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Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud

156 statements
29 feature instances
6 referencing feature instances

Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	type	FeatureClass
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	label	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	page	ReadingForeignSignsOutLoud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	comment	When dubbing, since making the subtitles from translated works would need more people and money, a cheaper option is preferred: written text read aloud, including the main credits, since simply reading them was cheaper. These are called "Insertos" in Latin American dub lingo, where it's pretty much an Omnipresent Trope. More often than not, the actor reading the "Insertos" also provides the voice of one of the main characters, reading the "Insertos" in his normal voice, or in-character if interacting with said object fits with the plot (reading a letter, holding a product, etc.) and the camera isn't focused on their mouth so you can't see that it isn't moving. As you can imagine, this can be a bit annoying to people not familiar with it, but not in countries where it's common. Since the arrival of new technology, making subtitles is something far easier. Nonetheless, this still goes on, either from force of habit or, perhaps, the assumption that Viewers Are Morons who can't read and listen at the same time. This can also pop up sometimes in works in their original language that use Translation Convention and have written signs and documents in the characters' assumed language rather than also translating said signs/documents, often translating plot-relevant writing for audience ease. Variations include reading exactly what's on the signs and then translating it ("Escuela, that means school"), or making a comment while translating (instead of "hair tonic" is "Now, we will add some hair tonic"). This technique is relatively rare in English adaptations, where non-English signs will usually either be untranslated or subtitled (or, if the localizer has money, digitally altered). When it does happen, there is often an effort for it to feel more integrated into the work rather than a narrator simply reading it. May overlap with Sounding It Out or Voiceover Letter. Not to be confused with Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	fetched	2023-07-02T20:13:43Z
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	parsed	2023-07-02T20:13:43Z
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	processingComment	Dropped link to CouchGag: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	processingComment	Dropped link to LongRunner: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	processingComment	Dropped link to TranslationConvention: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	processingComment	Dropped link to runninggag: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	isPartOf	DBTropes
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_11b7db91	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_11b7db91	comment	A peculiar case is present in the Italian dubs of multiple Cartoon Network shows: Until early 2016 they translated all the title cards in Italian, but then they changed and left them in English with a character reading the Italian title out loud (examples: Jake in Adventure Time, Bellybag in Uncle Grandpa, Grizzly in We Bare Bears), with two weird examples standing out: The Amazing World of Gumball, where they reverted the title cards for every Season 1-2 episode in English with Gumball's voice reading them aloud - and it's Gumball's voice from late season 2/early season 3, when his voice actor's voice cracked and then he was replaced so it isn't even the voice you hear in most of the episodes with the english title cards; and Teen Titans Go!, where there is no voiceover reading the Italian titles in Season 3+ episodes. You can still find them in the TV guide descriptions. The Italian dub of the Adventure Time episode "Lady Rainicorn of the Crystal Dimension" does something akin in the most weird way: Most of the episode features Rainicorns speaking Korean, with English subtitles underneath. Instead of translating the subtitles in Italian, they just redubbed the Rainicorn dialogue in Italian... with English subtitles still underneath that now have no reason to be there.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_11b7db91	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_11b7db91	featureConfidence	1.0
Adventure Time	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_11b7db91
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_2bbcacd9	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_2bbcacd9	comment	This was extensively used for Looney Tunes in France, usually with a narrator voice but sometimes with a relevant character's voice (The Rabbit of Seville used Bugs Bunny's voice for jar labels and such).
