Famous actors couldn't save them
In recent years, many studios asked famous actors to be the voice behind a movie in order to attract a larger audience. In 1999, the Chinese cartoon movie "Lotus Lantern" invited Chinese celebrities, Chen Peisi, Xu Fan, and Jiang Wen, to do the voice-over for the cartoon characters and were applauded by film lovers.
Then many imported movies hired celebrities to do dubbed films, but the results varied. The voices of some actors were not suitable for certain characters in the original movies, making the movie silly or less interesting for viewers.
Dubbing for two Hollywood blockbusters, "The Matrix" and "Shrek II," had Chinese movie stars Li Yapeng, Zhao Wei, and Wang Xuebing. But the results were bad. Viewers complained that the background sounds could hardly be associated with the movie, making the movie strange.
Actually, inviting famous actors to do voice-overs is not a wise method, said industry experts. Dubbing is not just about speaking out or reading translated lines. When voicing a character, the dubber also needs to "act" out the movie so as to make the dubber's voice more real and fit for the character.
Famous actors may bring a larger audience to the movie, but bad voicing will ultimately ruin the film, added the expert. Movie stars are not equal to dubbing stars, and in order to make dubbing interesting and revive the industry in China, the industry needs to train China's own dubbing stars, said the expert.
On the way to reviving the industry
Voice acting in Japan has a far greater prominence than in most other countries, for the country is a large producer of animated works which provide many opportunities for dubbing. As a result, Japanese voice actors, or seiyū, are able to achieve fame on a national and international level for their professional career quotient.
Acting as narrators and actors in radio plays, and performing voice-overs for non-Japanese movies and television programs, seiyū can attract fans to come watch a show merely for them.
While in China, the dubbing industry has been ignored by the public for quite some time, the good dubbers have grown old, while seldom do the young people want to do this job because the salary is low and industry development is still hindered.
But actually, there is still a market for dubbed films. Some people find watching foreign movies with Chinese subtitles can be tiresome, while children in the country need to watch movies with Chinese voices behind.
The voice of a movie can make a dubbed film more vivid and if the language used for voicing keeps pace with society, the movie can attract audiences. Recently, in the dubbed movie "Kung Fu Panda 2," the voices behind the movie gained praise by audience members who thought the language was fashionable and viable.
Voicing a foreign film or a cartoon film is not just about giving the character a voice, but making a character more alive. Making efforts on the use of language and training people to be more dedicated to the industry can help to change people's view of the industry, said another industry expert.
In 2002, in a bid to revive the flagging industry, the Beijing Film Academy started offering a performing and dubbing elective, the first of its kind in China. The course is expected to cultivate interests in students for dubbing, and some graduates have already dubbed foreign movies, including "Finding Nemo," "Green Giant," and "Pirates of the Caribbean."
