Language Dubs
The Lion King has been re-released as part of Disney's Signature Collection as of August 2017.
I would be so grateful if you can help me obtain dubs (or information about dubs) I don't yet have!
Thank you for visiting!
I would be so grateful if you can help me obtain dubs (or information about dubs) I don't yet have!
- A list of dubs I still need can be found below
- You can contact me here
Thank you for visiting!
Dubs I Own on DVD:
Dubs I Own Digitally:
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Dubs I Still Need and Know Exist
Armenian (Armenia)
- Featured in this video
- Referenced on Charguigou's site Disney International Dubbings as a TV dub made in 1995
- Made in 2017 for TV broadcast
- Referenced on Charguigou's site Disney International Dubbings as a TV dub made sometime after 2000
- Featured in this video
- Voice-over only, as of the 2011 release
- As described below, the Indonesian dub was only made for TV broadcast, and was not available on DVD during the 2011 release
- Featured in this video
- Featured in this video
- Featured in this video
- Voice-over only
- The Serbian dub was only made for TV broadcast, and according to the dubbing company Studio Moby, it has never been published on DVD as of September 2017.
- The Tamil dub was only made for TV broadcast, and was not available on DVD during the 2011 release
- Probably is an official dub
- Probably only a fandub but even so, I would love to own a physical copy of it if one is available!
Information About Each Dub
Abaza
- According to a comment by Pedro_1912 on this Youtube video, the Abaza dub is not official, and was created in 2009.
- According to the description of this video by Judge Claude Frollo on Youtube, the Abaza dub did not dub any of the songs except for "Morning Report" and the spoken part of "Be Prepared."
- The Abaza title may be the same as the Kabardian title (which might be the same as the Adyghe dub), according to the following comment by дмитрий Зьміцер Іваноў on this video:
- In the end of the movie the narrator says Аслъэн пащтыхь (Aslʺen Paŝtych́ ) but after there's the "title" wrote Амурасквала ЙзӀачважвамӀ 1 (Som letter I've changed because is russian writting). but I'm 100 sure that is Asl'en Paŝtych́ (the same as Kabardian title). You could hear it.
Albanian
- According to the Ebay seller from whom I purchased the DVD of the Albanian dub, the Albanian dub was created by an Albanian TV station called "Top Channel" which bought the rights to make the dub from the Walt Disney Company. I am not sure if I believe that Top Channel bought the rights from Disney, and would love to have this confirmed someday. Top Channel's logo can be found on the cover and on the disc of the Albanian DVD of The Lion King that I own.
- The songs of this dub are in the original English but with Albanian subtitles.
Arabic
- Two Egyptian Arabic dubs of The Lion King have been made - one in 1994 and one in 2003. According to site visitor William Meagher in December 2017, a Standard Arabic version was also produced. William says it was "commissioned by JeemTV and was shown on that network. JeemTV is known for censoring the films shown due to Muslim customs and TLK is no exception."
- During the 2003 Platinum Edition's run, the 2003 Arabic dub was included on the Croatian/Bulgarian DVD, as well as the Middle East's DVD (the DVDs were the same for both regions).
- The 2003 Middle Eastern/Croatian/Bulgarian Platinum Edition DVD (which included the 2003 Arabic dub) also included the 1994 Arabic dub's version of the song "The Circle of Life" as a storyboard bonus feature.
- Many thanks to site visitor Wasim for this information!
Armenian
- The dubbing company's website: http://oslproduction.do.am/
- The movie can be found in full on the dubbing company's website.
Crimean Tartar
- According to William Meagher's dubbing collection website, this dub was made for TV only.
Estonian
- Two Estonian dubs of The Lion King have been made - one in 1996 and one in 2012. [source] [source]
- According to site visitor William Meagher in December 2017, "There is also an Estonian voiceover, it's available on the Russian BD. I strongly believe that this is the « 1996 » version you're referring to. Many Disney films were released on VHS in Estonia in the mid-1990s with « eesti keeles » but these were only voiceovers."
- The 1996 Estonian dub was released in theaters May 3rd, 1996. [source] The 2012 Estonian dub was released in theaters February 3rd, 2012. [source] [source]
- The 1996 Estonian dub was released on VHS. [source] The Finnish DVD I own presents Estonian as one of the language options on the opening screen, but when selected, it plays the English language track with Estonian subtitles, so I don't believe the Estonian dub was released on DVD during the 2003 release. The 2012 Estonian dub was released on DVD.
