Completely Different Title

...The Glass Jungle?!^note Title in Spain. In Hispanic America it is titled Duro de Matar (Hard to Kill).

"You know, it still amazes me the influence [Star Trek] has. It's now been shown in over a hundred countries and of course each country translates it to fit their own culture. For example, in Japan, I understand it's called, 'Sulu, Master of Navigation'."

— William Shatner in his Saturday Night Live opening monologue ^note The actual title was 宇宙大作戦, meaning "Space Campaign". And Sulu was named "Katou" in the Japanese version.

When translating works of fiction sometimes you keep the original title in the original language. Sometimes you try to make up your own translation or equivalent. Sometimes you just make up a title. Often the results of copyright disputes or because the title cannot be translated and keep making sense (because it's based on a pun or a specific expression in the language it was made in, for example).

Related to, but not to be confused with Market-Based Title. That trope is when titles are changed in the same language. This trope is when titles are changed in translation (note that the new title can still be in the source language). If the title is changed to make it seem like the work is related to a totally unrelated work, it's a case of Translation Matchmaking. See also The Foreign Subtitle and In Name Only.

Examples are divided by language. Please list examples under the language being translated into, rather than the language translated from.

Remember that what you are reading could be a translation of a translation of a movie title, or even a translation of a specific interpretation of a "Blind Idiot" Translation... so particularly perplexing titles might not actually be a mistake on someone's part, it just worked out that way.

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Other examples:

• Batman: The Animated Series

Azerbaijani

Film

• Nightcrawler became He Built the Night.

Western Animation

• PAW Patrol became Dogs Rushing to Help.

Catalan

Film

• Hoosiers became Més que ídols (More than Idols). This was likely borrowed from (Castilian) Spanish, in which the equivalent phrase más que ídolos was attached as a subtitle to the original English title.
• The Imitation Game became Deciphering the Enigma.

Estonian

Films — Live-Action

• Pacific Rim became The Pacific Fight.
• Liberal Arts became Humanities.
• Martyrs became Witnesses.
• The Innkeepers became Haunted Inn.
• The Big Short became Big Lie.
• American Beauty became Elusive Beauty.
• Demolition Man became Shredder.
• Midnight Run became Night Escape.
• Total Recall (1990) became Full Memory Swap.
• Underworld (2003) became Otherness.

Western Animation

• Ready Jet Go! became Jeti seiklused (The Adventures of Jet).

Filipino

Anime and Manga

• Ginga Sengoku Gunyuuden Rai became Thunder Jet.
• Go-Q-Choji Ikkiman became Battle Ball.
• Hajime no Ippo became Knockout.
• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water became The Magical Necklace/Pendant.
• Ojarumaru became Prince Mackaroo.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena became Ursula's Kiss, the supposed English dub title. The scrapped Dub Name Change for the characters are also used.
• Super Pig became Super Boink.
• Time Trouble/Travel Tondekeman! became Time Quest.
• World Masterpiece Theater
  • Princess Sarah became Sarah, the Little Princess as a nod to the source material.
  • Romeo's Blue Skies became Mga Munting Pangarap ni Romeo (literally The Little/Small Dreams of Romeo).
• YuYu Hakusho became Ghost Fighter.

Films — Live-Action

• Dead Heat became Iron Cops.
• In The Philippines, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning was released as Hell Wolf: You Will Be Eaten Alive. Presumably this is because the other two Ginger Snaps movies didn't see release there, so the original title wouldn't make sense. It makes it sound a bit more like a straight horror film than it actually is, but it does sound sort of awesome.
• Encino Man became California Man.
• Harry and the Hendersons became Bigfoot.
• The Mighty Ducks became Champions based on the team singing the Queen hit, "We Are The Champions" at the end credits.
• Red Sun became The Magnificent Three.
• The Reef became Shark Attack.

