The Sub vs Dub Debate Is a Futile Effort
Ghibli Month — Chapter 18: The Secret World of Arrietty
Director — Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Year of Release — 2010
Language — English UK
How Many Times Watched? — 2 times
Rating — ★★★
This is a Watch Later. The magic of Studio Ghibli without the storytelling prowess of Studio Ghibli.
I must admit, the first time I saw The Secret World of Arrietty, I was not exactly impressed. I think I gave it a 2-star rating or something like that. I thought the story was bland and the characters were so uninteresting. The animation was obviously great (when is it not for Studio Ghibli), but there was not much more to it for me. Arrietty was the first Ghibli film I actively disliked.
Leading up to my most recent viewing for Ghibli Month, I was honestly dreading having to watch it again. But in my research for the film, I discovered a second English dub, one that was released only in the United Kingdom. And let me tell you, the cast was perfect. Saoirse Ronan. Tom Holland. Olivia Colman. Mark Strong. Oh my!
They all brought life to their characters in a way that the US dub didn’t. No hate on the US cast, but the UK dub was so much better. They helped make the story and characters shine as they were intended to. It helps that the source material was British, helping it feel more true to itself.
The Secret World of Arrietty was adapted from the 1952 novel The Borrowers by Mary Norton. It follows Arrietty, a girl that lives with her mother and father under the floorboards of a country home. They are called “Borrowers,” a race of small people (approximately 4 inches tall) that “borrow” what they need from the houses they share. But because they are so small, the borrowing is not noticeable. One cube of sugar will last them a month. I think they’re just little thieves but whatever.
One day, Shō, a boy with a heart condition, comes to live at the house before his high-risk surgery. Throughout the course of the film, Shō and Arrietty strike up a secret friendship that could prove to be dangerous for Arrietty’s family.
Considering my experience with the two different dubs for Arrietty, I thought I’d take this time to explain subs and dubs and the merits and disadvantages to both.
When it comes to films that are in another language, it takes something to make it understandable to a foreign audience. This is where subs and dubs come into play.
“Subs” is short for “Subtitled.” When a film is subbed, it has subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Subtitles are a translation of what is being said. The majority of the time, there is no description of what is going on like with closed captioning. It is simply a direct translation without any modifiers.
Subs are the simplest way to watch a film in another language and are the most common method. They are easily accessible and rarely detract from what’s onscreen.
Foreign films with subtitles became a major talking point this year with the historic Best Picture win at the Oscars for Parasite, a South Korean film with, you guessed it, subtitles. But it was at the Golden Globes where subtitles began to come into popular conversation. During Bong Joon-ho’s speech after winning Best Foreign Language Film, he said, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” Bong’s the man. (Side note: If you haven't watch Parasite, what’s wrong with you? It’s streaming on Hulu. Go watch it now.)
Dubs, on the other hand, make changes to the actual film. Rather than translating and putting words at the bottom of the screen, dubs alter what you hear. The original audio track is replaced with translated dialogue. They cast voice actors to act out the dialogue as if they were on screen. This way the viewer can enjoy the film in their own language without having the distraction of words at the bottom of the screen.
It’s very rare to see a dub for a live-action movie in the west. I don’t believe I have ever watched a dubbed live-action film before. I feel like that would be too jarring to see actors talking but it is a voice that doesn’t exactly match.
Dubbing is primarily used in animation. It is easier to do it for animation because the characters are not real people. It’s rare to see something animated where the voice matches up with the character’s mouth perfectly, even in its original language. That way, dubbing usually sounds pretty decent if directed well.
Most often you will hear about dubs in relation to anime, especially now that anime is gaining quite a bit of traction and popularity here in the west. For most anime, you can expect a dub to fairly quickly follow the initial subbed release.
In the anime community, there is a fierce debate on subs vs dubs. Some people believe that you should never disrespect the original work by dubbing. They say the original voice actors are better at expressing than any dub could ever do. These people think of themselves as purists, watching what the original creator intended.
On the other hand, there are people that will only watch dubs because they don’t want to have to read while watching TV. They don’t want to multi-task and would rather just have it be in their own language. Dubs allow you to be less involved in the work.
Then you have others that don’t care one way or the other whether they are watching a sub or a dub (that’s me). There are many shows and films I have watched subbed and there are many others I have watched dubbed. It doesn’t really matter to me.
Sometimes the only thing available is a sub so I’ll watch that (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba). Other times, I don’t want to have to be as invested and will watch a dub (Violet Evergarden). There are even times where I will start a dub and hate the voice acting so much I will switch to the sub mid-episode (Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid). Some shows have such amazing visuals that I don’t want the subtitles to distract me from them so I watch the dub (Space Dandy and Neon Genesis Evangelion).
The first anime film I ever saw was Your Name, and I watched it dubbed. When I showed to people after that, I would show it dubbed. One time, I decided to watch it subbed and it really threw me off. I didn’t like it as much. I got so used to the dub that the subbed felt wrong. It was a strange experience for me. That’s why I watched Shinkai’s follow up Weathering With You dubbed. I was used to it.
It is this same reason that I have watched every Studio Ghibli film dubbed, beside Ocean Waves because there was no dub available. Kiki’s Delivery Service was my first Ghibli and I saw it dubbed. I saw no reason to change it up after that.
The problem many people have with dubs is their quality. Oftentimes, dubs really do ruin the experience of the show or film because of poor acting and direction. When anime was still very underground in the ’80s, ’90s, and early ’00s, a good dub was difficult to come by. Most of the time they were rushed and poorly produced, leading to shows that were nearly unwatchable.
With how popular anime is now in the west, the studios are taking great care to make solid dubs. For current productions, it is rare to find dub that is bad. Dubs are starting to be made as if they are equal to the original work, leading to much better shows.
At this point, the sub vs dub debate is mostly futile. It really comes down to personal preference. You just have to figure it out on your own. If you are new to foreign films and shows, maybe start with a dub to help get more acquainted. Unless they’re live-action. Always watch live-action foreign films subtitled.
With The Secret World of Arrietty, I really didn’t like the English US dub. All of the performances felt very flat and, frankly, phoned in. Disney usually did a pretty good job with their dubs. I was surprised by the quality of this one. Disney got lazy, but what’s new?
So when I heard there was a UK dub, I got excited. I’m a sucker for British entertainment, and, at one point, self-identified as an anglophile. I’m an even bigger sucker for Saoirse Ronan, even if it’s only her voice, so it was obvious I needed to watch the British version of Arrietty. It could not possibly be worse than the American version.
To my surprise, it was so much better. Arriety herself sounded much more adventurous but still timid enough to feel like a young teenager that is figuring life out. Shō was melancholic without feeling a breath away from death. And her parents' voices fit the characters much better (#sorrynotsorry Amy Poehler and Will Arnett). Also, the American dub added a terrible pop song at the end that really ruins the mood. The UK dub is unequivocally better than the US dub and it should be the only English version you ever watch. Though if you’re watching on HBO Max you’re out luck. I’d probably just watch it in Japanese. (The UK dub is available on Netflix UK, imagine that).
That being said, I still don’t love The Secret World of Arrietty. It’s just not for me. It is by no means a bad film, it’s just not one I particularly enjoy. You may love it and I hope you do. Arrietty may rank on the lower end of Ghibli films for me, but at least I can say it isn’t the dub’s fault.
