The question has probably been asked several times in the past, but no way to search so:
Is there a way to find out who did the (English) voice dubbing of foreign language films? Some kind of database or reference work? Are these people credited anywhere? Thanks.
Voice cast should be on IMDb for most films. When you click through from the main page to "See full cast" they're at the bottom if they're listed.
shareI didn't know that, Isthisyourhomework. I haven't used IMDb since...though.
shareCool, thanks.
Not in any way arguing with this, but just also wondering how the IMDb credits “know” to include the voice cast. I mean, I guess these listing assume to credit the English lang. voice cast for something that has an English dub. I’m thinking of films, however, that are in some language and have various cuts with various different language dubs. Just wondering aloud here.
More to the point though—
It would seem that there are many (most?) films where you wouldn’t list, on IMDb, voice cast for any particular dubs into languages other than the original. And so, the “voice cast” info is not there.
So while your answer, Homework, is EXTREMELY helpful and I thank you very much, I still wonder if there is someone / somewhere that keeps special tabs on the voice dubbing people, i.e. where one could get info about the films not credited on IMDb, etc.
I hate dubbing. It bothers me when the words don't match up with their mouth moving. Plus the dubbing voice actors are usually not very emotive, even in a tense scene it just sounds like they are reading a menu.
Try voice chasers. Although they may not be exactly what you are looking for. Alternately the wikipedia page of voice actors sometimes lists their work. I dont know of a comprehensive database that is publically available though.
shareIt’s not exactly what *I* happened to be looking for, but it’s a really great recommendation -- thank you! I’ll mark it for future reference and for anyone else who wants the page:
http://www.voicechasers.com/database/search.php?type=genre&query=film
That will take you to the page where films in the database are listed alphabetically. There’s no search function for films per se, so I think this list is the best way to see if the film you’re interested in is there.
People will notice that the vast majority are animation and similar -- English speakers adding voice to the voice-less.
What I happen to be interested in is the people whose voices are dubbed by way of translating a film from another language. For example, if you watched a Hong Kong kung fu movie and the gangster boss was voiced in English by a particularly interesting (and probably kind of funny) English speaker, and then you’d noticed that voice in a few other kung fu movies... and you wanted to find out whose voice it was.
There was one documentary I had watched, forgot the name. I had come on here or youtube and said that animated films were not worth watching because there is no actual "acting" in it. Someone had proved me wrong and told me to watch a documentary on voice over actors. Apparently, if you thought the movie/tv series industry was hiding something, the voice over industry is even more exclusive. This may actually be a reason why it is so hard to find whatever you are asking here. Much of "those people" end up not being credited for their work. Then again, if you look down the cast list, you may see someone that is credited with "narrator"; however, if it specifies how they narrated it (English, Spanish, etc.), it may be tough.
shareCool. In poking around, I also stumbled on what looked to be a sort of fandom for Italian “dubbing-actors”—“doppiatori”. I don’t speak Italian, but from what I gather, these people do the Italian language voice dubs for whatever foreign films that are enjoyed (in dubbed format) by everyday Italian speakers. And those audiences are familiar with the particular voices, and some become fans.
shareCan be next to impossible to find for older films. Where I usually found out was in IMDb message boards.
shareIndeed. I watch a lot of European movies, exploitation-ish, 60s-80s. That means they are usually made by some crew that speaks Italian, German, Spanish, or French. But the actors are of different nationalities, and they are not all speaking the same language when they shoot it -- or else they are just attempting to speak the “original” language, badly. That means they are all dubbed into various European languages.
Was recently re-watching an Italian movie that has Jack Palance in it. You know he didn’t speak Italian for the production. The first time I saw the movie, the language you hear from everyone is Italian -- dubbed -- with English subtitles. Then I saw another version, with English dubbing. That time, you got to hear Palance’s actual voice doing his own dub.