How Pixar stopped Cars 2 being lost in translation (they sourced dialects in 44 countries to voice country bumpkin truck Mater)

By Daily Mail Reporter

The amazing lengths film company Pixar went to in making Cars 2 a worldwide success has been revealed.

Following the release of the animation sequel, whose hero is Lightning McQueen, the production company has admitted struggling to translate character Mater's jokes for their international audience.

Cars 2, screened in 44 different languages, casts Larry the Cable Guy as Mater, a redneck tow truck with a hillbilly accent.

And for the first time, the company's senior vice president revealed the difficulties the producers faced.

No laughing matter: Pixar struggled with Larry the Cable Guy's character (right)

No laughing Mater! Pixar struggled with Larry the Cable Guy's bumbling character, Mater (right)

Rick Dempsey, senior vice president of Disney Character Voices said:

'Mater's kind of a redneck, but that means nothing to anyone overseas because they don't have that particular vocal culture.

'So we had to figure out what region of Germany, for example, has more of an uneducated population without being offensive.'


Playing that fine line while lessening what's lost in translation so that movies work globally is a delicate yet increasingly important business as Hollywood relies more on international audiences to bolster profits.

Subtitles have been around since the age of silent film. When Hollywood converted to sound in the late 1920s, several European countries — notably Germany, France, Spain and Italy — decided to substitute the voices of their own actors in place of their American stars.

Mind your language: A Bug's Life also faced some problems during translation

Mind your language: A Bug's Life also faced some difficulties during translation

Massaging those kinds of cultural nuances rates as an essential part of the job.

Elena Barciae writes Spanish subtitles for Central and South America using a single translation, a process she likens to being forced to create a generic language that would cover the United States, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

'The more slang, the harder it gets because slang tends to be very localized.

'Simple words are affected, too. 'Bicho' means bug everywhere except Puerto Rico, where it's a slang word for a part of the male anatomy.

'That wouldn't go over too well for the title of 'A Bug's Life,' would it?'

The Smurfs proved easier when translating

Case of the Blues? Far from it, as The Smurfs proved easier to interpret

Next week's big-screen version of the cartoon series, 'The Smurfs,' was an easier job.

'Smurfs' is an invented word, and, as such, has already been translated in numerous languages. (The little blue creatures are called pitufos in Spanish-speaking countries and schtroumpfs in France.)

'You try to get the feeling across and still get by the ratings. Subtlety is important.

'Good translators are really writers who love working with language.

'And you've got to love movies, too, because you'll be watching a lot of them . over and over again,' added Barciae who has a master's degree in comparative literature from Brown University.

Despite the technical glitches, Cars 2 earned $68million during its first three days of release across the U.S. and Canada.