla also dubbed the appearance of KITT
KITT
KITT is the short name of two fictional characters from the adventure TV series Knight Rider. While having the same acronym, the KITTs are two different entities: one known as the Knight Industries Two Thousand, which appeared in the original TV series Knight Rider, and the other as the Knight...
in the episode The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace
The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace
"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" is the second episode of the tenth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 20, 1998, and was viewed in approximately 7.95 million households that day. In the episode, Homer has a midlife crisis realizing his...
, like he did in Knight Rider. There are other characters that conserve their frequent voice in Spain: like Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
and Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
from The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, or Sideshow Bob
Sideshow Bob
Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of...
and his brother Cecil. They are dubbed by the same actors who dub Kelsey Grammer
Kelsey Grammer
Allen Kelsey Grammer is an American actor and comedian. He is most widely known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier...
and David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he received many accolades including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-Early life:Pierce, the youngest of four siblings,...
in Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
.
The Spanish version of the Simpsons also distinguishes itself by using more literal translations of what the characters are saying. 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.
Korean
Korean was broadcasted at Korean cartoon broadcasting center TooniverseTooniverse
Tooniverse is an anime channel broadcast by CJ E&M in South Korea.Tooniverse started airing in 1995 and is currently one of the leading anime channels in South Korea...
. Started at August 2010, with season 10
The Simpsons (season 10)
The tenth season of the animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between August 23, 1998 and May 16, 1999. It contains twenty-three episodes, starting with "Lard of the Dance". The Simpsons revolves around a working class family that...
. But Marge Simpson
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
's voice is not very clear like English. Many fans in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
were interested in the Korean version, but it did not make a lot of new fans.
Bulgaria
In mid September 2005 dubbed in Bulgarian versions of the first four seasons of The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
started airing on the Bulgarian branch of the cable television Fox Life
Fox Life
Fox Life is a television network, launched by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which airs across Latin America, Europe and Japan . Its basic programming include numerous television series, sitcoms and movies, among others, which includes some original programming in certain regions...
. The show was named "Семейство Симпсън" (literally "Simpson Family"). There were rarely any mistranslations in the scripts, only the untranslatable word puns were changed to such in Bulgarian, albeit not nearly as creative as the originals. In mid 2006 dubbed versions of seasons 5 through 7 started running on the Bulgarian Fox Life
Fox Life
Fox Life is a television network, launched by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which airs across Latin America, Europe and Japan . Its basic programming include numerous television series, sitcoms and movies, among others, which includes some original programming in certain regions...
after numerous reruns of the previous seasons. The dub quality was a little lower than the one of the first four seasons and almost the entire voice cast had been replaced. Minor mistranslations occurred from time to time, but they were not anything significant. In early May 2007 dubbed versions of the 8th and 9th season started airing on the Bulgarian Fox Life
Fox Life
Fox Life is a television network, launched by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which airs across Latin America, Europe and Japan . Its basic programming include numerous television series, sitcoms and movies, among others, which includes some original programming in certain regions...
with the same voice cast as in the previous three seasons. On September 18, 2007 a dubbed version of the 10th season started running on the Bulgarian Fox Life
Fox Life
Fox Life is a television network, launched by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which airs across Latin America, Europe and Japan . Its basic programming include numerous television series, sitcoms and movies, among others, which includes some original programming in certain regions...
. On September 15, 2008 started the 11th season and right after it the 12th, 13th and 14th. On September 15, 2009 started the 15th season and after it the 16th and 17th.
China
In 2006, The Simpsons, along with other shows such as PokémonPokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
, SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
and Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
cartoons, were banned from being aired during primetime (5:00 to 8:00 PM) in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. 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. The move was heavily criticized by Chinese media. The Simpsons Movie, however, has been dubbed into Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese.
Czech Republic
The Simpsons has been dubbed into the Czech languageCzech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
and the show is named Simpsonovi. Directed by Zdeněk Štěpán. The movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
is named Simpsonovi ve filmu. The Czech version is also broadcast in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
since there, there is no own Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
dubbed version.
