# Show and Movie Titles in other countries **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-and-movie-titles-in-other-countries/482992 "2009-01-26T00:57:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-and-movie-titles-in-other-countries/482992/1 "2009-01-26T00:57:17Z")
Sometimes titles for TV shows and movies are changed from their original meaning in foreign countries, even if it’s still in the same language. Usually it’s a wash but sometimes it works out for the better. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the prime example of this **Man versus Wild** is the first one that comes quickly to mind for me. Here, it’s titled _A Prueba de Todo_, or Full Proof. I think it’s a better title for the show. Another one that I always thought was a better title was the Spanish title for **The Ghost and The Darkness** : _Garras_ or Claws. At least you have a better idea of what it’s about. What other titles have you known about in foreign countries that you think are better that the original? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-and-movie-titles-in-other-countries/482992/2 "2009-01-26T01:04:40Z")
In England Trading Spaces is called Changing Rooms. (it started in England) That’s probably a better name. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-and-movie-titles-in-other-countries/482992/3 "2009-01-26T02:37:28Z")
“Mobile Armored Riot Police”…known in the U.S. as the slightly more poetic “Ghost in the Shell.” All things considered, I think that one came out rather well. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-and-movie-titles-in-other-countries/482992/4 "2009-01-26T02:57:45Z")
I’ve posted this before, but in China, I saw a DVD of “ **The Sixth Sense** ”. It was a bootleg copy, so the title was: **He’s a Ghost!** ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-and-movie-titles-in-other-countries/482992/5 "2009-01-26T03:08:30Z")
When the motion picture based on Hank Ketcham’s _Dennis the Menace_ was released in England, the title was changed to _Dennis_, because of the fact that there is already a well-known British cartoon character named Dennis the Menace who was actually introduced around the same time the American Dennis was. Although not a real country-based title change, when _Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_ was released, a special poster had to be made omitting the film’s title for the Isle of Portland, where it is considered bad luck to say “rabbit,” due to the belief that the sight of a rabbit is an omen of an accident. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-and-movie-titles-in-other-countries/482992/6 "2009-01-26T03:29:47Z")
The UK title for what became **Three’s Company** was the much superior **Man About the House**. Leslie Halliwell’s **The Filmgoers Companion** has a long list of films that took on different names when they went from the US to the UK and vice versa. One example is the Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau film, **The Fortune Cookie** , which was changed to **Meet Whiplash Willie**.