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Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to create the final product.
Often this process is performed on films by replacing the original language to offer voiced-over translations. After sound editors edit and prepare all the necessary tracks—dialogue, automated dialogue replacement (ADR), effects, foley, and music—the dubbing mixers proceed to balance all of the elements and record the finished soundtrack.
While dubbing and ADR are similar processes that focus on enhancing and replacing dialogue audio, ADR is a process in which the original actors re-record and synchronize audio segments. This allows filmmakers to replace unclear dialogue if there are issues with the script, background noise, or the original recording.
The term "dubbing" also commonly refers to the replacement of actors' voices with those of different performers, typically reciting their dialogue in a different language from the original for international audiences.
When a voice is created from scratch for animations, the term "original voice" is used, since these media are often partially finished before the voice is implemented. The voice work would still be part of the creation process, thus being considered the official voice.
In many countries, dubbing was adopted, at least in part, for political reasons. In authoritarian states such as Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain, dubbing could be used to enforce particular ideological agendas, excising negative references to the nation and its leaders and promoting standardized national languages at the expense of local dialects and minority languages. In post-Nazi Germany, dubbing was used to downplay events in the country's recent past, as in the case of the dub of Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, where the Nazi organization upon which the film's plot centers was changed to a drug smuggling enterprise. The first post-WWII movie dub was Konstantin Zaslonov (1949) dubbed from Russian into the Czech language.
In Western Europe after World War II, dubbing was attractive to many film producers as it helped to enable co-production between companies in different countries, in turn allowing them to pool resources and benefit from financial support from multiple governments. The use of dubbing meant that multi-national casts could be assembled and were able to use their preferred language for their performances, with appropriate post-production dubs being carried out before distributing versions of the film.
In conventional film production, a production sound mixer records dialogue during filming. During post-production, a supervising sound editor, or ADR supervisor, reviews all of the dialogue in the film and decides which lines must be re-recorded. ADR is recorded during an ADR session, which takes place in a specialized Recording studio. Multiple takes are recorded, and the most suitable take becomes the final version, or portions of various takes may be edited together. The ADR process does not always take place in a post-production studio. The process may be recorded on location with mobile equipment. ADR can also be recorded without showing the actor the image they must match, but by having them listen to the performance, since some actors believe that watching themselves act can degrade subsequent performances. The director may be present during ADR; alternatively, they may leave it up to a trusted sound editor, an ADR specialist, and the performers.
the automated process includes various techniques, such as automatically displaying lines on-screen for the talent, automated cues, shifting the audio track for accurate synchronization, and time-fitting algorithms for stretching or compressing portions of a spoken line. There is software that can sort outspoken words from ambient sounds in the original filmed soundtrack, detect the peaks of the dialog, and automatically time-fit the new dubbed performance to the original to create accurate synchronization.
Sometimes, an actor other than the original actor is used during ADR. One example is the Star Wars character Darth Vader, portrayed by David Prowse with a full costume and full face mask; in post-production, James Earl Jones dubbed the voice of Vader. In India, the process is simply known as "dubbing", while in the United Kingdom, it is also called "post-synchronization" or "post-sync". The insertion of voice acting performances for animation, such as computer-generated imagery or , is often referred to as ADR although it generally does not replace existing dialogue.
The ADR process may be used to:
Other examples include:
Studio time is used more efficiently, since with the aid of scrolling text, picture, and audio cues, actors can read more lines per hour than with ADR alone (only picture and audio). With ADR, actors can average 10–12 lines per hour, while rythmo band can facilitate the reading of 35-50 lines per hour.
Sometimes the translator performs all five tasks. In other cases, the translator just submits a rough translation, and a dialogue writer does the rest. However, the language expertise of translator and dialog writing is different; translators must be proficient in the source language, while dialog writers must be proficient in the target language.
Another task of dialogue writers is to check whether a translation matches an on-screen character's mouth movements or not, by reading aloud simultaneously with the character. The dialogue writer often stays in the recording setting with the actors or the voice talents, to ensure that the dialogue is being spoken in the way that it was written to be, and to avoid any ambiguity in the way the dialogue is to be read (focusing on emphasis, intonation, pronunciation, articulation, pronouncing foreign words correctly, etc.). The overall goal is to make sure the script creates the illusion of authenticity of the spoken language. A successful localization product gives the impression that the original character is naturally speaking in the target language. Therefore, in the localization process, the position of the dialogue writing or song writing is important.
Dub localization is a contentious issue in cinephilia among aficionados of foreign filmmaking and television programs, particularly anime fans. While some localization is virtually inevitable in translation, the controversy surrounding how much localization is "too much" is often discussed in such communities, especially when the final dub product is significantly different from the original. Some fans frown on any extensive localization, while others expect it, and to varying degrees, appreciate it.
The new voice track is usually spoken by a voice actor. In many countries, actors who regularly perform this duty remain little-known, with the exception of particular circles (such as anime fandom) or when their voices have become synonymous with roles or actors whose voices they usually dub. In the United States, many of these voice artists may employ pseudonyms or go uncredited due to Screen Actors Guild regulations or the desire to dissociate themselves from the role.
Beginning in the 1980s, dubbed series and movies for children in Modern Standard Arabic became a popular choice among most TV channels, cinemas and VHS/DVD stores. However, dubbed films are still imported, and dubbing is still performed in the Levant countries with a strong tradition of dubbing (mainly Syria and Jordan). Egypt was the first Arab country in charge of dubbing Disney movies in 1975 and used to do it exclusively in Egyptian Arabic rather than Modern Standard Arabic until 2011, and since then many other companies started dubbing their productions in this dialect. Beginning with Encanto, Disney movies are now dubbed in both dialects.
In the Arabic-speaking countries, children's shows (mainly cartoons and kids sitcoms) are dubbed in Arabic, or Arabic subtitles are used. The only exception was telenovelas dubbed in Standard Arabic, or dialects, but also Turkish series, most notably Gümüş, in Syrian Arabic.
An example of Arabic voice actors that dub for certain performers is Safi Mohammed for Elijah Wood.
In Tunisia, the Tunisia National Television (TNT), the public broadcaster of Tunisia, is not allowed to show content in any language other than Arabic, which forces it to broadcast only dubbed content (this restriction was recently removed for commercials). During the 1970s and 1980s, TNT (known as ERTT at the time) started dubbing famous cartoons in Tunisian and Standard Arabic. However, in the private sector, television channels are not subject to the language rule.
As a result of the boycott by the United Kingdom actors' union Equity, which banned the sale of most British television programs, the puppet series The Adventures of Rupert Bear was dubbed into South African English, as the original voices had been recorded by Equity voice artists.
This practice has declined as a result of the reduction of airtime for the language on SABC TV, and the increase of locally produced material in Afrikaans on other channels like KykNet. Similarly, many programs, such as The Jeffersons, were dubbed into Zulu language, but this has also declined as local drama production has increased. However, some animated films, such as Maya the Bee, have been dubbed in both Afrikaans and Zulu by local artists. Maya the Bee flick dubbed into Afrikaans and Zulu for SA audience, Channel24, 18 September 2015 In 2018, eExtra began showing the Turkish drama series Paramparça dubbed in Afrikaans as Gebroke Harte or "Broken Hearts", the first foreign drama to be dubbed in the language for twenty years. eExtra's brand new 'KuierTyd' premieres soon , Nextv News, 1 October 2018
In 2006, a law was introduced requiring all foreign content on TV channels to be dubbed or voice-overed in Azerbaijani. Following this, most channels switched to Azerbaijani voice-over to follow the new rules. Survey: TV channels are prepared to broadcast films only in Azerbaijani — APA, 02 May 2007
In 2011, a similar law was passed for cinemas. But it didn’t have much effect due to the local dubbing industry not being well developed yet. Kinoteatrlarda tətbiq olunan dublyaj və subtitrlər hansı problemlərə səbəb olur? - ARAŞDIRMA - VİDEO — Report.az, 6 sentyabr 2016 Instead, foreign films were mostly shown with Azerbaijani subtitles, while some cinemas offered Turkish or Russian dubs as an option. Azerbaijani dubbed movies in cinemas are still rare.
Dubbed home media was also uncommon and usually came from imports from Russia or Turkey.
Since the mid-2010s, TV channels started offering more full and better-quality Azerbaijani dubs for shows and movies.
In 2017, the local streaming platform TVSeans began streaming movies and shows with full Azerbaijani dubbing, mainly done by Balans Studio. Balans Studio – Professional dubbing services While full dubs became more common on TV and streaming, home media releases with full dubs remained limited.
Motion pictures are also dubbed into the languages of some of China's autonomous regions. Notably, the Translation Department of the Tibetan Autonomous Region Movie Company (西藏自治区电影公司译制科) Confucius the Movie: China Flop Dubbed at the State's Expense for Tibetan Movie-goers , 22 November 2013 has been dubbing movies into the Standard Tibetan since the 1960s. In the early decades, it would dub 25 to 30 movies each year, the number rising to 60–75 by the early 2010s. China Focus: Dubbed movies spice up life for Tibetans, Xinhua News Agency, 24 February 2013.
Motion pictures are dubbed for China's Mongol- and Uyghur language markets as well.
Chinese television dramas are often dubbed in putonghua by professional voice actors to remove accents, improve poor performances, or change lines to comply with local censorship laws.
For the most part, foreign films and TV programs, both live-action and animated, are generally dubbed in both Mandarin and Cantonese. For example, in The Lord of the Rings film series, Elijah Wood's character Frodo Baggins was dubbed into Mandarin by Jiang Guangtao for China and Taiwan. For the Cantonese localization, there were actually two dubs for Hong Kong and Macau. In the first Cantonese dub, he was voiced by Leung Wai Tak, while in the second Cantonese dub, he was voiced by Bosco Tang.
In the 2000s, the dubbing practice has differed depending on the nature and origin of the program. Animations, children's shows and some educational programs on PTS are mostly dubbed. English live-action movies and shows are not dubbed in theaters or on television. Japanese TV dramas are no longer dubbed, while Korean language dramas, Hong Kong dramas and dramas from other Asian countries are still often dubbed. Korean variety shows are not dubbed. Japanese and Korean films on Asian movie channels are still dubbed. In theaters, most foreign films are not dubbed, while animated films and some films meant for children offer a dubbed version. Hong Kong live-action films have a long tradition of being dubbed into Mandarin, while more famous films offer a Cantonese version.
Most TV channels mention neither the Indian-language dubbing credits, nor its staff, at the end of the original ending credits, since changing the credits casting for the original actors or voice actors involves a huge budget for modifying, making it somewhat difficult to find information for the dubbed versions. The same situation is encountered in films. Sometimes foreign programs and films receive more than one dub, such as for example, Jumanji, Dragonheart and Van Helsing having two Hindi dubs. Information for the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu voice actors who have done the voices for specific actors and for their roles on foreign films and television programs are published in local Indian data magazines, for those that are involved in the dubbing industry in India. But on a few occasions, there are some foreign productions that do credit the dubbing cast, such as animated films like the Barbie films, and some Disney films. Disney Channel original series released on DVD with their Hindi dubs show a list of the artists in the Hindi dub credits, after the original ending credits. Theatrical releases and VCD releases of foreign films do not credit the dubbing cast or staff. The DVD releases, however, do have credits for the dubbing staff, if they are released multilingual. As of recently, information for the dubbing staff of foreign productions have been expanding due to high demands of people wanting to know the voice actors behind characters in foreign works.
