The Magic Roundabout, redubbed in the United States as Doogal, is a 2005 French-British computer-animated adventure fantasy film based on the television series The Magic Roundabout.
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Dubbing History[]
Months after the film's release in Europe, it was brought over to the US by The Weinstein Company (originally Miramax/Disney) on October 17, 2005, under a new title Doogal. producer Harvey Weinstein approached The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom creator Butch Hartman to re-work the film on November 2005. Hartman revealed in a 2017 interview during the Weinstein scandal and the MeToo and Time's Up movement that his initial idea to re-work The Magic Roundabout was to add in a live-action frame story that would've involved an elderly man reading the story of the film to his grandchild, similar to that of The Princess Bride; this idea never went through however due to budget issues and even revealed that the original U.S. movie poster had his name and his production company Billionfold Inc. on it, until they were removed in later posters in copyright favor of both Pathé and Action Synthese's credits. The US version of the film redubs a majority of the cast with celebrity voices that are most well-known in the US (Chevy Chase, Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Hader, Judi Dench, John Krasinski, William H. Macy, Kevin Smith and Jon Stewart), the only voice being retained is Ian McKellen due to his high celebrity status in the US. Kylie Minogue was also brought in to re-record all of her dialogue with an American accent. While the original UK version received mostly mixed to positive reviews, the US version was poorly received and has become pretty infamous for its an overabundance of pop culture references and flatulence jokes, Butch Hartman revealed in a 2017 interview during the Weinstein scandal and the MeToo and Time's Up movement that his actual script was actually re-written, and even re-recorded, without his consent by Harvey Weinstein and his distribution and production company The Weinstein Company with a screenplay by Hoodwinked! co-director Cory Edwards. At least 3% of his actual script made it into the final cut.
Cast[]
| Image | Character |  Original Actor
|
 Dub Actor
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dougal (Doogal) |
Robbie Williams | Daniel Tay |
|
Florence | Kylie Minogue | |
|
Dylan | Bill Nighy | Jimmy Fallon |
|
Brian | Jim Broadbent | William H. Macy |
|
Ermintrude | Joanna Lumley | Whoopi Goldberg |
|
Train | Lee Evans | Chevy Chase |
|
Zebedee | Ian McKellen | |
|
Zeebad | Tom Baker | Jon Stewart |
|
Soldier Sam | Ray Winstone | Bill Hader |
|
Moose | N/A | Kevin Smith |
|
Carol | Daniella Loftus | Heidi Brook Myers |
|
Basil | Ediz Mahmut | Eric Robinson |
|
Mr. Rusty | Jimmy Hibbert | Cory Edwards |
|
Mr. Grimsdale | John Krasinski | |
| Narrator | N/A | Judi Dench | |
Additional Voices[]
- Cory Edwards
- John Krasinski
Notes[]
- In the original trailer for Doogal, the titular character was voiced by an adult male actor.
- There are a few instances in the US version where the British voices can still be heard.
- Almost every instant of Zebedee saying "Roundabout" is cut in the US version, likely due to the word being uncommon in the US and Ian McKellen being unavailable to record any re-takes.
- Some streaming services, namely Netflix, list the film under the original UK title despite streaming the US edit.
- When The Magic Roundabout was released in France, there were a lot of changes to the French dub that were made despite leaving it uncut. These include:
- Having Train be completely silent. He was also supposed to be silent in the British version but was given dialogue last second.
- The casting credits on the opening has been changed from having CGI text being transitioned through magic dust each credit being replaced with a 2D style with a transition effect.
- All copyrighted songs used in the film, including "Magic" by Pilot, "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra, "I Love to Boogie" by T.Rex, "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies as well as some score from the film being replaced with either original scores, unused ones by Mark Thomas or John M. Davis or original songs written by Dougal's French voice actor, Henri Salvador. Most songs made by Andrea Remanda and Goldust would also be re-composed with original music, except the song "The Magic Roundabout" (sung by Kylie Minogue) where it has original French lyrics and being in a style of a ska for the chorus and a piano ballad for the verses.
- "You Really Got Me" has been given original French lyrics.
- A second mid-credit scene of Zebedee saying to the audience "Time for bed" has been completely removed, due to it being a direct reference to the English dub of the original show and French audiences likely wouldn't understand it.
- Zebedee would say his own catchphrase (Turna-ka...) that is not in the English version every time he was about to appear on-screen. His voice would be given a phaser effect, possibly to imply that he was a spirit and not a creature.
- Numerous changes to the US Version include:
- Zebedee's nightmare, the opening sequence, Ermintrude's concert, and various other scenes are shortened for time.
- Narration by Judi Dench is heard throughout the film.
- "Dougal" is spelt as "Doogal" in this version, possibly to prevent any mispronunciation with the voice actors.
- Much of the original dialogue is changed, with the main addition of pop culture references.
- Wacky cartoon sound effects are added into some scenes.
- Zeebad, Soldier Sam, and Ermintrude's personalities are significantly different.
- Some pieces of the original music are changed or removed, as well as some of the sound effects. Additional music by James L. Venable is added in.
- Many British words are changed to more American words, such as "roundabout" being changed to "carousel" or "merry-go-round".
- Additional dialogue and various one-liners are added into scenes that were originally silent. An example is when Zeebad is about to fire at Zebedee in his nightmare, he says "So long, Zebedee!" whilst in the original he said nothing.
- The narration implies that Zebedee's reason for not joining with Dougal/Doogal and the others on their quest was because he went to search for Zeebad; in the original, it was because he had to stay behind to guard the roundabout.
- Characters such as the Moose and the Skeletons are given dialogue despite being silent in the original.
- Fart noises are added in for the Moose as a running gag of him constantly breaking wind.
- The Train is given much less dialogue than in the original version.
- Every shot of Zeebad's ice palace is cut; glimpses of the palace can be seen in the background in a few shots but is not shown in full view.
- During the scene of Zeebad trying to interrogate Dougal/Doogal, a brief flashback depicting Florence trapped in the icy carousel is shown.
- An additional song entitled Simply Wonderful by Andrea Remanda and Goldust is added. The original included an instrumental version that played as Dougal and his friends set off on their quest.
- A sequence that featured Dougal dreaming about being home with Florence and having fun with his friends was moved to the very end, serving as the ending to the movie; this sequence features the song Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra.
- The gang find out the third diamond is hidden in the carousel through hieroglyphics at the temple; in the original version, Zebedee already informed them that it was there before they set off on their journey.
- An entire scene in which Dougal/Doogal has a nightmare about Florence is cut. This scene featured an instrumental piece inspired by Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles.
- Instead of Brian, it is Dougal/Doogal who finds the village.
- A scene where Dougal/Doogal and the others are wandering through the frozen village before encountering Zeebad is removed.
- The scene where Zebedee is revealed to be alive is shown after Florence questions where he is; in the original, it was shown right after Zeebad was defeated.
- A scene where, the characters try to celebrate their victory by riding on the roundabout only to see it will not work due to Sam not being part of it, is removed.
- A mid-credit scene of Zeebad in his prison is completely removed.
- Behind the scenes footage of the American actors recording for the film is added into the end credits.
- The "Time for bed." mid-credits scene is moved to the end of the credits instead of midway.
Videos[]
Video Releases[]
| Distributor | Year | Format | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Weinstein Company | 2006 | 
|
1 NTSC |
United States |
|
| Alliance | Canada | 
| |||
See Also[]
External Links[]
- The Magic Roundabout at the Internet Movie Database
- Doogal at the Internet Movie Database