Translation Transmogrification

If you hate Harry Potter (as the French call him "Airy Pot-tair") or if you just don't get the whole wizardry thing, you should stop reading now. Frankly, I remember when I first heard someone wanting to rename the temporary annex to the kids' elementary school Hogwarts, I thought the whole thing was just nuts. Or when after the horror of September 11th, someone wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, saying that their kids were dealing fine with it all because the parents had explained that Al Qaeda was really just like Voldemort. Please.

But my kids got older and so we started reading the books to them and I got hooked too. And naturally last week, when the 6th movie had its global premiere, we had to rush out and see it too, in English with French subtitles. To be honest, it wasn't that great, more than anything a transitional story to set up the grand finale that we'll have to wait a year to see. But what was really interesting to me was following along with the French and seeing the small changes that had been made to make the story work for a Francophone audience. In the French version, the kids go to school at Poudlard, rather than Hogwarts, and the teacher there that Harry detests is not Snape but Rogue. Some of the changes are tiny: Draco Malfoy is known as Drago Malfoy and muggles are referred to as moldu. The one I found most interesting is that Tom Marvolo Riddle (an anagram of "I am Lord Voldemort") in French becomes Tom Elvis Jedusor (which is an anagram of "Je suis Voldemort").

There are probably a dozen other examples but since I didn't take a pen and pencil with me, you'll have to go see it for yourself. Don't worry; it's showing on 110 screens in the Paris region. And yes, Harry does kiss the girl.