Dubbing

Dubbing, also called re-recording and mixing, is a special way of making films and videos better. It happens after the movie is mostly made, in a step called post-production. During dubbing, people add extra recordings that match the actors' mouth movements. These extra recordings are then mixed with the original sounds to make the final version of the movie.

Often, dubbing is used to change a movie's language. This helps people who speak different languages understand and enjoy films from other countries. Sound editors get ready all the tracks, like dialogue, effects, and music. Then, dubbing mixers balance everything and record the final soundtrack.

Dubbing is similar to something called automated dialogue replacement, where actors re-record their lines. But dubbing can also mean giving actors new voices, usually in another language, so more people around the world can watch the same film.

Origins

Films, videos, and sometimes video games are often changed to match the local language of a foreign market. This is common in movies shown in theaters, television films, television series, cartoons, anime, and telenovelas.

In many countries, changing the language was done for political reasons. In places with strict rule like Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain, dubbing helped share certain ideas by removing bad references to the nation and its leaders. In post-Nazi Germany, dubbing was used to make recent history less painful. For example, in a movie by Alfred Hitchcock called Notorious, a group from the Nazi time was changed to a group that sold illegal drugs.

After World War II, dubbing became popular in Western Europe because it helped movie makers from different countries work together. This let them share money and support from many governments. By changing the language later, actors from different countries could speak in their own language, and the movie could be shown in many places.

Methods

ADR/post-sync/over-dubbing

Automated dialogue replacement (ADR) is a way to re-record what actors say after filming. This helps make the audio clearer or change what was said before. In the past, filmmakers would play scenes many times while an actor spoke the lines to match the movie. Now, computers help make this easier.

During making a movie, someone records what actors say. Later, a special person decides which parts need new recording. These new recordings happen in a sound studio, and many tries are made to pick the best one.

By 2020, new tools help actors by showing them what to say and helping match their words to the movie. Sometimes, a different actor will do the voice, like in Star Wars where the voice of Darth Vader was done by a different person than who acted the part.

Dialog writing

When translating movies into other languages, writers make sure the words sound natural and fit the characters.

Artificial intelligence

Recently, computers have been used to automatically dub movies into different languages. In September 2025, YouTube added a feature to choose different language audio for videos. Amazon Prime Video tested this technology in March 2025 for some shows, but some people said the quality wasn’t great and it might affect jobs for voice actors.

Another way uses computers to change how actors’ faces move on screen to match the new language’s sounds. This can make lips move correctly without needing the actor to re-film. Some rules allow this as long as real voice actors are still used for the new audio.

Global use

Localization

Localization is adapting films or television shows from one place for another. It goes beyond translation to fit the new audience’s culture, like changing references or adding footage.

Usually, a voice actor speaks the new voice track. In many countries, these actors are not well-known, except in certain groups or when their voices become famous for specific roles.

Africa

North Africa, Western Asia

In Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, most foreign movies, especially from Hollywood, are shown dubbed in French. This is because French is widely used there. Local theaters and media companies often don’t dub in local languages to save costs and because there isn’t enough demand or expertise.

Starting in the 1980s, dubbed series and movies for children in Modern Standard Arabic became popular on TV, in cinemas, and on VHS/DVD stores. Dubbed films are still brought in from countries like Syria and Jordan. Egypt began dubbing Disney movies in 1975 in Egyptian Arabic, and now many companies dub in both Egyptian and Modern Standard Arabic.

In Arabic-speaking countries, children’s shows are dubbed in Arabic, often with subtitles. Some Turkish series, like Gümüş, are also dubbed in Syrian Arabic.

South Africa

In South Africa, many TV programs were dubbed in Afrikaans, with the original sound (usually English, Dutch, or German) played on the radio. This included shows like The Six Million Dollar Man, Miami Vice, and Beverly Hills 90210.

Due to a boycott by British actors’ union Equity, the puppet series The Adventures of Rupert Bear was dubbed into South African English. This practice has decreased because there’s less airtime for Afrikaans and more local content. Some animated films, like Maya the Bee, have been dubbed in both Afrikaans and Zulu. In 2018, eExtra started showing the Turkish drama series Paramparça dubbed in Afrikaans.

Angola and Mozambique

In Angola and Mozambique, the satellite TV channel Zap Novelas shows dramas from countries like Mexico and Turkey, dubbed in Portuguese by studios in Brazil.

Uganda

Uganda’s film industry is small, so foreign movies are common. The English sound is often accompanied by Luganda translation and comments from a Ugandan video jockey (VJ), either recorded or live.

