Furthermore, the English dub adds meta-humor. At one point, Asterix (Sean Astin) looks at the camera and says, "You know, this is actually a lot easier in the cartoons." This line does not exist in French. It was inserted specifically for English-speaking audiences familiar with the 1976 animated film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix . From a sound engineering perspective, the Asterix at the Olympic Games English dub work is a mixed bag of genius and chaos. Because the film was shot in French, the actors' mouths are visibly forming French syllables. The English actors had to perform a high-wire act of "phonetic dubbing"—changing the English wording to match the French mouth flaps.
Sean Astin has spoken in interviews about the difficulty. "Asterix talks fast," he recalled. "Every two seconds, I had to replace a French vowel sound with an English one. There’s a scene where I yell 'Les Romains!' but my mouth is clearly saying 'Ro-mah.' So I had to yell 'The Ro-mans!' with a weird pause." asterix at the olympic games english dub work
For example, in the original French, Obelix makes jokes about Roman aqueducts. In the English dub, Brad Garrett’s Obelix quips about "Roman cable subscriptions" and "lack of Wi-Fi in Gaul." Anachronisms are not mistakes; they are the point. Furthermore, the English dub adds meta-humor
Furthermore, the English dub adds meta-humor. At one point, Asterix (Sean Astin) looks at the camera and says, "You know, this is actually a lot easier in the cartoons." This line does not exist in French. It was inserted specifically for English-speaking audiences familiar with the 1976 animated film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix . From a sound engineering perspective, the Asterix at the Olympic Games English dub work is a mixed bag of genius and chaos. Because the film was shot in French, the actors' mouths are visibly forming French syllables. The English actors had to perform a high-wire act of "phonetic dubbing"—changing the English wording to match the French mouth flaps.
Sean Astin has spoken in interviews about the difficulty. "Asterix talks fast," he recalled. "Every two seconds, I had to replace a French vowel sound with an English one. There’s a scene where I yell 'Les Romains!' but my mouth is clearly saying 'Ro-mah.' So I had to yell 'The Ro-mans!' with a weird pause."
For example, in the original French, Obelix makes jokes about Roman aqueducts. In the English dub, Brad Garrett’s Obelix quips about "Roman cable subscriptions" and "lack of Wi-Fi in Gaul." Anachronisms are not mistakes; they are the point.