- A list of the Estonian voice actors for The Lion King can be found here and here.
- The comments here indicate that the Estonian dub will be included with the Latvian and Lithuanian dubs when released on Blu-ray.
- The trailer for the Estonian version can be found here:
Farsi
- Another name for Persian.
- Not an official dub.
- The songs of this dub are in the original English but with Farsi subtitles.
- According to site visitor William Meagher in December 2017, "There are two Persian dubs - 1994 ( Classic ) and 20xx ( Glory ). 1994 left the songs untranslated while the Glory version dubbed some of the songs."
- "Persian Classic" and "Persian Glory" are featured in this video.
Flemish
- There is no Flemish dub, but the songs were dubbed in Flemish. The Flemish songs may be included on the Dutch DVD or CD.
- The following comment by Vaney0 on this video states, "Anyway there isn't a movie in Flemish, it was like a special on the Dutch DVD or CD I guess, so they only dubbed the songs unfortunalety"
French
- Only one French dub (European French) was made. There is no French Canadian dub; instead, the European French version is presented in France and in Canada. I figured this out because the French version on my USA DVD would definitely have been French Canadian if there were a French Canadian dub, but it matches up perfectly to clips on Youtube which are labeled as the European French version.
- However, a French Canadian version of "Be Prepared" was sung by Robert Trenard, and though it was not included in the movie, it was apparently released on the soundtrack CD sold in Québec. The opening annotation on the Youtube video states:
- "An other French version of "Be Prepared" found in the CD soundtrack of the Lion King, sold only in the province of Québec in Canada. It is NOT the French movie version! (They're was a single French dubbing for both France and other part of the world that speak this language.)"
Georgian
- As far as I can tell, there is no full official dub of The Lion King in Georgian - only a voice-over.
- Released in theaters March 22, 2012. [source]
Hindi
- The Hindi version was only released on VCD, according to ScarFan93 on Youtube.
- Featured in this Youtube video:
Indonesian
- Seen in these videos: Circle of Life, Be Prepared, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Just Can't Wait to be King, Hakuna Matata, Hula Song
- According to the Youtube comments quoted below, the Indonesian dub was made for TV broadcast on the Disney Channel, and was not released in theaters or for sale on physical media. Two Indonesian dubs have been produced - the first by Sanggar Prathivi and the second by Eltra Studio.
- According to initialdodyP's comment on this video, Diah Sekartadji is the voice actor for adult Nala. InitialdodyP is unsure whether or not she is also the singing voice of adult Nala.
- The following comments from initialdodyP on this video state:
- "Yes its new. From what I heard, Lion King has been dubbed into Indonesian a few years ago. But this is newly re-dub."
- "Unfortunatelly it almost never released. It usually only appear on TV whether in Disney Channel or in local TV. You can find many copies of Disney Movies in Indonesia from legit to pirate. Both most of them are in original language."
- "Usually not. Not in cinema. [in response to slobodnousername's question "what about new movies in cinemas, are they dubbed into Indonesian?"] Usually its dubbed when its airing on TV. But the only TV who dubbed Movie into Indonesian are HBO Cable Channel while local channels usually dubbed Movie only for non-English speaking Movie or Family-Oriented Movie."
- The following comment from initialdodyP on this video states:
- "This is the third rendition of Just can't wait to be king in Indonesian I known so far. The first ever version to be appear is from the cassette drama that released during the 90s. The second is probably from the first version of Indonesian Dubbing of the Movie by Sanggar Prathivi a few years ago. I never see this version as I only known from one of the former employee of Sanggar Prathivi that Lion King has dubbed there a few years ago. And this version are made by Eltra Griya Kedoya."
