Film Dubbing

For the Chinese, Hamlet is identified and has been widely associated with a peculiar voice and name: Sun Daolin who interpreted, dubbed, and recreated the celebrated character with subtlety, depth, and personal charisma. When Laurence Olivier’s masterpiece, Hamlet (1948), was imported and translated in China in 1958, it became instantly a big hit across the nation and an unparalleled apotheosis of translation of and into Chinese accomplished through Bian Zhilin’s masterful translation, Chen Shuyi’s seasoned directing, and Sun Daolin’s virtuoso dubbing and performance. The three of them were prominent artists, scholars, stars, celebrities, and cultural officials in mid-late twentieth century China. My article explores and traces the reception, reinterpretation, and recontextualization of Hamlet in China across different epochs from its huge success in early PRC (People’s Republic of China), through the censure of the work during the Cultural Revolution, to its resurrection and even a broader appeal during the post-socialist, reform era.

Central to this historiography is my attention to the critical, (pro)active, and fluid roles the translators, performers, and creative personnel have played in the process. By highlighting the dynamic, multifaceted screen-sound-public personae these cultural agents have built and their complex negotiations between the variety of texts, cultures, languages, and sociopolitical settings, I show that the search for a Chinese Hamlet is not only a translation, but also a meta-translation (translation-in-translation), an intro-translation (self-reflection) of the very position and dilemma of intellectuals and individual subjectivities in socialist China, and an inter-translation between literature, theater, film, popular culture, and social life.  Moreover, the translation and the translated provide another vibrant angle to investigate Chinese film and cultural production as well as a comparative frame key to understanding China’s sociopolitical change and international relations during the second half of the twentieth century.

Per molti versi antesignana di Allegri gemelli (Our Relations, 1936), la versione di Brats (1930) recuperata dal progetto "S.O.S. Stanlio e Ollio" presenta una somiglianza ancora maggiore rispetto al lungometraggio in questione, grazie al fatto che, trattandosi della riedizione risalente alla fine degli anni Trenta, vi è stata aggiunta buona parte della stessa musica di sottofondo. Si tratta dello storico doppiaggio anteguerra di Carlo Cassola (Stanlio) e Paolo Canali (Ollio), finora ritenuto perduto, scampato alla distruzione del magazzino italiano della Metro Goldwyn Mayer di Roma nel 1942, quando in pie-no regime fascista di Monopolio, fu ordinato il taglio e l'invio al macero di tutte le pellicole di provenienza estera. Prodotta da Hal Roach e diretta da James Parrott, la comi-ca in due rulli Brats fu distribuita dalla MGM il 22 Marzo 1930. Scritta e filmata tra Gennaio e Febbraio del 1930, nell'edizione italiana venne intitolata I monelli o I fratellini (Metri: 458 in pellicola 35mm; N.O. n. 29964 del 12 Gennaio 1938). La tra-ma è semplice: Stanlio e Ollio tentano di rilassarsi giocando partite amichevoli di dama e biliardo, ma i loro pestiferi figlioletti-versioni miniaturizzate di Stanlio e Ollio stessi-provocano scompiglio e disastri. Dopo aver dato la caccia ad un topolino con una doppietta, i bimbi lasciano aperto il rubinetto dell'acqua nella stanza da bagno e vanno a dormire. Stanlio e Ollio cantano loro una nenia, dopo di che Ollio junior chiede un bicchiere d'acqua. Suo padre apre la porta del bagno provocando una gigantesca inondazione comica.

This article emerges out of my ongoing research into the historical developments of cinematic sound from the analogue eras to the digital realm, and conceptualises the specific practices of designing ambient sounds (or a lack thereof) in the ‘dubbing era’ of Indian cinema (1960s to 1990s). The basic argument that I will develop is that the creative practice of designing sound in Indian films of this period inculcated a technologically informed approach using analogue sound processing with expressionistic and melodramatic overtones that led the spectator to imagine the pro-filmic space instead of bodily experiencing it in cinematic sound. In this article, following film analysis and finding actual evidence in the interviews of sound practitioners, I will demonstrate that magnetic recording and dubbing rendered the cinematic imagination of this period as something spectacular, with extravagant songs and dances in foreign locations and actions packed with studio-manipulated and synthetic sound effects. Add to this a deliberate lack of ambience, and this practice triggered a cinematic experience of emotive tension and affective stimulation.