Live-Action TV

• Beverly Hills, 90210 was still named the same but curiously enough, it's pronounced Beverly Hills Nine-Oh-Two-Ten instead of Beverly Hills Nine-Oh-Two-One-Oh by the local program announcer of ABS-CBN.
• 49 Days became Pure Love, which carries some name problems when the Foreign Remake aired outside the Philippines.
• Dae Jang Geum became Jewel in the Palace.
• The Devil Judge became The Merciless Judge.
• The First Shop of Coffee Prince is shortened to just Coffee Prince.
• I Hear Your Voice became I Can Hear Your Voice.
• Kluen Cheewit became Waves of Life.
• My Love From Another Star became My Love From the Stars.
• My Rosy Life became A Rosy Life.
• Scent of a Woman became Helena's Promise, alluding to the Filipino Dub Name Change used for protagonist, Yeon Jae.
• Space Sheriff Gavan was aired as Sky Ranger, for no reason other than Rule of Cool. The Philippine dub also pronounces "Gavan/Gyaban" as "Gavin" instead.
• Super Sentai:
  • Himitsu Sentai Gorenger became known as Star Rangers.
  • Oddly enough, J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai aired as The Lucky Aces. And it does fit, considering the theme of the team itself.
  • Hikari Sentai Maskman translates as Light Squadron Maskman, but is translated as Laser Squadron Maskman instead. It was also billed as Bioman 2: Maskman due to the success of Choudenshi Bioman, which was released earlier, and the show also being renamed as such in France.
• Unstoppable High Kick is shortened to just High Kick.

Western Animation

• The Twins of Destiny became Julio at Julia: Kambal Ng Tadhana (literally Julio and Julia: Twins of Destiny)

Flemish

Films — Live-Action

• The Devil Bat became Vampire Revenge.
• The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms became The Monster of Lost Times.
• Peeping Tom became The Lurker.
• Death Rides a Horse became Death Came in Time.
• Doctor in the House (1954) became Doctors on the Love Path.

Hindi

Asian Animation

• The Hindi version of Boonie Bears is known as Bablu Dablu.
• The Hindi dub of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf used to be called Kya Bakra Hai! ("What a Goat!"). When the series started airing in India again in 2023, it reverted to Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.

Films — Animation

• Finding Nemo became known as Nemo's missing, did you see?

Films — Live-Action

• Some classic examples of Hollywood films dubbed in Hindi for Indian markets- the Hindi titles have been translated here:
  • Aliens - Unknown Destroyers
  • Dunston Checks In - A monkey inside the hotel
  • DOA: Dead or Alive - Do Or Die
  • Gladiator - Victor
  • Hellraiser - Son of the Devil.
  • House on Haunted Hill (1999) - Who will be a millionaire (They used the title of the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? here) in a haunted house?
  • The Matrix - Super Strong
  • Men in Black - Defenders of the World
  • Pirates of the Caribbean - Looters of the Sea
  • Vertical Limit - Death Peak
• This also extends to movies released straight to video; Redline, released in 2007 was given the title of Speed Returns.
• Lavalantula became Aliens Unknown.
• Phantasm became Horrible Dwarfs.
• The Howling (1981) became Wolf Scream.

Icelandic

Films — Animation

• The Peanuts Movie became Smáfólkið ("Little People").

Films — Live-Action

• RoboCop (1987) became The Knight of the Street.
• Jaws became The Unknown.

Irish

Films — Animation

• The Secret of Kells: The Irish dub is titled Rún Cheanannais Mhóir (Secret of Great Kells).

Indonesian

Anime and Manga

• Rajawali Grafiti's unlicensed Indonesian translation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure renamed the title to "Misi Rahasia" (Mission Impossible).
• Kocchimuite! Miiko is Hai, Miiko! (Hello, Miiko!)
• Rajawali Grafiti's unlicensed Indonesian translation of Kochikame renamed the title to "1001 Hari / Seribu Satu Hari" (1001 Days / One Thousand One Days).
• Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun is Hanako si arwah penasaran (Hanako the curious spirit)

Live-Action TV

• Kamen Rider BLACK's Indonesian dub is known as Ksatria Baja Hitam (Black Steel Knight). It's still considered a dear word for Rider fans in Indonesia, considering how phenomenally popular Black is in Indonesia
  • Later on, Kamen Rider Super-1 gets retitled as Ksatria Baja Hitam Super-1, even though Super-1's color scheme isn't 100% black.
  • And yet again, Kamen Rider Kuuga was retitled as Ksatria Baja Hitam Kuuga, and again, the color scheme are red and not 100% black, but this time, it's only for intro and the title are keep based on International distribution from Toei, translated as Masked Rider Kuuga.

