Translation Matchmaking: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Anime & Manga ==

* ''[[Ninja Resurrection]]'' wasn't a sequel to ''[[Ninja Scroll]]'', but you could be forgiven if the box text and the distributor misled you. The only similarity was the main character's name, Jubei. ''Ninja Scroll'''s protagonist is an homage to Yagyu Jubei, one of the most famous ninja and folk heroes in Japanese history. ''Ninja Resurrection'', based on the novel ''Makai Tensho'', actually uses Yagyu Jubei as its protagonist.

** Except for one episode of Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, which out right parodies [[Full Metal Jacket]]. With rugby.

* Subversion: The original ''[[Kinnikuman]]'' manga and anime was never localized into English, but the tie-in rubber figures by Bandai were sold in the U.S. by Mattel under the name of ''M.U.S.C.L.E.'' When the sequel series, ''[[Kinnikuman Nisei]]'', was dubbed in the U.S. by 4Kids, they choose the name ''[[Ultimate Muscle]]'' to imply a connection.

 

 

== Film ==

* When ''[[Airplane!]]'' was released in France, the title was changed to ''Y a-t-il un pilote dans l'avion?'' (Is there a pilot onboard?). Most of the movies produced by the ZAZ trio afterwards were renamed so they'd begin the same way.

** ''[[Ruthless People]]'', for example, became ''Y a-t-il quelqu'un pour tuer ma femme?'' (Is there someone who could kill my wife?).

** ''2001: A Space Travesty'' was renamed ''Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver l'humanité?'' (Is there a cop who can save humanity?) although it's not part of the Naked Gun series.

** ''One'' of the French titles for ''[[Wrongfully Accused]]'' was ''Y a-t-il un fugitif à bord?'' (Is there a [[The Fugitive|fugitive]] on board?)

** In México has happened the exact same thing, ''[[Airplane!]]'' is titled ''Y donde esta el piloto?'' (''So where's the pilot?'') and subsequent ZAZ movies have been titled accordingly, for instance the ''Naked Gun'' movies are titled ''Y donde esta el policia?'' (''So where's the cop?''). Similarly, ''Police Academy'' movies were called ''Loca Academia de Policia'' (''Insane Police Academy''), and the Hot Shots movies were therefore titled ''Loca Academia de Pilotos'' (''Insane Pilot Academy'').

** In Germany, ''Airplane'' was called ''Die unglaubliche Reise in einem verrückten Flugzeug'' (''The Incredible Journey in a Crazy Airplane''). Subsequently, ''Ruthless People'' was renamed ''Die unglaubliche Entführung der verrückten Mrs Stone'' (''The Incredible Kidnapping of the Crazy Mrs Stone''). The titles of the ''Naked Gun'' movies were translated literally; however, the TV show ''[[Police Squad!]]!'', which came to Germay ''after'' the movies, was renamed ''Die nackte Pistole'' (''The Naked Pistol''). Also, ''S.P.Q.R. 2000 e 1/2 anni fa'', a completely unrelated Italian movie that had Leslie Nielson in it, was retitled ''Die römische Kanone'' (''The Roman Gun'').

** In Spain, ''Airplane!'' was renamed ''Aterriza como puedas'' (Land as you can), and ''[[Spy Hard]]'' was ''Espia como puedas'' (Spy as you can). In fact, most comedies with Leslie Nielsen follow the "X como puedas" [[Follow the Leader|and even some unrelated ones]].

* ''Return of the Dragon'' was originally called ''[[Way of the Dragon]]'' when it was produced in Hong Kong. ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' was actually [[Bruce Lee]]'s last complete film, but the retitling of ''Way of the Dragon'' was a means of capitalizing on Bruce Lee's fame and releasing the earlier film to a wider audience. All this despite the obviously higher budget of ''Enter the Dragon'' (being a Hollywood/Hong Kong joint studio venture), not to mention the fact that Lee's characters in the two films are obviously not the same person (in name OR in personality), and thus neither film was actually a sequel to the other. But if one were to [[Fan Wank]] them into a continuous story, it would be much easier to justify a clueless country bumpkin becoming a wise secret agent than vice-versa, and thus the Enter/Return titling makes no sense whatsoever.

** This was not the first [[Bruce Lee]] film to undergo such a title change: ''Fist of Fury'' was retitled ''The Chinese Connection'' (after ''[[The French Connection]]''). The title (''Chinese Connection'') was actually intended for ''[[The Big Boss]]'' (since the plot of that film involved drug trafficking), but the American distributor messed up and ended up giving switching the titles for both films.

* Sweden had an odd tradition of this with regards to specific people.