The subtitling of taboo and offensive language is a virtually unexplored aspect of both the translation and the audiovisual communication fields. The spatial and temporal limitations imposed on subtitles due to the physical constraints of the screen and the need to provide spectators with a comfortable reading speed oblige subtitlers to reduce or condense the length of subtitles by discarding words that are not deemed vital to understanding. Habitually, taboo and offensive words and expressions are among the first candidates to be jettisoned in order to save space, which can entail a loss of information that might have told viewers about a character’s personality, background and emotional state and, at the very least, deprives foreign audiences of exposure to these elements of language which are intimately tied to the source culture and its traditions and belief system. The following is a descriptive study of an audiovisual corpus comprised of three complete episodes from the first, second and third seasons of the Netflix Original series Orange is the New Black, professionally translated into Castilian Spanish and officially aired on the Netflix website. Taking an inductive approach to the taboo and offensive language in the corpus, the researchers analyzed 270 subtitles with over 300 taboo terms and words in order to identify the frequency of the translation strategies used in the transfer from source to target languages and then compared the taboo/offensive load of the subtitles between the source and the target texts to observe the changes in this load. The conclusions reached would suggest that, although some condensation is inevitable in subtitling, skilled translators can minimize the loss of these legitimate and generally colorful language elements, providing viewers with additional and often necessary character and narrative information and allowing them the chance to explore these linguistic features of the source language and its culture in the interests of a richer and more complete viewing experience.

The language of Nigerian video films, its choice, and those of subtitling and dubbing, have long escaped scrutiny, and only attracted scholars’ attention within the past ten years. The present study, based on the analysis of 19 films in English, French, Dutch, Igbo and Yoruba and on data gathered from three personal surveys and interviews dated 2009, 2012 and 2013, seeks to add to this burgeoning field by considering whether the language issue hinders the reception of Nigerian films outside their linguistic area, and surveying what has been done so far in that regard. Its finding first reveal that, while European audiences seem to prefer dubbing, Africans opt for subtitling; they also confirm that in the end, the true success of Nigerian films, whether subtitled or dubbed, will be measured in the way they cut across cultures, not just languages.

Presentation on Michel Hazanavicius and Dominique Mezerette's "La Classe américaine", an example of large-scale film collage and fake dub. Paper presented at the 2015 Annual BAAHE Conference on Adaptation, Brussels: Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

The research project aims to investigate a form of language variation (as represented in fiction) defined here as 'disorderly speech' (DIS). It refers to the representation of linguistic output of a character supposedly temporarily affected by a number of factors, such as drug or alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, or psychological instability. To this end, I analyse examples of fictional drug-affected speech drawn from the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998, Gilliam), and its translation into Spanish. The phenomenon is approached considering Mayoral’s thesis on the translation of language variation (1999), Bleichenbacher’s analysis of multilingualism (2008), and Corrius and Zabalbeascoa’s L3 model (2011). The methodology involves identifying linguistic phenomena used in the film to portray a character’s condition that would give rise to some sort of DIS, comparing them with the solutions chosen in the dubbed version as well as the subtitles of the DVD edition to render it, and proposing translation solutions of my own. The results of the study show a partial loss of the disorderly speech effect in the official translations, which could be avoided by transcending the current conventions of the industry and applying the models and strategies proposed by the author.

The Write-Voice method was created out of a necessity for speed, quality and standards.  Due to the advent of digital software and hardware technology, the aim for accuracy and precision is now made possible.  However, voice dubbers are still left to deal with traditionally written scripts which resembles those of film, TV or theater scripts.  Voice dubbers together with dubbing supervisors, are expected to adjust wordings in the script during recording sessions.  However, having to do this tedious process almost all the time slows down recording sessions not to mention that it greatly affects the quality of voice acting.  If recording equipment was gifted with digital software and hardware, voice dubbers need to be gifted with a tool that will help them achieve accuracy and precision with ease.  A dubbing script using the Write-Voice method and technique is a gift to voice dubbers.  The Write-Voice method aims for the following objectives:

The globalize world that we live in has experience an increased demand for all sorts of products, from exotic food to the ultimate scientific and technological developments. Anything we want is at our fingerprints, but we cannot deal with everything since the beginning: most of the products we can achieve need to be properly adapted to the target country, region or culture that is going to take advantage of it.
One of these products that need to be adapted for foreign consumption is TV series. Focusing on our country, we have experience an increased demand for foreign TV series, especially those coming from the UK and EE.UU. As a result, there has been an increased demand for both translators and dubbing actors in charge of translating and adapting American and British series so that anyone can have access to them in Spain. The problem is that translators in charge of the translation of these series are not equally prepared for this task, and so the results are not always good enough.
The aim of this work is to analyze the dubbing errors committed in the translation of the TV series Arrow (2012- ), specifically focusing on the dubbing errors committed in this series’ pilot.

