What's Wrong With International Dubs of Madagascar? 

If you're wondering why I censored some words in the video, it's just that RU-vid limited this video too many times, so I decided to censor as many words as possible.

English: San Diego Spanish: San Diego French: San Diego Italian: San Diego German: San Diego Portugal: San Diego Brazil: *C A L I F O R N I A*

5:20 as a german i have to say it didnt sound weird at all. For me it felt more like he was asking in broken english if he could speak german using a very bad english accent as well. So that scene gave it a new comical twist.

To the German part. Skipper actually says the whole sentence in German. "Sprechen(spreken) Sie Englisch" can be translated to "Do you (formal) speak English". In the German dub they made a mix out of German and English, because "spreken Sie" stays the same, so it's already German, but then instead of using Deutsch, they use the English Word for it. So I think they kinda wanted to keep the wrong pronunciation but could not think of a way to do that in English. It could also be that they wanted to make fun of German people who can't really speak English because these People would have used this kind of sentence.

As a German, I always thought Skipper couldn’t speak English well and talks Denglish(English but mixed with German words pronounced English) which is why he still says ”spreken“

Madagascar has been crazy popular in Russia ever since its original release. One of the reasons is very good dubbing, they hired very famous actors to voice the characters, which made them memorable. You can still see people in Marty puppet costumes in the center of Moscow and Saint Petersburg trying to scam tourists for taking a photo with them😂

In the part 4:36 the Italian dub doesn't say "I'm a Bolshevik" he says "That's Bolshevik stuff"

As a Ukrainian, I can tell it's not "f*ck f*ck". This is how you describe the sound of something falling, slaming, breaking etc, in general, loud unexpected sound. It was used to just show how big a slamsy Moto-moto was, nothing inappropriate.

0:57 to be fair "trah trah" is not as harsh as fuck and not always means that. In russian (which is pretty close to ukrainian) it also can mean to slam something really hard. I remember times when we, as middle schoolers, giggle at teachers saying this word

The german one isn't as confusing as the video makes it out to be. Basically, Skipper can't speak English, so he just wings it by trying to make the german sentence for "do you speak german?" sound a bit english. He creates a mixture of "Speak" and "Sprechen"

I think in russian dub actors just went extra hard, which makes sense, because in Madagascar all characters have rich facial expressions so it's logical that VA have to be more expressive to match that energy, and in russia it's really iconic movie, everyone know the quotes from it

"You are a bolshevik." "😢" Why is that funny.

4:35 actually he’s not talking about himself. He’s defining what the dogs say as stuff that the Bolsheviks would say, as a way to substitute the equivalent of “bullshit” in Italian

1:36 in finnish they say: ''the university has a lecture on general hygiene today'' ''of course we will go throw poo-poo''

I've always interpreted Skippers "Spreken Sie german?" as a joke about him thinking that his foreign language skills are way better than they actually are

Original Skipper: I SAID KISS IT! Polish Skipper: YOUR SISTER!

I mean. The Russians are kinda being honest about the lemurs

0:57 I remember watching it in a cinema as a kid, and being like "yo, what the..." 😆

In Finnish, 1) Zebra who was mistaken for Marty explained Moto Moto means "Hottie Hottie." 2) Mason told there's a lecture about personal hygiene at the university, making that poop joke make sense. 3) Connecticut was kept as Connecticut. 4) Speaking of politically incorrect word choises, in the argument scene Melman called Moto Moto "hot pants" and "H0ttent0t" and referenced Gloria as "ilolintu", which is a Finnish nickname for a pr0stitute. 5) Alex called lemurs "nutcases." 6) Captain Chantel DuBois said: "It wasn't about the money, it was about the lion." 7) Lyrics of "I Like To Move It" were translated in the first movie, and they're sang at the beginning of the second movie. If there's other Finnish speakers, tell what I missed.

Great video. Just a note: at 04:36 he say don't say "I'm a Bolshevik" (sono un bolsevico), he say "Sono bolsevicate" which I don't know how to translate, but the suffix -ate usually indicates "things made by" with a negative acception, so a "bolsevicata" means "thnig made by bolsheviks", which most Italians would perceive as some massacre or war crime

So... the thumbnail was just clickbait? Sure it was. I am german.

The penguins speaking german like this actually sounded funny to me as a german

As a german I would say Skippers and Jakus "spreken" sound more familiar to me than whatever Jaku tried to pronounce "sprechen".

