This has nothing to do with Beck's score, but it is FROZEN-related, and I didn't want to start a new thread. I came across this clip of "Let It Go" as sung in 25 different languages:
My question is--How is this done? Obviously, the same orchestra track is used for all of the versions. But as to the vocals--Did they find 25 Idina Menzel sound-alikes? Did Menzel phonetically sing some or all of these versions?
The German is part of the German dub and I believe that's true for the other ones as well. There's only slight variation - I would say that this is impressive proof of Disneys careful dubbing approach.
And that's how you make a billion dollars. ---------------------- Would you like it better if they did it the cheap way?
It doesn't matter to me. I only watch in English. But I'm sure that dubbing produces higher foreign grosses than subtitling, even though it's probably more expensive to do. I know that I certainly prefer my foreign animated films to be dubbed into English.
I came across this clip of "Let It Go" as sung in 25 different languages:
My question is--How is this done? Obviously, the same orchestra track is used for all of the versions. But as to the vocals--Did they find 25 Idina Menzel sound-alikes? Did Menzel phonetically sing some or all of these versions?
Here's the answer to my question, in the form of a February 24, 2014 interview from National Public Radio:
The animated Disney movie "Frozen" is a global phenomenon. The story is a take on Hans Christian Andersen's "Snow Queen." Box office sales worldwide are nearing the $1 billion mark. Parents of young girls, especially, may be hearing the movie's signature song over and over again. It's called "Let It Go."
(SOUNDBITE FROM SONG "LET IT GO")
IDINA MENZEL: (Singing) Let it go, let it go. You'll never see me cry. Here I stand and here I stay...
SIEGEL: That's one of the main characters of "Frozen." Her name is Elsa, a princess with the power to freeze things. The song marks a turn for Elsa. She finally embraces her special power and who she is. "Let It Go" was written by the songwriters behind the musicals "Avenue Q" and "Book of Mormon." It's the favorite to win Best Song at Sunday's Oscars.
Tony-award-winning soprano Idina Menzel brings this challenging piece of music to life. The range of the song spans almost three octaves. So how difficult was it for Disney to cast the role for the foreign language releases of "Frozen"? We're going to put that question to the man responsible for casting Elsa in 41 different languages. He is Rick Dempsey, senior vice president of creative for Disney Character Voices International. Welcome to the program.
RICK DEMPSEY: Thank you, Robert. Thanks for having me.
SIEGEL: And first of all, what was your reaction when you heard this song and knew that you had to essentially find, you know, 40-some Idina Menzels?
DEMPSEY: Well, my jaw kind of dropped the first time I heard the song. To find someone who could have that range, that emotion, in the song and duplicate that 41 different times was a daunting task.
SIEGEL: Well, there's a video that you and your team created that shows off some of the different voices you cast. Let's take a listen
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG MONTAGE FROM VIDEO)
MENZEL: The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen...
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER #1: (Singing in French)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER #2: (Singing in German)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER #3: (Singing in Dutch)
SIEGEL: It goes on like that for about 25 languages. We just heard in French, German, Dutch; Mandarin was next. How did you find these singers? Did you hold auditions all over the world?
DEMPSEY: Yeah, we did. We held auditions. Some of the talent are popular in their local countries. You know, there are acting pools and local stage productions. We try to find someone who has a voice that's similar to what we're looking for, and I think we were really successful in finding all these incredibly talented women around the world.
SIEGEL: Similar is an understatement here. I mean, I thought I was hearing a polyglot female singer singing four different languages.
DEMPSEY: Yeah. You know, it's funny, if you look at the blogs on, you know, people who have seen this clip reel, it's pretty amazing. Some people will say: I didn't know Idina could sing in all those languages.
SIEGEL: Are there some languages that you know from the start are going to be the toughest to cast?
DEMPSEY: You know, certainly your territories where they have dubbed for many years are going to be easier - like, in France. But we have some new languages; like, Vietnamese is a fairly new language for us to dub in. We did Malay Bahasa, and that's a new language for us. So there's always going to be challenges when you're opening up a new market and dubbing there for the first or second time.
SIEGEL: Let's hear a little bit more. This time, this is from your video in which we hear all of these different languages. We're going to start now with a Bulgarian Elsa.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG MONTAGE FROM VIDEO)
SIEGEL: That clip included, also, Norwegian, Thai; I would have said French Canadian, you call it Canadian French; and then finally. Flemish. You do a French version and also, as you say, a Canadian French version.
DEMPSEY: Yeah, that's right. We really try to do a local interpretation of the film so we understand all the local idioms. At the end of the day, we want audiences to feel like this film was made for them in their country, even animated in their country. We want the lip sync to be that good.
SIEGEL: You've come a long way. I've read that for "The Lion King" in 1994, there were just 15 languages.
DEMPSEY: I think we started out in 15. That was one of the first films that we were able to go out day and date.
SIEGEL: The phrase day and date...
DEMPSEY: Well, that we release simultaneous to the domestic release. Back in the day, we had a little more time to create all the different international versions of the film. But we're in a day-and-date world to fight off piracy, and so we release it all at the same time.
SIEGEL: We're talking with Rick Dempsey. He's senior vice president with Walt Disney Studios; talking with us about casting the movie "Frozen" into 41 different languages. Rick Dempsey, thanks so much for talking with us.
DEMPSEY: Thanks for having me.
SIEGEL: And this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, from NPR News.
I wonder if Walt ever conceived that one day his company would have a division called Disney Character Voices International. When you're doing projects that are going to turn a billion dollars, I guess that's what you need.
Interesting to note is that both the Dutch and the German version is voiced by the same (Dutch) actress/singer: Willemijn Verkaik. She also played Idina's part in the dutch version of Wicked.
I don't think one singer has ever sung the same song in different languages for a Disney film.
Finally watched this with the family tonight. I can say I enjoyed it thoroughly. A beautiful message and everything about it was wonderful to take in - music, animation and of course, Olaf. When Let It Go came on, I found myself singing along with it - family was surprised. The song Is contagious. If you have not seen it and no have a chance to catch it on dvd, do so.
