Megamind : French version VS original one
Hi, it's Hisha again. I have nothing better to do than compare the French version of the movie (which I saw first, even though I missed the beginning) and the original one. I'll use the DVD I own as a reference. With every translation come lots of necessary modifications, mainly because so many phrases that are used constantly in a language wouldn't make sense or would sound weird in another. Let's not point all of them out, or this post would be much, much longer. ^^
The first thing that's really worth noticing is the change in Minion's name. In France, he's known as Nounou ("Nanny"), which does make sense since his role is to take care of Meg. I guess the translators thought "minion" and "mignon" ("cute") sounded too much alike. xD Even though Minion is a cutie. xD By the way, I've read on tumblr and TV tropes that Meg pronounced "Minion" the French way. He actually doesn't. That's not how we pronounce it. He pronounces it the way Americans think French people pronounce it. But let's get back to the point.
The other characters still have the same name, but "Hal" and "Bernard" aren't pronounced the same way in French (the first time I watched this movie I thought it was "Al" and not "Hal"...). Also, Mr.Goody Two Shoes (what does that even mean anyway?) was changed to "M.Lèche Bottes" ("Mr.Bootlicker". The way he says it is hilarious. xD).
Here's a list of Meg's mispronunciations :
"éssole"/"école" ("shool"/"school")
"poppa-corn"/"pop-corn" (need I translate here? ^^)
"Métrocité" (actually, everyone else in the French version says "Metrocity"...^^) (plus, Meg actually pronounces it right when he's acting as Space Dad)
"mélanssolie"/"mélancolie" (this one is pretty obvious, come on! However, it's a noun and not an adjective.)
"Ôllo" (he was close, in France we answer the phone by saying "Allô?"^^)
He also mispronounces "excitant" (exciting), but it may be just a pun on the word "exit" written above the door.
See that part when Megamind mentions the other kids at his school were learning Itsy Bitsy Spider (that's how it's spelt, right)? Well in the French version, they learn another song.
Hal tells Roxanne that he would "take care of [her] like a hyena would take care of a human baby" (that's still creepy).
Megamind tells "Nounou" it was a good idea to send the watch via mail.
The brainbots are called "mégabots".
Meg says "fire!" in Spanish for some reason.
The song Minion/Nounou sings when carrying his master inside the mayor's office isn't the same. In the translated version, the little song sounds a bit more like the French national anthem, unless I'm just imagining things. The lyrics aren't the same, of course. xD
Instead of saying to Roxanne that he was talking to his mother's urn, Megamind says he was talking to his goldfish.
When Meg tells Nounou he looks fantastic, he already speaks in Space Dad's voice.
While our beloved blue alien would never say "I was wrong" in the original version, in the French one he says "I was wrong...almost." (instead of "less right")
"Oh, my giant blue head!" was replaced by a very clever pun. xD However, the Titan/Tighten pun was completely lost in translation.
"I know : we go back to the lair, we grab some ray guns and we tear his head off!"
When Megamind is falling to his death and selects the dehydration mode on his gun, there's a robotic voice that says "déshydratation" ("dehydration").
Can you tell I'm bored to death?
The first thing that's really worth noticing is the change in Minion's name. In France, he's known as Nounou ("Nanny"), which does make sense since his role is to take care of Meg. I guess the translators thought "minion" and "mignon" ("cute") sounded too much alike. xD Even though Minion is a cutie. xD By the way, I've read on tumblr and TV tropes that Meg pronounced "Minion" the French way. He actually doesn't. That's not how we pronounce it. He pronounces it the way Americans think French people pronounce it. But let's get back to the point.
The other characters still have the same name, but "Hal" and "Bernard" aren't pronounced the same way in French (the first time I watched this movie I thought it was "Al" and not "Hal"...). Also, Mr.Goody Two Shoes (what does that even mean anyway?) was changed to "M.Lèche Bottes" ("Mr.Bootlicker". The way he says it is hilarious. xD).
Here's a list of Meg's mispronunciations :
"éssole"/"école" ("shool"/"school")
"poppa-corn"/"pop-corn" (need I translate here? ^^)
"Métrocité" (actually, everyone else in the French version says "Metrocity"...^^) (plus, Meg actually pronounces it right when he's acting as Space Dad)
"mélanssolie"/"mélancolie" (this one is pretty obvious, come on! However, it's a noun and not an adjective.)
"Ôllo" (he was close, in France we answer the phone by saying "Allô?"^^)
He also mispronounces "excitant" (exciting), but it may be just a pun on the word "exit" written above the door.
See that part when Megamind mentions the other kids at his school were learning Itsy Bitsy Spider (that's how it's spelt, right)? Well in the French version, they learn another song.
Hal tells Roxanne that he would "take care of [her] like a hyena would take care of a human baby" (that's still creepy).
Megamind tells "Nounou" it was a good idea to send the watch via mail.
The brainbots are called "mégabots".
Meg says "fire!" in Spanish for some reason.
The song Minion/Nounou sings when carrying his master inside the mayor's office isn't the same. In the translated version, the little song sounds a bit more like the French national anthem, unless I'm just imagining things. The lyrics aren't the same, of course. xD
Instead of saying to Roxanne that he was talking to his mother's urn, Megamind says he was talking to his goldfish.
When Meg tells Nounou he looks fantastic, he already speaks in Space Dad's voice.
While our beloved blue alien would never say "I was wrong" in the original version, in the French one he says "I was wrong...almost." (instead of "less right")
"Oh, my giant blue head!" was replaced by a very clever pun. xD However, the Titan/Tighten pun was completely lost in translation.
"I know : we go back to the lair, we grab some ray guns and we tear his head off!"
When Megamind is falling to his death and selects the dehydration mode on his gun, there's a robotic voice that says "déshydratation" ("dehydration").
Can you tell I'm bored to death?