4:35 He says "sono bolsceviccate", he do not calls himself a bolshevik, he is making the same word play as in english between the word "cazzate" (bullshit) and "bolscevichi" (bolshevik) and "sono" here it can be translated with "that's". So the correct translation would be "that's bulshevik", exactly like the original

My favorite part of the Polish dub would be the scene where Melman assumes the beach the group has landed on to be in Sopot. Sopot is a large tourist city north of Gdańsk, famous for it's sandy beaches and cultural events. The closest equivalent I could come up with for Russia would be if Melman assumed they're in Komarovo. Also, weirdly enough, they borrowed some of the jokes form other translations. For example, the chimps escaping the zoo, claim they want to throw dung at Bill Clinton (interesting), and the third group of chimps in the second film are also called Group Chuck Norris. The entire trilogy was translated with these little quirks explaining why all of these movies are still considered cult classics in Poland, much the same way Shrek is considered a must-see if you're Polish.

The russian sub for Madagascar trilogy was indeed awesome. There were a lot of small changes to the dialogues that made it more memorable without losing what the script intended. Also most of the voices are just better.

I'm German and i have no Idea what's wrong with the right Side from the Thumbnail.

I think Polish dubbing is the most interesting one

fun fact: the mexican dub is actually sub-divided into 7 different mexican re-dubs one neutral for most countries, but the other 6 re-dubs change dialogues to fit 6 different countries' slangs, those countries being Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Venezuela, the dub is mostly the same, but they redubbed some scenes to add the respective slang, the funniest part being not that they redubbed it in each country, but that it was the same mexican cast doing the same, so it adds a little more joke hearing mexican actors trying to speak in other countries' slang they actually did the same with the dub of Over the Hedge as well

Never watch Madagascar adaptation again 💀

2:33 Well, the same happens with the Italian dubs of Spongebob and the old Super Mario cartoon, they use the "R" word sometimes too.

Zimbabwean here. Moto translate to fire in the chishona language here, so dude is essentially calling himself fire fire 😂 just realized this while watching this video 😅

as a greek who has watched a lot of movies both in greek and english as well as other european countries, such changes are pretty common withing different dubs! they either happen because there are different expressions in different languages, having some fun, as well as making it more relatable and funny to local audiences

Madagascar is also highly popular in Poland, because of the great dub, and especially the spin-off tv shows Penguins of Madagascar and All Hail King Julien; sometimes I even have a feeling that more adults actually watch Penguins than kids, because of the great dub.

Polish version of the Madagascar series is also worth watching! It contains a lot of references

4:35 Actually, when he says "Sono Bolshevikate" he isn't refering to himself. The "ATE" at the end is a reference to the fact that "Stronzate" means "Bullshit" in Italian. So "BolshevikATE" like "StronzATE", get it? That's the way they adapted the joke 😅 I know this because I'm Italian MYSELF 😂

Do it with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. In the Brazilian Portuguese dub Perrito's swears are uncensored, instead he keeps saying the word "bosta", which means something like "shit" or "crap"

2:06 That was also in Russian dub of Madagascar 1 As a russian i can confirm it. P.S. Привет!

Rewatched the third movie yesterday and noticed that Vitaly says "Soviet kommts noch" (So weit kommt's noch) in the german version which is also pretty funny.

Yh i think as a german i would remember if motomoto was called FuckFuck -_-

as a Polish person, early DreamWorks movies like Madagascar and Shrek are quoted till this day do to how funny and iconic their dubs where (translators where not fuking araud)

Interesting fact. The penguins are subbed be a famous German hip hop group called die fantastischen vier (engl. the fantastic four)

the spreken is used as a joke like when people in shows talk to aliens like "you. speak. english?"

In the first move when marvin and alex reunited in the spanish version marvin says “miercoles” that means wensday and in “miercoles” is used to say “shit” or “mierda” in spanish In the third movie in on of the scenes skipers says “ridel me that” but in spanish he says “matame esa” or “kill me that one”

0:52 I remember how I laughed at that moment every time I watched it

In America Lions are in Zoos. In Soviet Russia Lions are mounted on walls as Trophies.

As a Ukrainian, I can answer that the topic of "sex" is not so taboo here, for example, you can familiarize yourself with one of our national holidays, the night of Ivan Kupala. Therefore, instead of tormenting people with hints, our translators explained everything directly and without embellishments.