When it comes to reality shows, whether the show is dubbed or not differs. For example, the Japanese competition show TV Champion is fully dubbed, while other reality shows are aired with Indonesian subtitles. All Malay language TV shows, including animated ones (mostly coming from neighbouring Malaysia), are subtitled instead, likely due to the language's mutual intelligibility with Indonesian.
The most famous musicals of the time, such as My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music, were translated, adjusted and performed in Persian by the voice artists. Since the 1990s, for political reasons and under pressure from the state, the dubbing industry has declined, with movies dubbed only for the state TV channels. During recent years, DVDs with Persian subtitles have found a market among viewers for the same reason, but most people still prefer the Persian-speaking dubbed versions. Recently, privately operated companies started dubbing TV series by hiring famous dubbers. However, the dubs which these companies make are often unauthorized and vary greatly in terms of quality.
A list of Persian voice actors that associate with their actor counterparts are listed here.
Due to the lack of video software for domestic television, video software was imported from abroad. When the television program was shown on television, it was mostly dubbed. There was a character limit for a small TV screen at a lower resolution, and this method was not suitable for the poor elderly and illiterate, as was audio dubbing. Presently, TV shows and movies (both those aimed at all ages and adults-only) are shown dubbed with the original language and Japanese subtitles, while providing the original language option when the same film is released on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray. LaserDisc releases of Hollywood films were almost always subtitled, films like .
Adult cartoons such as South Park and The Simpsons are shown dubbed in Japanese on the WOWOW TV channel. was dubbed in Japanese by different actors instead of the same Japanese dubbing-actors from the cartoon because it was handled by a different Japanese dubbing studio, and it was marketed for the Kansai region market. In Japanese theaters, foreign-language movies, except those intended for children, are usually shown in their original version with Japanese subtitles. Foreign films usually contain multiple Japanese-dubbing versions, but with several different original Japanese-dubbing voice actors, depending upon which TV station they are aired. NHK, Nippon TV, Fuji TV, TV Asahi, and TBS usually follow this practice, as do software releases on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray Disc. As for recent foreign films being released, there are now some film theaters in Japan that show both dubbed and subtitled editions.
On 22 June 2009, 20th Century Fox's Japanese division has opened up a Blu-ray lineup known as "Emperor of Dubbing", dedicated at having multiple Japanese dubs of popular English-language films (mostly Hollywood films) as well as retaining the original scripts, releasing them altogether in special Blu-ray releases. These also feature a new dub created exclusively for that release as a director's cut, or a new dub made with a better surround sound mix to match that of the original English mix (as most of the older Japanese dubbings were made on mono mixes to be aired on TV). Other companies have followed practice, like Universal Pictures's Japanese division NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan opening up "Reprint of Memories", along with Warner Bros. Japan having "Power of Dubbing", which act in a similar way by re-packaging all the multiple Japanese dubs of popular films and putting them out as Special Blu-ray releases.
"Japanese dub-over artists" provide the voices for certain performers, such as those listed in the following table:
Lebanon is a unique case in the global media landscape, as it is one of the few countries where both children’s shows and international programming are rarely dubbed. Instead, content is typically broadcast in its original language. When the original language is not English—such as in the case of anime—Arabic, French, or English subtitles are usually provided. This multilingual approach reflects Lebanon’s diverse linguistic culture and audience preferences. Dubbing was more common during the 1980s, particularly for children’s shows aired during the Lebanese Civil War. However, in recent decades, it has become increasingly rare. Among many Lebanese, especially in urban areas, dubbing is often perceived as lowbrow or associated with less cosmopolitan, rural, or lower-income audiences, and is sometimes dismissed as being “for nawar” (a colloquial and pejorative term referring to marginalized or ghetto communities).
Since the late 1990s, more originally English-language programs broadcast on major free-to-air networks (e.g. ABS-CBN, GMA Network, TV5) have been dubbed into Filipino. Even the former Studio 23 (now S+A), once known for airing programs in English, had later adopted Filipino dubbing for some of its foreign programs. Anime series shown on ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5 have long been dubbed into Filipino. Dubbing has also been less common in smaller free-to-air networks such as the former RPN 9 (now RPTV) whereby the original-language version of the program is aired. from Latin America (including Mexico) were also dubbed into Filipino.
Sometimes, video games are dubbed in Korean. Examples would be the Halo series, the Jak & Daxter series, and the God of War series. For the Halo games, Lee Jeong Gu provides his Korean voice to the main protagonist Master Chief (replacing Steve Downes's voice), while Kim So Hyeong voices Chieftain Tartarus, one of the main antagonists (replacing Kevin Michael Richardson's voice).
The following South Korean voice-over artists are usually identified with the following actors:
This list features a collection of Thai voice actors and actresses that have dubbed for these featured performers.
Sooner afterwards, more programs started to get dubbed. Also dubbed into Vietnamese are most films and TV series produced in Asia-Pacific countries such as China and Japan, most notably HTV3 offers anime dubbed into Vietnamese. Pokémon got a Vietnamese dub in early 2014 on HTV3 starting with the Best Wishes series. While characters kept their original names, due to a controversy regarding Pokémon's cries being re-dubbed, it was switched to VTV2 in September 2015 when the XY series debuted. Sailor Moon also has been dubbed for HTV3 in early 2015.
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In the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium (Flanders), movies and TV series are shown in their original language with subtitles, with the exception of most movies made for a young audience. In the latter case, sometimes separate versions are recorded in the Netherlands and in Flanders (for instance, several Walt Disney films and Harry Potter films). These dubbed versions only differ from each other in their use of different voice actors and different pronunciation, while the text is almost the same.
In the French-speaking part of Belgium (Wallonia), the movies shown in theaters and on TV are the French dubbed version (dubbed by French voice actors). Except for a few words, the French language language spoken in France and in Belgium are similar. The amount of movies in original language with subtitles in theaters is extremely limited and most theaters only show movies dubbed in French.
After November 10, 1991, there was a large-scale influx of American animation production in Bulgaria, which can be classified as follows:
A/ Films that in the years of the Iron Curtain either did not reach Bulgaria or were not dubbed according to the generally accepted world standard. For example: Sleeping Beauty /1959/, One Hundred and One Dalmatians /1961/, Jungle Book /1967/, The Aristocats /1970/, Robin Hood /1973/ and many others entered the Bulgarian market after 1991.
B/ New first-run films created after 1991: Ice Age, Toy Story, Tangled, The Lion King, Mulan, etc.
After 1991, BNT was the first to obtain the rights to voice and broadcast Disney series - 101 Dalmatians, Woody Woodpecker, Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry, etc. The first full-length animated films were dubbed at Boyana Film Studio, Dolly Media Studio (1992) and Ars Digital Studio (1994). In 1999, Alexandra Audio Studio took over the Disney production from BNT, which lost the rights to do the voice-overs due to a highly outdated technology park. In 2019 Andarta Studio joined the sound business, and in 2005 Profilms Studio, which are still working.
On 1 October 2008, Nova TV launched its sister channel Mini TV, the first Croatian television channel for children with programming entirely dubbed into Croatian. RTL followed suit with the launch of RTL Kockica in 2014.
Since the 2010s, the dubbing of live-action television series and films aimed at children, teenagers and young adults has been on the rise. With the launch of Nickelodeon's Croatian audio track in 2011, Studio NET was the first in Croatia to focus on "serious production of live-action dubbing," with most of Nickelodeon's major teen live-action titles such as iCarly (2007–2012), Sam & Cat (2013–2014), The Thundermans (2013–2018) and Victorious (2010–2013) receiving a Croatian dub. With the rise of streaming television in the 2020s, NET and various other studios also began producing Croatian dubs for Netflix; although the focus is still on dubbing animated series and films, a notable amount of live-action programming aimed at younger audiences has also been dubbed for Netflix, such as Chupa (2023), Geek Girl (2024), Heartstopper (2022–2024), I Woke Up a Vampire (2023), Matilda the Musical (2022) and (2023). However, to this day, all television programming and theatre releases aimed at adult audiences are still released with subtitles.
Some of Croatian dubbing is also broadcast in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In television programs with off-screen narration, both the original audio and on-screen voices are usually subtitled in their native languages.
The Nordic countries are often treated as a common market issuing DVD and Blu-ray releases with original audio and user choosable subtitle options in Danish language, Finnish language, Norwegian and Swedish language. The covers often have text in all four languages as well, but are sometimes unique for each country. Some releases may include other European language audio and/or subtitles (i.e. German, Greek, Hungarian or Italian). as well as original audio in most cases.
In Finland, the dubbed version from Sweden may also be available at certain cinemas for children of the 5% Swedish-speaking minority, but only in cities or towns with a significant percentage of Swedish speakers. Most DVD and Blu-ray releases usually only have the original audio, except for animated television series telenovelas, which have both Finnish and Swedish language tracks, in addition to the original audio and subtitles in both languages.
In Finnish movie theaters, films for adult audiences have both Finnish and Swedish subtitles, the Finnish printed in basic font and the Swedish printed below the Finnish in a cursive font. In the early ages of television, foreign TV shows and movies were voiced by narrator in Finland. Later, Finnish subtitles became a practice on Finnish television. As in many other countries, dubbing is not preferred outside of children's programs. A good example of this is The Simpsons Movie. While the original version was well-received, the Finnish-dubbed version received poor reviews, with some critics even calling it a disaster. On the other hand, many dubs of Disney's animated television series and movies have been well-received, both critically and by the public.
In Iceland, the dubbed version of film and TV was originally Danish language with some translated into Icelandic but Icelandic has taken over. LazyTown, an Icelandic TV show originally filmed in English, was dubbed into Icelandic, amongst thirty-two other languages.
While on TV, children's shows and movies are always dubbed, in cinemas, films with a clear juvenile target can be found in two versions, one dubbed (identified by the letters V.P. for versão portuguesa - "Portuguese version") and another subtitled version (V.O. for versão original - "original version"). This duality applies only to juvenile films. Others use subtitles only. While the quality of these dubs is recognized (some have already received international recognition and prizes), original versions with subtitles are usually preferred by the adults. Presently, live action series and movies are always shown in their original language format with Portuguese subtitles. Streaming services also offer some content for adults dubbed in Portuguese, although there they provide an option to select the original language. There are also a few examples of Anime which were dubbed into European Portuguese (i.e. Dragon Ball and Naruto) Netflix is now offering foreign language films aimed at older audiences and TV series (M/12, M/14 and M/16) dubbed into Portuguese in addition to offering the original version with subtitles.
Some programmes that are broadcast on The Fishing & Hunting Channel are subtitled. TV Paprika used to broadcast voice-overed programmes, but it was replaced with subtitles.
Some promos for films shown on TV1000 use voice-overs; but the films are subtitled. Examples shown here, at 2:11, 4:25, 5:09 and 7:15. Kanal D tried in March 2023 to introduce the first Turkish series dubbed in Romanian, Kirmizi Oda, but it failed after the criticism received on social media from viewers and low ratings. As result, the series went on a subtitled version after two episodes.
The dubbing of cartoon series in former Yugoslavia during the 1980s had a twist of its own: famous actors, such as Nikola Simić, Mića Tatić, Nada Blam and others provided the voices for characters of Disney, Warner Bros., MGM and other companies, frequently using region-specific phrases and sentences and, thus, adding a dose of local humor to the translation of the original lines. These phrases became immensely popular and are still being used for tongue-in-cheek comments in specific situations. These dubs are today considered cult dubs. The only dub made after 1980s and 1990s ones that has a cult following is the SpongeBob SquarePants dub, broadcast by B92 between 2002 and 2017, because of the memorable translation with regional humor, akin to the translations seen in 1980s Yugoslavian dubs.