The Czech voice actors are:
| Character | Voice actors |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Vlastimil Bedrna (from 1st season) Vlastimil Zavřel (from 13th season) |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Jiří Lábus Jirí Lábus Jiří Lábus is a Czech actor. In 1973, he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague andjoined theatre Studio Ypsilon, where he remains employed to this day. He also appeared several times as guest actor in other theatres .He performed several roles in both television and film... |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Martin Dejdar Martin Dejdar Martin Dejdar is a Czech actor and entertainer. He is the voice of Bart Simpson on the Czech dub of The Simpsons.-References:... |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... : |
Helena Štáchová |
| Maggie Simpson Maggie Simpson Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James... : |
Helena Štáchová / Jiří Lábus Jirí Lábus Jiří Lábus is a Czech actor. In 1973, he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague andjoined theatre Studio Ypsilon, where he remains employed to this day. He also appeared several times as guest actor in other theatres .He performed several roles in both television and film... |
| Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The... : |
Stanislav Lehký |
| Kent Brockman Kent Brockman Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"... : |
Vladimír Fišer |
| Barney Barney Gumble Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend. His capacity for... : |
Miroslav Saic |
| Montgomery Burns Montgomery Burns Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer... : |
Bedřich Šetena |
| Patty Bouvier: | Zdeněk Štěpán |
| Selma Bouvier: | Jaroslava Kretschmerová |
| Jacqueline Bouvier: | Jiří Lábus Jirí Lábus Jiří Lábus is a Czech actor. In 1973, he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague andjoined theatre Studio Ypsilon, where he remains employed to this day. He also appeared several times as guest actor in other theatres .He performed several roles in both television and film... |
| Carl Carlson: | Jaroslav Horák |
| Cletus Cletus Spuckler Cletus Delroy Spuckler is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Hank Azaria. Cletus is Springfield's resident hillbilly stereotype. He is very messy and is usually portrayed wearing a white sleeveless shirt and pair of blue jeans.- Biography :Cletus was... : |
Ivo Novák |
| Dr. Julius Hibbert Julius Hibbert Dr. Julius M. Hibbert, usually referred to as Dr. Hibbert, is a recurring character on the animated series The Simpsons. His speaking voice is provided by Harry Shearer and his singing voice was by Thurl Ravenscroft, and he first appeared in the episode "Bart the Daredevil". Dr... : |
Bohuslav Kalva |
| Ned Flanders Ned Flanders Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally... : |
Jiří Havel |
| Edna Krabappel Edna Krabappel Edna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace. She is a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.- Profile :... : |
Blanka Zdichyncová |
| Moe Szyslak Moe Szyslak Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"... : |
Jan Vondráček Jan Vondráček Jan Vondráček is a Czech actor. He starred in the film Operace Silver A under director Jiří Strach in 2007.-References:... |
| Krusty the Clown: | Jiří Bruder (from 1st season) Stanislav Lehký (from 16th season) |
| Snake Jailbird: | Stanislav Lehký |
Translated character names:
- Julius HibbertJulius HibbertDr. Julius M. Hibbert, usually referred to as Dr. Hibbert, is a recurring character on the animated series The Simpsons. His speaking voice is provided by Harry Shearer and his singing voice was by Thurl Ravenscroft, and he first appeared in the episode "Bart the Daredevil". Dr...
: "Dr. Julius Dlaha" - Comic Book GuyComic Book GuyComic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
: "Komiksák" - Moe SzyslakMoe SzyslakMomar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
: "Vočko Szyslak" ("Vočko" means "little eye", but also "voyeur") - Krusty the Clown: "Šáša Krusty"
- Snake Jailbird: "Haďák" (snake-man in reference to his tatoo)
- SnowballSnowball (The Simpsons)The name Snowball refers to five fictional cats that have been owned by the Simpson family in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The differences between them are:...
: "Sněhulka" - Santa's Little HelperSanta's Little HelperSanta's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
: "Spasitel" (savior) - Sideshow BobSideshow BobRobert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of...
: Levák Bob (Levák means "left-handed", but also "awkward")
Czech Republic is a country with long and rich tradition of dubbing. Almost all films are dubbed. Czech viewers are therefore very demanding about quality and creativity of translations and voice acting.
Czech version in Simpsons is very popular in Czech Republic, often it is considered to be better than English original. It is mainly because of casting of voice actors: Martin Dejdar
Martin Dejdar
Martin Dejdar is a Czech actor and entertainer. He is the voice of Bart Simpson on the Czech dub of The Simpsons.-References:...
(Bart), Helena Štáchová (Lisa) and Jiří Lábus
Jirí Lábus
Jiří Lábus is a Czech actor. In 1973, he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague andjoined theatre Studio Ypsilon, where he remains employed to this day. He also appeared several times as guest actor in other theatres .He performed several roles in both television and film...