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_2bbcacd9	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_2bbcacd9	featureConfidence	1.0
Looney Tunes	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_2bbcacd9
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_42cfcd5d	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_42cfcd5d	comment	The 1993 English dub of My Neighbor Totoro had a robotic voice translate the Catbus' Japanese-written destination sign. Disney's 2006 dub instead has Satsuki read the sign in English. Interestingly, when Satsuki and Mei give their mother an ear of corn with Kanji for "For Mother" engraved in its husk, the '93 dub translated it with a subtitle, while the '06 version has the mother read it aloud in English.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_42cfcd5d	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_42cfcd5d	featureConfidence	1.0
My Neighbor Totoro	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_42cfcd5d
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_453a04b0	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_453a04b0	comment	Later seasons in the Italian dub of The Fairly Oddparents do it. The weird thing is that is Crocker's voice doing it, even for the writing in the poofs.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_453a04b0	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_453a04b0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Fairly OddParents!	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_453a04b0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_4d238cb5	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_4d238cb5	comment	In the French dub of RoboCop: The Series, all HUD text is read aloud in RoboCop's voice.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_4d238cb5	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_4d238cb5	featureConfidence	1.0
RoboCop: The Series	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_4d238cb5
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_56a63131	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_56a63131	comment	The Spanish dub of The Simpsons has the signs subtitled, but inexplicably, The Simpsons Movie, while dubbed by the same voice actors and having the same translator and dub director, had them read out loud by different characters. It got really annoying pretty quickly.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_56a63131	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_56a63131	featureConfidence	1.0
The Simpsons Movie	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_56a63131
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_671d5c19	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_671d5c19	comment	The Japanese dub of The Powerpuff Girls (1998) has the Narrator read most of the written text that appears. This works very naturally, since the Narrator is already a prominent character in the show.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_671d5c19	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_671d5c19	featureConfidence	1.0
The Powerpuff Girls (1998)	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_671d5c19
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_691be369	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_691be369	comment	In the Czech dub of The X-Files, there was always a voice actor hired specifically to read aloud the locations and time stamps. There were two of them throughout the show's nine-season run. In addition, there was inserted info about who dubs the leads' into the theme song. One of those "title guys" would later dub Langly of the Lone Gunmen trio, but fans did not complain. Needless to say, their memetic "FBI Headquarters, Washington DC" was well-loved.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_691be369	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_691be369	featureConfidence	1.0
The X-Files	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_691be369
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_6c4031ea	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_6c4031ea	comment	Several scenes in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are affected in certain dubs, while others were originally translated on-screen for theatrical/VHS releases (as well as some international editions of the 2001 DVD release) but were replaced with the original English panels on future DVD/Blu-Ray releases, thus invoking this trope. Notable examples include the Storybook Opening and closing, as well as the penultimate seasonal narrative text after Snow White's chorale.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_6c4031ea	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_6c4031ea	featureConfidence	1.0
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_6c4031ea
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_84724d58	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_84724d58	comment	The Spanish dub of KaBlam! often has a narrator reading the title cards of the various shorts.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_84724d58	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_84724d58	featureConfidence	1.0
KaBlam!	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_84724d58
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_869a0304	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_869a0304	comment	Used in the English dub of The Millennium Trilogy films, probably necessitated by the story's heavy focus on people looking at computer screens. Occasionally backed up by on-screen subtitled translations as well.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_869a0304	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_869a0304	featureConfidence	1.0
TheMillenniumTrilogy	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_869a0304
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_90ab7fe1	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_90ab7fe1	comment	The German dub of Recess makes use of this by a narrator.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_90ab7fe1	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_90ab7fe1	featureConfidence	1.0
Recess	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_90ab7fe1
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9891fcdd	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9891fcdd	comment	The newspaper montage at the end of Dumbo (after Dumbo becomes famous) has this trope applied to most dubs. Several dubs have an "Extra! Extra! Read All About It!" variant, while the French 1980 re-dub has them announced by Timothy Mouse (who appears in the last newspaper, having signed a Hollywood contract as Dumbo's manager).
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9891fcdd	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9891fcdd	featureConfidence	1.0
Dumbo	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9891fcdd
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9ab8eee9	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9ab8eee9	comment	A very unique aversion happens in the dub of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, which predates the use of subtitles: the text on the sign itself is rewritten, making it seem like it was originally written in Portuguese. (In fact, most of the text has been translated and rewritten, including the opening lyrics and the title card.)
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9ab8eee9	featureApplicability	-1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9ab8eee9	featureConfidence	1.0
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_9ab8eee9
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a183d57f	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a183d57f	comment	In Germany, the signs in Simpsons episodes are very often read by the voice of Fry.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a183d57f	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a183d57f	featureConfidence	1.0
Futurama	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a183d57f
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a506a38b	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a506a38b	comment	Wayne's World has the "Gratuitous Sex Scene" with corresponding flashing subtitle. In English, Wayne conveniently says, "Excellent!" Conveniently because this can easily be replaced by a translation of the subtitle, and in German it is.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a506a38b	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a506a38b	featureConfidence	1.0
Wayne's World	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_a506a38b
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ae0356e0	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ae0356e0	comment	In the Hungarian dub of Courage the Cowardly Dog, this includes the written sound effects.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ae0356e0	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ae0356e0	featureConfidence	1.0
Courage the Cowardly Dog	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ae0356e0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_b24f49ab	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_b24f49ab	comment	In the French dub of Back to the Future Part II, when future Marty is fired and every fax around his house begin printing "You are fired" messages, this is accompanied by numerous digitized voices cheerfully reading the translation for each of them.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_b24f49ab	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_b24f49ab	featureConfidence	1.0
Back to the Future Part II	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_b24f49ab
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bb620b9b	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bb620b9b	comment	Another French one. In the original version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, there is a scene where the snake Harry is talking with signals to a sign that reads "Bred in captivity". Harry wordlessly reads the sign and acknowledges what it says to the snake. In the French dub, Harry reads the sign out loud in French while the camera is focused on it.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bb620b9b	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bb620b9b	featureConfidence	1.0
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bb620b9b
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bc848d30	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bc848d30	comment	The German dub of SpongeBob SquarePants mostly leaves foreign signs untranslated. However, when there's something in English that German audiences wouldn't understand, instead of getting a narrator to read the signs out loud, they'd have the voices of the characters translate for us. For example, in "Dying for Pie", Squidward reading the bumper sticker on his boat (which originally read "Don't Ask Me About My Day") aloud as "Frag mich nicht wie's mir geht" ("Don't ask me how I'm doing"). Later in the same episode Mr. Krabs puts up a 'Help Wanted' sign and literally translates it as "Aushilfe gesucht!"