Some Serbian dubs are also broadcast in North Macedonia, while cult dubs made during Yugoslavia were aired all over the country (today's Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Serbia).
In the 21st-century, prominent dubbing/voice actors in Serbia include actors Marko Marković, Vladislava Đorđević, Jelena Gavrilović, Dragan Vujić, Milan Antonić, Boris Milivojević, Radovan Vujović, Goran Jevtić, Ivan Bosiljčić, Gordan Kičić, Slobodan Stefanović, Dubravko Jovanović, Dragan Mićanović, Slobodan Ninković, Branislav Lečić, Jakov Jevtović, Ivan Jevtović, Katarina Žutić, Anica Dobra, Voja Brajović, Nebojša Glogovac and Dejan Lutkić.
Some animated films and TV programs are also dubbed into Welsh language and Scottish Gaelic.
Hinterland displays a not so common example of a bilingual production. Each scene is filmed twice, in the English and Welsh languages, apart from a few scenes where Welsh with subtitles is used for the English version.
Almost all theaters show movies with their French dubbing ("VF", short for version française). Some of them also offer screenings in the original language ("VO", short for version originale), generally accompanied with French subtitles ("VOST"
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, foreign television programs, except for English-language and Mandarin television programs, are dubbed in Cantonese. English-language and Mandarin programs are generally shown in original with subtitles. Foreign films, such as most live-action and animated films (such as anime and Disney), are usually dubbed in Cantonese. However, most cinemas also offer subtitled versions of English-language films.
Taiwan
Taiwan dubs some foreign films and TV series in Mandarin Chinese. Until the mid-1990s, the major national terrestrial channels both dubbed and subtitled all foreign programs and films, and, for some popular programs, the original voices were offered in second audio program. Gradually, however, both terrestrial and cable channels stopped dubbing for prime time U.S. shows and films, while subtitling continued.
Georgia
In Georgia, original soundtracks are kept in films and TV series, but with voice-over translation. There are exceptions, such as some children's cartoons.
India
In India, where "foreign films" are synonymous with "Hollywood films", dubbing is done mostly in Hindi language, Tamil language and Telugu language. Dubbing is rarely done with the other major Indian languages, namely Bengali language, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi language, and Odia language, due to lack of significant market size. Despite this, some Kannada language and Malayalam dubs of children television programs can be seen on the Sun TV channel. The dubbed versions are released into the towns and lower tier settlements of the respective states (where English penetration is low), often with the English-language originals released in the metropolitan areas. In all other states, the English originals are released along with the dubbed versions, where often the dubbed version collections are more outstanding than the originals. Spider-Man 3 was also done in the Bhojpuri language, a language popular in East India in addition to Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. A Good Day to Die Hard, the most recent installment in the Die Hard franchise, was the first ever Hollywood film to receive a Punjabi language dub as well.
Indonesia
Unlike movie theaters in most Asian countries, those in Indonesia show foreign movies with subtitles. Then a few months or years later, those movies appear on TV either dubbed in Indonesian or subtitled. Kids shows are mostly dubbed, though even in cartoon series, songs typically are not dubbed, but in hit movies such as Disney movies, both speaking and singing voice are cast for the Indonesian dub. Adult films are mostly subtitled but sometimes they can be dubbed as well, and because there are not many Indonesian voice actors, multiple characters might have the exact same voice.
Iran
In Iran, International foreign films and television programs are dubbed in Persian language. Dubbing began in 1946 with the advent of movies and cinemas in the country. Since then, foreign movies have always been dubbed for the cinema and TV foreign films and television programs are subtitled in Persian language. Using various voice actors and adding local hints and witticisms to the original contents, dubbing played a major role in attracting people to the cinemas and developing an interest in other cultures. The dubbing art in Iran reached its apex during the 1960s and 1970s with the inflow of American, European and Hindi movies.
Israel
In Israel, only children's movies and TV programming are dubbed in Hebrew language. In programs aimed at teenagers and adults, dubbing is never considered for translation, not only because of its high costs, but also because the audience is mainly multi-lingual. Most viewers in Israel speak at least one European language in addition to Hebrew, and a large part of the audience also speaks Arabic language. Therefore, most viewers prefer to hear the original soundtrack, aided by Hebrew subtitles. Another problem is that dubbing does not allow for translation into two different languages simultaneously, as is often the case of Israeli television channels that use subtitles in Hebrew and another language (like Russian language) simultaneously.
Japan
In Japan, many television programs appear on Japanese television subtitled or dubbed if they are intended for children. When the American film Morocco was released in Japan in 1931, subtitles became the mainstream method of translating TV programs and films in Japan. Later, around the 1950s, foreign television programs and films began to be shown dubbed in Japanese on television. The first ones to be dubbed into Japanese were the 1940s Superman cartoons in 1955.
Malaysia
Foreign-language programmes and films that air on TV2 and TVS are shown in their original language but have subtitles in Malay.
North Korea
Despite the tight control on mass media the government of North Korea has, many foreign movies and TV shows have been officially distributed within the country by a state-run recording and distribution company named Mokran Video. All dubbings produced by the company are unlicensed, given the many imposed sanctions against North Korea. Most movies are censored to remove mentions of foreign countries (although this is usually exclusive to western countries such as the United States).
Pakistan
In Pakistan "foreign films", and series are not normally dubbed locally. Instead, foreign films, anime and cartoons, such as those shown on Nickelodeon Pakistan and Cartoon Network Pakistan, are dubbed in Hindi in India, as Hindi and Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, are mutually intelligible.
However, soap operas from Turkey are now dubbed in Urdu and have gained increased popularity at the expense of Indian soap operas in Hindi. This has led to protests from local producers that these are a threat to Pakistan's television industry, with local productions being moved out of peak viewing time or dropped altogether. Similarly, politicians and leaders have expressed concerns over their content, given Turkey's less conservative culture. The Geopolitics of Soap Operas, The New York Times, 10 January 2013
Philippines
In the Philippines, the media industry generally has mixed practices regarding whether to dub television programs or films, even within the same kind of medium. In general, the decision whether to dub a video production depends on a variety of factors such as the target audience of the channel or programming block on which the feature will be aired, its genre, and/or outlet of transmission (e.g. TV or cinema, free or pay-TV).
Free-to-air TV
The prevalence of media needing to be dubbed in Filipino language has resulted in a talent pool that is capable of syncing voice to lip, especially for shows broadcast by the country's largest networks. It is not uncommon in the Filipino dub industry to have most of the voices in a series dubbing by only a handful of voice talents. Programs originally in English used to usually air in their original language on free-to-air television.
Pay TV
The original language version of TV programs is also usually available on cable/satellite channels. However, some pay-TV channels do specialize in showing foreign shows and films dubbed into Filipino. HERO TV, ABS-CBN's animation channel, focused on Japanese anime series and dubbed all its programs into Filipino. This was in contrast to Animax, where their anime series are dubbed in English.
Singapore
In multilingual Singapore, dubbing is rare for western programs. English-language programs on the free-to-air terrestrial channels are usually subtitled in Chinese or Malay. Chinese, Malay and Tamil programs (except for news bulletins and other live shows), usually have subtitles in English and the original language during the prime time hours. Dual sound programs, such as Korean, Japanese and Filipino dramas, offer sound in the original languages with subtitles, Mandarin-dubbed and subtitled, or English-dubbed. The deliberate policy to encourage Mandarin among citizens made it required by law for programs in other Chinese dialects (Min Nan, Cantonese and Teochew dialect) to be dubbed into Mandarin, with the exception of traditional operas. Cantonese and Hokkien shows from Hong Kong and Taiwan, respectively, are available on VCD and DVD. In a recent development, news bulletins are subtitled into the language of the channel they air on.
South Korea
In South Korea, anime that are imported from Japan are generally shown dubbed in Korean on television. However, some anime is censored, such as Japanese letters or content being edited for a suitable Korean audience. Western cartoons are dubbed in Korean as well, such as Nickelodeon cartoons like SpongeBob SquarePants and Danny Phantom. Several English-language (mostly American) live-action films are dubbed in Korean language, but they are not shown in theaters. Instead, they are only broadcast on South Korean television networks (KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS), while DVD import releases of these films are shown with Korean subtitles, such as The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, the Star Wars films, and Avatar. This may be due to the fact that the six American major film studios may not own any rights to the Korean dubs of their live-action films that the Korean television networks have dubbed and aired. Even if they do not own the rights, Korean or non-Korean viewers can record from Korean-dubbed live-action films from television broadcasting onto DVDs with DVRs.
Dubbed Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series. Dubbed Fisher as Princess Leia in the Star Wars film series. Dubbed Watson as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Dubbed Candy as Gus Polinski in the SBS dub of Home Alone. Dubbed Weaver as Ellen Ripley in the Alien titular film series.
Thailand
In Thailand, foreign television programs are dubbed in Thai Language, but the original soundtrack is often simultaneously carried on a NICAM audio track on terrestrial broadcast, and alternate audio tracks on satellite broadcast. Previously, terrestrial stations simulcasted the original soundtrack on the radio. The Right to Tell: The Role of Mass Media in Economic Development, Roumeen Islam, World Bank Publications, 2002, page 257 On pay-TV, many channels carry foreign-language movies and television programs with subtitles. Movie theaters in Bangkok and some larger cities show both the subtitled version and the dubbed version of English-language movies. In big cities like Bangkok, Thai-language movies have English subtitles.
A Thailand actor and singer who dubbed for Wood as Frodo Baggins in the Kapook version of The Lord of the Rings. Dubbed for Wood as Frodo Baggins in the Channel 7 version of The Lord of the Rings. Dubbed for Wood as Frodo Baggins in The Hobbit. Dubbed for Oldman as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film series. Dubbed for Dunst as Mary Jane Watson in the original Spider-Man trilogy. Dubbed for Maguire as Spider-Man in the original Spider-Man trilogy. Dubbed for Franco as Harry Osborn in the original Spider-Man trilogy. Dubbed for Radcliffe as Harry Potter in the titular film series. He dubbed for this character in all films except for the third one where he was dubbed by a different actor. Dubbed for Radcliffe as Harry Potter in the third Harry Potter film. Thai actress and singer who dubbed for Watson as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Dubbed for Grint as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series. Dubbed for Felton as Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series. Dubbed for Astin as Samwise Gamgee in the Kapook version of The Lord of the Rings. Dubbed for Astin as Samwise Gamgee in the Channel 7 version of The Lord of the Rings. Dubbed for O'Gorman as Fíli in The Hobbit. Dubbed for Turner as Kíli in The Hobbit. Dubbed for Moseley as Peter Pevensie in . Only replaced her voice for Saphira in the Thai dub of Eragon. And this was the only role that she took over regarding Weisz.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, foreign-language films and programs are often subtitled or on television in Vietnamese. They were not dubbed until 1985. Rio was considered to be the very first American Hollywood film to be entirely dubbed in Vietnamese. Since then, children's films that came out afterwards have been released dubbed in theaters. HTV3 has dubbed television programs for children, including Ben 10, and Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, by using various voice actors to dub over the character roles.