Film — Live-Action

• Fright Night (1985) became Dracula Lovers.

Kazakh

Asian Animation

• BoBoiBoy is known as Jeńimpaz Jetkinshekter (Жеңімпаз Жеткіншектер), meaning "Victorious Youth".

Latvian

Film

• Nightcrawler became Night Reporter.
• Mean Girls became Nasty.
• What We Do in the Shadows became What Happens at Dusk.
• Drive Angry became Crazy Ride.
• Hereditary became Reincarnation.
• The Midnight Meat Train became Midnight Express.

Literature

• The original Swedish title of Simona Ahrnstedt's debut novel, Överenskommelser, can be translated into "Agreements" or "Understandings". But the Latvian title, "Nepaklaviga", can be translated as "The non-economic".

Western Animation

• Ready Jet Go! became Uzmanību, gatavību, kosmosā! (Attention, readiness, in space!) in the LTV voiceover and Džeta kosmosa ceļvedis (Jet's Space Guide) in the KidZone voiceover.

Lithuanian

Film — Animation

• Sausage Party became Sausage Balls.

Film — Live-Action

• Nightcrawler became Night Wanderings.
• Skin Trade became Trafficking in Human Beings.
• Hard Candy became Lollipop.
• Fire with Fire became Before the Fire.
• Demolition Man became All Destructive.
• The Rocketeer became Human Rocket.
• Would You Rather became What Would You Do.
• Hellboy (2004) became Child of Hell.
• Midnight Run became Going Out at Night.
• Underworld (2003) became Another World.
• End of Days became End of the World.
• The Conjuring became Exorcism.
• R.I.P.D. became Rest in Peace Department.
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) became Bloody Massacre in Texas.
• The Midnight Meat Train became Nighttime Slaughter Train.

Western Animation

• Ready Jet Go! became Džetas ir žemiečiai (Jet and the Earthlings).

Macedonian

Film — Live-Action

• God's Gun became Hero of the Black Colt.

Malay

Anime & Manga

• The Malay adaptation for the One Piece manga is called Budak Getah, which literally means "Rubber Kid".
• The Rurouni Kenshin manga has its title changed to Satria Pedang, which means "Sword Warrior".
• The Malaysian version of The Kindaichi Case Files is Penyiasat Remaja, which translates to "Teen Investigator".
• The Dragon Ball manga was released in Malaysia as Mutiara Naga, which in Malay means "Dragon Pearl".
• When released in Malaysia, the Dragon Quest manga (Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai to be specific) was called Misteri Naga, which could translate to "Mystery Of The Dragon" in Malay.
• The Crayon Shin-chan manga is known as Dik Cerdas, which translates to "Smart Kid". However, the dubs of the anime and films keep the name Crayon Shin-chan.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga is named Penjelajah Jojo ("Jojo the Explorer")

Films — Animation

• For some reason, in the theatre subtitles, Finding Nemo was translated as Nemo, Si Comel, which translates to Nemo, the Cute.

Films — Live-Action

• Hellboy (2004) became Super Sapiens.
• The World Is Not Enough is subtitled Dendam Membara (Burning Revenge).

Live-Action TV

• In Malaysia, Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger was referred to as Leo Rangers by the network. Despite this, the characters refer to theselves as the Gaoranger within the show.

Persian

Anime and Manga

• Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow became مهاجران (Migration), referencing how the story is about an English family that immigrates to Australia in the 1800s.

Film — Animated

• Zootopia became City Animals.

Film — Live-Action

• Infernal Affairs became Evil Deeds.
• Sin City became City Crime.
• Cannibal! The Musical became Man-Eating Musical.
• Kagemusha became Pseudo-Samurai.
• Gutterballs became Bowling Balls.
• The Creeping Terror became Reptile Monster.
• Poltergeist (1982) became The Evil Spirit.
• It Came from Beneath the Sea became Deep Ocean Monster.
• Death Rides a Horse became Death Strikes the Traitors.
• Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula became Dracula: Prince of Darkness.