(Marge - note that Marge is dubbed by male voice actor) belong to the most popular Czech actors and their voice acting style is very distinctive, very different from English version. Even minor characters usually have their own voice actor. Kent Brockman is dubbed by Vladimír Fišer, one of the best known Czech newsreaders. Except voice actors of Homer Simpson (Vlastimil Bedrna had to stop acting because of health problems), Krusty the Clown and some minor characters, cast remains almost unchanged.
Quality of translation varies - earlier series were usually translated by several translators who did not collaborate, it led to serious inconsistency in translation, even in catchphrases. "D'oh" is sometimes rendered as "sakra" - "damn", "excelent" is translated both "výtečně", both "výborně"; "why you little" becomes "ty jeden mrňavej" - mrňavej is a pejorative word for something little, eat my shorts is translated in many ways, most often rhyming, as: "polib si elipsy" - "kiss your ovals"). It is because catchphrases are not employed in Czech cinema and Czech viewers were not familiar with this phenomenon. Guest stars are also quite rare in Czech version.
Sometimes translator did not know the rest of series very well, for instance in I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot references to Armin Tamzarian are mistranslated, because translator did not know the context. Other mistranslations are caused by poor English of early translators; in first series, it is very often mistaken kostel (church as building) and církev (church as organization) for English church. However, translation of puns and verbal humour was always very creative and well-praised. Later series are usually translated by one translator, Vojtěch Kostiha.
In early series, there were attempts to use references of Czech culture instead of American if possible (for instance name of Duffman was in early series translated as "Pivoj" in reference to a Czech mythological figure, Bivoj; pivo is Czech for beer, Czech actors are often mentioned instead of American), but later translators usually use original references to US culture, but not always (for instance in The Bob Next Door
The Bob Next Door
"The Bob Next Door" is the twenty-second episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season and the 463rd episode overall on Fox Broadcasting Company...
other appearances of Sideshow Bob's voice actor Kelsey Grammer are mentioned; in Czech version, there are quoted Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...
and John Coffey from The Green Mile
The Green Mile (film)
The Green Mile is a 1999 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and adapted by him from the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name...
, other dubbing appearances of Bob's Czech voice actor Jaromír Meduna). Also all school-related references usually exploit Czech school system and its specific terminology and tradition.
Songs are sometimes replaced with Czech songs, sometimes English version with subtitles is used. Sometimes the same song is sang in Czech in one episode and translated in subtitles in the other one. English signs are usually read by voiceover, sometimes even by one of appearing characters (if mouth is not shown - chalkboard gag is always read by Bart himself), only rarely translated in subtitles (usually if they appear in same moment as spoken dialogue and voiceover would be impossible).
Dialects and accents are not changed (in Czech language local accent is not as important as in English), except Uter, who remains stereotypical German. Willy sometimes speaks in Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
n dialect, sometimes in common spoken Czech.
Denmark
In Denmark,the show is not dubbed and is still by its original name (Many people are just referring to the show as "Simpsons"). However,The Simpsons Movie got dubbed in Danish and is still known by its original name.| Character | Voice actors | |
|---|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Niels Ellegaard | |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Helle Dolleris | |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Mille H. Lehfeldt | |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... : |
Pauline Rehné | |
| Grampa Simpson: | Nis Bank-Mikkelsen | |
| President Schwarzenegger: | Amin Jensen Amin Jensen Amin Jensen is a Danish actor and comedian best known as television host for the popular Danish musical game show, Hit Med Sangen.-Career:Amin Jensen made his stage debut as a stand-up comedian at Din's in Copenhagen in December 1993... |
|
| Tom Hanks Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title... : |
Preben Kristensen | |
| Krusty: | Jens Jacob Tychsen | |
| Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The... : |
Henrik Koefoed | |
| Mr.Burns: | Søren Ulrichs | |
| Moe Szyslak Moe Szyslak Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"... : |
Michael Elo Michael Elo Michael Elo is a Danish musician. He composed the Danish Eurovision Song Contest 1991 entry, "Lige der hvor hjertet slår", which was performed by Anders Frandsen.... |
|
| Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also... : |
Søren Ulrichs | |
| Chief Wiggum: | Peter Zhelder/Peter Røschke (in one scene) | |
| Timothy Lovejoy: | Peter Zhelder | |
| Lenny Leonard: | Jens Jacob Tychsen | |
| Russ Cargill: | Peter Aude | |
| Crazy Cat Lady: | Tress MacNeille Tress MacNeille Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the... |
|
| Milhouse Van Houten Milhouse Van Houten Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School.... : |
Sasia Mølgaard | |
| Thousand eye squirrel: | Dan Castellaneta Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,... |
|
| Plopper: | Tress MacNeille Tress MacNeille Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the... |
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| Santa's Little Helper Santa's Little Helper Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons... : |
Dan Castellaneta Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,... /Thomas Mørk |
Finland
In FinlandFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, the actual series is subtitled, but The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
was released both dubbed and subtitled. The show is called Simpsonit (literally The Simpsons).
