New 3-D cartoon the “Cars” to be released in movie theaters with Ukrainian dubbing
While sitting in the movie theater I saw the trailer for the new 3-D animated movie, “Cars,” and it was in the Ukrainian language. I couldn’t believe my eyes – or, rather, my ears. And I could hear other viewers around me expressing surprise too – surely they were used to hearing Ukrainian in the films shown on TV, but not at movie theaters. Moreover, the Ukrainian-speaking cars sounded cool and funny, as did the Ukrainian translation of the cartoon’s name – “Tachky” – a Ukrainian slang word for automobiles.
According to a new law issued by the Cabinet of Ministers, 70 percent of movies showing in movie theaters should be dubbed in Ukrainian starting September 1. But while the movie distributors and cinema management are still fighting to cancel these demands – the B&H Distribution company has made a step forward by announcing the release of the Walt Disney/Pixar “Cars” in Ukraine’s national language on June 15.
In fact, “Cars” won’t be the first cartoon dubbed in Ukrainian. Just a few months ago, the Swedish flick “Carlsson, who lives on the roof” was shown at cinemas, with main characters voiced by rocker Oleh Skrypka and pop-singer Ani Lorak. However, the Swedish animation was received quite coolly by Ukrainians. “Cars,” on the other hand, has all the potential to become a great hit.The voices of the Hollywood actors heard on the original version of the “Cars” cartoon were replaced by local actors Ostap Stupka, Olha Sumska and Yuriy Kovalenko. The translation was done by Yuriy Nehrebetsky, who once translated the comedy series “Alf,” which became a hit . All that, plus the huge success of the “Simpsons” with its truly outstanding Ukrainian dubbing, allows us to hope that Ukrainian kids and their parents will enjoy watching “Tachky” in Ukraine’s official state language. And maybe by the time 70 percent of movies distributed in this country are shown in Ukrainian, it won’t upset anyone anymore. After all, it’s not about the language itself but about the art of dubbing the films in a professional and creative way.