Europe
[[File:Dubbing films in Europe.png|thumb|300px|
Children's/family films and programming
In North-West Europe, Poland, Portugal, Balkans, Baltic states and Nordic countries, generally only movies and TV shows that are intended for children are dubbed, while TV shows and movies that are intended for teenagers or adults are subtitled, although adult-animated productions (e.g. South Park and The Simpsons) have a tradition of being dubbed. For movies in cinemas with clear target audiences (both below and above 10–11 years of age), both a dubbed and a subtitled version are usually available.
Belgium
[[File:Dubbing vs subtitling in Belgium.svg|thumb|300px|A map showing the preference of dubbing or subtitling in Belgium:
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina usually uses Serbian language and Croatian dubs (due to Serbo-Croatian), but they have dubbed some cartoons in Bosnian language by themselves, for example . Children's programs (both animated and live-action) are broadcast dubbed (in Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian), while every other program is subtitled (in Bosnian).
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, there are two forms of Bulgarian dubbing. The first is the so-called "voiceover" dubbing, typical of the Bulgarian television market, in which the voice-over is based on the back-camera technology of the 1970s, with the voice superimposed on the original phonogram. This inexpensive way of voice-over is preferred only because of its low cost. But unfortunately it is a rather outdated technological form that does not meet the technical requirements of the new times. The second, considered basic in many European countries and the only one acceptable today, is synchronous dubbing, a radically different technology with much higher sound quality and speech synchronisation capabilities. This new method is defined as post-synchronous /non-synchronous/ dubbing of the product, in which the dialogue component of the phonogram is completely produced in Bulgarian, similar to the process in film production, in order for it to completely replace the original. In this sense, dubbing is considered by the production companies as one of the final elements of the overall post-production process of their films, and therefore their control over all the activities performed is complete.
Croatia
In Croatia, foreign live-action films and television series are always subtitled, while most children's programs and animated movies are dubbed into Croatian. The practice of dubbing began in the 1980s in some animated shows and continued in 90's, 00's and forward in other shows and films, the latter ones being released in home media. Recently, more efforts have been made to introduce dubbing, but public reception has been poor in some exceptions. Regardless of language, Croatian audiences prefer subtitling to dubbing; however, dubbing is still popular in animated series and films. Some previously popular animated shows (such as Sailor Moon) lost their appeal completely after the practice of dubbing began, and the dubbing was eventually removed from the programs, even though most animated shows shown on television and some on home media have been well received by people watching dubbed versions of them. This situation is similar with theater movies, with only those intended for children being dubbed. Also, there has been an effort to impose dubbing by Nova TV, with La Fea Más Bella (2006–2007) translated as Ružna ljepotica (literally, "The Ugly Beauty"), a Mexican telenovela, but it failed.
Estonia
In Estonia, only foreign children's films are dubbed in cinemas and on Estonian broadcast TV channels. As a rule, all other foreign films are shown with their original "pure" language soundtrack along with subtitles. On TV, the subtitles are almost always available in the Estonian language by default settings, and sometimes also in Russian and English upon request. In the cinemas, the subtitles are usually presented in Estonian and Russian languages. Cartoons and animated series are voiced by dubbing or Voice-over. Estonian-language television channels use subtitles for English, Russian, and other foreign language audio. However, Russian-language TV channels tend to use dubbing more often, since most of them are produced and broadcast from Russia (as opposed to the few Russian-language channels broadcast from Estonia).
Greece
In Greece, most cartoon films have dubs. Usually when a movie has a Greek dub the dub is shown in cinemas but subtitled versions are shown as well. Foreign TV shows for adults are shown in their original versions with subtitles. Some Japanese anime series and are usually dubbed in Greek. However, when Skai TV was re-launched in April 2006, the network opted for dubbing almost all foreign shows in Greek, but eventually switched to subtitling after receiving criticism by the viewers. There has been an effort to revive Greek dubbing by streaming services. Regardless of language, Greek audiences prefer subtitling to dubbing; however, dubbing is still popular in animated series and films.
Ireland
Ireland usually receives the same film versions as the UK. However, some films have been dubbed into Irish language by TG4.
Children's cartoons on TV are also occasionally dubbed into Irish.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, for the most part, Dutch versions are only made for children's and family films. Animated movies are shown in theaters with Dutch subtitles or dubbing, but usually those cinemas with more screening rooms also provide the original subtitled version.
Nordic countries
In the Nordic countries, dubbing is used only in animated films (except adult animated films which only use subtitles), animated TV shows and other media for younger audiences. Some cinemas in the major cities may also screen the original version, usually as the last showing of the day, or in a smaller auditorium in a multiplex.
North Macedonia
North Macedonia dubbed many cartoons in Macedonian, but they also air some Serbian language dubs. Children's programs are airing dubbed (in Macedonian or Serbian), while every other program is subtitled (in Macedonian). They use Serbian language dubs for Disney movies, because there are no Macedonian Disney dubs.
Portugal
In Portugal, dubbing was banned under a 1948 law as a way of protecting the domestic film industry and reducing access to culture as most of the population was illiterate. Until 1994, animated movies, as well as other TV series for children, were shown subtitled in Portugal along with imported Brazilian Portuguese dubs due to the lack of interest from Portuguese companies in the dubbing industry. This lack of interest was justified, since there were already quality dubbed copies of shows and movies in Portuguese made by . The Lion King was the first feature film to be dubbed in European Portuguese. Currently, all movies for children are dubbed. Subtitles are preferred in Portugal, used in every foreign-language Documentary film, TV series and film. The exception to this preference is when children are the target audience.
Romania
In Romania, virtually all programs intended for children are dubbed in Romanian. Animated movies are shown in theaters with Romanian dubbing. However, cinemas with more screening rooms usually also provide the original subtitled version. Other foreign TV shows and movies are shown in the original language with Romanian subtitles. Subtitles are usually preferred in the Romanian market. According to "Special Eurobarometer 243" (graph QA11.8) of the European Commission (research carried out in November and December 2005), 62% of Romanians prefer to watch foreign films and programs with subtitles (rather than dubbed), 22% prefer dubbing, and 16% declined to answer. Special Eurobarometer 243 of the European Commission with the title "Europeans and their Languages", published in February 2006 with research carried out in November and December 2005. Barely 2% of Romanians consider watching original-language versions most effective into learning a new language (Table QA7b). This is led by the assumption that watching movies in their original versions is very useful for learning foreign languages. However, according to the same Eurobarometer, virtually no Romanian found this method—watching movies in their original version—to be the most efficient way to learn foreign languages, compared to 53 percent who preferred language lessons at school.
Serbia
Serbian language dubs are made mainly for Serbia, but they also broadcast in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Children's animated movies and some live-action movies and TV series are dubbed into Serbian, while live-action films and TV series for adults are always airing subtitled, because in the region of former Yugoslavia people prefer subtitling for live-action formats. An exception to this is the Turkey soap opera Lale Devri that was dubbed in 2011, and aired on RTV Pink, but because of negative reception, the rest of the TV series was aired subtitled.
Slovenia
In Slovenia, all foreign films and television programs are subtitled with the exception of children's movies and TV shows (both animated or live-action). While dubbed versions are always shown in cinemas and later on TV channels, cinemas will sometimes play subtitled versions of children's movies as well.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the vast majority of foreign language films are subtitled, although mostly animated films are dubbed in English. These usually originate from North America, as opposed to being dubbed locally. Foreign language serials shown on BBC Four are subtitled into English (although open subtitles are dropped during dialogues with English language segments already). There have, however, been notable examples of films and TV programs successfully dubbed in the UK, such as the Japanese Monkey and French Magic Roundabout series. When airing films on television, channels in the UK often choose subtitling over dubbing, even if a dubbing in English exists. It is also a fairly common practice for animation aimed at preschool children to be re-dubbed with British voice actors replacing the original voices, such as Spin Master Entertainment's PAW Patrol series, although this is not done with shows aimed at older audiences. The off-screen narrated portions of some programs and reality shows that originate from North America are also redone with British English voices. The 2020 Bavarian show on Netflix, Freud, has also been dubbed to English.
General films and programming
In the French language-, Italian language-, Spanish language-, German language-, Russian language-, Polish language-, Czech language-, Slovak language- and Hungarian-speaking markets of Europe, almost all foreign films and television shows are dubbed (with the main exception being the majority of theatrical releases of adult-audience movies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia). There are few opportunities to watch foreign movies in their original versions. In Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria, even in the largest cities, there are few cinemas that screen original versions with subtitles, or without any translation. However, digital pay-TV programming is often available in the original language, including the latest movies. Prior to the rise of DVDs (and later Video on Demand and Streaming media), which in these countries are mostly issued with multi-language audio tracks, original-language films (those in languages other than the country's official language) were rare, whether in theaters, on TV, or on home video, and subtitled versions were considered a product for small such as intellectual or .
Albania
The first movie dubbed in Albanian was The Great Warrior Skanderbeg in 1954 and since then, there have been thousands of popular titles dubbed in Albanian by different dubbing studios. All animated films and children's TV shows are dubbed into Albanian (though in most cases, songs are left in English or the original language of the movie or TV show with Albanian subtitles). Many live-action movies are dubbed as well. TV series nevertheless are usually not dubbed, they are subtitled except for a few Mexico, and Turkey soap operas, like: Por Ti, Celebridade, A Casa das Sete Mulheres, Paramparça, etc. As for documentaries, Albania usually uses voice-over.
France
In France, dubbing is the norm. Most movies with a theatrical release, including all those from major distributors, are dubbed. Those that are not, are foreign whose budget for international distribution is limited, or foreign with a niche audience.
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Some voice actors that have dubbed for celebrities in the European French language are listed below.
Unlike in Austria and Germany, cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland historically strongly preferred subtitled versions of foreign-language films. Swiss film distributors commissioned dual-language prints with both German and French subtitles as the primary version, with the dubbed version also shown. In recent years, however, there has been a shift towards dubbed versions, which now account for the majority of showings. Das Ende der Originalfassungen ("The End of Original Versions"). Tages-Anzeiger, 19 November 2012. Television broadcasts of foreign films and programming have historically been dubbed.
Swiss and Austrian television stations have increasingly been broadcasting foreign-language movies and TV programs with multiple soundtracks, allowing the viewer to choose between the original language (e.g. English) and the channel's local language (German, French, or Italian, according to the location).
Although German-speaking play only a secondary role, they are still notable for providing familiar voices to well-known actors. Famous foreign actors are known and recognized for their German language voice, and the German audience is used to them, so dubbing is also a matter of authenticity. However, in larger cities, there are theaters where movies can be seen in their original versions, as English language has become somewhat more popular among young educated viewers. On German mainstream television, films are never broadcast with subtitles, but pay-per-view programming is often available in the original language. Subtitled niche and are sometimes aired on smaller networks.
German-dubbed versions sometimes diverge greatly from the original, especially in adding humorous elements absent from the original. In extreme cases, such as The Persuaders! or Erik the Viking, the German-dubbed version was more successful than the English original. Often, translation adds sexually explicit gags the U.S. versions might not be allowed to use. For example, in Bewitched, the translators changed "The Door hanger will hang on the door tonight" to "The only hanging thing tonight will be the Do Not Disturb sign". This practice was the most prevalent from the 1960s to 80s, from the 1990s onwards it became much less common.