L’animazione negli Stati Uniti e in Giappone ha avuto origini e vicissitudini differenti ed è stata recepita dal pubblico statunitense e da quello giapponese in modi diversi. L’obiettivo di questa tesi sarà illustrare e mettere in evidenza come queste differenze nei Paesi di partenza, il modo di intendere l’“animazione” e soprattutto di doppiarla, si rispecchi anche e soprattutto nel modo in cui questi prodotti vengono recepiti, adattati, e doppiati nel nostro paese, andando spesso incontro a trattamenti molto diversi per scopi e per il pubblico di destinazione. Per questo la mia tesi analizzerà il caso di due film d'animazione usciti nello stesso anno nelle sale cinematografiche italiane: uno è "Frozen" della Walt Disney. L'altro è "Si alza il vento" dello Studio Ghibli. A corredo del mio studio sono presenti interviste ad alcuni dei doppiatori coinvolti nei progetti d'animazione.

Este estudio parte de la premisa de que, del mismo modo que el comportamiento, la expresión facial y el lenguaje corporal de una persona pueden actuar de indicios a la hora de reconocer si se encuentra bajo los efectos de alguna sustancia (alcohol, drogas,
etc.), la alteración también se puede apreciar en su forma de hablar. Extrapolada a la ficción audiovisual, esta premisa me ha llevado a identificar un abanico de casos de lo que he denominado lenguaje alterado (Parra López, 2014). Mientras que la alteración resulta incontrolable para el personaje, siempre es deliberada por parte del autor y a menudo desempeña una función narrativa, retórica, estilística o caracterizadora en el texto que requiere la consideración del traductor. A juzgar por el escaso trato que ha recibido en los ámbitos de la lingüística y la traducción, uno podría considerar el lenguaje alterado como un fenómeno periférico, tan peculiar como excepcional. Sin embargo, estudios sobre el tratamiento del alcohol y las drogas en el cine nos demuestran todo lo contrario. Mi ponencia se centra en el análisis de este fenómeno en numerosas películas de habla inglesa, como Leaving Las Vegas (Cazès, Fischer, Stewart, y Figgis, 1995), Almost Famous (Bryce, Crowe, y Crowe, 2000) o The Big Lebowski (Coen y Coen, 1998), y de sus versiones dobladas y subtituladas al español. Lejos de criticar las soluciones de traducción adoptadas, el objetivo es describir la variedad de formas y niveles en los que se manifiesta la alteración en las tres versiones analizadas y despertar la conciencia y el interés de académicos y traductores en esta particular forma de variación lingüística.

Paramount and the Homeostatic Moment

In looking more closely at the three years (1930-1933)  during which Les Films Paramount Française S.A., a branch of the US major Paramount Publix Corporation made films in France, this essay aims to complement the European focus of the present volume.  Its ultimate goal is to underscore that, beyond challenging the category ‘national (cinema)’ during the extremely volatile period of late 1920s and early 1930s, the phenomenon of the multiple language versions continues to complicate the historiographically and politically cherished division of “Hollywood vs. Europe.”

The  author  points  out  the  main  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  three  types  of  movie translation: subtitles, dubbing and voice over. The problems with making all listed above are enumerated in the article. The author also lists and describes three strategies for translators to adapt cultural facts taken from one culture into different one. She brings number of examples taken  from  various  countries:  Polish  into  English, English  into  Georgian  and  other. The movies which are used as examples are: Snow White and Russian Red, Shrek, You are God and Home Alone.