Asia

Azerbaijan

Before 2006, most foreign movies and TV shows in Azerbaijan were shown in Russian dubbing. In 2006, a law required all foreign content on TV to be dubbed or voice-overed in Azerbaijani. Most channels switched to Azerbaijani voice-over. In 2011, a similar law for cinemas was passed but didn’t have much effect because the dubbing industry wasn’t developed yet. In 2017, TVSeans started streaming movies with full Azerbaijani dubbing.

China

China has a long history of dubbing foreign films into Mandarin Chinese, starting in the 1930s. During the Republic of China era, Western movies were imported and dubbed. Since 1950, Soviet movies were the main import. In Communist China, most European movies were dubbed in Shanghai, while Asian and Soviet films were dubbed in Changchun. During the Cultural Revolution, films from North Korea, Romania, and Albania became popular. From the late 1970s, popular TV series from the United States, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico were also dubbed.

Movies are also dubbed into languages of China’s autonomous regions. The Translation Department of the Tibetan Autonomous Region Movie Company has been dubbing movies into Tibetan since the 1960s. Movies are dubbed for Mongol- and Uyghur-speaking markets as well.

Chinese TV dramas are often dubbed in Standard Mandarin by professional voice actors to remove accents, improve performances, or change lines to follow local rules.

Japan

Japanese dub-over artists provide voices for certain performers.

Malaysia

Foreign-language programs and films on TV2 and TVS are subtitled.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, foreign films and series are usually not dubbed locally. Instead, they are dubbed in Hindi in India, as Hindi and Urdu are similar. However, Turkish soap operas are now dubbed in Urdu and have become popular, leading to concerns from local producers.

Singapore

In multilingual Singapore, dubbing is rare for Western programs. English programs on free-to-air channels are usually subtitled in Chinese or Malay. Chinese, Malay, and Tamil programs have subtitles in English and the original language during prime time. Dual sound programs, like Korean, Japanese, and Filipino dramas, exist.

Thailand

In Thailand, foreign TV programs are dubbed in Thai, but the original sound is often carried on a NICAM audio track on terrestrial broadcast and alternate audio tracks on satellite broadcast.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, foreign-language films and programs are often subtitled or voice-overed in Vietnamese on television. They were not dubbed until 1985. Rio was the first American Hollywood film to be fully dubbed in Vietnamese. Since then, children’s films released afterward have been dubbed in theaters. HTV3 has dubbed TV programs for children, like Ben 10 and Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, using various voice actors.

Europe

Children’s/family films and programming

In North-West Europe, Poland, Portugal, Balkan, Baltic, and Nordic countries, only movies and TV shows for children are usually dubbed. TV shows and movies for teenagers or adults are subtitled, though adult-animated shows like South Park and The Simpsons are often dubbed. For movies in cinemas aimed at both children and adults, both dubbed and subtitled versions are usually available.

Croatia

On October 1, 2008, Nova TV launched Mini TV, the first Croatian children’s channel with all programming dubbed into Croatian. RTL followed with RTL Kockica in 2014.

Since the 2010s, dubbing live-action TV series and films for children, teenagers, and young adults has increased. With Nickelodeon’s Croatian audio track in 2011, Studio NET focused on serious dubbing production. Many Nickelodeon titles received Croatian dubs. With streaming’s rise in the 2020s, NET and other studios dubbed content for Netflix, including live-action shows for younger audiences.

Portugal

In Portugal, dubbing was banned in 1948 to protect the film industry. Until 1994, animated movies and children’s TV series were shown subtitled with Brazilian Portuguese dubs. The Lion King was the first feature film dubbed in European Portuguese. Now, all children’s movies are dubbed, while subtitles are preferred for documentaries, TV series, and films, except for children.

Romania

In Romania, almost all children’s programs are dubbed in Romanian. Animated movies are shown in theaters with Romanian dubbing, but cinemas with more screens also offer the original subtitled version. Other foreign TV shows and movies are shown in the original language with Romanian subtitles. Subtitles are usually preferred in Romania.

Serbia

Prominent dubbing/voice actors in Serbia include Marko Marković, Vladislava Đorđević, Jelena Gavrilović, Dragan Vujić, Milan Antonić, Boris Milivojević, Radovan Vujović, Goran Jevtić, Ivan Bosiljčić, Gordan Kičić, Slobodan Stefanović, Dubravko Jovanović, Dragan Mićanović, Slobodan Ninković, Branislav Lečić, Jakov Jevtović, Ivan Jevtović, Katarina Žutić, Anica Dobra, Voja Brajović, Nebojša Glogovac, and Dejan Lutkić.

