Sometimes it is difficult to understand what goes through the heads of Spanish film distributors when it comes to dubbing their films. If we didn’t have enough with the infamous examples of Dani Martín in ‘Escuela de rock’, Lola Indigo in ‘Space jam: Nuevas leyendas’, Mario Vaquerizo in ‘Doraemon: Stand by me’ or Rosario Flores in ‘Puss in Boots: The last wish’, now Three youtubers arrive at ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’. And they are not exactly three movie buffs, role-players or experts in dubbing. They are the complete opposite.
Soccer and cryptos
It seems that at Paramount they have not understood what they are up to: a film based on what is possibly, beyond Disney, most powerful nerd intellectual property (and audiovisually unexplored) of recent times. Even it could be understood that they would have invited youtubers and streamers to play regularly. But not.
The chosen ones have been xBuyer, Shooter and Widler. If they don’t sound familiar to you, it’s because they’re simply in a different circle than yours. The first uploads soccer videos, the second of luxury life, investments and (of course) Andorra, and the third of challenges and viral videos in the style of “My friend and his sister make my son cry… They laugh at him”. Pure role-playing game, really. Will they be bards, sorcerers, or perhaps barbarians?
The reaction on social networks, fed up with these strange maneuvers to appeal to an audience that doesn’t give a damn about the film, has not been long in coming and has been eminently negative. In fact, it reminded many a thread that streamer Wismichu uploaded to Twitter in January and that we now see in a new light. In it, she talked about being contacted to campaign for a movie “she was very excited about” (he plays D&D regularly on his Uncommon channel). but that they rejected all his ideas: they just wanted him to voice someone.
They respond with what they want to do is double a character. We tell them it’s not a good idea. They insist that there are few sentences. We tell them no and explain why it’s not a good idea for me, for them or for the film. They insist.
— Ismael Prego (@Wismichu) January 9, 2023
Probably these types of ideas come from internationaland the workers of Paramount Spain see themselves in no other way than to try to save the ballot as they can: they need three youtubers to voice three characters, and most are aware that it does not give them a good image. “I’m going to say more, just venture that it’s coming blunder”he commented fifteen days later. It has been so, on the other hand.
The self-imposed blindness when it comes to dubbing films with a certain pull trying to reach a neophyte audience does not work. It’s more: distracts potential viewers. And it doesn’t matter that the roles are very small, as is the case: in ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ you already have a captive audience that you should try to pamper. The way to reach the most general is not through streamers known for playing pranks on your child or talking about football, because nerdy viewers will reject him and his fans will see him as a simple eccentricity that does not reach adults. Nobody wins in this grotesque dubbing game. Paramount has attempted a persuasion roll, but it has failed.