"Unheilige dies!"

edited November 2010 in Tales of Monkey Island
On my way from work I started thinking about the upcoming release of the German version of TOMI and suddenly had to grin, thinking about how they are gonna translate parts like "unholy this!" to German without ruining the whole scene(s).

As much as I'm looking forward to it and as much confidence I have in Norman's performance and those of his colleages, I wonder how good the translation of the script will be. Voice actors can be as good as they want - if the translation itself is crappy, their perfomance will suffer.

What do you think? What translated terms ("Pox of LeChuck") or scenes are you curious about?

And does anyone know who the other VAs will be, other than Norman Matt as Guybrush?
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Comments

  • edited October 2010
    This sort of thing always interests me. Were Elaine, LeChuck, Stan, Murray and the Voodoo Lady's German voices consistent between Curse and Escape?
  • edited October 2010
    In EFMI the Spanish voice actor was the same from COMI, but in Monkey 4 he sounded normal in the cut-scenes but he sounded extremly high pitched (kinda like Mickey Mouse) in the actual gameplay. I don't know what the hell happened there.
  • edited October 2010
    Teeth wrote: »
    This sort of thing always interests me. Were Elaine, LeChuck, Stan, Murray and the Voodoo Lady's German voices consistent between Curse and Escape?

    I think they all were consistent except for Stan.
  • edited October 2010
    Speaking of which wasn't EMI the only MI game to be translated into other spoke languages? I found a Chinese version online once. I WANTED to buy it so badly but it was out of stock.
  • edited October 2010
    doodo! wrote: »
    Speaking of which wasn't EMI the only MI game to be translated into other spoke languages? I found a Chinese version online once. I WANTED to buy it so badly but it was out of stock.

    No. I've got CMI in English AND German right here.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited October 2010
    Oh, Mermaid, there's sooooo much to drive the translators literally crazy...

    "Unholy this!", "Isle of Ewe" and "Rock of Gelato", "Screaming Narwhal" (doesn't sound like a ship's name in German), "Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu" (mind the alliteration!), "The LeChucken Pox", "U-Tube", "Yebay", "Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y", Guybrush's tongue slips with "Anemone", "You will rue the day..." ("I've got to look that up!"), "I'll give her the ol' scurvybuttons", the "1001 fish jokes" and of course, our very own "Die Luf der Flotsam saugen". Also, the Manatee mating help scene will be massively brutal to translate properly.

    Also: Will they retain the "Espon-j-a Grande" mistake the TTG team made, or will it be "Espon-h-a Grande" from the beginning?
  • edited October 2010
    Oh, Mermaid, there's sooooo much to drive the translators literally crazy...

    "Unholy this!", "Isle of Ewe" and "Rock of Gelato", "Screaming Narwhal" (doesn't sound like a ship's name in German), "Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu" (mind the alliteration!), "The LeChucken Pox", "U-Tube", "Yebay", "Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y", Guybrush's tongue slips with "Anemone", "You will rue the day..." ("I've got to look that up!"), "I'll give her the ol' scurvybuttons", the "1001 fish jokes" and of course, our very own "Die Luf der Flotsam saugen". Also, the Manatee mating help scene will be massively brutal to translate properly.

    Also: Will they retain the "Espon-j-a Grande" mistake the TTG team made, or will it be "Espon-h-a Grande" from the beginning?

    They have to, otherwise, Elaine has no reason to correct the mistake at the very end of the game! :D

    But, boy, you are right. I remember when I tried to give a summary of what's going on in TOMI to my sister (in German). "The Pox of LeChuck" being _the_ most crucial term in the whole story I didn't find a proper translation for and ended up just using the English expression. I simply refused calling it: "Die Pocken des LeChuck". :D:D

    Gee, now I _really_ start to get curious as to how TOMI will sound in German!
  • edited October 2010
    Regarding "Esponja Grande" they could easily have the "wrong" version with an actual German "j", so that should be the least of the problems.

    I'm really interested in how they are going to translate all of the other stuff.