Some movies dubbed in Austria diverge from the German Standard version in addressing other people but only when the movies are dubbed into certain Austrian dialect versions. (Mr. and Mrs. are translated into Herr and Frau which is usually not translated in order to be in lip-sync). Sometimes even English pronounced first names are translated and are pronounced into the correct German equivalent (English name "Bert" became Southern German pronounced name "Bertl" which is an abbreviation for any name either beginning or even ending with "bert", e.g. "Berthold" or "Albert".)
Some movies dubbed before reunification exist in different versions for the East Germany and the West Germany. They use different translations, and often differ in the style of dubbing.
Some of the well-known German dubbing voice artists are listed below.
| He also regularly dubs Dee Bradley Baker in his role as the Clone troopers. |
| Dubbed him as Henry V of England in the 1989 film Henry V. |
| The Official German voice artist for Elijah Wood since 1999. |
| As Darth Vader |
| Dubbed him as Harry Potter for the rest of the titular film series, starting with the third film. |
| Dubbed him as Harry Potter of the first two installments of the titular film series. |
| Most well known as the German Voice of Spud |
| Dubbed him in a majority of his work, including Baywatch and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. |
In the Socialism era, every film was dubbed with professional and mostly popular actors. Care was taken to make sure the same voice actor would lend their voice to the same original actor. In the early 1990s, as cinemas tried to keep up with showing newly released films, subtitling became dominant in the cinema. This, in turn, forced TV channels to make their own cheap versions of dubbed soundtracks for the movies they presented, resulting in a constant degrading of dubbing quality. Once this became customary, cinema distributors resumed the habit of dubbing for popular productions, presenting them in a below-average quality. However, every feature is presented with the original soundtrack in at least one cinema in large towns and cities.
However, in Hungary, most documentary films and series (for example, those on Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel) are made with Voice-over, as is the case with most other countries that favor dubbing. Some old movies and series, or ones that provide non-translatable jokes and conversations (for example, the Mr. Bean television series), are shown only with subtitles.
There is a more recent problem arising from dubbing included on DVD releases. Many generations have grown up with an original (and, by current technological standards, outdated) soundtrack, which is either technologically (mono or bad quality stereo sound) or legally (expired soundtrack license) unsuitable for a DVD release. Many original features are released on DVD with a new soundtrack, which in some cases proves to be extremely unpopular, thus forcing DVD producers to include the original soundtrack. In some rare cases, the Hungarian voicetrack is left out altogether. This happened notably with Warner Home Video Hungary, which ignored the existence of Hungarian voicetracks completely, as they did not want to pay the licenses for the voicetracks to be included on their new DVD releases, which appear with improved picture quality, but very poor subtitling.
Early in their careers, actors such as Alberto Sordi or Nino Manfredi worked extensively as dubbing actors. At a certain point, shooting scenes in MOS (motor-only sync or motor-only shot) was a common practice in Italian cinema; all dialogue was dubbed in post-production. A notable instance is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, in which all actors had to dub in their own voices.
Because many films would feature multinational casts, dubbing became necessary to ensure dialogue would be comprehensible regardless of the dub language. The presence of foreign actors also meant that some directors would have actors recite gibberish or otherwise unrelated words since the end goal was simply to have general lip movements over which to add dialogue.
A typical example of this practice was La Strada, which starred two Americans; Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart, in leading roles. Rather than have dialogue spoken phonetically or have multiple languages at the same time (which would require lines to be translated multiple times), actors would instead count numbers corresponding to the number of lines. Liliana Betti, assistant to director Federico Fellini, described the system as such: "Instead of lines, the actor has to count off numbers in their normal order. For instance, a line of fifteen words equals an enumeration of up to thirty. The actor merely counts till thirty: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7. etc." Fellini used this system, which he coined "numerological diction," in many of his films. Other directors adopted similar systems.
Dubbing may also be used for artistic purposes. It was common for even Italian-speaking performers to have their dialogue dubbed by separate voice actors if their actual voice is thought to be unfitting or some otherwise unsuitable. Fellini, who was particularly fond of the dubbing process, heavily relied on dubbing Italian actors, whom he often chose among non-professionals based just on their appearance, employing voice actors to entirely dub and sometimes improvise the dialogue. Some voice actors, such as Carlo Croccolo, Oreste Lionello or Elio Pandolfi, were even cast to dub over the voices of multiple characters in the same film. A similar process was sometimes applied with professional actors: for example, in Django, lead actor Franco Nero was dubbed by Nando Gazzolo because he was thought to sound too youthful for the grizzled character he portrayed. Claudia Cardinale, one of the major actresses of the 1960s and 70s, had a heavy accent from her Tunisian background, and was likewise dubbed for the first decade of her career. This practice was generally phased out in the 1990s, with the widespread adoption of sync sound.
Video games are generally either dubbed into Italian (for instance, the Assassin's Creed, Halo, , and Harry Potter series) or released with the original audio tracks providing Italian subtitles.
As for documentaries, Italy usually uses voice-over.
The most important Italian voice actors and actresses, as well as the main celebrities dubbed in their careers, are listed below.
| Italian dubbing artists | |||
| Tina Lattanzi | 1923–1988 | Greta Garbo Joan Crawford Marlene Dietrich Greer Garson Rita Hayworth Myrna Loy | Famous for her deep, seductive, and adaptable voice, she was the main dubbing actress for femmes fatales in the 1930s and 1940s. Famous interpretations of animation roles were the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lady Tremaine in Cinderella, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. |
| Andreina Pagnani | 1924–1981 | Marlene Dietrich Bette Davis Ginger Rogers Norma Shearer | Active primarily as a theatre actress, her intense and nuanced voice made her one of the most prominent and esteemed dub actresses of her generation (along with Lydia Simoneschi, Rosetta Calavetta, Giovanna Scotto and Tina Lattanzi). |
| Carlo Romano | 1927–1975 | Jerry Lewis Lou Costello Bob Hope Rod Steiger Eli Wallach Nigel Bruce Louis de Funès Peter Lorre William Bendix Fernando Sancho Jason Robards | He was the official Italian voice of Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and Lou Costello; he was also well known for dubbing the role of Don Camillo played by French actor Fernandel. |
| Rosetta Calavetta | 1930–1993 | Marilyn Monroe Lana Turner Doris Day Eleanor Parker Ava Gardner Veronica Lake | She was the official Italian voice of Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe and Doris Day. |
| Mario Besesti | 1932–1968 | Charles Laughton Thomas Mitchell Edward Arnold Edgar Buchanan Charles Coburn Raymond Massey | He was considered one of the most significant dubbing artists of the Classical Hollywood cinema and worked on some of the early Disney animated films. He was the main dubber of all the actors listed. |
| Miranda Bonansea | 1932–2009 | Shirley Temple Judy Garland Anne Francis Linda Hunt June Allyson Jean Simmons | She was the official Italian voice of Shirley Temple. |
| Pino Locchi | 1932–1994 | Sean Connery Giuliano Gemma Tony Curtis Charles Bronson Sidney Poitier Roger Moore Jean-Paul Belmondo Terence Hill Clint Eastwood Elvis Presley Ringo Starr | He was the official Italian voice of Sean Connery until 1994 and the primary Italian voice of James Bond. |
| Lydia Simoneschi | 1932–1976 | Sophia Loren Ingrid Bergman Maureen O'Hara Barbara Stanwyck Susan Hayward Jennifer Jones Bette Davis Joan Fontaine | Considered the "queen" of Italian dubbing actresses (together with Rosetta Calavetta, Rita Savagnone, and Dhia Cristiani), she dubbed most of the classic Hollywood female stars at least once in her 40-year career. |
| Cesare Barbetti | 1934–2006 | Robert Redford Robert Duvall Steve McQueen Jean-Louis Trintignant Dean Jones Warren Beatty Steve Martin James Fox William Shatner Jon Voight Kevin Kline John Lennon | Beginning his career as a child actor, he is best known for being the official Italian voice of Robert Redford and for dubbing most of the films of Robert Duvall, Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty and Dean Jones. |
| Emilio Cigoli | 1935–1980 | Orson Welles Gregory Peck Gary Cooper John Wayne Burt Lancaster William Holden Charlton Heston Clark Gable Jean Gabin Lee Van Cleef Steve Reeves Vincent Price | Considered the "King" of Italian dubbing actors (together with Giulio Panicali and Gualtiero De Angelis), he dubbed 7000 films from 1936 to 1980. |
| Giulio Panicali | 1935–1973 | Tyrone Power Robert Taylor Glenn Ford Ray Milland Robert Mitchum Kirk Douglas Henry Fonda | |
| Dhia Cristiani | 1936–1975 | Anne Baxter Esther Williams Virginia Mayo Rhonda Fleming Yvonne Sanson Joanne Dru | |
| Gualtiero De Angelis | 1936–1980 | James Stewart Cary Grant Errol Flynn Dean Martin Henry Fonda | |
| Lauro Gazzolo | 1938–1970 | Walter Brennan Bud Abbott Peter Lorre Sam Jaffe Alan Napier | |
| Giuseppe Rinaldi | 1939–1987 | James Dean Paul Newman Rock Hudson Jack Lemmon Peter Sellers Van Johnson Marlon Brando Frank Sinatra | |
| Luciano De Ambrosis | 1942–present | James Caan Burt Reynolds Dennis Farina | He is known for playing the lead role as a child actor in Vittorio De Sica's film The Children Are Watching Us. Since 1994, he replaced Pino Locchi as the main Italian voice of Sean Connery. He dubbed most of the roles of the listed actors. |
| Gianni Musy | 1942–2011 | Michael Gambon Richard Harris Christopher Plummer Ian McKellen Ian McKellen | He is best known for dubbing the roles of Albus Dumbledore (played by Richard Harris first, then by Michael Gambon) in the Harry Potter film series and Gandalf (played by Ian McKellen) in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (replaced by Gigi Proietti after 2011). He also dubbed most of the roles of Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow. |
| Massimo Turci | 1942–1990 | Russ Tamblyn Paul McCartney | |
| Ferruccio Amendola | 1943–2001 | Robert De Niro Dustin Hoffman Sylvester Stallone Tomas Milian Al Pacino Peter Falk | The Italian voice of Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Sylvester Stallone in almost each of their films from 1969 to 1995. He also dubbed the most famous interpretations of Al Pacino. He was chosen by Tomas Milian himself for his dubbed voice. |
| Maria Pia Di Meo | 1944–present | Meryl Streep Audrey Hepburn Julie Andrews Shirley MacLaine Jane Fonda Barbra Streisand Sandra Dee Julie Christie Ursula Andress | The most important female dubbing voice in Italy after 1960. Best known for being the official Italian voice of Meryl Streep, she dubbed most of the films of all the listed actresses. |
| Corrado Gaipa | 1946–1989 | Lionel Stander Lee J. Cobb Orson Welles Alec Guinness | Best known for portraying Don Tommasino in The Godfather, he dubbed most of the roles of Lion Stander and Lee J. Cobb and some interpretations of Orson Welles between 1965 and 1972. He also dubbed Alec Guinness in the Star Wars classic trilogy. |
| Renato Turi | 1946–1991 | Walter Matthau Lee Marvin Christopher Lee Lee Van Cleef John Carradine Telly Savalas Sidney Poitier Charlton Heston Charles Tingwell | |
| Enrico Maria Salerno | 1946–1994 | Clint Eastwood | He was the Italian voice of Clint Eastwood in the Dollars Trilogy and Hang 'Em High. |