United Kingdom

Hinterland shows a rare example of bilingual production. Each scene is filmed twice, in English and Welsh, except for a few scenes where Welsh with subtitles is used for the English version.

France

In France, dubbing is the norm. Most movies released in theaters, including major ones, are dubbed. Those that aren’t are foreign independent films with limited budgets or niche art films. Almost all theaters show movies with French dubbing (VF). Some also offer screenings in the original language (VO) with French subtitles (VOST). A few small theaters show only the original language. According to the CNC, VOST screenings made up 16.9% of tickets sold in France. Dubbing is required for home entertainment and TV screenings. With digital TV, foreign programs are broadcast in both languages, with viewers able to switch to the original language and enable French subtitles. Arte broadcasts both French and German dubbing, plus the original version.

Germany, Austria, Switzerland

Unlike Austria and Germany, Swiss cinemas historically preferred subtitled versions of foreign-language films. Swiss distributors offered dual-language prints with German and French subtitles as the main version, with dubbed versions also shown. Recently, there’s been a shift toward dubbed versions, which now make up most showings.

Hungary

In Hungary, dubbing is almost universal. Almost every foreign movie or TV show released is dubbed into Hungarian. The history of dubbing goes back to the 1950s, during communist rule. One iconic Hungarian dub was of The Flintstones, translated by József Romhányi. The ISzDB is Hungary’s largest database for film dubs, with info on many live-action and animated films. In the Eurobarometer, 84% of Hungarians preferred dubbing over subtitles.

Italy

Italian dubbing created a variation of the language influenced by the source language, especially English-based works, called doppiaggese.

Poland

In the past, foreign movies were all subtitled in Polish. In the 1980s, due to budget cuts, state TV saved tapes by voicing films over live during transmission. From 1948 to 1998, almost 1,000 films were dubbed in Polish. In the 1990s, dubbing continued, though often for only one airing. In 1995, Canal+ launched in Poland and dubbed 30% of its schedule, including popular films and TV series like Friends, but this wasn’t successful.

Spain

In Spain, dubbing has been widespread since 1932, when the Second Republic introduced it in Madrid and Barcelona. The first dubbed film was Devil and the Deep in 1932. After the Spanish Civil War, dubbing was reinforced by regulations from Francisco Franco’s government in 1941, based on Mussolini’s Language Defense Law of 1938. This law had two political goals: nationalism through linguistic identity and control through censorship of foreign ideas.

Latin America

Brazil

In Brazil, foreign programs are always dubbed into Brazilian Portuguese on free-to-air TV, with few exceptions. Films in cinemas are usually offered with both subtitled and dubbed versions, with dubbing often the only choice for children’s movies. Subtitling was mainly for adult movies until 2012. Since then, dubbed versions are available for all ages. More cinemas have opened in Brazil, attracting audiences who prefer dubbing. According to a Datafolha survey, 56% of Brazilian moviegoers prefer dubbed movies. Most dubbing studios in Brazil are in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The first film dubbed in Brazil was Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1938. By the late 1950s, most movies, TV series, and cartoons on TV were shown in their original sound with subtitles. In 1961, a decree by President Jânio Quadros ruled that all foreign productions on TV should be dubbed. This boosted the growth of dubbing in Brazil, leading to many dubbing studios. The biggest studio was Herbert Richers, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro and closed in 2009. At its peak in the 80s and 90s, it dubbed about 70% of productions shown in Brazilian cinemas.

Mexico

Dubbing in Mexico must be done by Mexican nationals or foreigners living in Mexico.

North America

French-speaking Canada

Like in France, dubbing is the most common translation method for films and TV shows in French-speaking Canada. This became normal in the mid-1940s.

Most films and TV shows dubbed in French-speaking Canada use a “neutral” or “international” French to be understood by a wide Francophone audience. Despite this, dubs from French-speaking Canada aren’t popular in France due to their own dubbing laws and dislike of “neutral” French.

The first foreign-language film dubbed in joual, the Québécois French vernacular, was Slap Shot in 1977, released as Lancer-frappé in French-speaking Canada. It was originally dubbed in European French as La Castagne but was unpopular. Universal Pictures gave dubbing rights to Hubert Fielden, who decided to dub it in uncensored joual. The film resonated with Québécois audiences and became a cult classic in French-speaking Canada.

