Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Founded | 1988 |
Founder | Michael Eisner |
Headquarters | Burbank, California, United States |
Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
Disney Character Voices International, Inc. is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company with primary responsibility for the provision of translation and dubbing services for all Disney productions including those by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Disney Music Group, and Disney Platform Distribution. This division also supervises dubbings for Disney theme parks and derived games. An office of the division is present in several countries around the world. [1] [2]
The first dubbing issued for a Disney movie was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , which was originally distributed in 1938 in various Western languages. Walt Disney expressed to Tatiana Angelini, Swedish voice of Snow White, that she was his personal favorite international voice for the character. [3] The movie premiered at the 6th Venice International Film Festival, winning the Grand Art Trophy special award. [4] Disney was unable to secure distribution in Nazi Germany. To make a German-language version for Austria and Switzerland, Disney recorded native German voice talent in Amsterdam. [5] [6] [7]
In the 1940s, Jimmy Johnson named Jack Cutting, Disney animator since 1930, responsible for the dubbing of Disney movies foreign languages. [8] In 1948, Disney received a Special Achievement Award at the 5th Golden Globe Awards for succeeding in producing a Hindustani dubbing of Bambi right after the end of the Indian independence movement, for "furthering the (American) influence of the screen". [9] [10] While Bambi was the first movie to be dubbed in Hindustani, it is unknown whether more movies followed, or if the next dubbings produced by Disney India had to wait for Aladdin to be released in 1993 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. [11] The DCVI affiliate branch itself was founded in 1988, when Michael Eisner decided to set up a dubbing department, directed by Roy Disney. [12]
To keep the whole production under control, Disney established a centralized system to hold auditions from actors all over the world, for which the Walt Disney Company was awarded a 2017 Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards. [2] [13] Rick Dempsey, Senior Vice President of DCVI, said he specifically makes the casting decisions for countries that make the top 14 percent of the box office, which sets the blueprint of the character’s voice with the director of the particular language hub. Local offices placed in countries whose voices are directly selected by DCVI will have competence over a specific geographical area, and they will cast the rest of the region in comparison to the selected voices. According to Dempsey, the voices do not have to be identical to the original English voices, but they must match the character, letting them shine through. Especially since 2000s, local celebrities can sometimes be chosen for their appeal to their respective market more than their ability to match or accentuate the character, to make the movie more appealing to the local audience. [2]
Disney movies are usually released in theaters in a set of languages, which varies depending on the product. All Disney animated movies are systematically dubbed and distributed in a fixed group of languages. However, there are languages covered by the department on an irregular base, which varies depending on the movie.
Over the years, the set of languages covered by DCVI has expanded, with a typical animated tentpole being nowadays distributed in theaters in 39 to 43 territories, an average live-action movie numbering 12 to 15 languages, and a four-quadrant live-action film like Pirates of the Caribbean being dubbed into about 27 tongues. [14] The number of languages involved in the dubbing process varies in accordance with the kind of product, with animation movies covering the largest number, and it has expanded throughout the years.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Disney ceased all business in Russia, cancelling and removing the production of dubbings issued by The Walt Disney Company CIS, [15] [16] [17] and shifting the location of the production of Russian film and television dubbings to Kazakhstan.
Moana was released in 2016, which received a total of three special dubbings in Polynesian languages in the space of two years from its original release date. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Following upon the success of these three productions, a special Northern Sámi dubbing was also made for the movie Frozen II, while no dubbing in this language was made for the first chapter of the series. [23] [24] A peculiar case in one-time dubbings are the Arapaho version of Bambi , released in 1994 and the Navajo version of Finding Nemo , released in 2016, made in collaboration with the Wyoming Indian Schools and the Navajo Nation Museum respectively. [25] [26] Differently from the rest of special dubbings, these two movies are not linked in any ways to the Arapaho and Navajo cultures, but they were rather chosen as a means to preserve these two languages, teaching them to young generations through a popular Disney movie. [27] [28] [29] But while the Navajo version of Finding Nemo is a complete dubbing, which includes even a Navajo version of the end-credits song "Beyond the Sea" performed by Fall Out Boy's lead singer Patrick Stump, the Arapaho version of Bambi is only a partial dubbing, where the spoken parts were dubbed, but the songs were left in English. [25] [26] The 20th Century Studios film Prey (2022), which contains sequences shot in the Comanche language, received a full Comanche dub.
Irregularly issued:
Occasionally issued:
Dubbing is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings (doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack.
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is inspired by William Shakespeare's stage play Hamlet with some elements from the Biblical stories of Joseph and Moses. The film was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff and produced by Don Hahn, from a screenplay written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. The film features an ensemble voice cast that includes Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Rowan Atkinson, and Robert Guillaume. Its original songs were written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice, with a score by Hans Zimmer. Set in a kingdom of lions in Africa, The Lion King tells the story of Simba, a lion cub who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after his paternal uncle Scar kills Mufasa to seize the throne, Simba is tricked into believing he was responsible for his father's death and flees into exile. After growing up in the company of the carefree outcasts Timon and Pumbaa, Simba receives valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful king.
