I'm not sure if this trope applies to English-speaking media.

I recently started it in YKTTW and I have seen hundred of times in dubbed media here in Latin America, but I don't know if also applies for dubbed media in the US. In short, this is when instead of adding subtitles to the written text, someone reads it aloud, perhaps I just need to have it better worded, this is what I have so far:

While dubbing, since written text would be read aloud, including the main credits, since making the subtitles would need more people and more money and simply reading them was cheaper, this job is called "Insertos" in Latin American dub lingo.

More often than not, the person reading the "Insertos" also provides the voice of main characters, usually reading the "Insertos" in their normal voice, or in-character if interacting with said object fits with the plot. (reading a letter, holding a product, etc.)

Since the arrival of new technology making the job of subtitles something far more easier and the demand of some to make the work more faithful to the original have decreased a bit on this practice. Nonetheless, this still goes on, mostly due habitude or perhaps, some consider, that Viewers Are Morons since they can't read and listen at the same time.

Some notable examples:

• Humberto Velez, who provided the voice of Homer Simpson for 15 years in The Simpsons before leaving along with all the main cast for contractual disputes. Now, from all the people, the person who does the voice of Carl do the reading.
• Jorge Arvizu, considered the Mexican Mel Blanc, would usually read these on old Merrie Melodies cartoons, more often than not adding some Gag Dub.
• Thanks to Lucky Translation, this made the Running Gag of someone reading the signs of Sheep In The Big City dozen of times funnier.

I know I shouldn't make a long list, since it would fall into People Sit On Chairs, but I'm worried if this whole trope is People Sit On Chairs... what do you think?

There are a lot of curious aspects to subtitling and dubbing that might fit into tropes somehow.

A curious one from Eastern Europe is how they'd do "dubbing" that wasn't actually dubbing. I think the gist is that they'd just have a track with one person reading the translated dialogue over the softer but still-audible original. One guy would read all the translated material, for all parts, male or female, and basically just reading the words, without much effort at giving a "performance."

After the fall of Communism and/or technology making Western-style dubbing feasible, a lot of people still preferred the "old" style that they were used to, liking the way it preserves the original actor's voice and performance.

^ I've seen some anime dubbed with that method. I don't understand the advantages of that over subtitles - you can barely hear the original audio over the monotonous drawl.

To answer the OP, I've never heard of anything like that in English media. The most common practice seems to be is to either subtitle the credits directly or to ditch them completely and replace them with a translated set of credits.

As for the other, I came across that when I bought my copy of the Cowboy Bebop Movie. For some bizarre reason the version released in Australia included the Russian dub and it was that kind of dubbing, though the background track was the English dub rather than the original Japanese.

The only thing that I can think of that does something remotely similar in English is Iron Chef and I think that's at least partly because Chairman Kaga is subtitled rather than dubbed so that can't just completely suppress the Japanese dialogue audio track.

edited 2nd Oct '10 12:59:25 AM by KnightofL-sama

There actually is a technical term for this: It's called either Voice-over Translation or Gavrilov Translation.

Wiki page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavrilov_translation

The only time I've ever seen this in English is on really cheaply imported documentary series.

Yeah, I hear this all the time on the radio when they're interviewing someone who doesn't speak English. I think it should count as a trope. It's a translation trope.

agreed that it happens all the time in latin american dubs. it is very, very annoying, btw. at least nowadays they're trying to use different voice actors instead of just one.

BUT i've also seen it done in the US— Iron Chef America immediately comes to mind. they do it all the time when morimoto speaks. (funny, because sometimes they also use subtitles. i don't get it). i think it's a Derivative Work at the very least.

edited 4th Oct '10 12:48:48 PM by carla

I like it.

About the OP: It's not People Sit On Chairs. It's a recurring pattern in fiction, specifically narration of translated media. It's an Omnipresent Trope for certain localizations, but that's an argument against having examples of it being played straight, not against having a page on it.

Anyhow, I recall Dexters Lab playing with it, and another work I'm trying to remember lampshade it.

Done! In case if you want to help... :)

Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud