Best Foreign Language Dubs Of Disney Songs/Soundtracks Ever

kenai3000 · Post by **kenai3000** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:14 pm

I figured we should have one of these as I haven't seen one yet, but out of all the foreign language Disney dubs you guys have heard which ones do you think are very good. You guys can post links to youtube videos if you'd like. Of course what anyone says is their opinion.

Here's what I think:

Any of the German songs in Toy Story: They got a guy named Klaus Lage to sing the German songs, and I must say he's fantastic. He actually sounds better than Randy Newman to me at least.

Any of the Spanish, French, German & Italian songs in Tarzan & Brother Bear: Obviously I'm a Phil Collins fan, so I think that it is so cool that phil did 5 versions of both movies, and also he sang No Way Out in Japanese and that was very good as well.

Any of the Icelandic songs in Tarzan & Brother Bear: The guy they got for this version (his name is Steffan Hilmarsson) sounds so similar to Phil Collins that to the untrianed ear you would think Phil did this version too.

The German 1989 version of Part Of Your World & Reprise from The Little Mermaid: Ute Lemper's voice is excellent, and fits to the role of Ariel perfectly, and the translation is much better than the 1998 version.

The Danish, Norwegian & Swedish versions of Part Of Your World & Reprise from The Little Mermaid: A woman named Sissel Kyrkjebo sang these versions and like Ute Lemper has a strong and powerful voice that fits Ariel's want & desire for the human world perfectly. In the Swedish version she also sang with the chorus in the finale version of Part Of Your World.

Marce82 · Post by **Marce82** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:53 am

hmmm....The Sleeping Beauty spanish dub created in 1959 was truly spectacular. They got an opera singer to sing for Aurora, and the woman who played Maleficent was truly an amazing actress.

I would even dare say in certain parts her performance is even better than the english one (note: listen to the part where she casts the forest of thorns).

Also, the whole film is done in a slightly old spnish...definitely understandable to people today, but with a nice hint of "medieval".

Sadly, Disney re-dubbed the film in 2000...and the new dub is possibly the worst I have heard in ANY language. The woman who plays Aurora cant even reach the high notes! Truly pitiful.

The French dub of The Little Mermaid is VERY good as well...specially the woman who plays Ariel. Great voice!

milojthatch · Post by **milojthatch** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:58 am

Yes, I have the German version of the "Tarzan" soundtrack and it is just amazing that Phil did it himself. I think that may be about the coolest CD I own!

Goliath · Post by **Goliath** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 7:34 pm

In most cases, I prefer the original English (American) versions of the films. A dub is always just a copy of what was originally intended. But there are some exceptions.

I really prefer Robin Hood in Dutch. This version has many added jokes that weren't in the original version. Here's the song 'Phony king of England' in Dutch, sung by Coen Flink as Little John. I still crack up when I see this, especially the last part when John is summing up all the prince's bad habits:

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What's also great, is the song 'Friend like me' in Dutch. Now I prefer the original version of the film a 100 times above this one, but I have to give credit to the Dutch dub by Pierre Bokma. He's a stage artist, known for his heavy roles in dramatic plays. For him to do the Genie, is extraordinary:

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Same goes for The Little Mermaid: original version by far the best, but I also have a soft spot for 'Part of your world' in Dutch. Just because. You'll have to listen to it to understand. It's really sweet, sung by Laura Vlasblom:

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One other film I absolutely *have* to watch in Dutch (I've seen the original, but I didn't like it), is The Sword in the Stone. This has everything to do with the fabulous performance of Lex Goudsmit as Merlin:

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Last but not least: I adore the Billy Joel-version of 'Why should I worry'. The Dutch version sounds nothing like the original at all. And still, I think it's great to hear, because Frits Lambrechts puts so much enthusiasm and energy in the song (he sings his soul out):

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DonMickGoof · Post by **DonMickGoof** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:36 am

Jungle Book in German makes an already great film much better. "Hellfire" in German sounds great. You must watch The Sword in the Stone in German too!

MattDean · Post by **MattDean** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:10 am

Goliath wrote: Same goes for The Little Mermaid: original version by far the best, but I also have a soft spot for 'Part of your world' in Dutch. Just because. You'll have to listen to it to understand. It's really sweet, sung by Laura Vlasblom:

Goliath, Great to listen to but the film's sound effects are missing! Is this usually the case?

Matt

robster16 · Post by **robster16** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:32 am

I read somewhere or heard someone say from the Disney company that they always thought that the dutch dubbing were some of the best they ever saw, because the tone and voices always matched the original so perfectly. And I must say that I agree. Of course I'm biased, being dutch and growing up with the dutch versions...

Some personal highlights:

"Perfect Isn't Easy" by dutch musical star and actress Simone Kleinsma:

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"Poor Unfortunate Souls" by dutch actress Nellie Frijda, this showcases the brilliant dutch dubbing as it contains both singing and speaking bits:

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"Be Our Guest" by a large part of the dutch cast. Lumiere is played by the dutch director of dubbing during a large part of the 90's, Arnold Gelderman btw

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"Savages" from Pocahontas, with a large selection of the dutch cast, special mentions for Pia Douwes as Pocahontas and Ernst Daniel Smit as Radcliffe

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robster16 · Post by **robster16** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:33 am

MattDean wrote:
Goliath wrote: Same goes for The Little Mermaid: original version by far the best, but I also have a soft spot for 'Part of your world' in Dutch. Just because. You'll have to listen to it to understand. It's really sweet, sung by Laura Vlasblom:
Goliath, Great to listen to but the film's sound effects are missing! Is this usually the case?

Matt

they probably replaced the movie's sound with the song on the dutch movie's soundtrack

MattDean · Post by **MattDean** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:34 am

robster16 wrote:
MattDean wrote: Goliath, Great to listen to but the film's sound effects are missing! Is this usually the case?

Matt
they probably replaced the movie's sound with the song on the dutch movie's soundtrack

I always thought that the dubbing artist would record fresh vocals over the music track and then the effects track was placed over that. Perhaps the above Part of Your World audio is lifted from the Dutch Soundtrack CD (for audio clarity) and that would explain why the sound effects aren't present, but maybe they are in the actual movie version?

Matt

Marky_198 · Post by **Marky_198** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:06 pm

I only like foreign dubs if they are actually better than the original.
Which (in my opinion) is the case in these clips/versions:

Cinderella Dutch:

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Snowwhite French:

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Little Mermaid Dutch:

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Little Mermaid 2 French:

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Hercules French:

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Goliath · Post by **Goliath** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:10 pm

MattDean wrote:Goliath, Great to listen to but the film's sound effects are missing! Is this usually the case?

I noticed that too. The sound effects should be there. Maybe the user who uploaded the video used only the soundtrack-version and put it over the animation? I don't know.

robster16 wrote:I read somewhere or heard someone say from the Disney company that they always thought that the dutch dubbing were some of the best they ever saw, because the tone and voices always matched the original so perfectly.

But Disney America has a fight with Gelderman over the use of Pierre Bokma as the Genie. Gelderman threatned to quit if he couldn't use Bokma. Disney agreed, but they said: "hey, it's your funeral". But Bokma proved them wrong.

robster16 wrote:"Poor Unfortunate Souls" by dutch actress Nellie Frijda, this showcases the brilliant dutch dubbing as it contains both singing and speaking bits:

Actually, I hate this. I'm sorry, but 'Ma Flodder' as Ursula? Big miscasting. Can't hold a candle to Pat Carroll.

robster16 wrote:"Be Our Guest" by a large part of the dutch cast. Lumiere is played by the dutch director of dubbing during a large part of the 90's, Arnold Gelderman btw

Arnold deserves our ever-lasting respect. He was brilliant. When did he quit the job? I hated Dutch dubs for Mulan and Tarzan. Did he do those as well?

Goliath · Post by **Goliath** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:47 pm

@ Marky_198:

I agree that the French versions are wonderful, but nothing can ever replace Adriana Caselotti's version of 'I'm wishing'. It's simply the best version there will ever be. I don't agree with your opinions on the Dutch Cinderella and Ariel. Again, there's nothing as touching as the original.

To us, the original English versions are 'foreign dubs'! But hey...

I would like to see the Dutch version of 'Merrily on our way' from 'Wind in the willows' on YouTube. Could somebody arrange that? Would be great! Oh, and the Dutch dub of Ludwig von Drake's reading of 'Mickey and the Beanstalk'! Not that he can top Paul Frees, but I grew up with that version.

The Great Mouse Detective is another movie I have to watch in Dutch, thanks to the talent of veteran dubber Paul van Gorcum as Basil. Songs are great too:

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The Dutch version is the only one I know of which has Basil, Dawson and Olivia sing during the end credits. Non-Dutch-speaking YouTube users thought Basil and Dawson sounded like they were drunk!

KubrickFan · Post by **KubrickFan** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:17 am

Arnold Gelderman had to put a lot of effort in being able to use Pierre Bokma as the genie. The folks at Disney thought of him as the serious stage actor, while Gelderman knew Bokma had a wonderful sense of humor. I'm glad he sticked to his choice.
And I have to agree with many of these you listed here, Goliath. I have to watch some of these in Dutch because they're so much better, I think. Lady and the Tramp is also a very good example.