The Finnish voice actors of The Simpsons Movie are:
- Homer: Markku ToikkaMarkku ToikkaMarkku Tapani Toikka is a Finnish stand-up comedian and actor.His acting roles include "Rahikainen" in Aki Kaurismäki's Crime and Punishment and "Pekka" in another Aki Kaurismäki film Calamari Union...
- Marge: Eija VilpasEija VilpasEija Annikki Vilpas is a Finnish actress. She is known of her roles in several Finnish comedy series, for example Fakta homma and Hynttyyt yhteen. She plays Second Lieutenant Pienimäki's wife in the five Vääpeli Körmy films.She has also done voice-over work for Finnish film dubs...
- Bart: Rinna Paatso
- Lisa: Kiti Kokkonen
Translated character names:
- Itchy and ScratchyThe Itchy & Scratchy ShowThe Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
: Tikku ja Takku (literally Stick and Shag). The name is a word play referring to Tiku ja Taku, Finnish for Chip 'n DaleChip 'n DaleChip and Dale are two chipmunk cartoon characters created in 1943 at Walt Disney Productions. Their names are a pun based on the name "Chippendale"...
. - Krusty the Clown: Hassu-klovni (literally Funny-Clown)
- Santa's Little HelperSanta's Little HelperSanta's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
: Pukin Pikku Apuri - SnowballSnowball (The Simpsons)The name Snowball refers to five fictional cats that have been owned by the Simpson family in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The differences between them are:...
: Lumipallo - Bleeding Gums Murphy: Veri-ien Murphy
- Comic Book GuyComic Book GuyComic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
: Sarjakuvahemmo
Hungary
The Simpsons has been dubbed into the Hungarian languageHungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
and the show is named A Simpson család, it means The Simpson family.
The Hungarian voice actors are:
| Character | Voice actors |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
József Székhelyi, Imre Csuja |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Zsuzsa Pálos |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Balázs Simonyi |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... : |
Titanilla Bogdányi Titanilla Bogdányi Titanilla Bogdányi is an Hungarian voice actor from Budapest.Titanilla has been providing voice over-dubbing for film and animation since she was a small child... , Bea Vadász |
Translated character names:
- Itchy and ScratchyThe Itchy & Scratchy ShowThe Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
: "Frinci és Franci" - Krusty the Clown: "Ropi a bohóc"
- Santa's Little HelperSanta's Little HelperSanta's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
: "Kiskrampusz" "Télapó kis barátja" - SnowballSnowball (The Simpsons)The name Snowball refers to five fictional cats that have been owned by the Simpson family in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The differences between them are:...
: "Hógolyó I, II, III, IV, ..." Gombóc - Comic Book GuyComic Book GuyComic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
: Képregényes fickó - Seymour SkinnerSeymour SkinnerPrincipal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
: "Seymour Sintér" - Sideshow BobSideshow BobRobert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of...
: "Balfék Bob", Színész Bob - Edna KrabappelEdna KrabappelEdna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace. She is a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.- Profile :...
: "Edna Vadalma"
India
In India and the Philippines, The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
is broadcast by Star World
STAR World
STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, and is shown in its original English form. It is, however, available in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
on several DTH networks.
Italy
The Simpsons has been dubbed in ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
since the very beginning of its broadcast run by Canale 5
Canale 5
Canale 5 is an Italian private television network of Mediaset, the media branch of Fininvest. Canale 5 was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980, based on a local channel, TeleMilano 58, founded in 1978....
