Movie titles get changed in foreign markets for all kinds of reasons. Usually, this has something to do with literal translations of the original title not making much sense in other languages. But this isn’t a foolproof system, and there have been times when such alterations have led to things making even less sense. As a result, people in other countries know our films by some ridiculous and downright twisted names. Here are a few comedies that ended up with pretty wild titles overseas.
7. DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY
In Germany, the 2004 Ben Stiller-Vince Vaughn comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story was released as Voll auf die Nüsse. English translation: Right in the Nuts.
6. BAD SANTA
The Czech Republic knows Bad Santa by the name of Santa je úchyl, which means Santa Is a Freak.
5. THE PRODUCERS
The 1967 Mel Brooks classic The Producers is known in Italy as Per favore, non toccate le vecchiette. That’s Please, Do Not Touch the Little Old Ladies in English.
4. BEVERLY HILLS NINJA
The German title for Chris Farley’s 1997 film, Beverly Hills Ninja, is Die kampfwurst. Confusingly, that translates to The Combat Sausage.
3. SUPERBAD
Sweden changed the title of Superbad to Supersugen. For the uninformed, that means Super Hungry in English.
2. CADDYSHACK
For whatever reason, the good people of Denmark decided to give Caddyshack the title Røven Fuld af Penge. So we’re clear, they’ve been calling it Ass Full of Money for the past 46 years.
1. AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Somehow, some way, the 1997 Jack Nicholson rom-com As Good as It Gets became known as 猫屎先生 in China, which means, um…Mr. Cat Poop. It’s been suggested that the main character’s name, Melvin, is pronounced similarly to the Chinese word for “cat poop.”
BONUS ENTRY: LAUREL AND HARDY
The beloved comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are referred to by German audiences as Dick & Doof. While this seems somewhat appropriate considering the English meanings of those words, in German, “dick und doof” actually means “fat and stupid.” So it’s kind of spot-on regardless of the language you speak, just a little unnecessarily insulting.
The post 7 Comedy Movie Titles That Became Way Funnier Overseas appeared first on VICE.