On the face of it, the proposition that translation is an unnegotiable feature of world cinema seems an unproblematic, almost banal, claim, intuitively corroborated by each new globe-spanning simultaneous release of a (Hollywood) blockbuster received as enthusiastically in Chennai as in Kyiv. As scholars arguing for translation’s infrastructure-like function in a globalized world have pointed out, its ‘invisible’ presence is the prerequisite for both its ubiquity and its pervasiveness, in cinema as much as it is in other pathways of the globalized world. Yet, as the South Korean director Bong Joon- Ho said (in Korean) when receiving his 2020 Oscar for Parasite—a first-ever ‘foreign’ film so recognized—the ‘one-inch barrier’ of a subtitle at the bottom of the frame has under some circumstances been an insurmountable obstacle to a film’s global circulation. Studying world cinema under the sign of translation will thus entail charting the mechanisms needed to move films across linguistic fault lines, as well as the pathways determining those flows.

This paper deals with dubbing and its specifics in Slovakia. The categorization of countries according to their preference in audiovisual translation is reconsidered and redesigned around the current data regarding audiovisual translation in Europe. The focus of the article then shifts to dubbing in Slovakia and to some extent Czech Republic, where there is a strong preference for dubbing over subtitling in television production. A heuristic basis for the process of dubbing production based on personal experience and observations of the author is introduced and some issues that arise during this process are addressed. The current situation and changes in comparison to the past in the (Czecho-)Slovak dubbing are depicted and analyzed. The paper offers a brief outlook on dubbing from a rather empirical point of view. Introduction The tradition of dubbing is characteristic of only a few countries in Europe. Audiovisual translation (AVT) has a much richer history and tradition in those countries that naturally felt the need to dub or subtitle what was produced in other states and in foreign languages. Some countries opted for subtitling, others for dubbing or voice-over. Even today, we can call certain countries " dubbing countries " and other " subtitling countries " (Gottlieb in Baker, 2001 p. 244) and, although this division has turned out to be insufficient (see e.g. Szarkowska, 2005), it is clear that the tradition of dubbing as a prevailing form of audiovisual translation is present only in some countries. This paper looks closely at how the countries are divided according to their prevailing audiovisual translation preference and then takes a closer look at the process of dubbing production in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The paper compares the original screenplay of My Best Friend's Wedding (1997, written by Ronald Bass) with its Italian version, Il matrimonio del mio migliore amico (by Mauro Trentini, 1997). Among the various genres, romantic comedy creates more difficulties for the dubbing scriptwriter, given the differences between the American sense of humour and the Italian one. Quite a few puns and jokes may prove to be untranslatable. This paper analyses only three aspects of the culture specific references: personal names and nicknames, placenames and the use of pronouns.

L'avènement du parlant en Espagne durant les années 1930-1940 a donné lieu à une expérience singulière. l'adjonction de commentaries comiques à d'anciennes bandes de l'ère du muet. Cette expérience permet d'étudier l'hypothétique présence de l'explicador au sein d'un contexte historique bien différent de celui de ses origines, le cinéma des premiers temps. S'agit-il d'une simple <<réapparition>> de l'explicador, ou plutôt d'une hybridation qui aurait bénéficié de l'ère nouvelle du parlant? L'auteur de cet article tente une réponse en explorant deux voies complémentaires d'analyse: d'abord, en menant l'étude des circonstances de l'apparition de ce type de sonorisation, puis en comparant le discours comique produit per cette expérience avec le discours de l'explicador du cinéma des premiers temps. Cette étude s'appuie sur deux cas emblématiques. les Celuloides rancios 81933) de la compagnie Hispano Foxfilm et les courts métrages de la compagnie Exclusivas Arajol, diffusés dans les années 1940.

In Italy, as in a number of other European countries, American films and television programs undergo the process of dubbing. In the United States, however, Italian films and television programs are almost exclusively subtitled, and very rarely dubbed. Although American products have historically been much more successful in Italy than their Italian counterparts in the United States, things are slowly starting to change. In the 21 st century, the success of Italian-made films and television programs in the Anglophone world has certainly benefited from the popularity of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, whose platforms host a multitude of international releases. In both contexts, the intervention of professionals in the field of audiovisual translation is instrumental in facilitating the cross-cultural needs of these commercial and artistic exchanges. The processes of audiovisual or "screen" translation present distinctive linguistic and socio-cultural challenges that require creative and innovative solutions.