| Nando Gazzolo | 1948–2015 | David Niven Peter Cushing Rex Harrison Michael Caine George C. Scott Franco Nero Henry Fonda | |
| Vittoria Febbi | 1949–present | Barbara Bouchet Charlotte Rampling Edwige Fenech Liv Ullmann Diane Keaton Barbara Bach Kathy Bates Laura Gemser Florinda Bolkan | |
| Flaminia Jandolo | 1950–2019 | Brigitte Bardot | |
| Rita Savagnone | 1952–present | Vanessa Redgrave Edwige Fenech Claudia Cardinale Whoopi Goldberg Elizabeth Taylor Ingrid Bergman Greta Garbo Sophia Loren Nieves Navarro Ursula Andress Florinda Bolkan Dominique Sanda Loredana Nusciak Stefania Sandrelli | |
| Angelo Nicotra | 1952–2022 | Morgan Freeman Danny Glover Brendan Gleeson | Nicotra took over as the Italian voice of Morgan Freeman after Renato Mori's retirement in 2011. |
| Oreste Lionello | 1953–2009 | Woody Allen Gene Wilder Peter Sellers George Harrison | He was the official Italian voice of Woody Allen, dubbing almost all of his interpretations from 1965 to 2006. After his death, Allen claimed Lionello had made him «a better actor than I am, a funnier person than I am, and a hero» to Italian audiences. He also dubbed most of the roles of Gene Wilder, Peter Sellers, and all the film appearances of George Harrison. |
| Alessandro Rossi | 1955–present | Liam Neeson Arnold Schwarzenegger Samuel L. Jackson Ving Rhames Michael Clarke Duncan Patrick Stewart | Recognizable by his deep, baritone voice, he dubbed most of the roles of Liam Neeson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ving Rhames and Michael Clarke Duncan. |
| Sergio Graziani | 1956–2014 | Donald Sutherland Michael Caine Peter O'Toole Klaus Kinski Richard Harris Philippe Noiret Franco Nero | He dubbed Franco Nero in most of the Italian versions of his films prior to the mid-1970s, after which Nero dubbed himself. |
| Dario Penne | 1957–present | Anthony Hopkins Michael Caine Christopher Lloyd Dennis Hopper Alan Rickman James Cromwell | He is the Italian voice of Anthony Hopkins in every film since 1990 and of Michael Caine in almost every film since 1992. |
| Roberto Chevalier | 1958–present | Tom Cruise Tom Hanks Andy García Greg Kinnear | He is the Italian voice of Tom Cruise, dubbing most of his roles since 1986. |
| Glauco Onorato | 1959–2009 | Bud Spencer Lino Ventura Danny Glover Charles Bronson James Coburn Arnold Schwarzenegger George Harrison | He was best known for dubbing most of Bud Spencer's interpretations. He was also the Italian voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his most iconic films ( The Terminator and Predator). |
| Sandro Acerbo | 1960–present | Brad Pitt Will Smith Michael J. Fox | |
| Manlio De Angelis | 1960–2017 | Joe Pesci Alan Arkin Gene Wilder Roy Scheider Richard Dreyfuss | |
| Sergio Fiorentini | 1960–2014 | Gene Hackman Eli Wallach | |
| Alina Moradei | 1960–2012 | Angela Lansbury | Official Italian voice of Lansbury, the English actress said she was «proud to be dubbed by such a great actress», also pointing out how similar their voices were. |
| Oreste Rizzini | 1960–2008 | Michael Douglas Jon Voight Bill Murray | |
| Giampiero Albertini | 1962–1991 | Peter Falk | He was best known for being the Italian voice of Peter Falk in his role of Columbo (in the first eight seasons, until 1991, except in the second pilot episode). |
| Roberto Del Giudice | 1962–2007 | Lee Majors Terry Jones Timothy Bottoms | |
| Renato Mori | 1962–2011 | Morgan Freeman Gene Hackman James Earl Jones John Rhys-Davies Rod Steiger Jack Warden Robert Shaw Brian Dennehy | |
| Sergio Di Stefano | 1963–2010 | Jeff Bridges John Malkovich Kevin Costner Hugh Laurie Alan Rickman | The official Italian voice of Jeff Bridges and John Malkovich, he dubbed Kevin Costner in seven films from 1985 to 2007. He was also well known for dubbing Hugh Laurie in the first six seasons of the TV series House (2004–2010) and for being one of the most frequent dubbers of Christopher Lambert (17 films from 1986 to 2005). |
| Michele Gammino | 1965–present | Harrison Ford Steven Seagal Kevin Costner Jack Nicholson Bill Murray Chevy Chase Bob Hoskins | The official Italian voice of Harrison Ford and Steven Seagal, he dubbed most of the interpretations of the listed actors. He also dubbed James Bond played by Timothy Dalton. |
| Giancarlo Giannini | 1965–present | Al Pacino Jack Nicholson | He is the official dubber of Al Pacino since 1995 (previously shared with Ferruccio Amendola). Among the others, he dubbed some roles of Jack Nicholson (including the film Shining) and Michael Douglas. |
| Omero Antonutti | 1966–2019 | Christopher Lee Christopher Plummer James Cromwell | |
| Michele Kalamera | 1966–present | Clint Eastwood Steve Martin Michael Caine Leslie Nielsen | The official Italian voice of Clint Eastwood. |
| Carlo Valli | 1966–present | Robin Williams Jim Broadbent Colm Meaney | The official Italian voice of Robin Williams. |
| Fabio Boccanera | 1968–present | Johnny Depp Colin Farrell Clive Owen Joaquin Phoenix | He is the most frequent dubber of Colin Farrell, Clive Owen, Joaquin Phoenix and dubbed most of the roles of Johnny Depp; he shares the Italian dubbing of Johnny Depp, Ben Affleck and Cuba Gooding Jr. with his cousin Riccardo Rossi. |
| Vittorio Guerrieri | 1968–present | Ben Stiller John Corbett Steve Carell | He is the official dubber of Ben Stiller from 2000. |
| Giorgio Lopez | 1969–2021 | Danny DeVito Dustin Hoffman John Cleese Pat Morita | |
| Riccardo Rossi | 1970–present | Adam Sandler Ben Affleck Mark Ruffalo Christian Bale Sam Rockwell Matt Damon Cuba Gooding Jr. Paul Walker | He shares the Italian dubbing of Ben Affleck, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Johnny Depp with his cousin Fabio Boccanera. |
| Oreste Baldini | 1974–present | John Cusack Ken Jeong Noah Taylor | The official Italian voice of John Cusack, he is the main dubber of the listed actors. He portrayed Vito Corleone as a child in the flashback sequences of The Godfather Part II. |
| Fabrizio Vidale | 1975–present | Jack Black Martin Freeman Don Cheadle Marlon Wayans | |
| Ilaria Latini | 1976–present | Katie Holmes Amy Adams Anna Faris Hayley Atwell | The official Italian voice dubber of Katie Holmes, Amy Adams and Anna Faris, she dubbed most of the films of the listed actresses. |
| Tonino Accolla | 1978–2013 | Eddie Murphy Mickey Rourke Jim Carrey Billy Crystal | He was best known for being the Italian voice of Eddie Murphy until 2009; he was also very popular for being the Italian voice of Homer Simpson in the first 23 seasons of the sitcom The Simpsons (1989–2012). He dubbed some popular comedy roles of Jim Carrey, such as Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty. |
| Luca Biagini | 1979–present | John Malkovich Kevin Kline Michael Keaton Hugh Laurie Colin Firth | |
| Stefano De Sando | 1979–present | Robert De Niro James Gandolfini Bryan Cranston Tim Robbins John Goodman | |
| Nino Prester | 1979–present | Eugene Levy Gary Oldman Stanley Tucci Dave Bautista Michael Rooker | |
| Pasquale Anselmo | 1980–present | Nicolas Cage John Turturro | The official Italian voice of Nicolas Cage since 1996. Philip Seymour Hoffman Clark Gregg |
| Paolo Buglioni | 1980–present | Nick Nolte Alec Baldwin Samuel L. Jackson | |
| Danilo De Girolamo | 1980–2012 | Alan Cumming Vincent Gallo Ulrich Tukur David Thewlis Jack Davenport | |
| Roberto Pedicini | 1980–present | Kevin Spacey Jim Carrey Woody Harrelson Javier Bardem Ralph Fiennes Temuera Morrison | He is the current official voice of Kevin Spacey and Jim Carrey; he dubbed most of the interpretations of the listed actors. |
| Pino Insegno | 1981–present | Will Ferrell Viggo Mortensen Liev Schreiber Michael Shannon Sacha Baron Cohen | The official Italian voice of Will Ferrell, he dubbed most of the interpretations of the listed actors. |
| Pietro Ubaldi | 1981–present | Geoffrey Rush | He voiced Hector Barbossa in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. |
| Luca Ward | 1981–present | Pierce Brosnan Samuel L. Jackson Russell Crowe Keanu Reeves Hugh Grant Gerard Butler Antonio Banderas Kevin Bacon | He is the official Italian voice of Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson, Keanu Reeves and Russell Crowe. He provided the Italian voice of James Bond during his portrayal by Pierce Brosnan. |
| Rossella Acerbo | 1982–present | Drew Barrymore Michelle Rodriguez Lisa Kudrow Amanda Peet Heather Graham Reese Witherspoon | |
| Angelo Maggi | 1982–present | Tom Hanks Robert Downey Jr. Gary Oldman John C. McGinley | |
| Massimo Venturiello | 1982–present | Gary Oldman James Woods Kurt Russell | |
| Vittorio De Angelis | 1983–2015 | Cary Elwes Kevin James Matt LeBlanc Brendan Fraser Steve Zahn | |
| Mino Caprio | 1983–present | Martin Short | |
| Francesco Pezzulli | 1983–present | Leonardo DiCaprio Daniel Brühl Hayden Christensen Aaron Paul Dominic Cooper | He is the Italian voice of Leonardo DiCaprio since 1997 (excluding the film The Man in the Iron Mask). |
| Federica De Bortoli | 1984–present | Natalie Portman Rachel McAdams Isla Fisher Kristen Stewart | She is the main Italian dubber of all the listed actresses. |
| Davide Perino | 1984–present | Elijah Wood | |
| Cristina Boraschi | 1985–present | Julia Roberts Sandra Bullock Julianne Moore | She is the main Italian voice of Julia Roberts, while she dubbed many roles of Sandra Bullock and Julianne Moore. |
| Myriam Catania | 1985–present | Keira Knightley Amanda Seyfried Jessica Alba | |
| Francesco Pannofino | 1985–present | George Clooney Denzel Washington Robbie Coltrane Kurt Russell | He is the official Italian voice of George Clooney and Denzel Washington. |
| Francesco Prando | 1985–present | Luke Perry Matthew McConaughey Vince Vaughn Guy Pearce Michael Fassbender Daniel Craig Eric McCormack Jason Statham | He is popular for dubbing the following actors in long-term television series: Luke Perry ( Beverly Hills, 90210, 199 episodes), Eric McCormack in ( Will & Grace, 187 episodes), Eric Dane ( Grey's Anatomy, 135 episodes). He is also known for providing the Italian voice of James Bond during his portrayal by Daniel Craig. He dubbed the majority of the film roles of all the listed actors. |
| Stefano Benassi | 1986–present | Christoph Waltz Colin Firth Woody Harrelson Tim Robbins Gary Oldman | |
| Valentina Mari | 1986–present | Natalie Portman Audrey Tautou Kristen Bell Amanda Seyfried | |
| Sonia Scotti | 1987–present | Whoopi Goldberg | |
| Simone Mori | 1988–present | Seth Rogen John C. Reilly Ice Cube Omar Sy | |
| Simone Crisari | 1989–present | Jonah Hill Macaulay Culkin | |
| Eleonora De Angelis | 1989–present | Jennifer Aniston Cameron Diaz Angelina Jolie | |
| Christian Iansante | 1989–present | Bradley Cooper | He has dubbed all of Cooper's roles since 2009. |
| Alessia Amendola | 1990–present | Lindsay Lohan Michelle Trachtenberg Danielle Panabaker Brenda Song | |
| Nanni Baldini | 1990–present | Kevin Hart Chris Rock Topher Grace Adam Goldberg | |
| Domitilla D'Amico | 1990–present | Kirsten Dunst Scarlett Johansson Anne Hathaway Margot Robbie Eva Green Mila Kunis Abbie Cornish | She is the official Italian voice actress of Kirsten Dunst and Scarlett Johansson. |
| Flavio Aquilone | 1994–present | Zac Efron Tom Felton Dane DeHaan Anton Yelchin Devon Bostick Liam Hemsworth | |
| Perla Liberatori | 1994–present | Hilary Duff Scarlett Johansson | She dubbed most of the roles of Hilary Duff; among the others, she also dubbed many interpretations of Scarlett Johansson. |
| Manuel Meli | 2003–present | Josh Hutcherson Cole Sprouse Vincent Martella | He dubbed most of the roles of Josh Hutcherson. |
| Maurizio Merluzzo | 2007–present | Zachary Levi | He dubbed many roles in video games and animated series. |
| Joy Saltarelli | 2008–present | Jennifer Lawrence Ana de Armas | She dubbed many roles of Jennifer Lawrence and Ana de Armas. |
In the 1980s, due to budget cuts, state-run TV saved on tapes by voicing films over live during transmission. Overall, during 1948–1998, almost 1,000 films were dubbed in Polish. In the 1990s, dubbing films and TV series continued, although often also for one emission only. In 1995, Canal+ was launched in Poland. In its first years, it dubbed 30% of its schedule, including popular films and TV series such as Friends, but this proved unsuccessful. It stopped dubbing films in 1999. From the 1990s until its closure in 2001, dubbing was done by Wizja Jeden TV channel, which mainly dubbed BBC Television productions such as The League of Gentlemen, Absolutely Fabulous, and Men Behaving Badly.