** For years and years all Goldie Hawn movies had titles beginning with "The Girl Who..."

* The movie ''Outlander'' is bizarrely titled in Mexico ''La Tierra Media y El Tesoro del Dragon Solitario'' (''Middle Earth and the Treasure of the Lonely Dragon''), which is inexplicable unless it is meant as a preemptive case of this trope regarding the upcoming The Hobbit movie.

* In Japan, ''[[Napoleon Dynamite]]'' is known as ''Bus Otoko'' in a blatant attempt to ride on the coattails of ''[[Densha Otoko]]''.

* ''[[Gamera]] vs. Viras'' was released in the U.S. as ''Destroy All Planets'', in obvious imitation of [[Toho]]'s ''Destroy All Monsters''.

* In France, ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]'' is titled ''L'incroyable destin de Harold Crick'', which imitates the original French title of ''Amelie'', ''[[Amelie]]''.

* In Norwegian, a whole ton of completely unrelated movies start with the words "Hjelp, vi" ("Help, we"), followed by whatever the main characters in the movie are doing.

** Airplane - "Help, We're Flying"

** This in addition to a decent amount of Norwegian-produced movies where this style is used as the original title. It's treated as a running gag nowadays.

* In Italy, ''[[High Noon]]'' was renamed "Mezzogiorno di fuoco" ("Fiery Noon"); some time later, ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' was renamed with a similar title, "Mezzogiorno e mezzo di fuoco", literally "Fiery Noon and a Half".

* After ''[[Rumble in The Bronx]]'' was released, a movie from 1973 originally titled ''女警察'' (''The Policewoman'') was reissued on home video under the new title of ''Rumble in Hong Kong'' (among others), with a [[Covers Always Lie|misleading cover]] that suggests that [[Jackie Chan]] was the leading actor (he actually played a supporting character with not much screentime).

* The fourth movie of the ''[[Rambo]]'' series, ''Rambo'', was billed ''John Rambo'' in several countries to mimick ''[[Rocky Balboa]]''.

 

 

== Live Action TV ==

** Same in Mexico. Bewitched is know as "Hechizada" and Charmed as "Hechiceras".

** In Finland Bewitched is known as ''Vaimoni on noita'' (''"My Wife Is a Witch"'') and Charmed as ''Siskoni on noita'' (''"My Sister Is a Witch"'').

* Hungarian translators love to lampshade a slightly ripped-off concept's origin:

** ''[[Blackbeard]]'' the mini-series became ''Blackbeard and the Pirates of the Carribean'' (Feketeszakall es a Karib tenger Kalozai)

*** Another Hungarian variation would be the "_ Pie" title translations for teen movies after ''[[American Pie]]'' came out.

* In France, ''[[Hikari Sentai Maskman]]'' and ''[[Choujuu Sentai Liveman]]'' became ''Bioman 2: Maskman'' and ''Bioman 3: Liveman'' respectively, due to the fact that ''[[Choudenshi Bioman]]'' was the first ''[[Super Sentai]]'' series to air there. While they're technically part of the same franchise, none of them are actually set in the same universe (later crossover appearances notwithstanding).

* In Brazil, the [[Metal Heroes]] series ''[[Jikuu Senshi Spielban]]'' became ''[[Kyojuu Tokusou Juspion|Jaspion]] 2'', trying to pass up as a sequel to a previous Metal Hero who was really popular there.

* In Finland, ''[[ER]]'' is known as ''Teho-osasto'' or ''intensive care unit''. ''[[Scrubs]]'' in turn became ''Tuho-osasto'' or loosely translated ''destructive care unit''.

* When Toei had the rights to make a Japanese tokusatsu version of the ''[[Captain Future]]'' pulp novels, they were forced to change the title to ''[[Captain Ultra]]'' since the network that aired the show only picked it up as a filler series after ''[[Ultraman]]'' ended while Tsuburaya was still preparing for the third proper installment in the [[Ultra Series]] titled ''[[Ultra Seven]]''.

* In order to tie it in with the ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' series, the first installment of the ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' series was dubbed ''Devil Kings'' for its overseas conversion, along with [[Cut and Paste Translation|many other changes.]]

* Sunsoft, who did the NES port of the original ''[[Spy Hunter]]'', later produced ''Battle Formula'', which was retitled ''Super Spy Hunter'' in the US.

* While technically an American-developed game, ''[[Secret of Evermore]]'' got its title to cash-in on the success of ''[[Secret of Mana]]'' (''Seiken Densetsu 2'' in Japan). The [[Working Title]] was originally "Evermore" and the game was never meant to be a sequel to ''Secret of Mana''.

* ''Fire Shark'', a World War II-themed shoot-'em-up by Toaplan, was released in Japan under the title of ''Same! Same! Same!'', a play on the 1970 war movie ''Tora! Tora! Tora!''.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Title Tropes]]

[[Category:Language Tropes]]