One of the most peculiar things I noticed about life in London, as an American, was children’s television programming. For the most part, the Brit’s air the same shows PBS and Nick Jr air in the States… although; they are all redubbed with British accents. At first Serena and I found this odd, however we quickly accepted this change. You know? It’s important for children to hear voices that sound like their own. Right? After all, most children’s shows are made in the States… or Canada. You know what I’m talking “aboot”.
Although… I don’t believe we redub shows in the States. If I remember correctly, Peppa Pig, Charlie and Lola, and the Upside Down Show are NOT redubbed for American Audiences.
Anyway, for the most part the redubbing was okay. However, there were two shows in particular that we found… how should I say? Umm… we found them annoying and strange.
As you can imagine, animated shows would lend themselves easily to redubbing. Shows like “Super Why?” were perfectly normal once you got used to the different voices and accents. But, this redubbing completely ruined one of our household favorites: “The Backyardigans”. Why? The singing was HORRIBLE!
In the States, the focus of The Backyardigan’s is to promote imaginative play while also encouraging the performance arts through song and dance. And I have to admit, the stories and music featured on you average episode of Backyardigan’s is quite good. The music is very catchy and I catch myself singing their songs to myself from time to time.
But, then again, in the State’s they use professional singers to record the songs. However, in the UK, they don’t. The British version is so utterly and completely painful, singing wise, that I can stop pummeling myself in the head with the most accessible blunt object. Seriously folks… vocally, it’s like watching a second grade choral recital. Production value people! Production value!
No comments:
Post a Comment