(in the early 90s); now Italia 1
Italia 1
Italia 1 is an Italian commercial television channel on the Mediaset network. It is oriented especially at young people.Italia 1 was launched in January 1982 and, originally, was owned by Rusconi; after a few months, however, due to the aggressive dumping practices of Silvio Berlusconi's rival...
and Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
broadcast it. The show is named I Simpson - as foreign names are usually not pluralised in Italian. The animation of the show is slightly changed; whenever something written in English appears on screen, usually by blurring the original text and superimposition
Superimposition
In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also sometimes to conceal something .This technique is used in cartography to produce photomaps by superimposing grid lines, contour lines...
the translated Italian one, very much done in the same way as with the German version of South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
. This was accomplished with a freeze frame
Freeze frame television
Freeze frame television: Television in which fixed images are transmitted sequentially at a rate far too slow to be perceived as continuous motion by human vision...
effect and stock fonts in earlier seasons, delivering a rather crude result. Recent seasons show a definite improvement, with the translated text made to appear almost identical in style
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
and design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
to the original.
The initial blackboard scene is not however graphically modified with a translation; Bart simply reads the phrase translated into Italian.
Another difference is that the ubiquitous "Woohoo!" exclaimed by Homer in the original version is replaced by the word "mitico" (with a long lasting pronunciation: Meeeeeee teeeeee cooow!), which literally means mythical.
Characters
Many secondary characters had their names translated or simply changed altogether.- Santa's Little Helper: Piccolo aiutante di Babbo Natale (literal translation);
- Snowball: Palla di neve (literal translation);
- Moe Szyslak: Boe Szyslak (his tavern's sign Moe has always superimposed Boe)
- Fat Tony: Tony Ciccione (literal translation);
- Clancy Wiggum: Clancy Winchester (in just one episode, Homer alone, his last name is left Wiggum)
- Edna Krabappel: Edna Caprapall
- "Bleeding gums" Murphy: "Gengive sanguinanti" Murphy (literal translation);
- Itchy and Scratchy: Grattachecca e Fichetto (in one episode they are translated as Grattino e Pruritino)
- Hans Moleman: Hans Uomo Talpa (literal translation);
- Otto Mann: Otto Disc
- Comic Book Guy: l'uomo fumetto (literal translation)
- Sideshow Bob (Mel): Telespalla Bob (Mel) (literal translation)
- Jimbo, Kearney, Dolph: Secco, Patata, Spada (literal translations: Slim, Potato, Sword)
Many characters are dubbed with strong local accents: Wiggum, Lou and Marvin Monroe speak with a Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
accent, Eddie talks like someone from Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, Carl with a Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
accent, Reverend Lovejoy is a Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
n, Otto Mann is from Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Fat Tony - obviously - a Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, Willie is a Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
n. Every reference to Willie's homeland is diverted to Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
.
The Italian voices:
| Character | Voice actors |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Tonino Accolla Tonino Accolla Tonino Accolla is a Sicilian voice actor and actor of Italian theater. He is notable for dubbing over all of Eddie Murphy's roles, as well as dubbing over the voice of Homer Simpson in the animated sitcom The Simpsons... |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Liù Bosisio |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... : |
Ilaria Stagni |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... : |
Monica Ward |
Catchphrases
Many catchphrasesCatch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
are also translated: while Homer's "D'oh" remains the same in Italian, Bart's "Ay caramba" becomes "E che cacchio" (meaning "What the hell", where "cacchio" is actually a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for "dick") and "Eat my shorts" becomes "Ciucciati il calzino" (lit. "Suck your sock").
When Homer tries to throttle Bart, his phrase "Why you little..." becomes "Brutto bacarospo...". "Brutto" means "ugly", while "bagarospo"(literally, toadroach) is a non-existent word, a portmanteau of "bagarozzo", which is a Romanesco
Romanesco
Romanesco or Romanesque is a regional language or sociolect subsumed within the Italian language spoken in Rome. It is part of the Central Italian dialects and is thus genetically closer to the Tuscan dialect and Standard Italian....
word for "scarafaggio" (Eng: "cockroach"), and Italian "rospo" which means "toad".
Guest stars
The Italian version hosts many guest stars as occasional dubbers.Among these personalities there are the Italian Minister of Defence Ignazio La Russa
Ignazio La Russa
Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa is an Italian politician . He became Minister of Defence in the fourth cabinet of Silvio Berlusconi on 8 May 2008...
, other Italian politicians like Alessandra Mussolini
Alessandra Mussolini
Alessandra Mussolini is an Italian politician, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, and previously an actress and model...
and Vittorio Sgarbi
Vittorio Sgarbi
Vittorio Umberto Antonio Maria Sgarbi is an Italian art critic, politician, cultural commentator and TV personality.He was appointed curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale...
