Translating song lyrics for musical movies is not for the faint of heart

When I watch foreign films, I’m the type who always prefers subtitles. I stay away from dubbed versions. When I was living with my parents, I’d do just about anything to avoid watching dubbed films with them. Why? Because the voices bothered me and I couldn’t soak in what they were saying. Of course I understand very well that dubs are made using quite sophisticated techniques. Sometimes the voice actors chosen and lines from dubs gain a lot of interest.

But something about dubs just rubs me the wrong way. I feel like they hold back or exaggerate compared to the original version. They sound like lines from a musical, and I find it especially tough to watch dubs of realistic films. So when some movies in theaters in Japan would only show dubbed versions, I was a little bit disappointed.

Getting back on track. The other day, I ended up having to watch the dubbed version of a film. To be honest, I was very hesitant at first. I was worried that I might have the urge to cover my ears. But I was able to watch it without feeling like anything was off. In fact, I discovered that there’s something uniquely enjoyable about dubs. I could probably enjoying watching the movie again if I used subtitles. It was quite inspiring actually. The film I watched was “Sing 2.”

It’s the sequel to the musical comedy film “Sing” and was made by the production company that created “Minions.” It was full of classics and popular hits that everyone knows. The story is about a popular local musical theater. The theater director’s dream is to perform a new show at a world-famous theater, but they run into problems because of some coldhearted management. So they begin to look for ways to make performing at the world-class theater a reality. (By the way, the characters are all animals.)

Voice actors for the English version include Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, and U2’s Bono. The Japanese dub featured the voices of Teruyoshi Uchimura, Maaya Sakamoto, Tsukasa Saito, MISIA, Masami Nagasawa, Takuya Ohashi, Mao Daichi, Mayumi Tanaka, and Hiroshi Inaba from B’z. A lot of internationally renowned singers are featured in this film, including Prince, Elton John, U2, Shawn Mendes, Coldplay, Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey, and Billie Eilish, so if you’re at all fond of music, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the songs even if you don't know who’s singing them, and you can enjoy recognizing the songs that you do know.

However, even more enjoyable were the translated songs (probably done especially for the film?) and the voice actors who sang them in such a powerful and heart-touching way that they sounded just as good as the original songs.

Did you know that translating song lyrics for a musical movie is completely different from regular translating? It's incredibly challenging. For example, let’s take a look at the mega-hit movie “Frozen.” A masterpiece is hidden within these translations.

Just translating English into Japanese would create too many characters to try and fit into each song. You need to capture the essence of the lyrics and key messages from the film. When a film is dubbed, the translated lyrics have to match the characters’ mouth movements. If a character’s mouth is in an “o” shape, the translation has to be close to the pronunciation of “o” in Japanese. In addition, dubbing especially has to keep the melody in mind. The phrase “Let it go” has three syllables. With subtitles, you might just need to mind the phrase length, but when it comes to dubbing songs, you have to match them with the melody, so the Japanese translation also needs to be three syllables (e.g.: ko-ke-shi).

Let me explain why the translation of the lyrics “Let it go, Let it go” is so amazing. This song appears in a key scene where Elsa, the main character's sister, undergoes changes at an emotional level and acts as a pivotal part of the movie, putting the emotions of this important character on display for all to see. The translation needs to convey the same emotions as those of the original language, and even a slight discrepancy could change the overall reception of the film. Since the film features a close-up of Elsa that includes her mouth and "go" ends with an “o,” the Japanese version needs to use a word ending with the vowel “o.” Also, according to the dictionary, “let it go” means “to release or leave be,” and as I mentioned earlier, translating it with that nuance would leave out the important emotional connotations and essence of the song. Not only that, but it has to fit the melody of the song (lalala~, lalala~), which means it has to fit into two sets of three syllables.

And what Chikae Takahashi, the film’s translator, came up with was “Ari no, Mama no.” Is that not amazing? I mean, she solved the issue by taking one phrase and splitting it into two. Plus, the meaning behind it is profound. Elsa had magical powers that would turn anything she touched into ice, and after accidentally injuring her little sister with that power as a child, she repressed her powers and locked herself away. But when she leaves her castle, she unleashes her magical powers and uses them to build a castle of ice. "Let it go" is a song that Elsa sings with all she has, expressing the desire of wanting to be herself, to show her true character, and to come out of her shell and live life without having to pretend. The Japanese translation "Ari no, Mama no" captures the essence of “Let it go, Let it go” perfectly, matches the lip movements, and matches the syllable count (and is amazingly split into two phrases), which is remarkable. It’s extremely fascinating. I’ve gotten so excited while writing this that I now have goosebumps.

I just wanted to say that this is the kind of fun you can have with musical movies. Subtitles are one way to enjoy films, but dubbed versions can also be really fun. It's not simply about translating the words, since you have to keep minute details like matching syllable counts and mouth movements in mind too. You need a deep understanding of the overall film, scenes, and characters, knowledge (including cultural knowledge) to translate words into another language, and a rich vocabulary and expressivity that transcend all boundaries. This ability and profession are amazing and deserve great respect.

I hope everyone becomes more aware of the amazing heart and skills of translators and interpreters that are hidden in everyday life. You'll discover a fascinating world. If you haven't seen the dubbed versions of “Sing 2” or “Frozen” yet, I highly recommend you watch them. They’re inspiring works.

Reference:
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/SING/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0:_%E3%83%8D%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%B9%E3%83%86%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8
https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0061364
https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20140426-a070/
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/usuimafumi/20140427-00034832