The Wallace & Gromit Joke that Was Too British For Netflix
gizmodo.com
Aardman's animated duo may have a charm that plays internationally, but not every joke that works on home turf plays well abroad.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/20673255

Part of the enduring appeal of Wallace & Gromit is its British charm. The quaint mannerisms of the hapless inventor and his canine pal–from their love of a cup of tea to their knowing colloquialisms–reflect an admiral sense of national pride, both at home and abroad. But while that British-ness is part of the appeal, it doesn’t defend Aardman from being able to get in jokes that might be a little too close to home.

Now that the latest entry in the series, Vengeance Most Fowl, is making its way around the world in January thanks to Netflix, some of the creatives behind the film revealed at recent press conference for the film that they did have to make some acquiescence to notes from the streamer on a joke that wasn’t going to play well outside of the UK.

“There’s some actually that we’ve had to sort of take out, because just in terms of the Britishness of the film and the sort of cultural references, there’s certain things that don’t travel,” Vengeance Most Fowl executive producer Carla Shelley said. “I remember we had a sort of gag about a bog chain at one point… for anybody that doesn’t out there, that’s like a toilet flush. We were talking to Netflix and [the note back] was like ‘what’s a bog chain!?’ There are certain sorts of references that we might pull back on now.

  • 4am@lemm.eeEnglish
    171·
    3 days ago

    I’m American and part of the fun of British humor is the lingo I don’t understand and have to go seek out!

    I would have known “bog chain” but just because people might not know it doesn’t mean cut it! Fucking stupid decision by Netflix.

    • BlitzoTheOisSilent@lemmy.worldEnglish
      193·
      3 days ago

      Right, because this is only done to appease America, right? That’s why Hollywood doesn’t censor and change jokes/storylines to appease other countries like China, Saudi Arabia, etc when they have pro-LGBTQ+ messaging?

      Here’s 11 examples, some I didn’t even know about.

      Huh, A Streetcar Named Desire was altered for the Irish release to downplay/eliminate the themes of homosexuality, and the movie becomes unrecognizable as the main character visits her sister and just goes insane.

      The Die Hard terrorists were changed from German extremists to former IRA members who became mercenaries. There was a special release of The Sound of Music for Germany that eliminates basically everything after the wedding and the majority of the Nazi subplot.

      Disney also makes lots of changes to their movies, not even just to appease homophobic countries: they changed the animal anchors in Zootopia based on the release country, in Inside Out they changed the vegetables she eats based on the release country, etc.

      So maybe Wallace and Gromit could have, idk, recorded slightly different audio for those scenes so that everyone could be appeased? Since apparently not being able to make a joke about a “bog chain” makes Americans the biggest pussies in the world?

    • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      5·
      3 days ago

      Americans sell themselves as these rugged individuals who won’t be easily swayed but then turn out to be absolute pussies when it comes to jokes foreign to them.

      What a bizarre take.