, the Re del Quiz (Quiz King) Mike Bongiorno
Mike Bongiorno
Michael Nicholas Salvatore Bongiorno , known as Mike Bongiorno, was an American-born Italian television host. He started his career on Italian TV in the 1950s and was considered to be the most popular host in Italy...
, anchor men and journalists like Emilio Fede
Emilio Fede
Emilio Fede is an Italian anchorman, journalist and writer. He has been the director of TG1 , a news programme on Raiuno.-Biography:Fede was born in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Sicily....
and Paolo Liguori, soccer players like Gennaro Gattuso
Gennaro Gattuso
Gennaro Ivan Gattuso, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian footballer, who plays for Serie A club Milan. He mainly plays as a defensive midfielder. Gattuso is an aggressive, hard tackling player and in his prime, was widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world...
, Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti, Ufficiale OMRI, is an Italian footballer who is the captain of Serie A club Roma. His primary position is that of a trequartista, though he has also been successfully utilized as a lone striker. Totti has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most...
and Marco Materazzi
Marco Materazzi
Marco Materazzi , is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender, and is currently a free agent.At the beginning of his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and with Premier League side Everton. He spent two periods with Perugia and signed for...
, singers like Giorgia
Giorgia Todrani
Giorgia Todrani, best known as Giorgia is an Italian female singer and song-writer, known for her soulful voice, which is aided by a wide vocal range, high belting register and great vocal abilities. She is one of the most iconic and famous Italian singers. She has released ten studio albums,...
and Jovanotti
Jovanotti
Lorenzo Cherubini, better known as Jovanotti, is an Italian singer-songwriter and rapper.The name Jovanotti derives from the plural form of the Italian word giovanotto , i.e. giovanotti. Lorenzo Cherubini originally auditioned a band with the name "I Giovanotti", but the record producer only was...
, showmen like Fiorello
Rosario Fiorello
Rosario Tindaro Fiorello , known just as Fiorello, is an Italian comedian, singer, radio and television presenter.-Career:...
and Corrado Guzzanti
Corrado Guzzanti
Corrado Guzzanti is an Italian actor, director, writer and satirist. He has been described as "the most interesting satirical author and actor today" and "among the comedians best loved by the Italian public."-Biography:...
, plus various other TV and Cinema actresses and actors.
Japan
In JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, The show is named ザ・シンプソンズ and has been dubbed into Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and were first broadcast by WOWOW
WOWOW
WOWOW was the first private satellite broadcasting and pay TV station in Japan. It has its headquarters on the 21st floor of the Akasaka Park Building in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo...
until 2002 and later on the Fox Channel onwards. The film recast every part with more well known celebrities. However because of fan criticism, the normal voices returned to redub their roles for the DVD release. The movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
is named ザ・シンプソンズ MOVIE and was released in theaters on
December 15, 2007.
Recurring characters
| Character | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Tōru Ōhira Toru Ohira is a male Japanese narrator and voice actor from the Tokyo Metropolitan area. He is a representative of Ōhira Production.One of his most known roles is the dub voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars... George Tokoro George Tokoro is the stage name of Japanese tarento, singer-songwriter, comedian, Master of Ceremonies, and essayist . Born in Tokorozawa, Saitama, he attended Takushoku University's Commercial Science class.-Works:*ALF - ALF... (film) |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Miyuki Ichijō Akiko Wada Akiko Wada is a female Japanese singer and television performer of Korean ancestry, originally hailing from , Ikuno-ku, Osaka. Born Kim Bok-Ja , like many Zainichi Koreans, she also had a name for everyday use, which was Japanicized . On her selection of Japanese citizenship, her name became , which upon... (film) |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Junko Hori Junko Hori is a Japanese actress and voice actor represented by Production Baobab.She is known as the voice of the protagonists in 3 Fujiko Fujio works, Obake no Q-tarō, Ninja Hattori-kun, and Chinpui... Atsushi Tamura Atsushi Tamura is a famous Japanese comedian from Hiko Island near Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.He and his partner, , form the known as . Though the two share the same surname, there is no family relation. The pair started their career by performing comedy on the streets of Tokyo.-Early life:Before... (film) |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... |
Chie Kōjiro Chie Kojiro is a Japanese voice actress from Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. She was previously affiliated with Mausu Promotion and Production Baobab, and is now affiliated with 81 Produce.She is a Japanese voice of Lisa Simpson.-Television animation:* Anmitsu Hime... Becky (film) |
Latvia
The show in LatviaLatvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
is named Simpsoni. The show is broadcast as "lectored" version, which means that only one person reads the whole translated text while the original sound can be heard in the background in a lowered loudness. The text was spoken by Artūrs Skrastiņš
Artūrs Skrastiņš
Artūrs Skrastiņš is a Latvian actor. In the theater, since 1996 he has worked for Dailes teātris. He also took part in several films....