4:23 Makes sense why Ukranians would hate Bolsheviks .Same way Czechs would hate Nazis .

1:56 well there is a specific island...

2:17 in Norwegian, Alex refer to them a clowns saying: "Vi må spørre disse klovnene hvor folka er" which translate to: "We must ask these clowns where the people are"

in polish version of the first movie in the scene where they find the spider on Alex's back, he says "tickets for inspection, please" and then everyone screams in panic. One of my favourite dubs of all times - not to forget a whole bunch of PRL (polish communist republic) jokes it contains

Vitaly's quote in Polish is IMO way more funnier than original, as he said "Bolszewickie brednie", which roughtly translates into "Bolshie BS"

Fun fact: At the end of Madagascar 1 when Alex eats sushi, Skipper says in the German version "Die Muschi steht auf Sushi" witch translates exactly to "The pussy likes sushi" with the same double meaning for cat.

In Estonian dub Vitali says "It's Jewish talk"

In the castillian Spanish version, they actually say Connecticut, and the 3d monkey group is called 'Steve Mcqueen'

You can really tell how geopolitically stupid the general population of the various countries are when the only country to not use Bolshevik is the Russian dub, and that isn’t even because usage makes no sense.

4:35 i can say as an italian, he didn't refer to himself as a bolshevik, instead he said "that's bolshevik stuff"

Vitaly doesn't refer to himself as bolshevik, he said the exact same thing he says in english "Sono bolscevicate". "Sono" depending on context can either mean "it's" or "i am", in this case it means "it's", so in the end he said the same thing as the eng version.

The say spreken in the German version too since they don’t know who he is or what he is and are trying to speak to him but think he speaks a different language so they ask with an accent type. Dude it’s hard to explain but trust me it makes perfect sense

Some Polish Translations Fun Fact: Moto Moto is said to mean "Ciacho, Ciacho" which translates to "Hot Guy" In first Movie when team arrives on Beach Melman guesses They are in Sopot, an famous Polish Vacation spot and Gloria asks where is "Molo" a well known Sopot attraction by beach. In First Movie in scene where Penguins arrive on their destination They added Private saing in confused voice "Biało dość..." (Quite white here...) In Polish Monkey Team was also Named Chuck Norris. King Julien song "I like to move it, it" in Poland was fully dubbed and was crazy popular and King Julien was pretty big meme along with Penguins.

Me as someone who understands german, english and russian think indeed that the russian translation is way better made because it's funnier and more relatable

I like how english people laugh at germans who speak english, but they get real quiet after I just say ONE german word.

5:13 This is supposed to be a joke. This happens often in such scenes. Becuase most of the Germas cant speak Englisch very well

Skipper is a goat in the polish adaptations

in series penguins of madagascar in episode "popcorn panic" (pilot episode) in original version, king Julien says after finding penguins by smell "This... reeks of fishy-flightless-bird-type creatures" in Polish translation they put "Tak pachną pingwiny i niektóre zakonnice" (translation "this is a smell of penguins and some nuns") so yeah, guy that made translation of Polish version needs a rise

In Hindi/Urdu moto means fat so moto moto translate's to fat fat so everytime someone says this guy's name I can't help but laugh

4:35 wrong In Italian he's saying the same thing in English but translared, he's not referring himself as a Bolshevik

>Me, russian >Oh, ukrainian dub shouldn't have too much of WTF moments, i remember our version after all, they are probably comparable >0:57

Madagascar is very popular here in Czechia as well! Moto moto is called "Super male" :D

Well, you always make us tough and harsh people, that's why we voiced it so harshly

5:15 We get stuff like that quite often, In Scrubs and Malcolm in the Middle they made them swedish so the jokes would still kinda work. But especially in WW2-context they are often translating german to german.

Well im german and when i was a child and watched it i didn't knowtice anything ._.

The penguins of Madagascar are voiced by the members of a popular German rap band. Note that there are four penguins, but only three of them ever speak in the movie. Rico never really talks. They made this an inside joke because the rap band also has four members, but only three of them are ever seen rapping and singing on stage. So Rico is dubbed by the band member who never actually performs, because he's just the producer of the band and acts as a DJ during their live performances.