    "Uheilige das!" doesn't make any less sense than "Unholy this!", even the "... damit wir zwei den unheiligen Bund der Ehe schließen können." - "Den 'unheiligen' was?" - "Den 'unheiligen' das!" should work well enough. :D
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited October 2010
    As always, I prefer a free translation in favour of the best possible joke. There doesn't have to be a direct translation of "Unholy this". If the punchline is fine and fitting, they could go any other way. Hey, what about: "...so antworte mit ARGHHHH!" ? ;)
  • edited October 2010
    [QUOTE=Vainamoinen;389193 There doesn't have to be a direct translation of "Unholy this". If the punchline is fine and fitting, they could go any other way. Hey, what about: "...so antworte mit ARGHHHH!" ? ;)[/QUOTE]

    How would "So antworte mit ARGHHH" fit into the opening scene / Guybrush-being-stabbed-scene? :)
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited October 2010
    Getting the opening scene to culminate in this is probably rather easy. Getting it again into the stabbing scene, that's the piece of art. ;)
  • edited October 2010
    Getting the opening scene to culminate in this is probably rather easy. Getting it again into the stabbing scene, that's the piece of art. ;)

    "Tritt ihn für mich in seinen zweigesichtigen Hintern." :D
  • edited October 2010
    Please, don't let it be:
    "...deine Mutter ist unheilig!" ("You're mother's unholy!")
    xD

    No, I think as long as Norman Matt also gets to work on the script (like in EMI), he will take care of that - he loves MI and Guybrush as a character.
  • edited October 2010
    I dont speak german (I think I know a total of 7 words) but I'm curious just how some of the terms will be translated and would love to hear any hilarious alterations (i.e. "pox of lechuck" becomes "pirate's illness")
  • edited October 2010
    as long as Norman Matt also gets to work on the script (like in EMI)
    That's REALLY unlikely... it wasn't even clear from the start if he gets cast or not.
  • edited October 2010
    .. it wasn't even clear from the start if he gets cast or not.

    Now THAT shocked me. :(

    Isn't there any place in the net where we can listen to a German trailer or something?
    I wonder how Morgan's voice will sound in German!
  • edited October 2010
    That's REALLY unlikely... it wasn't even clear from the start if he gets cast or not.

    Normally I would reply: "What?! The people responsible for the localization have no idea what they are doing!"
    But we are talking about Daedalic here... I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing.

    And if they do, they'll let Norman contribute in a way or another.
  • edited October 2010
    I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing.
    Oh yeah? Have you heard their localization job for Wallace & Gromit? Aside from Wallace (who got his original German voice) nothing to brag about...

    If that's any indication, we'll get an awesome Norman Matt on Guybrush and crappy "actors" for all the other characters. :(
    Mermaid wrote: »
    Isn't there any place in the net where we can listen to a German trailer or something?
    Nothing has been published yet... let's hope it's because the high quality localization takes so much time.
  • edited October 2010
    I hope they does it better than in W&G...

    The Informations at Amazon let us hope that
    the most original voice actors will join the projekt.

    "Highlights:

    * Komplett deutsche Version mit allen bekannten Sprechern -
    Für Besserwisser auch in English spielbar."
  • edited October 2010
    Oh yeah? Have you heard their localization job for Wallace & Gromit? Aside from Wallace (who got his original German voice) nothing to brag about...

    If that's any indication, we'll get an awesome Norman Matt on Guybrush and crappy "actors" for all the other characters. :(

    Sounds like they couldn't even get a woman to voice Mrs Gabberly!
  • edited October 2010
    In the dubbed german version, they should have Majus voice Guybrush.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited October 2010
    No, they shouldn't. ;)
  • edited October 2010
    He should have a cameo as somebody...preferably one of the "fat guy" characters, to ipple-skipple the players.
  • edited October 2010
    Teeth wrote: »
    He should have a cameo as somebody...preferably one of the "fat guy" characters, to ipple-skipple the players.

    He should have the line "The pox! The curse is lifted! Yay!" which we hear at the beginning of chapter 5. That's a 100 % Majus line.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited October 2010
    Teeth wrote: »
    He should have a cameo as somebody...preferably one of the "fat guy" characters, to ipple-skipple the players.

    He'd rather voice the Voodoo Lady. That'd be more like a Weltraumliebewachzauberkrieg.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited November 2010
    "Unholy this!", "Isle of Ewe" and "Rock of Gelato", "Screaming Narwhal" (doesn't sound like a ship's name in German), "Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu" (mind the alliteration!), "The LeChucken Pox", "U-Tube", "Yebay", "Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y", Guybrush's tongue slips with "Anemone", "You will rue the day..." ("I've got to look that up!"), "I'll give her the ol' scurvybuttons", the "1001 fish jokes" and of course, our very own "Die Luf der Flotsam saugen".

    Could someone with the German edition please post how these things were actually translated? I've only experienced the translation of the "cursed cutlass of Kaflu", and that damn sure did not alliterate!
    Mermaid wrote: »
    I simply refused calling it: "Die Pocken des LeChuck".