Currently, dubbing of films and TV series for teenagers is done by Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. One of the major breakthroughs in dubbing was the Polish release of Shrek (2001), which contained many references to local culture and Polish humor. However live-action dubbing is still considered a bad practice. Since the theatrical release of The Avengers in May 2012, Walt Disney Company Polska has dubbed all films for cinema releases. However, when a dub is produced but the film's target audience is not exclusively children, both dubbed and subtitled versions are usually available in movie theaters at different times. Cinema releases for general audiences are almost exclusively subtitled, with the exception of children's movies, home media releases, television screenings of movies, and made-for-TV shows. These are usually shown with voice-over translation, where a voice talent reads a translation over the original soundtrack, similar to the Gavrilov translation used in Russia, with one difference—all dialogues are voiced by one off-screen reader.
In modern Russia, the overdubbing technique is still used in many cases, although with vastly improved quality, and now with multiple voice actors dubbing different original voices. Video games are generally either dubbed into Russian (such as the Legend of Spyro trilogy, the Skylanders series, the Assassin's Creed saga, the Halo series, the Harry Potter series, etc.) or released with original-speaking tracks but with all the texts translated into Russian language. The technique of non-voiceover dubbing, without the original speech still audible underneath, has also gained traction in Russia in the 21st century.
Releases of films in cinemas are almost always dubbed in the Russian language. Television series are typically shown as a dubbed or voiceovered translation. Subtitles are rarely used.
Some of the well-known Russian dubbing voice artists are listed below.
Theatrical releases are generally subtitled, except for films with a young target audience.
In Spain, practically all foreign television programs are shown dubbed in Spanish language, as are most films. Some dubbing actors have achieved popularity for their voices, such as Constantino Romero (who dubs Clint Eastwood, Darth Vader and Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Terminator, among others) and Óscar Muñoz (the official European Spanish dub-over voice artist for Elijah Wood and Hayden Christensen). Currently, with the spread of digital terrestrial television, viewers can choose between the original and the dubbed soundtracks for most movies and television.
In some regions such as Catalonia, Galicia and Basque Country, some foreign programs are also often dubbed into Catalan language, Galician, or Basque language.
In the past Russian-language films, TV series, cartoons, animated series and TV programs were usually not dubbed but were shown with the original audio with Ukrainian subtitles. However, this practice has been slowly abandoned since the late 2010s: all children's films and cartoons regardless of the original language (including Russian) are always dubbed into Ukrainian; example of the first Russian cartoons dubbed into Ukrainian for the cinematic-release is The Snow Queen 2 (2015), A Warrior's Tail (2015), Volki i Ovtsy: Be-e-e-zumnoe prevrashenie (2016), Ivan Tsarevich i Seryy Volk 3 (2016), Bremenskie razboyniki (2016), (2017), Fantastic Journey to OZ (2017), Fixies: Top Secret (2017) etc.; the same trend is seen among Russian language feature films for adults, with the first such films dubbed into Ukrainian including Battle for Sevastopol (2015), Hardcore Henry (2016), The Duelist (2016).
The first film to be dubbed in Brazil was the Disney animation "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in 1938. By the end of the 1950s, most of the movies, TV series and cartoons on television in Brazil were shown in its original sound and subtitles. However, in 1961, a decree of President Jânio Quadros ruled that all foreign productions on television should be dubbed. This measure boosted the growth of dubbing in Brazil, and has led to several dubbing studios since then. The biggest dubbing studio in Brazil was Herbert Richers, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro and closed in 2009. At its peak in the 80s and 90s, the Herbert Richers studios dubbed about 70% of the productions shown in Brazilian cinemas.
In the 90s, with Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball and other anime shows becoming popular in Brazilian TVs, the voice actors and the dubbing career gained a higher space in Brazilian culture. Actors like Hermes Baroli (Brazilian dubber of Pegasus Seiya, in Saint Seiya and actors like Ashton Kutcher), Marco Ribeiro (Brazilian dubber of many actors like Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey and Robert Downey Jr., and Yusuke Urameshi from the anime Yu Yu Hakusho) and Wendel Bezerra (Brazilian dubber of Goku in Dragon Ball Z and SpongeBob in SpongeBob SquarePants) are recognized for their most notable roles.
Pay TV commonly offers both dubbed and subtitled movies, with statistics showing that dubbed versions are becoming predominant. Dublagem em canais de TV paga provoca polêmica (in Portuguese) O Globo, 20 November 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2012. Most DVD and Blu-ray releases usually feature Portuguese, Spanish, and the original audio along with subtitles in native languages. Most video games are dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese rather than having European Portuguese dubs alone. Games such as Halo 3, , inFamous 2, Assassin's Creed III, , World of Warcraft and others are dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese. This is because despite the dropping of the dubbing law in Portugal in 1994, most companies in that country use the Brazilian Portuguese because of traditional usage during the days of the dubbing rule, along with these dubbings being more marketable than European Portuguese.
A list that showcases Brazilian Portuguese voice artists that dub for actors and actresses are displayed here. However, there can also be different official dub artists for certain regions within Brazil.
| Official voice artist for Elijah Wood in São Paulo dubs. |
| Official voice artist for Elijah Wood in Rio de Janeiro dubs. |
| Gary Oldman John Goodman Forest Whitaker Rip Torn |
Apparently, for unknown reasons (probably technical), the Brazilian Portuguese dub credits from some shows or cartoons from channels from Viacom or Turner/Time Warner, are shown on Latin America (on Spanish-dubbed series).
Dubbing must be made in Mexico by Mexican nationals or foreigners residing in Mexico. Still, several programs that are shown on pay TV are dubbed in other countries like Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela.
Most movies released on DVD feature Standard Spanish as a language option, and sometimes feature a specific dub for Mexican audiences (for example, Rio). Foreign programs are dubbed on broadcast TV, while on pay TV most shows and movies are subtitled. In a similar way to cinemas, in the last few years, many channels on pay TV have begun to broadcast programs and films only in their dubbed version.
Dubbing became very popular in the 1990s with the rise in popularity of anime in Mexico. Some voice actors have become celebrities and are always identified with specific characters, such as Mario Castañeda (who became popular by dubbing Goku in Dragon Ball Z), Arturo Mercado Jr (who became popular by dubbing Mickey Mouse) (or Humberto Vélez, who dubbed Homer Simpson in the first 15 seasons of The Simpsons).
The popularity of pay TV has allowed people to view several series in their original language rather than dubbed. Dubbing has been criticized for the use of TV or movie stars as voice actors (such as Ricky Martin in Disney's Hercules, or Eugenio Derbez in DreamWorks' Shrek), or for the incorrect use of local popular culture that sometimes creates unintentional jokes or breaks the feeling of the original work (such as translating Sheldon Cooper's "Bazinga!" to "¡Vacilón!").
Several video games have been dubbed into neutral Spanish, rather than European Spanish, in Mexico (such as the Gears of War series, Halo 3, Infamous 2 and others). Sony recently announced that more games (such as God of War: Ascension) will be dubbed into neutral Spanish.
Peru used to not produce their own dubs since dubbing studios never existed in that country until 2016, when the company "Big Bang Films" started to dub movies and series; however since 2014, a group of dubbing actors created a group called "Torre A Doblaje", which is a group of actors that gives dubbing and localization services.
Formerly, all French-language dubbed films in Quebec were imported from France and some still are. Such a practice was criticized by former politician Mario Dumont after he took his children to see the Standard French dub of Shrek the Third, which Dumont found incomprehensible. Quebec pressing Hollywood to justify lack of movie dubbing, The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail, 26 May 2008 After his complaints and a proposed bill, Bee Movie, the film from DreamWorks Animation, was dubbed in Quebec, making it the studio's first animated film to have a Quebec French dub, as all DreamWorks Animation films had previously been dubbed in France. In terms of Disney, the first Disney animated movie to be dubbed in Quebec French was Oliver and Company. Afterwards, all the other Disney animated movies onward after Oliver and Company including the Pixar animated movies have also been dubbed in Quebec French except for , The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, A Goofy Movie, and Luca.
In addition, because Canadian viewers usually find Quebec French more comprehensible than other dialects of the language, some older film series that had the French-language versions of previous installments dubbed in France have had later ones dubbed in Quebec, often creating inconsistencies within the French version of the series' canon. Lucasfilm's Star Wars and Indiana Jones series are examples. Both series had films released in the 1970s and 1980s, with no Québécois French dubbed versions; instead, the Parisian French versions, with altered character and object names and terms, were distributed in the province. However, later films in both series released 1999 and later were dubbed in Quebec, using different voice actors and "reversing" name changes made in France's dubbings due to the change in studio.
On the other hand, anime is almost always released in English-dubbed format, regardless of its content or target age group. The exceptions to this practice are either when an English dub has not been produced for the program (usually in the case of feature films) or when the program is being presented by a network that places importance on presenting it in its original format (as was the case when Turner Classic Movies aired several of Hayao Miyazaki's works, which were presented both dubbed and subtitled). Most anime DVDs contain options for original Japanese, Japanese with subtitles, and English-dubbed, except for a handful of series that have been heavily edited or Americanized. In addition, Disney has a policy that makes its directors undergo stages to perfect alignment of certain lip movements so the movie looks believable.
