Thursday, September 13, 2007

Dub-a-dub-dub

The other day You've Got Mail, a movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, was on TV here in Costa Rica. It was dubbed in Spanish. Dan and I watched it for a while.

While the film was well-dubbed, and there weren't any maddening lip sync issues, there was something unsettling about hearing foreign voices attributed to two actors whose own voices are very recognizable to me.

Can you imagine anyone else speaking as Sly Stallone's slow-but-sweet boxer in Rocky? Someone other than James Earl Jones as Darth Vader? How about replacing Katharine Hepburn's voice in, well, anything?

And just how many voiceover specialists are out there, anyway? Which leads me to the most pressing question of all: Does the man who does Tom Hanks' voice in You've Got Mail do Tom Hanks' voice in Big, or Forrest Gump, or Saving Private Ryan? And if not, isn't this distracting for the Spanish-speaking viewer who loves Tom Hanks' movies?

Inquiring minds want to know. Or maybe it's just me.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

You are a nut!!

Patty said...

I can remember watching "ET" in German when it first came out. Cracked me up to hear "ET nach Hause telefonieren...nach HAAAUUUUSEE." ROFL!

Anonymous said...

Heeheeheeeeeeeeeeee! This post just cracked me up!
Justine :o )