A Study on Adapting Local Context in Cartoon Dubbing (With Reference to Sinhala Dubbed English Cartoons in Sirasa & Hiru TV).

Abstract

Adapting the local context in cartoon dubbing has become a growing trend in Sri Lanka today. In this process, in spite of the creativity, disappearance of the original story, losing the opportunity of learning English and learning a nonstandard Sinhala language, have been identified as problems by the Sri Lankan parents. The study discusses the perspectives of children on Sinhala dubbed cartoons and English cartoons telecasting in Sirasa TV and Hiru TV and the effectiveness of adapting local context in dubbing is decided on their reasons for preferences for either cartoons. 50 randomly selected students including 25 boys and 25 girls of grade 6, 7 and 8 from Colombo district government schools, were interviewed as they still belong to the age of watching cartoons and capable of giving opinions. Among them, 64% preferred English cartoons saying that they learn new English words and as the language is simple, the story is understood though not knowing the meaning of each word. Further, as they already know Sinhala, they are interested in knowing English, as their parents also compel to watch and stated the adaptation of Sri Lankan context in cartoons create confusion, as they are different from what their parents have told. In addition, the language seems complex for them with some colloquial Sinhala phrases. Comparatively the same group agreed that the jokes could be understood in Sinhala dubbed cartoons than in English. 36% preferred Sinhala dubbed cartoons, disliking English cartoons as their characters speak fast and that made them unable to understand a single word, whereas some declared the language in dubbed cartoons is colloquial as it is “Singlish” that they use in everyday life, therefore, they learn both Sinhala and English words. In this study, a recommendation is made to identify the target audience for effective cartoon dubbing.