Bringing all the Senses into Play: the Dubbing of Animated Films for Children

Sensory information plays an essential role when dubbing animated films for children, since the interaction of the different signifying codes is exploited at its best in this kind of movies, particularly through verbal, iconic and musical puns. Based on the classification of the main semiotic codes and specificities of this cinematographic genre, we present in this paper a framework of analysis that can help understand whether the sensory effects are reduced, maintained or reinforced in dubbed versions, or even whether these potential modifications are consciously operated in order to adapt the films’ content to the children’s comprehension abilities. The use of some illustrative examples taken from American animated movies dubbed into Spanish highlights strategies and techniques currently adopted in dubbed animated films for children.