# Why do other countries dub English language movies/tv? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-other-countries-dub-english-language-movies-tv/625941 "2012-06-22T14:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shosy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Shosy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shosy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-other-countries-dub-english-language-movies-tv/625941/61 "2012-06-26T09:45:07Z")
I worked with someone who was studying Spanish dub scripts. Historically films were dubbed in order to control the translation. If they were simply subtitled, than anyone who understood the original language would know what the original line was (the woman who was studying this was Spanish by the way). This was the same situation in Portugal (which was under dictatorship for longer than Spain). Today, most people in Spain that I know prefer subtitles for dramatic movies, etc because they want to hear the original emotion of the actors. For TV, comedies they prefer dubbin because it’s more casual and you head hurts less after coming home from work and sitting down to relax. In Spain there are many actors/actresses who are famous in their own right for dubbing (and of course many are fluent in the language they are dubbing from). Also there are of course jokes which just don’t translate so a literal translation might leave the viewer not knowing what just happened, so a good interpretative translation can add to the continuity of an exchange. I suggested to my friend that she compare the dubbed scripts of Spanish and Portuguese scripts, to compare the censorship. I don’t know what ever came of that but I’m curious. ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-other-countries-dub-english-language-movies-tv/625941/62 "2012-06-26T11:04:38Z")
> [@Victor\_Charlie](#): > > Outside of cheesy '70 kung fu movies and some animation, I can think of no example where I’ve seen a foreign launguage film or television show voice-dubbed into English. Yet, in most of the world, English language film and television is routinely dubbed into the native language. Why the discrepancy? It can’t just be an issue of literacy because it’s de rigueur in educationally-developed countries in Europe and Asia. I have one theory: Most or much of what filmgoers and tv viewers in other countries see is produced in English, so there would be a lot of fatigue if they had to read every bit of dialogue. Conversely, very little entertainment in the U.S. is foreign language and those who consume it are likely to be more accepting of written dialogue than the general population. Any truth to this or is there something else at work here? [Downfall](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/) - very good but not dubbed just subtitles ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-other-countries-dub-english-language-movies-tv/625941/63 "2012-06-26T13:39:38Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > I should have said “targeting **(among others)** pre-schoolers…” – any movie that is expected to bring in large numbers of families _including_ pre-schoolers (but definitely not limited to them, and they may not be the _primary_ intended audience) will normally have a dubbed version. I think the bottom line is, based on my experience with Pixar and other big-screen animated movies, that given the choice, Israeli viewers over the age of, say, 10, overwhelmingly prefer subtitles over dubbing. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-other-countries-dub-english-language-movies-tv/625941/64 "2012-06-26T13:45:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I think the bottom line is, based on my experience with Pixar and other big-screen animated movies, that given the choice, Israeli viewers over the age of, say, 10, overwhelmingly prefer subtitles over dubbing. Absolutely. And I’d say 10 is an upper limit, rather than an average or minimum. Basically, dubbing is for kids who can’t read subtitles fast enough. Period, end of story. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-other-countries-dub-english-language-movies-tv/625941/65 "2012-06-26T15:46:39Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Really? That movie definitely has wide appeal, but as an animated PG-rated movie I would think they’d be missing out on a big chunk of their younger market playing it subtitled. Especially after Disney did such a good job on the English subtitled version. Right, they released both versions… I think the idea was that artsy adults would see the subtitled version, and kids would see the dubbed version. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-other-countries-dub-english-language-movies-tv/625941.md?page=3)