Finding Nemo is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was written by Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds from a story by Stanton. The film stars the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, and Geoffrey Rush. It tells the story of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (Brooks) who, along with a forgetful regal blue tang named Dory (DeGeneres), searches for his missing son Nemo (Gould). Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and comes to terms with Nemo taking care of himself.
Bambi is a 1942 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on the 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. The film was produced by Walt Disney and directed by David Hand and a team of sequence directors.
Fantasmic! is a nighttime show at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show formerly operated at Tokyo DisneySea. It features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searchlights, decorated boat floats, and mist screen projections. The narrative of Fantasmic! is a voyage through Mickey Mouse's imagination that culminates in a battle against the Disney Villains.
The Princess and the Frog is a 2009 American animated musical romantic fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is inspired in part by the 2002 novel The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker, which in turn is based on the German folk tale "The Frog Prince" as collected by the Brothers Grimm. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Peter Del Vecho, from a screenplay that Clements and Musker co-wrote with Rob Edwards. The directors also co-wrote the story with the writing team of Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. The film stars the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jim Cummings, Jennifer Cody, John Goodman, Keith David, Peter Bartlett, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey, and Terrence Howard. Set in New Orleans during the 1920s, the film tells the story of a hardworking waitress named Tiana who dreams of opening her own restaurant. After kissing a prince who has been turned into a frog by an evil witch doctor, Tiana becomes a frog herself and must find a way to turn back into a human before it is too late.
"From All of Us to All of You" is an animated television Christmas special, produced by Walt Disney Productions and first presented on December 19, 1958 on ABC as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology series. Hosted by Jiminy Cricket along with Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell, the special combines newly produced animation with clips from vintage animated Disney shorts and feature films, presented to the viewer as "Christmas cards" from the various characters starring in each one.
Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond! is a live puppet and musical stage show based on Disney/Pixar's 2003 film Finding Nemo, located at the Theater in the Wild in DinoLand U.S.A at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The original 40-minute show titled Finding Nemo – The Musical started holding previews on November 5, 2006, officially opening on January 24, 2007. The music is composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who also composed the music for Frozen, using direct lines from the film.
Disney's Art of Animation Resort is a resort within Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It is located where construction on the unfinished half of Disney's Pop Century Resort was started but later abandoned after the September 11 attacks. It is considered a value resort.
Finding Nemo is a CGI animated film series and Disney media franchise that began with the 2003 film of the same name, produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The original film was followed by a sequel, Finding Dory, released in 2016. Both films were directed by Andrew Stanton. The film series received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences with two films released to-date, the series has grossed $1.9 billion worldwide.
Glory Entertainment is an Iranian institute specializing in dubbing movies and primarily animated films and cartoons for the Persian-speaking audience. The association began operating officially on December 6, 2005, after acquiring official license and permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Moana is a 2016 American animated musical fantasy action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, co-directed by Chris Williams and Don Hall, and produced by Osnat Shurer, from a screenplay written by Jared Bush and a story by Clements, Musker, Williams, Hall, Pamela Ribon, and the writing team of Aaron and Jordan Kandell.
Chloe Auliʻi Cravalho is an American actress. She made her acting debut as the voice of the title character in the Disney animated musical film Moana (2016). She went on to star in the NBC drama series Rise (2018), the Netflix drama film All Together Now (2020), the supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead (2022), the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Power (2023), and the 2024 film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical.
"How Far I'll Go" and its reprise are two musical numbers from Disney's 2016 animated musical feature film Moana. It was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with additional music and co-produced by Mark Mancina on its reprise. The song was performed in the film by American actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho in her role as Moana. It was released along with the album on November 18, 2016. Canadian singer Alessia Cara also recorded the song for the Moana soundtrack. The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 89th Academy Awards and Best Original Song at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
Moana Waialiki of Motunui is the title character of the 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Moana. Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker, Moana is voiced by Hawaiian actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho. As a toddler, she is voiced by Louise Bush. Moana is set to return in the Disney+ sequel series Moana, which will premiere in 2024, as well as a live-action remake film, in 2025.
"All Is Found" is a song from the 2019 Disney film Frozen II. The song is performed by Evan Rachel Wood as Queen Iduna, the mother of Anna and Elsa, and written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
Maui is a fictional character from the animated film Moana. Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker and voiced by Dwayne Johnson, Maui is loosely based on Māui from Hawaiian mythology. In the film, Maui is depicted as a demigod who was abandoned by his parents and eventually adopted by the gods.
Wonderful World of Animation is a nighttime show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show is a celebration of all Disney animation, beginning with Mickey Mouse. It premiered on May 1, 2019, as part of the park's 30th anniversary celebration, replacing Disney Movie Magic.
Matewa Media is a New Zealand production company that dubs Disney animated films into the Māori language.