# What movies before Star Wars used the Unintelligble/Translator characters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457 "2011-08-04T13:55:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/1 "2011-08-04T13:55:17Z")
Lucas used these type of characters frequently in Star Wars starting with C3PO translating for R2D2 and Han Solo translating for Chewbacca. Both R2D2 and Chewbacca understood english just fine, they just couldn’t speak it and for the audiences sake had a translator often repeating what they just said. What other movies used this before Star Wars? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/2 "2011-08-04T15:23:41Z")
Star Trek had both the universal translator and Spock’s Vulcan mind meld. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/3 "2011-08-04T15:26:48Z")
Marx Brothers films? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/4 "2011-08-04T15:37:49Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Lucas used these type of characters frequently in Star Wars starting with C3PO translating for R2D2 and Han Solo translating for Chewbacca. > Both R2D2 and Chewbacca understood english just fine, they just couldn’t speak it and for the audiences sake had a translator often repeating what they just said. > What other movies used this before Star Wars? What about Gabby Johnson and his “authentic frontier gibberish”? _Blazing Saddles_ came out three years before _Star Wars_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/5 "2011-08-04T15:43:51Z")
TV Tropes lists an earlier example: Herbie the Love Bug. Herbie could apparently understand what the other characters were saying but he could only communicate to them by honking his horn. The meaning of these honks would then be translated by one of the human characters - mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett) in the first film of the series. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/6 "2011-08-04T15:47:01Z")
Isn’t “Lassie” famous for this? (E.g. “Bark bark bark” = “Timmy fell down the well again.”) ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/7 "2011-08-04T16:08:41Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Isn’t “Lassie” famous for this? (E.g. “Bark bark bark” = “Timmy fell down the well again.”) I think that was Skippy the kangaroo. IIRC, Lassie just barked to get attention. What about Flipper, were his vocalisations translated? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/8 "2011-08-04T17:33:26Z")
Huey, Dewey, and Louie, the “drones” from _Silent Running_? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/9 "2011-08-04T18:29:40Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > What about Flipper, were his vocalisations translated? [tangential]One of my favourite [Far Side](http://echopen.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/gary-larsons-the-farside.gif?w=326)s. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/10 "2011-08-04T18:54:31Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > [tangential]One of my favourite [Far Side](http://echopen.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/gary-larsons-the-farside.gif?w=326)s. I’ve never seen that one (or I’ve forgotten it) - that’s funny! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/11 "2011-08-04T19:07:46Z")
I remember a cartoon back from the sixties. The characters were gophers or something. Or maybe they were Indians? My memory is fuzzy, I was a kid. Anyway, one of the main characters would always speak in gibberish, and the other one would have to translate. _Go Go Gophers_, maybe? Found it! [Go Go Gophers in Cuckoo Combat - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MbaAfHIa2A) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/12 "2011-08-04T19:14:10Z")
I remember scenes in _Run Silent, Run Deep_ of the Japanese sub crew, speaking in Japanese that was not subtitled or translated or (as I would have thought more likely) just the actors speaking English with some attempt at a Japanese accent. Of course, their intent was pretty obvious, just being variations on “kill the Americans!” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/13 "2011-08-04T19:25:08Z")
Cousin Itt from the Addams Family. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/14 "2011-08-04T19:33:50Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Isn’t “Lassie” famous for this? (E.g. “Bark bark bark” = “Timmy fell down the well again.”) I was just thinking about this. I know Lassie would ‘summon’ her owners when Timmy was in trouble and they would say things like “What is is it girl, what’s wrong?” and we often hear people jokingly say “What is it? Timmy fell down the well again?” But did Paul and Ruth (or anyone else for that matter) ever actually translate anything Lassie said beyond “You want me to follow you?” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/15 "2011-08-04T20:56:44Z")
Lassie’s great linguistic talent was being able to translate human speak for other animals. Something like, Paul has a big branch fall on his leg. Lassie tries to help, but can’t move the branch. “Lassie, get help.” Lassie runs off, finds a horse and barks at him. The horse follows Lassie back. Lassie barks a few more times and the horse shoves the branch off Paul’s leg. I remember an interview where June Lockhart talked about Lassie’s most improbable heroics. Ruth had gotten caught in a bear trap. She figured she could pry the trap open with a clamp, and told Lassie to go home and get the clamp. Lassie returns with something else – maybe a knife. “No, Lassie, the clamp.” She makes a C shape with her hand and Lassie runs off and returns with the clamp. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/16 "2011-08-04T21:06:54Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Lassie’s great linguistic talent was being able to translate human speak for other animals. Something like, > > Paul has a big branch fall on his leg. Lassie tries to help, but can’t move the branch. > > “Lassie, get help.” > Lassie runs off, finds a horse and barks at him. The horse follows Lassie back. Lassie barks a few more times and the horse shoves the branch off Paul’s leg. > > I remember an interview where June Lockhart talked about Lassie’s most improbable heroics. Ruth had gotten caught in a bear trap. She figured she could pry the trap open with a clamp, and told Lassie to go home and get the clamp. > > Lassie returns with something else – maybe a knife. > > “No, Lassie, the clamp.” She makes a C shape with her hand and Lassie runs off and returns with the clamp. Or the other miscommunication where Timmy is surrounded by bad guys and he sends Lassie for a posse. Or was that the Lone Ranger? Still, the consequences were hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/17 "2011-08-04T21:36:06Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I remember an interview where June Lockhart talked about Lassie’s most improbable heroics. Ruth had gotten caught in a bear trap. She figured she could pry the trap open with a clamp, and told Lassie to go home and get the clamp. > > Lassie returns with something else – maybe a knife. > > “No, Lassie, the clamp.” She makes a C shape with her hand and Lassie runs off and returns with the clamp. “Lassie, go get a clamp” Lassie runs off, and returns with a stamp. “No, I said a clamp” Lassie runs off and returns with a plank, which she inclines at an angle. “No, that’s ramp. I need a clamp.” Lassie runs off and returns with a lantern. “No, I don’t want a lamp. I need a clamp” Lassie runs off and returns with an umberella. “Not a [gamp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamp), you idiot, I need a clamp” Lassie runs off and returns with a hobo. “you’re doing this deliberately, aren’t you.” ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/18 "2011-08-04T21:37:44Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I remember an interview where June Lockhart talked about Lassie’s most improbable heroics. Ruth had gotten caught in a bear trap. She figured she could pry the trap open with a clamp, and told Lassie to go home and get the clamp. > > Lassie returns with something else – maybe a knife. Maybe Lassie had decided amputation was the only option. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/19 "2011-08-04T21:45:52Z")
Muh-wah-wi-wah-wah. Charlie Brown: What’s that, ma’am? Why yes, of course, all the unseen adult characters in the “Peanuts” cartoon fit this topic. Mwaaaaah! Charlie Brown: Oh, you’re right, and Snoopy too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457/20 "2011-08-04T22:03:03Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > [tangential]One of my favourite [Far Side](http://echopen.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/gary-larsons-the-farside.gif?w=326)s. [One of mine.](http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/spn_imgs/?action=view¤t=blahblah.jpg&newest=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-before-star-wars-used-the-unintelligble-translator-characters/591457.md?page=2)