Until the 1980s, most French-language dubbed films in Quebec were imported from France. In 1975, the Quebec government passed the Act Respecting the Cinema, requiring all foreign-language films shown in Quebec to be dubbed in French. This, along with the Quiet Revolution and the rise of the Quebec sovereignty movement, made dubs made in French-speaking Canada very popular in the late 1970s. The Act was replaced in 1983 with a new version requiring foreign-language films to have a French dub if shown in Quebec, with one to be made within 60 days if not already dubbed.

In 2003, Howard Ryshpan and Jocelyne Côté created DubStudio, dubbing software to automate the lip-synch band. The software detects dialogue, transforms it into phonemes, and matches it with the script to create an electronic lip-synch band. It doesn’t translate the text.

The Act Respecting the Cinema gained attention again in 2007 when Mario Dumont proposed Bill 193, requiring foreign-language films released in Quebec to be dubbed in Québécois French. Dumont cited a law in France from 1945. The bill died at the second reading.

The first TV show dubbed in joual was The Flintstones, premiering as Les Pierrafeu in 1971. The most popular French-Canadian dub is the Québécois version of The Simpsons, premiering in 1991. It was dubbed in joual to make it more relatable, with American references replaced by French-Canadian ones. For example, the Denver Broncos are replaced by the Montreal Alouettes, and references to CÉGEP and Brian Mulroney are added.

A controversy arose in 2025 when it was announced that the French-Canadian dub of The Simpsons would no longer be produced. Disney awarded the rights to Corus Entertainment, which broadcasts it on Télétoon, but Disney also acquired the dub for Disney+. Corus claims this reduces revenue and viewers. A petition to save the dub gained over 31,000 signatures and support from notable Québécois figures.

Like in English-speaking Canada, the CRTC requires French TV services for the visually and audibly impaired. French-speaking Canada uses voiceovers for described video and audio description for the visually impaired. For the deaf community, Quebec has its own sign language: Quebec Sign Language. Some news programs and shows are dubbed in Quebec Sign Language by Radio-Canada and Télé-Québec.

Dubbing is also common in Indigenous languages of Canada. In 1999, APTN launched as the first national Indigenous broadcaster. Initially, 60 hours per week were in Indigenous languages, with the rest in English and French. Movies and TV shows not originally in an Indigenous language were fully dubbed. In 2024, APTN launched APTN Languages, dedicated to 18 Indigenous languages. The main channel now focuses on English and French, with Indigenous-language programs moved to the new channel. APTN Languages airs shows dubbed in Michif, an Indigenous language of the Métis, influenced by Cree and Canadian French.

There are two labor unions for the dubbing industry in French-speaking Canada: Union des artistes (UDA) and the National Association of Professional Dubbers (ANDP). The UDA, founded in 1937, represents around 13,000 actors, singers, animators, and dancers in Quebec. The ANDP, founded in 1976, represents over 1,250 people in the dubbing industry.

The UDA and ANDP signed their first partnership agreement in 1978. Dubbers, voice directors, and dubbing translators are represented by the UDA. Sound recordists, sound mixers, video editors, audio recording technicians, video recording technicians, and non-professional staff are represented by the ANDP.

Dubbers in Quebec work Monday to Friday, with days under 8 hours, divided into three shifts: morning, afternoon, and evening. Morning and evening shifts max at 4 hours, afternoon at 5 hours. During recording, dubbers see the scene and read lines before the take. After the take, they can listen to their recording.

For cartoons, fiction TV series, commissions, direct-to-video or direct-to-streaming films, dubbers earn $142.57 for the first hour and $42.78 for each additional half-hour. For feature films, it’s $154.46 for the first hour and $46.34 for each additional half-hour. Narration and voiceover pay $121.48 for the first hour and $36.45 for each additional half-hour.

Voice directors work nine-hour days, Monday to Friday, with 2-3 recording sessions per day. They earn $87.15 per hour for cartoons, $92.41 for fiction TV series, $116.22 for feature films, $58.26 for narration and voiceovers, $89.63 for Canadian direct-to-video and direct-to-streaming films, $89.72 for commissions, and $95.72 for international direct-to-video and direct-to-streaming films. If owning a studio but not directing, they earn $148.52 per hour for half-hour cartoons, narration, voiceovers, and Canadian direct-to-video films; $237.62 per hour for hour-long cartoons, narration, voiceovers, and Canadian direct-to-video films; and $504.95 per hour for fiction TV series, feature films, and commissions.