Western Animation

• Elinor Wonders Why became Elinor Wants to Know.
• Ready Jet Go! became بزن بریم جت (Let's Go Jet)

Scottish Gaelic

Literature

• Anne of Green Gables became Anna Ruadh (Red-Haired Anne).

Slovenian

Films — Animation

• Sausage Party became Sausage Resistance.

Films — Live-Action

• Wild Things became Wild Passion.
• The Evil became An Ominous Force.
• Pulp Fiction became Trash.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark became Hunting for a Lost Treasure.
• Runaway became The Cobweb of Death.
• Alien became Eighth Passenger.
• Hawk the Slayer became The Avenger's Oath.
• The Big Short became Great Move.
• Spotlight became In Focus.
• Hard Candy became Forbidden Fruit.
• Demolition Man became Desolation.
• Deep Red became The Secret of An Abandoned House.
• The Boondock Saints became Dirty Saint.
• Hocus Pocus became The Witches Are Coming Back.
• Cannibal Ferox became Amazon Cannibals.
• Peeping Tom became Death in the Eyes.
• Drive Angry became Wild Ride.
• The Conjuring became Summoned Evil.
• The Hunger became Hunger for Blood.

Tamil

Films — Live-Action

• The Man with the Iron Fists became Iron Fist Illusion.
• Van Helsing became Grave Man.
• I, Frankenstein became The Flying Grave Man.

Ukrainian

Films — Animation

• Sausage Party became Full Sausages.

Films — Live-Action

• Pumpkinhead became Hell's Revenge.
• Monty Python's Life of Brian became Genesis of Brian by Monty Python.
• The Shawshank Redemption became Escape from Shawshank.
• Tremors became Earthquake.
• Mean Girls became Cool Girls.
• The Big Short became Drop Game.
• Time After Time became Time Travel Machine.
• Underworld (2003) became Other World.
• Drive Angry became Wild Race.
• Cocaine Bear became Ведмідь під кайфом (Vedmidʹ pid kayfom, or The Bear Is High).
• Fall became Над безоднею (Nad bezodneyu, or Above the Abyss).

Literature

• The Little Witch: The Ukrainian translation uses the title Мала Баба-Яга (Mala Baba-Yaha, "Little Baba Yaga").

Live-Action TV

• Sliders became Вир Світів (Vyr svitiv, or Whirlwind of Worlds).
• Charmed (1998) became Усі жінки — відьми (Usi jinki vidmi, or All women are witches). Rose McGowan reportedly is not a fan of this title.

Western Animation

• Ready Jet Go! became Космічний старт (Space Launch).

Urdu

Film — Live-Action

• Phantasm became Zombies.
• 976-EVIL became Super Evil.

Uzbek

Film — Live-Action

• Pacific Rim became The Horrors of the Pacific.

Vietnamese

Films — Animated

• Frankenweenie became Ghost Dog Frankenweenie.
• Kubo and the Two Strings became Kubo and the Samurai Mission.
• ParaNorman became Norman and the Sixth Sense.

Films — Live-Action

• The Babadook became Book of Ghosts.
• Batman Begins became Batman Appears.
• Blade Runner became Clone Crime.
• The Conjuring became Terrified Obsession.
• Ghostbusters (1984) became Ghost Hunting Squad.
• Hellboy (2004) became Red Devil.
• Howl (2015) became Wolf Man.
• Infernal Affairs became No Way.
• Liberal Arts became The Art of Freedom.
• Mean Girls became Supergirls.
• Men in Black became Agent Black.
• Pacific Rim became Super War.
• R.I.P.D. became Ghost Police Station.
• The Shawshank Redemption became Shawshank Prison.
• Train to Busan became Train of Life and Death.
• V for Vendetta became Freedom Warrior.

Literature

• The Little Witch: The Vietnamese translation uses the title Chuyện về bà phù thuỷ ngồi trên cán chổi ("The Tale of the Witch Who Sits on the Broomstick").

Live-Action TV

• Deadliest Catch is Chuyến săn bão táp ("Storm Hunt").

Western Animation

• Spongebob Squarepants is Chú bọt biển tinh nghịch ("The Mischievous Sponge").

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