Based on fieldwork in a dubbing studio in Mumbai observing Hollywood films being dubbed into Hindi and interviews with voice artists, script writers, and dubbing directors, this chapter examines the language ideologies about Hindi and English that are articulated, performed, and manifest during the dubbing process. It describes the varied ways that dubbing professionals navigate and negotiate the complex act of rendering dialogue in Hindi when the original lines are written in English and illustrates how dubbing, a form of audiovisual translation, is not just a meta-semiotic activity, but also a language ideological project (Gal 2015) whereby discussions of linguistic difference, intelligibility, and skill are deeply entangled with assertions of social difference (Woolard & Schieffelin 1994).  I argue that a Hollywood film dubbed into Hindi, not only represents interlingual translation -- that is the expression in Hindi of what has been said, written, or done in English -- and a movement across semiotic systems (Gal 2015: 227-229), but also represents a movement across different regimes of value (Appadurai 1986; Myers 2001) from being a high status foreign import to a low status local product.  Such a movement engenders efforts by dubbing professionals to counter the stereotype of dubbed films as poor and shoddy translations of Hollywood.

The 1980s in Turkey were marked by the emergence of new cinematic forms, including
films dealing with issues regarding female subjectivity. This article argues that within the
scope of an extensive body of films produced about women in the 1980s, Her Name Is
Vasfiye, Aaahh Belinda!, How to Save Asiye, Ten Women, and My Dreams, My Love and
You opened up a significant space for discussions about ideological constructions
concerning images of women in cinema. By deploying reflexive and fragmented structures,
laying bare the ideological operations of voice-over and dubbing, and deploying the screen
personas Türkan Şoray and Müjde Ar as cinematic tools, these films offer up a critique of
representations of women onscreen, including the trend of “women’s films.”

The language of Nigerian video films, its choice, and those of subtitling and dubbing, have long escaped scrutiny, and only attracted scholars’ attention within the past ten years. The present study, based on the analysis of 19 films in English, French, Dutch, Igbo and Yoruba and on data gathered from three personal surveys and interviews dated 2009, 2012 and 2013, seeks to add to this burgeoning field by considering whether the language issue hinders the reception of Nigerian films outside their linguistic area, and surveying what has been done so far in that regard. Its finding first reveal that, while European audiences seem to prefer dubbing, Africans opt for subtitling; they also confirm that in the end, the true success of Nigerian films, whether subtitled or dubbed, will be measured in the way they cut across cultures, not just languages.

Rather than seeing dubbed Hollywood films as threats to the Hindi film industry, I argue that Hollywood’s success in India is actually dependent upon Bollywood.  Simply dubbing a Hollywood film into Hindi, is not sufficient for its successful circulation in India.  Hindi cinema, the Bombay film industry’s production, distribution and exhibition infrastructure, along with social media and digital platforms, play a crucial role in the increased visibility and viability of dubbed Hollywood films in India.  Based on fieldwork in a dubbing studio in Mumbai in 2016 and 2018, as well as interviews with voice artists, script writers, dubbing directors, and local managers of Hollywood studios in India, this article details how the dubbing of Hollywood films into Hindi transforms an alien and foreign product into a familiar local one.  Rather than a focus on the film text, I focus on the political economy and production process of dubbing Hollywood films to illustrate the significant level of decision-making in India and the critical role played by Indian dubbing professionals. .  Examining the political economy of  dubbed Hollywood films in India, thus reveals a much more complex picture that disrupts simple binaries such as “foreign/domestic” or “global/local.”

