Monday, January 28, 2008

The Globalization of High School Musical

Disney is pulling out all stops to hype the upcoming High School Musical 3 in the theaters. This NY Times article looks at what had to be done to make the musical relevant or understandable across various language and cultures.

Consider “Bop to the Top,” the title of a song from the first movie. In India, one of Disney’s most important foreign markets, the phrase was changed to “Pa Pa Pa Paye Yeh Dil,” which the company said roughly translates to “the heart is full of happiness” in Hindi. A Hindi translator contacted by The New York Times said: “It’s sort of like a Duran Duran song. The words sound sexy but mean nothing.”

The climax of “High School Musical 2” comes in “All for One,” an ensemble number about friends sticking together. In India, the title became “Aaja Nachle,” which all agree means “come dance along.” (A video used to promote “High School Musical 2” in South Asia can be viewed at nytimes.com.)


I'm surprised there had to be a translation in India, considering that a large portion of the population can speak English.

Zz.

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