In addition, a small number of British films have been re-dubbed when released in the United States, due to the usage of dialects which Americans are not familiar with (for example, Kes and Trainspotting). However, British children's shows (such as Thomas and Friends and Bob the Builder) have historically always been re-dubbed with American voice actors in order to make the series more understandable for American children. This slowly fell out of practice since the late 2000s. With the rising popularity of British children's shows such as Peppa Pig, which airs undubbed on Nick Jr. Channel (even though Tickle-U aired the dubbed version), fewer and fewer British children's shows have been broadcast with American re-dubs. Conversely, British programs shown in Canada are typically not re-dubbed.
Some live-action television shows shown in the US have Spanish dubs. These are accessible though the SAP (secondary audio program) function of the television unit.
Many films have also been dubbed into indigenous languages of the United States and Canada. Disney's Moana, set in Hawaii, was dubbed into the Hawaiian language in 2018. The Navajo language has also received dubs of many films, the first three being (), Finding Nemo () and Fistful of Dollars (). The Navajo dubs of Star Wars and Finding Nemo are also available on Disney Plus.
Because over 25% of Australians speak a language other than English at home, some cinemas show foreign-language films, for example in Chinese (the most spoken language in Australia other than English). There are also Chinese-language cinemas in Australia, such as the Hoyts Mandarin cinema in Chatswood, Sydney.
However, some TV commercials from foreign countries are dubbed, even if the original commercial came from another English-speaking country. Moreover, the off-screen narration portions of some non-fiction programs originating from the UK or North America are re-dubbed by Australian voice talents to relay information in expressions that Australians can understand more easily.
The first film to be dubbed into an Australian Aboriginal language was Fists of Fury, a Hong Kong martial arts film, which was dubbed into the Nyungar language of the Perth region in 2021. The first Indigenous Australian cartoon, Little J & Big Cuz, is available in English and several indigenous languages, including Gija language, Nyungar, Torres Strait Creole, Palawa Kani, Warlpiri, Yolŋu, Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara and Australian Kriol.
Many episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants () and Dora the Explorer () were dubbed into Māori and shown on Māori Television to promote the Māori language among children.
Disney has also started dubbing films into Māori. These films are shown in cinemas in New Zealand and some parts of Australia and then released globally on Disney+. In 2019, the film Moana was dubbed into Māori. In 2022, The Lion King () and Frozen were dubbed into Māori.
In most English language-speaking countries, dubbing is comparatively rare. In Israel, some programs need to be comprehensible to speakers of both Russian language and Hebrew language. This cannot be accomplished with dubbing, so subtitling is much more commonplace—sometimes even with subtitles in multiple languages, with the soundtrack remaining in the original language, usually English. The same applies to certain television shows in Finland, where Swedish language and Finnish language are both official languages.
In the Netherlands, Flanders, Nordic countries, Estonia, Portugal and Balkans, films and television programs are shown in the original language (usually English) with subtitles, and only cartoons and children's movies and programs are dubbed. Cinemas usually show both a dubbed version and one with subtitles for this kind of movie, with the subtitled version shown later in the evening.
In Portugal, one terrestrial channel, TVI, dubbed U.S. series like Dawson's Creek into Portuguese. RTP also transmitted Friends in a dubbed version, but it was poorly received and later re-aired in a subtitled version. Cartoons, on the other hand, are usually dubbed, sometimes by well-known actors, even on TV. Animated movies are usually released to the cinemas in both subtitled and dubbed versions.
In Argentina and Venezuela, terrestrial channels air films and TV series in a dubbed version, as demanded by law. However, those same series can be seen on cable channels at more accessible time-slots in their subtitled version and usually before they are shown on open TV. In contrast, the series The Simpsons is aired in its Mexican Spanish-dubbed version both on terrestrial television and on the cable station Fox, which broadcasts the series for the area. Although the first season of the series appeared with subtitles, this was not continued for the following seasons.
Walt Disney Television's animated series (such as DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, and Timon & Pumbaa) were only aired with synchronized Bulgarian voices on BNT Channel 1 until 2005, but then the Disney shows were canceled. When airing of Disney series resumed on Nova Television and Jetix in 2008, voiceovers were used, but Disney animated-movie translations still use synchronized voices. Voiceover dubbing is not used in theatrical releases. The Bulgarian film industry law requires all children's films to be dubbed, not subtitled. Nova Television dubbed and aired the Pokémon anime with synchronized voices. Now, the show is airing on Disney Channel, also in a synchronized form.
Netflix provides both subtitles and dubbed audio with its foreign language shows, including Brazil's dystopian 3% and the German thriller Dark. Viewer testing indicates that its audience is more likely to finish watching a series if they select to view it with dubbed audio rather than translated subtitles. Netflix now streams its foreign language content with dubbed audio as default in an effort to increase viewer retention.
To achieve synchronization when animations are intended only for the source language, localized content is mostly recorded using techniques borrowed from movie dubbing (such as rythmo band) or, when images are not available, localized dubbing is done using source audios as a reference. Sound-synch is a method where localized audios are recorded matching the length and internal pauses of the source content.
For the European version of a video game, the on-screen text of the game is available in various languages and, in many cases, the dialogue is dubbed into each respective language, as well.
The North American version of any game is always available in English language, with translated text and dubbed dialogue, if necessary, in other languages, especially if the North American version of the game contains the same data as the European version. Several Japanese games, such as those in the Dynasty Warriors and Soulcalibur series, are released with both the original Japanese audio and the English dub included.
Dubbing is commonly used in science fiction television, as well. Sound generated by effects equipment such as Animatronics puppets or by actors' movements on elaborate multi-level plywood sets (for example, starship bridges or other command centers) will quite often make the original character dialogue unusable. Stargate and Farscape are two prime examples where ADR is used heavily to produce usable audio.
Since some anime series contain profanity, the studios recording the English dubs often re-record certain lines if a series or movie is going to be broadcast on Cartoon Network, removing references to death and hell as well. Some companies will offer both an edited and an uncut version of the series on DVD, so that there is an edited script available in case the series is broadcast. Other companies also edit the full-length version of a series, meaning that even on the uncut DVD characters say things like "Blast!" and "Darn!" in place of the original dialogue's profanity. Bandai English dub of G Gundam is infamous for this, among many other things, with such lines as "Bartender, more milk".
Dubbing has also been used for comedic purposes, replacing lines of dialogue to create comedies from footage that was originally another genre. Examples include the American television show Kung Faux, comedically re-dubbed from 1970s kung fu films originally produced in Hong Kong, the Australian television shows The Olden Days and Bargearse, re-dubbed from 1970s Australian drama and action series, respectively, the Irish show Soupy Norman, re-dubbed from Pierwsza miłość, a Polish soap opera, and Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, a comedic dub of the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle.
Dubbing into a foreign language does not always entail the deletion of the original language. In some countries, a performer may read the translated dialogue as a voice-over. This often occurs in Russia and Poland, where "lektories" or "lektors" read the translated dialogue into Russian language and Polish language. In Poland, one announcer read all text. However, this is done almost exclusively for the television and home video markets, while theatrical releases are usually subtitled. Recently, however, the number of high-quality, fully dubbed films has increased, especially for children's movies. If a quality dubbed version exists for a film, it is shown in theaters. However, some films, such as Harry Potter or Star Wars, are shown in both dubbed and subtitled versions, varying with the time of the show. Such films are also shown on TV (although some channels drop them and do standard one-narrator translation) and VHS/DVD.
In Russia, the reading of all lines by a single person is referred to as a Gavrilov translation, and is generally found only in illegal copies of films and on cable television. Professional copies always include at least two actors of opposite gender translating the dialogue. Some titles in Poland have been dubbed this way, too, but this method lacks public appeal, so it is very rare now.
On special occasions, such as , live interpreting is often done by professionals.
Hispanic America and Spain use different versions of dubbed films and series. Due to the variety of Spanish accents in Latin America, the dubbing for this region is made in Standard Spanish, which avoids colloquialisms and whose pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammatical features are not recognizable as belonging to any particular Latin American country. For this reason, it is made in different countries, mainly in Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, for the entire continent. In addition, some films have been dubbed to the accent of a certain region of Spanish-speaking Latin America, such as the animated movie The Incredibles, which in addition to being dubbed into European Spanish and Neutral Spanish, was dubbed into the Rioplatense and Mexican Spanish varieties.
Another example is the French dubbing of The Simpsons, which has two entirely different versions for Quebec and for France. The humor is very different for each audience (see Non-English versions of The Simpsons). Audiences in Quebec are generally critical of France's dubbing of The Simpsons, which they often do not find amusing.
Quebec French dubbing of films is generally made in accent-free Standard French, but may sound peculiar to audiences in France because of the persistence of some regionally-neutral expressions and because Quebec-French performers pronounce Anglo-Saxon names with an American accent, unlike French performers. Occasionally, budget restraints cause American direct-to-video films, such as the 1995 film When the Bullet Hits the Bone, to be released in France with a Quebec-French dubbing, sometimes resulting in what some members of French audiences perceive as unintentional humor.
Portugal and Brazil also use different versions of dubbed films and series. Because dubbing has never been very popular in Portugal, for decades, children's films were distributed using the higher-quality Brazilian dub (unlike children's TV series, which are traditionally dubbed in European Portuguese). Only in the 1990s did dubbing begin to gain popularity in Portugal. The Lion King became the first Disney feature film to be completely dubbed into European Portuguese, and subsequently all major animation films gained European-Portuguese versions. In recent DVD releases, most Brazilian-Portuguese-dubbed classics were released with new European-Portuguese dubs, eliminating the predominance of Brazilian-Portuguese dubs in Portugal.
Similarly, in Flanders, the Dutch language-speaking region of Belgium, cartoons are often dubbed locally by Flemish artists rather than using soundtracks produced in the Netherlands.
The German-speaking region, which includes Germany, Austria, part of Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, share a common German-dubbed version of films and shows. Although there are some differences in the three major German varieties, all films, shows, and series are dubbed into a single Standard German version that avoids regional variations in the German-speaking audience. Most voice actors are primarily German or Austrian. Switzerland, which has four official languages (German, French, Italian language, and Romansh language), generally uses dubbed versions made in each respective country (except for Romansh). Liechtenstein uses German-dubbed versions only.
Sometimes, films are also dubbed into several German dialects (Berlinerisch, Kölsch, Saxonian, Austro-Bavarian or Swiss German), especially animated films and Disney films. They are as an additional "special feature" to entice the audience into buying it. Popular animated films dubbed into German variety include Asterix films (in addition to its Standard German version, every film has a particular variety version), The Little Mermaid, Shrek 2, Cars, (+ Austrian German) and Up (+ Austrian German).
Some live-action films or TV series have an additional German variety dubbing: Babe and its sequel, (German German, Austrian German, Swiss German); and Rehearsal for Murder, Framed (+ Austrian German); The Munsters, Serpico, Rumpole (+ Austrian German), and The Thorn Birds (only Austrian German dubbing).
Before German reunification, East Germany also made its own particular German version. For example, Olsen-banden and the Hungary animated series The Mézga Family were dubbed in West Germany as well as East Germany.
Usually, there are two dubbings produced in Serbo-Croatian: Serbian language and Croatian. Serbian for Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina; Croatian for Croatia and parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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