Nell'ambito del nostro ciclo di seminari dedicati alla traduzione audiovisiva per il doppiaggio oggi facciamo un viaggio all'interno del mondo dei classici Disney. La genialità della produzione disneyana sta tutta nel suo apporto al rinnovamento della fantasia e parte proprio dalla semplicità, dal linguaggio comprensibile a tutti e dal riadattamento di storie che probabilmente noi europei non avremmo mai letto senza la forma del cartone animato. Quanti spettatori conoscono perfettamente la versione cartoon de La Sirenetta, ma ignorano la favola di Andersen? Quello che suscita emozione in tutti noi un classico Disney è l'assoluta devozione senza tempo dei bambini di tutte le generazioni verso questo prodotto audiovisivo. Il classico Disney non è un cartone animato qualsiasi, ma è un intero mondo magico che trascende il tempo e in cui i bambini imparano a memoria le battute e le canzoni, così come avevano fatto i loro genitori. La chiave di questa dimensione atemporale che coinvolge anche gli adulti è lo stesso Walt Disney a fornircela: "You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway!". In un sistema traduttivo così carico di emozione e magia, il lavoro affidato ai doppiatori e dialoghisti italiani è stato un compito di grande responsabilità. Nel confronto tra le versioni originali e quelle tradotte, scopriamo che le versioni originali sono talmente "infedeli" che la maggior parte di noi conosce a stento l'originale. E nonostante questo non è un problema. In questa infedeltà comunque rispettosa e così creativa si realizzano i migliori esempi di localizzazione del prodotto audiovisivo e il cartone Disney in Italia diventa così un mito universale, che reinventa la storia e propone al suo pubblico un passato carico di ricordi e nostalgie.
Il viaggio di oggi sarà attraverso le voci che hanno emozionato intere generazioni e con un repertorio dei nostri migliori ricordi. Lo percorreremo insieme ai protagonisti che hanno fatto la storia dei cartoni Disney, in particolare avremo con noi:
NUNZIANTE VALOROSO: dialoghista esperto di cinema Disney, collaboratore per la Royfilm come consulente storico Disney e adattatore dei contenuti speciali dei DVD e Bly-ray. Autore di "Un comandante alla corte di Walt Disney. La carriera di Roberto de Leonardis, leggenda del doppiaggio”.
MELINA MARTELLO: attrice, doppiatrice e direttrice del doppiaggio. Vincitrice del Premio "Leggio d'Oro" 2004 come Miglior voce femminile. Premio alla Carriera Femminile al Gran Galà del Doppiaggio - Romics 2011. Premio Gran Premio Internazionale del doppiaggio 2016 – migliore attrice protagonista (Charlotte Rampling in "45 anni")
Voce di Biancaneve in "Biancaneve e i sette nani" (ediz. 1972), voce di Duchessa in "Gli Aristogatti", voce di Bianca in "Bianca e Bernie"
VITTORIA FEBBI: attrice, doppiatrice, direttrice del doppiaggio e direttore artistico della Febbi Film Srl. Vincitrice della VIII Targa "Gualtiero De Angelis" al Festival "Voci nell'ombra" 2004. Premio alla Carriera femminile al Gran Galà del Doppiaggio - Romics 2010.
Voce di Alice in "Alice nel paese delle meraviglie"
SONIA SCOTTI: attrice, cantante, doppiatrice e direttrice del doppiaggio, moglie di Vittorio Amandola. Vincitrice del Premio Voci nell'ombra 2000 ex-aequo per la Miglior Voce Caratterista - Sezione Cinema. Premio alla Carriera Femminile al Gran Galà del Doppiaggio - Romics 2008.
Voce di Ursula in "La Sirenetta"
MATTEO AMANDOLA adattatore dialoghista e figlio di Vittorio Amandola.
Nel corso del seminario Matteo Amandola e Sonia Scotti tributeranno un:
OMAGGIO ALLA CARRIERA DI VITTORIO AMANDOLA, attore, doppiatore e dialoghista, scomparso nel 2010. Voce di Pippo, chef Louis in "La Sirenetta" e voce di Lumiére in "La Bella e la Bestia".
https://www.facebook.com/events/205966593476776/

This book describes the dubbing process of English-language animated films produced by US companies in the 21st century, exploring how linguistic variation and multilingualism are used to create characters and identities and examining how Italian dubbing professionals deal with this linguistic characterisation. The analysis carried out relies on a diverse range of research tools: text analysis, corpus study and personal communications with dubbing practitioners. The book describes the dubbing workflow and dubbing strategies in Italy and seeks to identify recurrent patterns and therefore norms, as well as stereotypes or creativity in the way multilingualism and linguistic variation are tackled.

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a dubbing studio in Mumbai observing Hollywood films being dubbed into Hindi, this chapter complicates nation-bounded understandings of Bollywood and Hollywood. While dubbed Hollywood films are characterized as threats to local film industries, the production process of dubbing reveals a more complex picture. Not only do Hollywood majors rely on local companies in India for translation and dubbing, but for their Hindi versions, are eager to dub with Bollywood stars and employ established Bombay screenwriters to write the dub scripts. When taking the dubbing industry into account, the boundaries between Bollywood and Hollywood appear blurred.