Although voice-over dubbing is utilised only for children’s films in Finland, the local scene has nothing to be ashamed of in terms of quality.

UNLIKE IN many other European countries, generally TV programming and films in Finland are subtitled. We Finns like to think of this as a sign of openness to other languages and cultures, in addition to largely explaining our relatively good English skills. And yet the main reason behind the practice is, disappointingly, a financial one: dubbing is many times more expensive than subtitling, making it unfeasible in such a small market as Finland.

Within that market, however, there is a segment of consumers that has to be served in their own language – namely, children. And so, Bob the Builder, Woody and Buzz, and even Jim Carrey (in the recent film Mr. Popper’s Penguins) speak Finnish here. According to an industry professional, the work done at Finnish dubbing studios is of high quality. “Actors are extremely professional today, and in general dubbing in Finland measures up to international standards,” says Pauli Virta, the director of PVP-Voice, a company behind the Finnish version of Ice Age, and several other films and TV series.

Virta notes that dubbing in Finland has come a long way: back in the ‘80s, more or less everyone in the business was an amateur, and there was pressure to churn out masses of VHS cassettes in short time. “You can really hear it if you watch those old tapes,” he says. Now, studios behind major animated films and series usually monitor the dubbing, often having the final say on casting. “For films, even lip synch is done very carefully, word-by-word.”

The fact that standards have improved also reflects the audience’s demands. “You can’t fool children – they will notice if the same voices appear in different series, for example,” Virta points out. If things have become so professional, does an inexperienced voice-acting enthusiast stand a chance with breaking into the dubbing scene? “Absolutely,” Virta says. “In fact, there are a lot of enthusiastic people who want to get into dubbing. Right now, I’ve got 60–70 samples waiting for reviewing.”

Sometimes drawing the line between what is a children’s film and what isn’t can be difficult, and eyebrows were raised perhaps most notably when The Simpsons Movie came out in both original and dubbed versions. “Actually, when South Park came to Finland, I suggested dubbing the series and seeing how it would work,” Virta says. As difficult as it is to imagine a Finnish-speaking Eric Cartman, there is something intriguing about the idea.

Teemu Henriksson