Foreign Movies Being Localized
It is widely accepted that the local audiences would modify, hybridize, indigenize or transform the meanings of foreign media products through active and selective consumption and appropriation. Even the media contents and formats are globally the same, the meanings of them could be understood and interpreted by the audience from different regions in a very different way.
They are "hongkongnized" by having a Hong Kong Name...
狗狗震 (Scoopy-Doo)
狗狗震多震 (Scoopy-Doo2)
It is an American movie and Scoopy-Doo is the name of the main character, a dog. The Chinese translated name of it is rather interesting and is completely different from the original English name. "狗狗震" also is a kind of punning. literally "狗" means "dog" , and "震" means "shake", so "狗狗震" literally means "dog dog shake" and this seems having no sense.
Indeed, the pronunciation of "狗狗震" is like another phrase which is "Gaau Gaau Zan(搞搞震)". This Cantonese phrase has the meaning of being naughty, making things mess-up. So here the Chinese translated name "搞搞震" here actually carries more meaning then the original name: first it indicates this movie is related to a dog; second it implies that this story is about how does a dog make things mess up.
The second episode of Scooby-Doo, which is Scooby-Doo2, the naming is clear yet a little bit boring. The Chinese name is much lively and vivid, which is "狗狗震多震". "多" means more, so it literarily means "dog dog shake more shake". Actually it wants to express the meaning of "to mess things up once again". It doesn't mention about second or the number 2 but it can still express the meaning that this is the sequel of Scooby-Doo.
孤疑(Orphan)
It is also a American movie which is released in 2009. The tricky thing is once again on the pronunciation and the written form of the name. The equivalent of orphan should be "Gu Ji (孤兒)". If you read carefully enough, you will notice the word "疑" in the name is a wrong word, though it is pronounced exactly as "Ji". "疑" carries the sense of suspense while the correct word "兒" means "child". Obviously, this word is used with intention in order to leave a stronger impression to the public.
穿著Prada的惡魔 ( The Devil Wears Prada)
The Chinese name of this film is almost the direct translation of the original name, except one word, Prada. The insertion of English word into Chinese title is one of the unique features in Hong Kong. It is seldom seen in other Chinese city. The name of the movie adopted in China are "时尚女魔头" ,which literally means the " fashion female devil", or "穿普拉达的女王" which is almost the same as the the Hong Kong version, except "Prada" is also translated in simplified Chinese "普拉达". Thus, we know that the insertion of English into Chinese or the other way round, which is known as code-switching or code-mixing, is a kind of characteristic in Hong Kong.
狗狗震多震 (Scoopy-Doo2)
It is an American movie and Scoopy-Doo is the name of the main character, a dog. The Chinese translated name of it is rather interesting and is completely different from the original English name. "狗狗震" also is a kind of punning. literally "狗" means "dog" , and "震" means "shake", so "狗狗震" literally means "dog dog shake" and this seems having no sense.
Indeed, the pronunciation of "狗狗震" is like another phrase which is "Gaau Gaau Zan(搞搞震)". This Cantonese phrase has the meaning of being naughty, making things mess-up. So here the Chinese translated name "搞搞震" here actually carries more meaning then the original name: first it indicates this movie is related to a dog; second it implies that this story is about how does a dog make things mess up.
The second episode of Scooby-Doo, which is Scooby-Doo2, the naming is clear yet a little bit boring. The Chinese name is much lively and vivid, which is "狗狗震多震". "多" means more, so it literarily means "dog dog shake more shake". Actually it wants to express the meaning of "to mess things up once again". It doesn't mention about second or the number 2 but it can still express the meaning that this is the sequel of Scooby-Doo.
孤疑(Orphan)
It is also a American movie which is released in 2009. The tricky thing is once again on the pronunciation and the written form of the name. The equivalent of orphan should be "Gu Ji (孤兒)". If you read carefully enough, you will notice the word "疑" in the name is a wrong word, though it is pronounced exactly as "Ji". "疑" carries the sense of suspense while the correct word "兒" means "child". Obviously, this word is used with intention in order to leave a stronger impression to the public.
穿著Prada的惡魔 ( The Devil Wears Prada)
The Chinese name of this film is almost the direct translation of the original name, except one word, Prada. The insertion of English word into Chinese title is one of the unique features in Hong Kong. It is seldom seen in other Chinese city. The name of the movie adopted in China are "时尚女魔头" ,which literally means the " fashion female devil", or "穿普拉达的女王" which is almost the same as the the Hong Kong version, except "Prada" is also translated in simplified Chinese "普拉达". Thus, we know that the insertion of English into Chinese or the other way round, which is known as code-switching or code-mixing, is a kind of characteristic in Hong Kong.
草食男の桃花期(モテキ!) (Love Strikes)
Love Strikes is a recent Japanese film shown in Hong Kong. Its original Japanese name means "being popular among the opposite sex" which is different from its English name. The Hong Kong version is kind of ambiguous because although " 草食男 " looks like Chinese but they are Kanji indeed, although we have these characters in Chinese as well. This phrase means the male who is not aggressive in career and flirting women. This kind of man loves peaceful life and he want to stay at the current status. He has little desire. This phrase has been widely used in Hong Kong as well even though it is Japanese indeed. Even a Hong Konger who completely don't know Japanese can understand the phrase because of the similarities in the language systems in Japanese and Chinese. "の" is definitely Japanese in which there is no such character in Chinese. Yet Hong Kongers have no obstacle in understanding the name of the movie since "の" has a long history in Hong Kong. "の" means "of" in English. "桃花期" is a Chinese phrase, but we don't have this phrase originally, it is the idea from Japan. It means "a period that one would become very popular among the opposite sex".
Thus, it is a combination of Kanji (Japanese but the characters also exit in Chinese), Japanese as well as Chinese (but the idea also came from Japan). I believe this is an unique phenomenon which would only take place in Hong Kong due to the special linguistic environment here.
Thus, it is a combination of Kanji (Japanese but the characters also exit in Chinese), Japanese as well as Chinese (but the idea also came from Japan). I believe this is an unique phenomenon which would only take place in Hong Kong due to the special linguistic environment here.