Marky_198 · Post by **Marky_198** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:14 pm

Goliath, I see what you like about some of the clips you posted, but one really has to understand Dutch to appreciate them. For foreigners they may sound awful.

Those end credits of the great mouse detective are awful in my opinion, and I really don't like the Dutch version of "friend like me".
The voice annoys me and really doesn't match the character in my opinion. It's way to screechy, obnoxious. Not warm and round enough.

I think they failed a bit in those scenes, in terms of dubbing the film. And I don't really understand why you post them.
The Sword in the Stone clips are amazing, and actually better than the original.

Of course it's all a matter of taste, but I always try to be objective about what's better.
Ariel for example, the 16 year old mermaid, sounds too old in the English version, not lively enough, like a housewife at times. I think Laura Vlasblom captures the spirit of Ariel perfectly with her voice.
There's a certain quality to her voice that IS Ariel.

I think the English snowwhite voice is too distracting from the feelings of the character. As a viewer you constantly feel "belittled" in a way. It feels "acted". When I watched the film in French, for the first time I felt for the Snowwhite character.

So you can say the original version of "I'm wishing" is the best, but it's certainly not the best version in terms of vocals/singing, and also definitely not the best version in telling the story with true emotions as it feels acted.

I also never liked the original Cinderella voice. I don't think she's a good enough singer. Nothing special. At times, she slides from one note into another in very lazy way. In the "sing sweet nightengale' scene, the contrast between the sister and Cinderella is not big enough. The cat's reaction is way out of line, because she doesn't sing that bad. And then when he walks out of the room, his recation is out of line again because it's not that good.

But sometimes people have a hard time being objective and consider the first version as the best one, no matter what.

I think some acting scenes in the Dutch little mermaid are much better than the original too. I think that's because you can do a lot with your voice as you see a scene, but recording it before it's animated sometimes makes it sound a bit empty and awkward. Like the scene that ariel has that first fight with her father.

I also think that the voice of Jasmine in the original version of Aladdin is the first princess that was "spot on". The other ones have better versions in foreign dubs.

But again, sometimes it's a matter of taste, but I try to be objective.

Goliath · Post by **Goliath** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:39 pm

KubrickFan wrote:And I have to agree with many of these you listed here, Goliath. I have to watch some of these in Dutch because they're so much better, I think. Lady and the Tramp is also a very good example.

I prefer most movies in English, like Lady and the Tramp. If only for Peggy Lee!

@ Marky_198:

There's really nothing 'objective' about preferring one voice over the other. It's all taste, as fas as I'm concerned, and that's why I posted the clips that I did. So there's no real point arguing, except for one issue you mentioned:

You said the Dutch and Frech voice actresses for Ariel and Snow White captured the character perfectly and were more fitting for the part. But I think you do know how characters are defined, right? It's by their voice. The voices are recorded first; only after this the characters get their definitive form. So it's always the English voice actor who defines a character. To say a foreign voice actor captured the character better, is nonsense. You may have a different taste, but that is another discussion entirely...

Marky_198 · Post by **Marky_198** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:50 am

Yes, I know that, but that is what sometimes works against it in my opinion. Sometimes it makes the dialogue sounds a bit empty and you just can tell it was recorded in an empty studion before there was animation.

I think it's good to animate around a voice, but the actors should re-record many scenes after the animation.
I found a good example here. Compare the two scenes of Ariel's argument with Triton.

The original one lacks emotion and the intention of the acting just is not good enough. Especially in the 2nd part of the scene.

From 1:28

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From 2:00

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KubrickFan · Post by **KubrickFan** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:11 pm

Goliath wrote:
KubrickFan wrote:And I have to agree with many of these you listed here, Goliath. I have to watch some of these in Dutch because they're so much better, I think. Lady and the Tramp is also a very good example.
I prefer most movies in English, like Lady and the Tramp. If only for Peggy Lee!

I didn't think her voice was that much better than the Dutch females that did the characters, personally. But the lyrics for, say, the Siamese song, were much better in the Dutch version. But it's all a matter of preference.

Goliath · Post by **Goliath** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:24 pm

Marky, if you really think the Dutch Ariel has more emotion in her than the original (Jodie Benson), I think you're mad.

vojna · Post by **vojna** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:40 pm

hello people,

I believe that some of the Disney classics in Czech language are excellent. Take a look at these examples. Also Hercules, Tarzan, Jungle Book etc. are great in Czech.

The tradition of dubbing the movies is very long in the Czech Republic and the Barrandov studio as always been the number one producer of czech language tracks...

Snow White
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtjMgpPrlNU

The Little Mermaid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy7CpNllOsA

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