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Many of us grew up with bright American cartoons. Every child knew Black Cloak’s song, watched Beauty and the Beast, or was fascinated by Gadget from the rescue team.
Today we will tell you about the tricks of Russian dubbing, and you will find out that the names of many of the heroes of our favorite cartoons sound completely different in the original.
And they translate foreign names into Russian with a different meaning, not at the whim of the translation team, but for logical reasons, which we will consider in more detail in some paragraphs.
10 Beauty and the Beast
In this Disney cartoon, many speaking names are encrypted, which are translated by transcription in Russian dubbing, that is, they are pronounced in Russian in the same way as in English.
The small cup in the cartoon was called Chip (chip), which means “shard” in Russian. Agree, it would be a strange name even for a boy turned into a mug.
Also in the cartoon there is a Lumière chandelier and an old clock named Cogsword. Such names are given to the heroes for a reason. The fact is that the word “Lumiere” is French and translated into Russian means “Light”. The character, by the way, in the cartoon speaks with a French accent.
Consword (Cogsworth) literally translates from English as “Sentinel”, because Lumiere’s friend looked like a ticking clock on legs in a magical incarnation.
9. My little pony
When translating the names of colorful ponies, the actors of Russian dubbing, it seems, did not come to a consensus. Because some names are only half translated, some are given in literal translation, and some are simply adapted by transcription.
So, the Rainbow Dash pony, which in Russia was called Rainbow Dash, belongs to the first option. This is because the word “Dash” literally means “Dash”, apparently, in the translation it was not possible to connect two words from the pony’s name.
The second option includes a pony named Twilight (“Twilight”) Sparkle (“Shine”), which young Russian viewers know as Twilight Sparkle.
But in the case of Applejack, the name was duplicated in transcription, so the orange pony in Russia is called Eppjack.
8. Volt
The name of the dog in the original sounds like “Bolt”, which means “Lightning” in Russian, and visually this is demonstrated by a zigzag on the dog’s coat.
In Russian, “lightning” is not only feminine, and the dog was male in the story, but the Russian dubbing actors also considered the word rude.
Therefore, in Russia everyone knows the superhero dog named Volt, such freedom of translators among the audience did not cause any aggression.
7. Zveropolis
“Blitz, Blitz – speed without limits!”
The sloth postman from the cartoon “Zootopia” was originally called Flash. Flash stands for “speed,” so the cartoon’s creators made a mockery of naming the slow character after the fast superhero of the DC universe.
The girl-colleague of Blitz was originally called Priscilla (Priscilla), but when translating our dubbing actors just had fun, calling the sloth an ordinary Zinochka.
6. Fantastic creatures and where they dwell
In the new branch of the story about the magical world, the translation of names was approached more responsibly than in the Harry Potter books.
In the film, the names of the characters from the New Salem Anti-Magic Society were translated by transcription. For example, the word “Creedance” is translated as “Trust”, which the character demonstrates to us, blindly trusting the instructions of Grindelwald, hidden under the guise of Percival Graves.
Credence’s younger sister’s name is Modesty, and in the Russian dub her name would sound like “Modesty”. And finally, Chastity (“chastity”), which means “chastity”.
5. How to Train Your Dragon
In our dub, the character Snotlout was introduced as Snotlout, although the literal translation of the English word is “snotty boor”. And the main character of the story about dragons is called Hiccup, although in the original the poor fellow was literally dubbed Hiccup.
The twins’ two-headed dragon is called “Barf” and “Belch” in English, which translates to “vomit” and “burp” respectively. Agree, not the most melodic names for a children’s cartoon. Therefore, Russian translators without a twinge of conscience replaced the screaming nicknames of the dragon with the names “Bars” and “Vepr”.
4. Harry Potter
In the original, Luna Lavgut’s name is Luna, which emphasizes her unearthly unusualness. And classmates, thanks to this name, tease the girl with the word “Loony”, which translates as crazy.
In the Russian translation, the girl was called Luna, so that the name would be associated with someone abnormal, crazy. It is with the combination of “Crazy Lovegood” that the students of Hogwarts tease the girl.
Ron the rat was considered a female until the third book, where the truth about Peter Pettigrew was revealed. After all, in Russian the words “scab” and “rat” are feminine, so no one had any doubts that Ron’s pet was a girl.
3. Black Cloak
Just whistle – he will appear – Black-winged Duck!
This is how the song should have sounded if the Russian dubbing adhered to the literal translation. Indeed, in the original, the main character’s name is Darkwing Duck, which literally translates as “Dark” – dark, “Wing” – wing and “Duck” – duck. Black-winged duck. For solidity, the Russian Darkwing Duck was nicknamed the Black Cloak, it didn’t even bother anyone that the character was wearing a purple cloak.
Some speaking names are very difficult to translate into Russian dubbing. Therefore, the name of Professor Moliarti was translated by transcription so as not to lose its meaning. Indeed, in the original, the character’s name consists of the word “Mole” – a mole and the surname of the antagonist in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Moriarty. Crotiarty? Crotarty? Russian translators did the right thing by not translating the name of the character literally, leaving him with the charming Professor Moliarty.
2. DuckTales
Billy, Willy and Dilly – all fans of the serial cartoon about ducks know who these similar names belong to. Similar to each other little ducklings – the nephews of Uncle Scrooge. In the original, the names of ducklings sound like Huey (Huey), Dewey (Dewey) and Louie (Louie). There is no problem of dubbing here, twins are called differently in each country.
The miracles of dubbing were shown by our translators when adapting the name Webbigale – that is how everyone’s favorite duck Ponochka is called in the original. But the name “Webbigale” does not sound melodious at all and is very difficult for a small Russian-speaking viewer. Therefore, “Webby” (which literally translates as “webbed feet”) was adapted to the affectionate manner of “webbed”, and as a result, the viewer heard a shortened version, and the duck became Ponochka.
1. Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers
The Russian dubbing of “Chip and Dale” masterfully did its job, giving us Gadget, Roquefort and Fat Belly.
In the original, the charming Gadget is called … Gadget! Agree, not the most touching name for a children’s cartoon, and it is unlikely that the children of the 90s knew about the meaning of this word.
We all know Gadget’s partner under the name Roquefort, although in the original the character’s name is Monty Jack. “Monty Jack” is a popular cheese in the United States, in Russia no one had heard of this at that time. But every Russian heard the name of Roquefort cheese, and that is how it was decided to christen the fat cheese lover.
The main antagonist of the story is a fat cat, which in the Russian dubbing was called Fat Belly, but in the original the cat is really called Fat Cat – Fat Cat. When recording dubbing, they considered that the name was not melodic, and was too negative for the Russian 90s. Because the cat was childishly called Fat Belly. Thus, the name does not differ in meaning from the original, but it acquires a childish charm.