- The following comment from INAHQ id on this video states:
- "most disney indonesia have two dubs and this is new dub 2001, when the first disney came/available in Bahasa they working with sanggar prativi studio in 80's until 1998 or 99 then they working with Eltra Studio and MC Pro Studio jakarta Until Now, Disney in bahasa available in cinemas too but not to much Like The Little mermaid, beauty and the beast, Tarzan, Wall-e, and the good dinosaur"
Italian
- According to site visitor William Meagher in December 2017 (from his website), "Prior to the release of the Italian dub, Timon and Pumbaa were voiced by Luigi Ferraro and Renato Montanari as a scratch track (temporary placeholder before the final track is recorded). In the end, Timon and Pumbaa were dubbed by Tonino Accolla and Augusto Giardino. This scratch track was accidentally released in 2003. The Blu-Ray was released with the original audio track."
Kabardian
- According to a comment by Pedro_1912 on this Youtube video, the Kabardian dub is not official, and was created in 2014.
- According to site visitor William Meagher in December 2017, "The Kabardian dub was not released on DVD as far as I know and neither were the other Kabardian dubbed films such as Finding Nemo, Tangled, Brave, etc."
- I believe the Kabardian dub is the same as the Adyghe dub. This article from April 18, 2014 announces the creation of the Adyghe dub. One of the comments on that article indicates that this is the same as the Kabardian dub. Also, the description of this video from RobodL96 states:
- Kabardian (or eastern Circassian) is a small language spoken by approximately 1.5 million people in southern Russia, Turkey, Jordan and Syria. It is part of the Northwest Caucasian language family, which means that it is completely related to the Indo-European or any other language that most people would be familiar with. This dub was sponsored by the Circassian Culture Foundation to, "develop and strengthen cultural and social ties between the Circassian and other nations."
- The above article and the following video include the tag "© Фонд черкесской культуры "Адыги" им. Ю.Х. Калмыкова" which Google translates to "© Fund of Circassian culture "Adygee" them. Yu.Kh. Kalmykov"
- The above article includes the following video. It has a watermark for Karakan Studio.
Karachay
- The songs are partially still in English, partially voice-over, and partially dubbed (depending on the song).
Latvian
- There is no full official dub of The Lion King in Latvian - only a voice-over.
Lithuanian
- There is no full official dub of The Lion King in Lithuanian - only a voice-over.
Malay
- According to William Meagher's dubbing collection website, this dub was made for TV only.
Mandarin - Putonghua and Guoya
- According to site visitor Taylor in November 2017, "There is a Mainland Mandarin dub of this movie. It aired on CCTV6 in Mainland China a few months ago. It's not available on any physical release at this point. The Mandarin that's been physically released is Taiwanese Mandarin."
- Mainland Mandarin is also known as Putonghua. Taiwanese Mandarin is also known as Guoyu.
- The following is a clip from the Putonghua dub:
Marathi
- According to a description and comment by arctichare1 on this Youtube video, the Marathi dub aired on the movies-only channel "Zee Talkies" in 2015.
- This Animation Xpress article from April 30, 2015 announces Zee Talkies' summer line-up of Disney movies dubbed in Marathi. It states:
- Zee Talkies today announced a special summer line up of Disney and Disney-Pixar animated films as part of their Animation Film Festival. For the first time ever in the history of Marathi the blockbuster animated films will be dubbed in Marathi especially for the audience of Maharashtra. The crčme de la crčme of the Marathi industry have dubbed for the characters in these films. [...] While Mahesh Manjrekar and Adinath Kothare have dubbed for ‘The Lion King’, Ketaki Mategaonkar has lent her voice to ‘Cinderella’. [...] The films will be telecast from 3 May onwards at 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm.
Nogai
- According to a comment by Pedro_1912 on this Youtube video, the Nogai dub is not official.
- Some songs were completely changed in this dub:
Serbian
- Comment by slobodnousername on this video states that this is a 2011 dub.
- Comment by slobodnousername on the aforementioned video:
- "no, this is dub for TV premiere, but dub is official and produced by Disney Character Voices International
Unfortunately, in Serbia are still unable to buy Disney's DVD and Blu-ray editions - there is no distributor"
- "no, this is dub for TV premiere, but dub is official and produced by Disney Character Voices International
- A comment on this video (from around 2016) states that Studio Moby is the company that dubbed The Lion King in Serbian.
- I wrote to Studio Moby on 9/18/2017 to inquire about a DVD version of the Serbian dub and they kindly replied, "Unfortunately its never published on DVD."