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bc848d30	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bc848d30	featureConfidence	1.0
SpongeBob SquarePants	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bc848d30
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bee7dcfe	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bee7dcfe	comment	A non-dub example in Jojo Rabbit, which takes place in Nazi Germany and makes use of Translation Convention (most characters speak German which is rendered as German-accented English). All writing and signs are in German, but are read aloud in English by the characters if the information is plot-relevant.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bee7dcfe	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bee7dcfe	featureConfidence	1.0
Jojo Rabbit	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_bee7dcfe
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ce50887e	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ce50887e	comment	In the European Portuguese dub for Dragon Ball, the signs would sometimes have a clear French subtitle underneath (left in since that's the version the Portuguese dub takes after), but the narrator would still read over it.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ce50887e	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ce50887e	featureConfidence	1.0
Dragon Ball (Manga)	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ce50887e
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_d9c602eb	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_d9c602eb	comment	Spanish dubs of South Park have a narrator explaining almost everything, including voicing over the disclaimer.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_d9c602eb	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_d9c602eb	featureConfidence	1.0
South Park	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_d9c602eb
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ea4f62db	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ea4f62db	comment	Very, very frequent in the France French dub of Family Guy. To the point that, when a "do not pull" sign was displayed three times in a row, the narrator read it out loud each of the three times.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ea4f62db	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ea4f62db	featureConfidence	1.0
Family Guy	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ea4f62db
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ed2549b9	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ed2549b9	comment	Interestingly, in an episode of Angry Beavers when the heroes were experimenting on smelly toes, they justified it with the signs being read aloud by a robot-like voice of a lab computer, not present in the original.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ed2549b9	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ed2549b9	featureConfidence	1.0
AngryBeavers	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_ed2549b9
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_f724b70d	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_f724b70d	comment	In some dubs of Code Lyoko, the show title and episode title is read out loud.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_f724b70d	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_f724b70d	featureConfidence	1.0
Code Lyoko	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_f724b70d
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fa00b130	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fa00b130	comment	The Russian dub of Spongebob Squarepants has a similar example to the French dub of Family Guy in "Plankton's Army", when Plankton's first name, Sheldon, is displayed four times in a row (five if you count the close-up shot), the narrator read it out loud each of the five times.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fa00b130	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fa00b130	featureConfidence	1.0
SpongeBob SquarePants	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fa00b130
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fc0e7530	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fc0e7530	comment	Done very often in the Norwegian dub of Dexter's Laboratory, even for signs that appear very briefly onscreen and have no importance to the plot. This actually added a good joke at the end of "The Continuum of Cartoon Fools": when Dexter arrives on the "The End" screen complaining that he is now locked outside of his laboratory, the narrator tries to interrupt him by saying "The End" out loud, getting more and more annoyed in the process until Dexter finally ends it and the narrator says "Now it's The End!"
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fc0e7530	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fc0e7530	featureConfidence	1.0
Dexter's Laboratory	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_fc0e7530
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_febb8460	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_febb8460	comment	Another Studio Ghibli example. The end of the very first scene of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind contains a large block of kanji briefly explaining the Crapsack World while the camera pans over a dead town in silence (save for the music). Due to the film's age, no "clean" version of the scene existed for Disney to replace text in for their dub† (the one change they're allowed to make under Ghibli's strict "no cuts" policy), so they had Tony Jay narrate a translation.
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_febb8460	featureApplicability	1.0
Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_febb8460	featureConfidence	1.0
NausicaÃ¤ of the Valley of the Wind (Manga)	hasFeature	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud / int_febb8460

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud	processingCategory2	Translation Tropes
Back to the Future Part II / int_3b015ef7	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Joker (2019) / int_3b015ef7	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
Recess / int_3b015ef7	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
The Trash Pack / int_3b015ef7	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud
VeggieTales / int_3b015ef7	type	Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud

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