1:30 In the Hungarian dub, the monkeys wish to throw feces at people on a lecture about evolution.

In German it works perfectly, it actually sounds like the opposite, like he is trying to speak english with a broken german accent and "denglish". just like in Russia in Germany it is also held in higher regard.

Madagascar is such a funny movie

(4:12) It's a pun in English, so you can't exactly translate it unless you're lucky. As shown in Ukrainian, that just doesn't seem to make sense?

In the German Version Vitali says ,,Sovjet kommts noch!" instead of ,,Soweit kommts noch!", which could be translatet to ,,We won't let this happen." But the sovjet reference is pretty funny

Note: the tiger's translation makes sense in Italian, it actually it's the best out of the many. I'll explain, in Italian we say "cazzate/a" to "label" an action or way of thinking as foolish or nonsensical. What the Italian translation did is a pretty common blend of that and the word Bolshevik. Resulting in "bolscevicate" meaning stuff only Bolsheviks do, though this form also implies a negative connotation. This way of attributing an action to something is not such an uncommon form un the Italian language. Though not used very often. But it was a very accurate translation of the original intent.

Wasn't expecting the literal "down" slur, it was kinda popular in 90s, but not in 00s. I thought he'll say "morons".

I'm a translator, also qualified interpreter but not practicing. Russians usually have trouble with localization. If you look at Harry Potter, the various and creative names for spells, place names and person names aren't translated whatsoever. They are simply transcribed with russian letters. It is the greatest travesty of "what could have been" that I can think of in recent translation history

In the German dub, there are two tiny extra lines in the first movie. When Alex sits in front of his help sign he mutters "Hilfe" (Help) in a sad voice while muttering "Hölle" (hell) in an annoyed voice once the "p" crashes down. In the English dub there are no lines in this scene. It was possible done because the word hell also exists in German with a completely different meaning (light as in the opposite of dark).

1:57 “proposed British English 🇬🇧I heard Boris Johnson is on holiday and is in the station’s atrium. well of course. we’re going to throw our own crap at him. Silly Phil”

1:45 Georgian dub:,,i think the protests are starting in front of the parliament...Right let's go and shoot poops at them" (to the politicians)

Just here to say moto Motos German name is moto moto

Him: I worked really hard on this one! His work: 😐😶📺

Fun fact: in swedish they just call him moto moto and his description is just hot and sexy appearently.

Weird, I could have sworn they spoke broken english in the scene where Marty meets the penguins: "Du, Säugetier. Speaken sie german?" "Na klar speake ich!"

In Russian word "Dawn" is really popular for not very clever man or imbicile. And actually it's not so offensive comparing to English. Look, if someone drive on red streetlight instead of green he is called "Daltonik" for the Daltonism desiese.

i really never realized that the OG madagascar movie from a million years ago used the internet term "Bozo"!

Interestingly the german dub of the movie is also a lot closer to the tone of the russion one XD I watched the german and russian one often and the english voice seams so wrong to me XD

"I'm A Bolshevik!" - Vitaly, 2012.

1:00 well. if that's over the line you should see the opening scene in the danish kids movie called "ternet ninja" targeted at kids 11 and over. in the opening the villain literally beat a child labour to death in a sweatshop in thailand with a cane. different TV culture...

The Tiger in Italy: 🗿🍷

The funny part in german by skipper was that he thought they where in another country so he hgask if he speaks german in a slightly more english accent^^

1:05 It’s actually because using curse words isn’t as offensive in countries like Japan as it is here in the US.

In the turkish version, Marty says ”What dedin gülüm?” after the penguins dig a tunnel.

Whats up with the thumbnail though? In the german version Moto Moto is also just translated as "hot, hot" like in the english version.

Dude, you missed whole iceberg of dubbing by not watching Polish version of "Madagascar", it's absolutely legendary.

Correction on the italian Tiger one. He says "Sono bolshevikate". The problem with "sono" in italian is that it both refer to "i am" than "they are". It may get very confusing for not native speaker, but since "bolscevicate" is a plural noun, I can tell you with no problem he meant to say "these are bolshevik-ish things". Probably - i don't remember the scene - the Tiger thinks that what was said to him sounds kinda Bolshevik and he insult em for that. It's a minor thing that easily confuse strangers. Big props to you for knowing so many languages. I can only speak Italian (of course, i AM italian xD), English and sssssooooooooooome Spanish