Slovak
- According to ScarFan93 on Youtube (who got the information from a YouTube user from Slovakia who uploaded the Slovak version "Be Prepared" in HD), the 2011 release of The Lion King was the first time the movie was released on DVD in Slovakia. The 2003 Slovakian release was only the restored movie on VHS.
Tamil
- According to ScarFan93 on Youtube, this dub was made for TV and is not available on DVD.
- According to this video from PokemonRaiderGurl on Youtube, this dub still (as of late 2016) is only available via airing on TV, and is very difficult to find.
- According to site visitor William Meagher in December 2017, "There are two Tamil dubs. Both of them were made for TV but only one of them dubbed the songs."
Telugu
- According to a comment by rishabhrox1 on this Youtube video, the Telugu dub "is official and was released in theatres. This piece of information is confirmed by the Indian dubbing director Ellie Lewis herself. :)"
- According to William Meagher's dubbing collection website, this dub was made for TV only.
Urdu
- Probably only a fandub based on comments on a Youtube video which has since been taken down.
- According to a comment by William Meagher on this Youtube video, the Urdu version did not dub the songs.
- According to site visitor William Meagher in December 2017, "There is no Urdu dub of this movie. It's a fandub. Chances are that if you find an Urdu version, it will be Hindi. That's because they are nearly the same language."
- Featured in this Youtube video:
Uzbek
- According to a comment by William Meagher on this Youtube video, the Uzbek version did not dub the songs.
Vietnamese
- There is no full official dub of The Lion King in Vietnamese - only a voice-over.
How Many Dubs Are There?
Information changes based on the source. I suspect new official dubs are made with each release, and unofficial dubs are made fairly regularly.
The Lion King's many language dubs can be broken down into the following categories:
The 1995 Deluxe CAV Letterbox Edition (Laserdisc Collection) states, "For its international theatrical release, "The Lion King" was dubbed into twenty-six languages, including Swahili and Zulu." This is the only time I've heard of a Swahili dub of The Lion King, so I would like confirmation.
According to the documentary on the 2003 2-Disc Special Edition DVD titled "International Release" (included on the second disc), The Lion King was dubbed into about 32 languages. (I need to check if this documentary is included on the Laserdisc or if it was created for the DVD in 2003.)
The Lion King Unofficial World Wide Web Archive's Foreign Language Voice Casts page states, "The Lion King was translated into and released in 44 languages for markets around the world." I contacted the site owner to ask for a source for this information, and he replied that he believed the information came from the Deluxe CAV Letterbox Edition (Laserdisc Collection) of The Lion King, but this doesn't match up with that source. So I'm not sure where the claim of 44 languages comes from, though it may be accurate.
The Lion King's many language dubs can be broken down into the following categories:
- The original English version
- Official dubs
- Official voice-overs
- Unofficial dubs
The 1995 Deluxe CAV Letterbox Edition (Laserdisc Collection) states, "For its international theatrical release, "The Lion King" was dubbed into twenty-six languages, including Swahili and Zulu." This is the only time I've heard of a Swahili dub of The Lion King, so I would like confirmation.
According to the documentary on the 2003 2-Disc Special Edition DVD titled "International Release" (included on the second disc), The Lion King was dubbed into about 32 languages. (I need to check if this documentary is included on the Laserdisc or if it was created for the DVD in 2003.)
The Lion King Unofficial World Wide Web Archive's Foreign Language Voice Casts page states, "The Lion King was translated into and released in 44 languages for markets around the world." I contacted the site owner to ask for a source for this information, and he replied that he believed the information came from the Deluxe CAV Letterbox Edition (Laserdisc Collection) of The Lion King, but this doesn't match up with that source. So I'm not sure where the claim of 44 languages comes from, though it may be accurate.
The Dubbing Process
Disney Character Voices International is the corporate division (source: Wikipedia) or subsidiary (source: Bloomberg Businessweek) of The Walt Disney Company which is responsible for dubbing Disney movies including The Lion King. The 2003 2-Disc Special Edition DVD documentaries indicate that the following three people were involved in the dubbing of The Lion King:
- Jeff Miller – Executive Vice President, Disney Character Voices International
- Blake Todd - Vice President, Disney Character Voices International
- Rick Dempsey - Sr. Vice President, Creative Disney Character Voices