Dubbing translators have no set hours and work on demand. They earn $2.12 per line for cartoons and $1.64 for additional lines. For drama TV series, it’s $1.97 per line for 30 minutes or less and $2.21 per line for over 30 minutes. For feature films, it’s $3.34 per line for the first 1,500 lines, $2.32 for the next 1,000 lines, and $2.01 for any additional lines. Narration and voiceover rates range from $128.37 per line for audio 7 minutes or less to $2,053.97 for two-hour audio. For direct-to-video or direct-to-streaming, they earn $2.91 per line for the first 1,500 lines and $1.83 for additional lines for Canadian productions, and $3.02 per line for the first 1,500 lines and $1.90 for additional lines for international productions. Commission rates are $2.21 per line.

United States and English-speaking Canada

In the United States and English-speaking Canada, live-action foreign films are usually shown in theaters in their original language with English subtitles, as dubbed movies haven’t done well since the 1980s. The 1982 release of Das Boot was the last major release in both original and English-dubbed versions, with the original version grossing much higher. Later English-dubbed versions of international hits like Un indien dans la ville, Godzilla 2000, Anatomy, Pinocchio, The Return of Godzilla, and High Tension flopped in the U.S. When Miramax planned to release English-dubbed versions of Shaolin Soccer and Hero, they scored badly in test screenings and were released with original language and subtitles. However, dubbed movies have better potential in ancillary markets, so distributors often release foreign films in theaters with original language and subtitles, then release both original and dubbed versions in ancillary markets.

Many films have been dubbed into indigenous languages of the United States and Canada. Disney’s Moana was dubbed into the Hawaiian language in 2018. The Navajo language has dubs of many films, with the first three being Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Finding Nemo, and Fistful of Dollars. The Navajo dubs of Star Wars and Finding Nemo are available on Disney Plus.

Oceania

Australia

Because over 25% of Australians speak a language other than English at home, some cinemas show foreign-language films, like Chinese. There are Chinese-language cinemas in Australia, such as Hoyts Mandarin in Chatswood, Sydney.

The first film dubbed into an Australian Aboriginal language was Fists of Fury, dubbed into the Nyungar language of the Perth region in 2021. The first Indigenous Australian cartoon, Little J & Big Cuz, is available in English and several indigenous languages, including Gija, Nyungar, Torres Strait Creole, Palawa Kani, Warlpiri, Yolŋu, Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, and Kriol.

French Polynesia

French Polynesia almost exclusively shows films and TV programs in French or English. However, in 2016, Disney’s Moana became the first film dubbed into the Tahitian language.

New Zealand

Many episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer were dubbed into Māori and shown on Māori Television to promote the Māori language among children.

Disney has started dubbing films into Māori. These films are shown in cinemas in New Zealand and some parts of Australia, then released globally on Disney+. In 2019, Moana was dubbed into Māori. In 2022, The Lion King and Frozen were dubbed into Māori.

Alternatives

Main article: Subtitle

Some TV channels change the language of shows so everyone can understand. For example, in Portugal, a channel called TVI changed U.S. shows like Dawson's Creek into Portuguese.

Main article: Voice-over translation

Netflix offers shows in many languages. You can choose to watch with subtitles or with the show’s words spoken in your own language. People seem to watch more if they pick the spoken words. Because of this, Netflix now starts foreign shows with spoken words by default.

Voice-over translation is different from dubbing. In this method, someone speaks the translated words over the original audio, which you can still hear in the background. This is often used in documentaries and news reports when subtitles aren’t common. It used to be very common in Russian-speaking countries for films on cable television and sold on video. In Poland, this is still the normal way to translate shows on TV, and you can choose it on many DVDs. Full dubbing is mostly for kids’ shows.

Dubbing into varieties

Hispanic America and Spain use different versions of dubbed films and series. Because Spanish sounds differ across Latin America, dubbing for this area is done in Standard Spanish. This version avoids local slang and uses words and sounds that are clear to everyone. It is mainly created in countries like Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia for the whole continent. Some films are also dubbed in specific regional accents, like the movie The Incredibles, which has versions in European, Standard Spanish, Rioplatense, and Mexican styles.

In Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, cartoons are often dubbed by local Flemish artists instead of using versions made in the Netherlands. Sometimes, films are also dubbed into different German dialects like Berlinerisch, Kölsch, Saxonian, Austro-Bavarian, or Swiss German. These special versions are often included as extra features to interest viewers. Popular films with these special dubs include Asterix, The Little Mermaid, Shrek 2, Cars, and Up. Some live-action films and TV series also have these special dubs, like Babe, Babe: Pig in the City, Rehearsal for Murder, Framed, The Munsters, Serpico, Rumpole, and The Thorn Birds.