Favorite Dubs

[D'Snowth]

I'm sure we've all watched various international co-productions out of curiosity, but they all have one thing in common with us in the sketches, songs, inserts, etc, they're just dubbed into the respective languages.

Sometimes though, you come across a dub that you like just as much, if not even a little better than the English original, what are some of your favorite dubs?

I think my single favorite is the Dutch dub of "10 Commandments of Health", but I also like the Spanish dubs of "Dance Myself to Sleep" (the original version with Ernie and Bert obviously) and "This Frog".

 

[ISNorden]

My favorite international dubs so far:

10. "My Friend", in which Plaza Sésamo turns the original Spanish-for-Anglos premise upside-down--and keeps the lyrics singable.
9. The Count's "Number of the Day" Waltz (those sketches with the Countess shouting STOP!!! when he hits the right number); some of the rhyming lyrics were redone pretty cleverly in Spanish. ("Si hay bizcocho/es el ocho,/ si cae nieve/es el nueve..." [If there are cookies, it's 8/if it's snowing, it's 9...])
8. The Hebrew dub of "Alligator King" for Shalom Sesame. Most of the early song-dubs for that show fit the original tunes awkwardly, if at all; this one is an exception to the rule.
7. The Hebrew dub of "Adding Is Putting Together", for the same reason; the new words fit the melody fairly well without losing much of the old meaning.
6. The Hebrew dub of "Fat Cat Sat Hat"; I'm amazed that the writers could keep the "wild story for each set of rhymes" gag working in a radically different language.
5. The Dutch dub of Oscar and Grover's alphabet game; some of the word choices turned into a subtle exchange of insults. (Grover counters Oscar's duivel op jij ["go to Hades"] with engel ["angel"], and H-I-J becomes "Crybaby...Who me?...You!")
4. The Dutch dub of Don Music's attempt to write the Alphabet Song; trying to work out suitable puns for the same four letters must have been hard work!
3. The Hebrew dub of "Hace Calor/It Sure Is Hot!". I'm impressed that the Israeli writers could adapt a song meant to teach one language and culture, to teach theirs instead...without losing any of the original's cleverness and singability.
2. The Norwegian dub of "Pinball Number Count": most foreign versions of this song-cartoon sound awkward at best, but the close relationship between English and Norwegian keeps that from happening here. (Numbers are basic cognates in both languages, after all!)
1. The Norwegian dub of "The World's Greatest Counter of Numbers": I've actually had some viewers comment that Bert and Ernie sound funnier in Norwegian; the local performers must have picked up Jim Henson's and Frank Oz' pacing perfectly.

 

[mr3urious]

I really like the Pinball Number Count in Dutch. Not only do the Dutch numbers fit well into the song (just like Norwegian), I also find the singers here to be a lot more lively and melodic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW2bbVzg2eg

 

[D'Snowth]

I was wondering when this thread was going to take off.

 

[Oscarfan]

For some reason, I enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoamgshHhJo

The Plaza Sesamo dub of "Ocean Emotion"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRSkjf2VfV4

Sesamstrasse's "Telephone Rock" (especially the last verse for the guitar portion that's barely audible in the English)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2wH1xbXtX4

and Sesamstraat's "It's Alive".

 

[ISNorden]

I really like the Pinball Number Count in Dutch. Not only do the Dutch numbers fit well into the song (just like Norwegian), I also find the singers here to be a lot more lively and melodic.

[link to "Flipperkast 3"]

Pretty accurate critique; here's the Norwegian dub of Pinball Count #10 for the sake of comparison.

 

[Drtooth]

Simple...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ksUY9EOVo

I feel this was the best "this is how an American clip sounds in Hebrew" sketch in the entire whole of Shalom Sesame. Instead of just English line...Hebrew line... English line, it totally redoes the song to fit the show, but keeps the same spirit and educational content of the song.

it isn't just about speaking another language, it's about making friends with other cultures.

 

[D'Snowth]

Yay:

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah, I like that one, mainly for the fact Cookie Monster says something that sounds like something else in English. Something of a more amorous nature of cookies, which I shall not mention.

If you REALLY want to see what I mean, look up the video
Igiulamam's YoutubePoop: A minute of reflection


just mind the language. Otherwise I'd link it directly here.

Also, Grover sounds like he's in intense pain when he's singing. it's like Pluzig and BLAUUOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!

 

[D'Snowth]

Also, Grover sounds like he's in intense pain when he's singing. it's like Pluzig and BLAUUOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!

He kind of sounds like that long-haired bad guy from Home Alone 3.

EDIT: Now I understand where your "Move Cake Closer" deviation came from... funny I never picked up on that... but honestly, I didn't pick up on the cookie thing either.