. Airs on TV3 Latvia
TV3 Latvia
TV3 Latvia is a television channel targeted at a Latvian language audience owned by Modern Times Group . It was launched in 1998, but did not receive a terrestrial license until 2001...
, TV6 Latvia
Lithuania
The show in LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
is named Simpsonai. The show is broadcast as "lectored" version, which means that only one person reads the whole translated text while the original sound can be heard in the background in a lowered loudness. The text was translated and spoken by Kristijonas Karinauskas and Džiugas Siaurusaitis and the sound director is Andrius Meškėla. It was done at TV3 Lithuania
TV3 Lithuania
TV3 is a television channel owned by Modern Times Group and targeted at a Lithuanian-speaking audience. It was founded on May 7, 1992 and launched on April 11, 1993 as "Tele-3" before being renamed "TV3" in 1996....
.
Malaysia
The Malay version of the Simpsons can be found on AstroAstro (Malaysian satellite television)
Astro is the brand name of the Malaysian direct broadcast satellite pay television service. It transmits digital satellite television and radio to households in Malaysia & Brunei...
, Fox Channel Asia, Channel 710 by pressing the I - II button on the remote.
Poland
The show in PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
is named Simpsonowie. It has been dubbed into Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
and was broadcast by TV Puls
TV Puls
TV Puls is a Polish commercial television channel, which was based on Telewizja Niepokalanów with the support of companies such as PKN Orlen, KGHM Polska Miedź, PZU Życie, Prokom and which started broadcasting in March 2001. Due to financial problems, ended broadcasting on April 1, 2003...
since September 1, 2008. Written and sung English remain subtitled. Since Season 3, the show's logo at the beginning of each episode was replaced by a logo saying the show's Polish name, but in Season 1 style.
Since the fall of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in Poland, dubbing has been used almost exclusively in movies and shows produced for children. Canal+ Poland
Canal+ Poland
Canal+ Poland is Poland's variation of the French television network Canal+. It is similar in many ways, including continuity and presentation. It also shows similar programs to Canal+ France like the tv-series The Simpsons....
was also broadcasting the show in "lectored" version just like TVP
Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...
and Fox Kids Polska did in late 1990s.
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
is known as Simpsonowie: Wersja kinowa. Much of the Polish fan community considered dubbing of the movie to be a sacrilege so that most of the post-premiere reviews found the localized version worse than the original one.
The recent TV Puls dubbing of the show itself initially received almost exclusively bad reviews amongst fans of the Simpsons - most of the reviewers point out the poor, frequently changing, and not matching their characters actors, technical faults, etc. Ironically, the bad reception of series' dubbed version caused massive change of opinion about movie's dub, now commonly referred to as "quite good".
After Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
sold his interests in TV Puls, the dubbing has stopped, as all the staff had signed contracts with Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
instead of TV Puls. For two weeks reruns were aired instead of new episodes; a few final Season 3 episodes, despite being dubbed (according to Homer's VA, Mikołaj Klimek), never aired. Currently TV Puls have no plans of getting the show back.
Despite the initial bad opinion, the show was one of most popular shows on TV Puls. Now this show is available on Fox Polska and begins from season 6. This version was subtitled by Master Film.
The Polish voice actors are:
| Character | Voice actors |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Andrzej Snarski (season 1) Paweł Burczyk (season 2) Mikołaj Klimek (season 3) Miłogost Reczek (movie) |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Dorota Liliental (season 2 and 3) Barbara Zielińska (movie) |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Gabriela Czyżewska Joanna Wizmur (movie) |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... |
Gabriela Czyżewska Dominika Kluźniak (movie) |
Russia
In Russia, the show has been solely translated via voice-over, where the dialogues are voiced by two (sometimes more) actors, with a male actor usually voicing all the male parts and a female actress voicing all the female ones; the original English dialogues remain audible in the background. The quality of the Russian translation is considered good as far as actors are concerned, but rather average in terms of dialogue translation, mostly because of severe dialogue simplification and abbreviation.Most episodes were voiced by Irina Savina and Boris Bystrov
Boris Bystrov
-Biography:In 1966, he graduated from the Moscow Art Theatre. After graduating, he worked at the Lenkom Theatre.-Dubbing roles:* Animated Content** 1989: The Simpsons Season 9-16, Season 19 , season 20-21...
