# Subtitling II: Nothing is new under the stars


![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ec/269960.1020.A.jpg/200px-269960.1020.A.jpg)My
friend Peder noted that this phenomenon was preceded by a film by Woody
Allen, which took this to the extremes. I will copy and paste from [the
Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What's_Up,_Tiger_Lily):

***What’s Up, Tiger Lily?** is the first
[film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film "Film") directed by [Woody
Allen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen "Woody Allen"). He also
wrote and appeared in this
[1966](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_in_film "1966 in film")[comedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy "Comedy"),
which utilized clips from* *[Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no
kagi](http://imdb.com/title/tt0058253/ "http://imdb.com/title/tt0058253/")
(literal English title:**International Secret Police: Key of Keys, 1965,
[[1]](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058253/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9b258ZmI9dXxwbj0wfHE9SW50ZXJuYXRpb25hbCBTZWNyZXQgUG9saWNlfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1 "http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058253/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9b258ZmI9dXxwbj0wfHE9SW50ZXJuYXRpb25hbCBTZWNyZXQgUG9saWNlfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1")),
a [Japanese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan "Japan") [spy
film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_film "Spy film"). Instead of
translating the film, Allen added completely original
[dialogue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogue "Dialogue") that had
nothing to do with the plot of the original Japanese film. By putting in
new [scenes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes "Scenes") and
rearranging the order of existing scenes, he completely changed the tone
of the film from a [James
Bond](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond "James Bond") clone into a
comedy about a secret egg salad recipe.*

*This style of replacing a foreign movie’s soundtrack for comic effect
has since been used in television shows like**[Kung
Faux](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Faux "Kung Faux"), [Spike
TV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_TV "Spike TV")’s**[MXC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MXC "MXC"),
and movies such as [Troma
Entertainment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troma_Entertainment "Troma Entertainment")’s**[Ferocious
Female Freedom
Fighters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferocious_Female_Freedom_Fighters "Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters")
and [Steve
Oedekerk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Oedekerk "Steve Oedekerk")’s**[Kung
Pow! Enter the
Fist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Pow%21_Enter_the_Fist "Kung Pow! Enter the Fist").**[Fractured
Flickers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractured_Flickers "Fractured Flickers"),
which predated**Tiger Lily, dubbed [silent
films](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_film "Silent film") with
comedic dialogue. Some have also suggested the film as a possible
inspiration for television’s**[Mystery Science Theater
3000](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000 "Mystery Science Theater 3000"),
wherein old
“[B-movies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-movies "B-movies")” are
accompanied by a humorous running commentary throughout.*

Sounds like a must-see… And always humbling to note that “brand new
trends” are old as the universe. Of course, the new part is that now
anyone can do this, you don’t need a budget and a big editing studio.

Stian\
 *(Thank you Wikipedia, for the excerpt and the picture)*