    Obviously, Daedalic didn't. ;)
  • edited November 2010
    Unholy this! - Unheilige das hier!
    Isle of Ewe - Isle of Ewe
    Rock of Gelato - Der Gelatofelsen
    Screaming Narwhal - Screaming Narwhal
    U-Tube - U-Tube
    Anemone - various
    You will rue the day - Du wirst den Tag bereuen..
    Yebay - Ebay / Yebay
    Scurvybuttons - Scurvybuttons
    1001 fish jokes - 1001 Fischwitze

    and: "Das Verfahren des Jahrhunderts!"
  • edited November 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »

    and: "Das Verfahren des Jahrhunderts!"

    Das Verfahren des Jahrhunderts-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s!
  • edited November 2010
    Guinea wrote: »
    Das Verfahren des Jahrhunderts-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s!

    lol
  • edited November 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »
    Isle of Ewe - Isle of Ewe

    How was Winslow's "I love you" pun translated then?
  • edited November 2010
    How was Winslow's "I love you" pun translated then?

    Not at all. "I love you" is pretty much understood in Germany as well, so it wasn't that big of a problem to just leave it the way it was.
  • edited November 2010
    The German translation of the fishing well in chapter 2 on Spoon Island is not very felicitous. In English the misspelling is obvious. I thought the German translation would be interesting, but it has been kept too simple and does not make much sense.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited November 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »
    Unholy this! - Unheilige das hier!
    Isle of Ewe - Isle of Ewe
    Rock of Gelato - Der Gelatofelsen
    Screaming Narwhal - Screaming Narwhal
    U-Tube - U-Tube
    Anemone - various
    You will rue the day - Du wirst den Tag bereuen..
    Yebay - Ebay / Yebay
    Scurvybuttons - Scurvybuttons
    1001 fish jokes - 1001 Fischwitze

    and: "Das Verfahren des Jahrhunderts!"

    Thank you very much for the info - but, ouch. There's not one spark of creativity in there, and even the feared "Unheilige dies!" was... ermmm... radebrecht. ;)
  • edited November 2010
    Was willste machen...andererseits vielleicht besser, als "krampfhaft kreativ" zu sein beim Übersetzen.
  • edited November 2010
    Also mit den gewählten Sprechern bin ich eigentlich sehr zufrieden! Mich stört da schon eher die teilweise lieblose und inkonsequente Übersetzung. Mir kommt das so vor als wurde in manchen Fällen einfach Wort für Wort übersetzt weil auf die schnelle nichts kreatives gefunden wurde.
  • edited November 2010
    Yesterday I began Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God in German. The swordfight-scene between Morgan, Guybrush and the headless swordmaster is absolutely annoying: The translation doesn't use the common German insults of SOMI and COMI - they invented new insults and they doesn't even make sense! This is embarrasing! ARRRG!
  • edited November 2010
    Yesterday I began Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God in German. The swordfight-scene between Morgan, Guybrush and the headless swordmaster is absolutely annoying: The translation doesn't use the common German insults of SOMI and COMI - they invented new insults and they doesn't even make sense! This is embarrasing! ARRRG!

    I know, that bothered, me, too. On the other hand it might be a little too much to ask to dig up the original SOMI translation files and check how all those insults were translated into German back then.
    Yet, where it really hurt was at the end of chapter 4 "Du kämpfst wie ein dummer Milchbauer." That used to be just " dummer Bauer" in SOMI. Still, "dairy farmer" means "Milchbauer"...ah well, let's not get lost in such details and enjoy the positive aspects of the translated TOMI. ;)
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited November 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »
    "Du kämpfst wie ein dummer Milchbauer."

    Finding the original German translations to the insults, that's a 10-second google. Also, it's one of the most well-known lines from the game and has some kind of a legendary status among fans. If the translator had even so much as a basic knowledge of adventure gaming, this line would have been a no-brainer. This is so embarrassing, and unexpected from Daedalic, because THAT'S supposed to be their strength (Programming certainly isn't)! :(

    If BTTF is translated and Doc Brown sais "Großer Scott!", I think I'll have to puke. :D
  • edited November 2010
    Not at all. "I love you" is pretty much understood in Germany as well, so it wasn't that big of a problem to just leave it the way it was.

    Yeah, plus it worked just as well in German, which surprised me myself.
  • edited November 2010
    If BTTF is translated and Doc Brown sais "Großer Scott!", I think I'll have to puke. :D
    Yes, "Großer Schotte!" is a lot better! :)
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