Fondness for the Original
I've noticed that whenever I hear a new version of a song I know well, or see a new version of a movie I know well, I invariably prefer the variation I experienced first. Does that make me-gasp!-conservative?
Here's an example: I've had the pleasure of watching both the English dubbed and Japanese (with English subtitles) versions of Disney's release of My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ). (The DVDs won't be released for another month yet; I acquired my copies through channels too devious to describe here.) Now I've seen the Fox Home Video release more times that I'm comfortable admitting, and I think it's an excellent English dub. So I've eagerly anticipated finding out how Disney's English translation would compare to the canonical one.
It immediately became apparent that both the writers and voice actors of the Disney English dub were well-versed in Fox's version, from the way they borrowed from the latter and in the way they sometimes consciously avoided imitating it. The words to Disney's interpretation of the title song were nearly identical to those from the Fox version, but in my opinion, the singer completely ruined Disney's opening song by cutting short the final notes of each phrase. In some African musical traditions, chopping off the final note is the correct way to end a musical phrase when singing; but to the Western ear, it just sounds wrong. In this case, the sentence "Hey, let's go!" comes out sounding more like a command than an invitation. Okay, okay-I'm going, I'm going! Disney did a pretty good job with the English dialog, as expected, but it still sounded a little awkward in places. For instance, the translation of makkurokurosuke as "soot gremlins" may be a little truer to the Japanese than "dust bunnies," but the latter seems to capture the spirit much better, especially considering that the principals are both little girls.
And Oh Totoro's voice from the Fox soundtrack completely blows away both Disney's rendition and the Japanese original, both literally and figuratively. When Fox's Totoro roars, he shakes the very foundation of your soul. In comparison, the other two Totoros just sound wimpy. One of my favorite bits in the entire movie is the congenial grunt that Oh Totoro offers along with his gift of magic nuts and seeds, when he takes his leave of Satsuki and Mei at the bus stop. Kathy and I have even adopted it into our treasury of things to say under certain well-defined circumstances. Neither the Disney and the original Japanese soundtrack does that moment justice.
Now: Does my preference for the Fox version reflect a legitimate comparison, or merely my bias in favor of the familiar?
Similarly, I can think of only two songs I've heard in which I've preferred any rendition except the one I first became familiar with: Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," which sounds more mature and musically complex than the original; and the B-52s' version of "Love Shack," a vast improvement on an overrated song. But when I hear most covers, I just think, "Why?"
Have I just always been peculiarly disinclined toward new experiences, or is it in our nature as human beings to prefer the familiar to the novel?
P.S.: One other, possibly related observation. Remember when albums had "sides"? Long ago I noticed that my favorite song on an album was nearly always on the first side. Now perhaps this phenomenon is a result of programming: the record studios may have had a tendency to pack the best songs toward the beginning of the playlist, and let the filler sift down toward the end. If so, it was almost a kindness: you could listen to just the first half of an album and still get most of the good stuff.
Here's an example: I've had the pleasure of watching both the English dubbed and Japanese (with English subtitles) versions of Disney's release of My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ). (The DVDs won't be released for another month yet; I acquired my copies through channels too devious to describe here.) Now I've seen the Fox Home Video release more times that I'm comfortable admitting, and I think it's an excellent English dub. So I've eagerly anticipated finding out how Disney's English translation would compare to the canonical one.
It immediately became apparent that both the writers and voice actors of the Disney English dub were well-versed in Fox's version, from the way they borrowed from the latter and in the way they sometimes consciously avoided imitating it. The words to Disney's interpretation of the title song were nearly identical to those from the Fox version, but in my opinion, the singer completely ruined Disney's opening song by cutting short the final notes of each phrase. In some African musical traditions, chopping off the final note is the correct way to end a musical phrase when singing; but to the Western ear, it just sounds wrong. In this case, the sentence "Hey, let's go!" comes out sounding more like a command than an invitation. Okay, okay-I'm going, I'm going! Disney did a pretty good job with the English dialog, as expected, but it still sounded a little awkward in places. For instance, the translation of makkurokurosuke as "soot gremlins" may be a little truer to the Japanese than "dust bunnies," but the latter seems to capture the spirit much better, especially considering that the principals are both little girls.
And Oh Totoro's voice from the Fox soundtrack completely blows away both Disney's rendition and the Japanese original, both literally and figuratively. When Fox's Totoro roars, he shakes the very foundation of your soul. In comparison, the other two Totoros just sound wimpy. One of my favorite bits in the entire movie is the congenial grunt that Oh Totoro offers along with his gift of magic nuts and seeds, when he takes his leave of Satsuki and Mei at the bus stop. Kathy and I have even adopted it into our treasury of things to say under certain well-defined circumstances. Neither the Disney and the original Japanese soundtrack does that moment justice.
Now: Does my preference for the Fox version reflect a legitimate comparison, or merely my bias in favor of the familiar?
Similarly, I can think of only two songs I've heard in which I've preferred any rendition except the one I first became familiar with: Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," which sounds more mature and musically complex than the original; and the B-52s' version of "Love Shack," a vast improvement on an overrated song. But when I hear most covers, I just think, "Why?"
Have I just always been peculiarly disinclined toward new experiences, or is it in our nature as human beings to prefer the familiar to the novel?
P.S.: One other, possibly related observation. Remember when albums had "sides"? Long ago I noticed that my favorite song on an album was nearly always on the first side. Now perhaps this phenomenon is a result of programming: the record studios may have had a tendency to pack the best songs toward the beginning of the playlist, and let the filler sift down toward the end. If so, it was almost a kindness: you could listen to just the first half of an album and still get most of the good stuff.