. For Season 17, the voicing actors were changed to Lyudmila Gnilova
Lyudmila Gnilova
Lyudmila Vladimirovna Gnilova is a Russian and Soviet actress and voice actress. She was awarded as an Meritorious Artist .- Biography :...
and Oleg Forostenko; for Season 18, they were changed once again to Nina Lunyova and Alexander Kotov. As the change of the actors resulted in protests among Russian fans who were used to the established voice actors, Savina and Bystrov were brought back after Season 18.
Contrary to the series, a full dub was created for The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
.
Slovakia
There is no own SlovakSlovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
version of the Simpsons. Instead of that, Slovak television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s use the Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
dubbed version.
Sweden
The Simpsons appeared for the first time on Swedish television on November 29, 1990. The series was originally broadcast on TV3TV3 (Sweden)
TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...
in English with Swedish subtitles. However, in 1993, the network decided to start dub The Simpsons to increase ratings, and the show was moved to a more child-friendly time. After a public outrage the dubbing was dropped after only six episodes and the show was moved to a more adult time. Bart was voiced by Annica Smedius and Homer by Per Sandborgh
Per Sandborgh
- Career :Sandborgh is known for his work with dubbing animated films, TV series, and video games. Some of his roles include:*Joker...
. A dub of the movie was released with The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
DVD, with Annica Smedius providing the voice for Bart once again.
Ukraine
In UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, the first 17 seasons of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
had been broadcast by M1
M1 (Ukraine)
M1 is a Ukrainian television channel. The channel shows comedy and music related programs....
dubbed into Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, in 2004-2008. However previously the show was available to Ukrainian audience on Russian TV channels that had licence to broadcast in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The public tend to appreciate dubbing and translation.
As for now, The Simpsons is now broadcast on Ukrainian TV channel 2+2, however, the FOX programming pack is bought by 1+1 group (1+1
1+1
- History :TV channel "1+1" was founded in August 1995, headed by its original President Alexander Rodnyansky who also was its general director from 1996 to 2002...
, 2+2, City) which includes The Simpsons. In 2011 2+2 aired seasons from 18 to 20.
Ukrainian version of "The Simpsons" is recognized by the creators as the most approximate to the original material.
Almost all character names remained intact. Only names of animals were translated literally. Marge's voice is similar to original one, although Homer's voice is considerably different: he grumbles much less than in the original and speaks quicker. All references to American realities, politics and celebrities are replaced with local references. Word play jokes are also substituted with similar Ukrainian jokes (sometimes very different from the original).
Voice actors
The Ukrainian voice actors are:| Character | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Homer Simpson Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Yevhen Malukha (series) Mykola Lutsenko (film) |
| Marge Simpson Marge Simpson Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Iryna Doroshenko |
| Bart Simpson Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... |
Hanna Levchenko |
| Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... |
Iryna Doroshenko (series) Kateryna Kachan (film) |
Yuriy Kovalenko does Abraham Simpson
Abraham Simpson
Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson...
, Moe Szyslak
Moe Szyslak
Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
, Cletus Spuckler
Cletus Spuckler
Cletus Delroy Spuckler is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Hank Azaria. Cletus is Springfield's resident hillbilly stereotype. He is very messy and is usually portrayed wearing a white sleeveless shirt and pair of blue jeans.- Biography :Cletus was...
and Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"...
both in the series and film. In the series, he and other three actors do all other characters. Valeriy Legin appeared just in Season 1-2 (doing a number of characters including Montgomery Burns
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
and Reverend Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
), and in film (doing Krusty the Clown, Mayor Quimby
Joe Quimby
Mayor Joseph "Joe" Quimby, nicknamed "Diamond Joe," is a recurring character from the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared in the episode "Bart Gets an F". A member of the Democratic Party, Quimby is the mayor of Springfield, and is a...
, Fat Tony
Fat Tony
Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico is a recurring character in the animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Joe Mantegna and first appeared in the third season episode "Bart the Murderer"...
and Montgomery Burns
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
).
External links
- D'oh! Arabized Simpsons not getting many laughs.– An article about the negative response the Arabic adaptation received among longtime Simpsons fans in the Arabic regions.
- Homer’s odyssey: Why The Simpsons flopped in the Middle East an article from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation regarding the failure of the Arabised version of the show.