Top 10 Movies That Were Changed in Other Countries

“Finding Dory” (2016)
In Pixar’s follow-up to the beloved “Finding Nemo”, several scenes take place in a massive aquarium called the Marine Life Institute. The institute’s PA system even comes with a celebrity voice, that of Ellen Ripley herself, Sigourney Weaver. For international releases, however, this role is instead filled by local celebrities, also playing themselves. For the French Canadian version, Quebecois actress and singer Anne Dorval provides her voice, and Brazilian audiences get to hear a cameo from media personality Marília Gabriela. It’s a great little touch, one of many we’ll be looking at that are designed to appeal to audiences outside of North America.

“Lincoln” (2012)
If you’re from America, the who’s, what’s, why’s, where’s and when’s of the American Civil War are probably something you’re pretty familiar with. But as important an event as the war was in American history, it isn’t something international audiences will be as well-versed in. Look at it like this: how much do you know about Oda Nobunaga’s conquest of Japan in the 1500s? Not a ton, we’ll bet. So to fill Japanese audiences in particular in on the context necessary to enjoy the film, Steven Spielberg himself filmed a special introduction, and a special opening segment was added to the film to get international audiences up to speed.

“Inside Out” (2015)
Broccoli is pretty gross, and that’s something that most kids and adults can agree on. Riley, the protagonist of this insightful Pixar film, is certainly a member of the “broccoli is gross” club, and her reaction to the grody greens serves as our introduction to Disgust and Anger. However, the vegetable that kids love to hate in Japan is actually green bell peppers instead of broccoli. To make the scene more unpalatable in Japan, the disgusting broccoli was digitally swapped out for green peppers. Other changes made for international audiences include the substitution of a soccer game for a hockey game and Bing Bong reading from right to left.

“The Shining” (1980)
When Jack Nicholson’s character goes off the deep end in Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror opus, the audience and his wife are both clued into this by his manuscript. But while American viewers see the phrase “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” repeated ad nauseum, the detail-oriented Kubrick filmed insert shots with different adages from around the world, to preserve the shock for non-English audiences. Most of these are fairly self-explanatory, like a German phrase which translates to “Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today”. But if anyone can guess what the Italian saying “the morning has gold in its mouth” means, clue us in.

“Monsters University” (2013)
Making friends at university can be intimidating, whether your university is populated by normal people or monsters. In the sequel to Pixar’s “Monster Inc”, the college-going monster Randall tries to get in with the cool kids by baking cupcakes that spell out “be my pal”. Not the worst approach, after all, who doesn’t like cupcakes? In the international version, however, the letters on the cupcakes are replaced with smiley faces for audience members who aren’t too familiar with English. This also unfortunately means that the cupcakes are no longer rearranged to spell out “lame” when Randall’s plan to impress his fellow students backfires.

“Iron Man 3” (2013)
In rare instances, entire subplots and characters are added to movies to increase their appeal overseas, and such is the case for the third entry in Marvel’s Iron Man series. To appeal to Chinese audiences, a few scenes were added to the film featuring a character named Dr Wu, played by Chinese actor Wang Xueqi, and his assistant played by actress and singer Fan Bingbing. The pair don’t add much to the narrative, except maybe some blatant product placement for a milk drink called Gu Li Duo, but they at least appear towards the end to help remove the Arc Reactor from Tony’s chest.

“Toy Story 2” (1999)
When Buzz gives his big rousing speech urging his fellow toys to help rescue Woody, an American flag fades into the background and the Star Spangled Banner begins to play. After Buzz leaves the frame, this is revealed to be the “end of broadcast day” message on a TV screen. It’s a fun, clever transition as well as a small nod to the classic war film “Patton”. But for the international version, the US flag is replaced by a spinning globe as well as fireworks. It makes more sense, especially when you consider that most of the toys were probably manufactured outside the US.

“Demolition Man” (1993)
This classic slice of 80s action cheese sees Sylvester Stallone’s loose cannon cop John Spartan, as well as a nasty criminal by the name of Simon Fenix, cryogenically frozen and revived in a seemingly utopian future. However, Sly learns that this future’s choice of eateries is surprisingly limited, as the only restaurant still in business is Taco Bell. But given that Taco Bell doesn’t have that many locations outside the US, it was decided to replace this with a more recognizable brand for international versions of the film. So when Spartan’s fancy dinner happens in the international cut of the film, he’s chowing down on Pizza Hut instead.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014)
Understandably for someone who spent around 70 years on ice, Steve Rogers has a bit of a backlog of things to catch up on, and he keeps a notebook full of TV shows, movies, music and other modern delights to check out. This list is actually different in versions screened in other countries in a neat touch by the filmmakers. While in the US, Steve needs to set aside some time for “I Love Lucy” and disco, while foreign versions of the list include The Beatles, AC/DC, The Fifth Element, Oldboy and numerous other local favorites. The list includes both “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” though because….obviously.

Before we reveal our number one pick, check out some of our honorable mentions

Rochelle
“Planes” (2013)

Savings Jar
“Up” (2009)

Minty Zaki
“Wreck-it Ralph” (2012)

“Zootopia” (2016)
This recent favorite from Disney could easily have been called “animal puns: the movie” for the amount of animal based wordplay on offer in the film. One of our favorite gags is the appearance of Canadian newscaster Peter Mansbridge as, naturally, Peter Moosebridge. However, some international versions of the film replace Mansbridge as the co-anchor of “ZNN” with local personalities, like Brazilian journalist Ricardo Boechat, who voices a Jaguar named Onçardo Boi Chá. “Oncardo” is a mixture of Ricardo and onça, the portuguese word for jaguar. Other versions include the Koala David Koalabel in Australia and New Zealand, and a Tanuki named Michael Tanuyama in Japan, both voiced by local personalities.