Animated movie "Metegol" has premiered in Latin American cinemas, however, the film is missing one element integral to director Juan José Campanella and writer Eduardo Sacheri's vision: Argentinian accents.
Under the new title "Futbolín," the film has been dubbed by Mexican actors to replace the Argentinian slang that was originally used so the film can be understood by all of Latin America.
The movie tells the story of Amadeo, a waiter who enjoys playing foosball and manages to defeat Grosso, the best footballer in the world, in a foosball match. After some time, Grosso comes back for a rematch, but the foosball figurines come alive to help Amadeo.
Speaking to The Associated Press, actors Irene Azuela and Alfonso Herrera, who lended their voices to the main characters, Laura and Amadeo, said the purpose of the dubbing was not to discredit the Argentinian accents, but rather to make the dialogue easier to understand.
"There was a script that met us halfway and it made the job easier. It was a very subtle adaptation. I think the idea was to make it more accessible to everyone, no matter how you speak," Azuela explained.
The Argentinian accent is one of the most difficult to understand for Hispanic audiences since it's full of slang exclusively used in Argentina, or words that have different meanings in the rest of Latin America.
Herrera, former member of Mexican pop band RBD, said that it was difficult to dub Amadeo because in the Argentinian version the character expresses himself with a lot of slang.
"It's incredible what they managed to do there [in Argentina], with such quality. They've set a high standard." Herrera said that what he did for the Mexican version "is something a little more neutral, without so much slang, but it's kind of scary because you have a brilliant point of reference".
"Futbolín" will premiere in Mexico on Nov. 15, and it's distribution to the rest of Latin America will have to wait until December.
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