Flash McQueen???

ImaYoyo

ImaYoyo

Active Member
cdunbar

cdunbar

Active Member
Yeah translation from one language to another doesn't always turn out right b/c of various things like word order, and whether or not a particular word is even in that languages vocab...I guess that the flash mcqueen would be excellent example...but I could be wrong I'm thinking about in the fact that I know these same issues come up in spanish...
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
The funny thing is that you are quoting a British website, normally no translation would be necessary... Or is this one of the cases of "two countries seperated by a common language"???

I was intrigued and checked the German Disneyland Resort Paris website and there they are called Lightning McQueen and Mater. I never saw the film in German, so I can't confirm for sure that there names were not changed for the German version of Cars....
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
I found it, it's the French's fault obviously!!! Someone just translated the French website into English without checking the names... How sad!!! :fork:
 
WDWGuide

WDWGuide

Active Member
Bolna said:
The funny thing is that you are quoting a British website, normally no translation would be necessary... Or is this one of the cases of "two countries seperated by a common language"???

I was intrigued and checked the German Disneyland Resort Paris website and there they are called Lightning McQueen and Mater. I never saw the film in German, so I can't confirm for sure that there names were not changed for the German version of Cars....
Click to expand...

Interesting, considering Mater's German name is "Hook". What's even better, Mario Andretti in the German version is none other than Mika Häkkinen!

But yes, the French names are "Flash McQueen" and "Martin".
 
scpergj

scpergj

Well-Known Member
ImaYoyo said:
Ever heard of the phrase "Lost in Translation"? This is a good example of the literal term.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right...

While I'm never one to pass up an opportunity to bash on the french (I am a defense contractor, after all), lets think about the subject...

While the Flash McQueen part I don't quite get (but if it's a literal translation then it is what it is), the Martin for Mater part kind of makes sense. The subtle (well...not always so subtle) dialect differences in American English can make it hard for jokes based on differences in dialect to be understood in other countries.

I mean, think about...Tow Mater...we get it, the southern sound of saying Tomato (in GENERAL...I speak with a slight southern accent myself)...but would someone in Europe or South America...or Asia get it? Probably not, unless they are a student of American English, so a slight change was needed. No different from a non-spanish speaking American not understanding the difference between Cuba spanish, Mexican spanish, and Spanish spanish.

While fun, this time it's just linguistics...

Kevin
 
scpergj

scpergj

Well-Known Member
WDWGuide said:
Interesting, considering Mater's German name is "Hook". What's even better, Mario Andretti in the German version is none other than Mika Häkkinen!

But yes, the French names are "Flash McQueen" and "Martin".
Click to expand...

Ok, that's pretty cool, but was Michael Schumacher still himself?

Kevin
 
sanctumsolitude

sanctumsolitude

Active Member
scpergj said:
I mean, think about...Tow Mater...we get it, the southern sound of saying Tomato (in GENERAL...I speak with a slight southern accent myself)...but would someone in Europe or South America...or Asia get it? Probably not, unless they are a student of American English, so a slight change was needed.
Kevin
Click to expand...

In the French version, he says his name is Martin. Like Aston Martin, but without the Aston.
 
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
The word "lightning" in French is "éclairage". Perhaps in dialog it was too awkward to say and they changed it.

-Rob
 
Mr Bill

Mr Bill

Well-Known Member
WDWGuide said:
Interesting, considering Mater's German name is "Hook". What's even better, Mario Andretti in the German version is none other than Mika Häkkinen!

But yes, the French names are "Flash McQueen" and "Martin".
Click to expand...
Hakkinen also played The King in the Finnish version. Also, Niki Lauda was the King in the German edition.

And in the British and German versions, Harv, Lightning's agent, is Jeremy Clarkson.
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
WDWGuide said:
Interesting, considering Mater's German name is "Hook". What's even better, Mario Andretti in the German version is none other than Mika Häkkinen!

But yes, the French names are "Flash McQueen" and "Martin".
Click to expand...

That's intersting! I will need to get that DVD again (or even better buy it), so far I have only seen the film in the original version...

With regard to "Flash" I think they might have wanted to use a word that was still English but a more common known world. I think here in Germany most people would know what a flash is, while lightning they would find more difficult to understand. So I guess that goes even more for the French.
 
cmatt

cmatt

Active Member
Mr Bill said:
Hakkinen also played The King in the Finnish version. Also, Niki Lauda was the King in the German edition.

And in the British and German versions, Harv, Lightning's agent, is Jeremy Clarkson.
Click to expand...


clarkson was one of the highlights of that movie :)
 
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ukdms

New Member
cmatt said:
clarkson was one of the highlights of that movie :)
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A lot of movies have minor characters done by local actors from their country. I guess it makes the role seem more interesting for the local audience.

Clarkson was good in the film, but non-UK audiences probably wouldn't have recognised why he was playing the role
 
IROC it

IROC it

Member
Could "Lightning" be a bad memory from the WW2 era? As in a "blitzkrieg?"

Maybe Flash is not as offensive?:shrug:

Just trying to figure that one out... it popped in my mind, what with Disney trying to be all PC to the audience.
 

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