Just forget the words and sing along

Monday, August 10, 2009

Lost in Translation

OK, if you've been reading this blog all summer, then you know I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Ponyo when it hits theatres this Friday.

Most of Hayao Miyazaki's films have become known for their catchy theme songs. The theme from My Neighbor Totoro is still hummed quite a bit. And the theme song for Ponyo was likened to the Totoro theme, and was quite a big hit in Japan. Here it is:



While it is cute and catchy, it's not quite radio friendly, Billboard Hot 100 material here in North America.

Well, like Miyazaki's last batch of films, it's being dubbed by Disney. And Disney's gotten very good at making the bubblegum pop these days, what the prevalance of the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus on radio these days. And hey! Disney got Frankie Joanas (little brother for the Jonas Brothers, and frequently joins his big brothers on stage as the "Bonus Jonas") and Noah Cyrus (little sister of Miley) to do voices in the American dub. So let's have them cover the Ponyo theme. Sounds good on paper.

But the resulting version is AutoTuned to death and will make your ears bleed. They threw in every cliche of modern pop. Oh my God. It's like some incestuous child of the MiniPops.

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