History Main / Woolseyism

->''"This is White Snow, a town filled with snow. \\

Ted Woolsey was the primary translator for most of [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]]'s UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem-era {{RPG}}s from 1991–96. He is a polarizing figure in the video game community, even today. Depending on whom you ask, you'll get wildly varying opinions on his work. To some, Woolsey was an iron-fisted dictator who was convinced that [[ViewersAreMorons American gamers were morons]], and couldn't accept a culture besides their own. To others, Woolsey was a hard-pressed but nonetheless creative artisan who was the primary reason that these games weren't [[WidgetSeries rendered incomprehensible to Westerners]], [[BlindIdiotTranslation translated literally with little regard for accuracy]], [[CutAndPasteTranslation completely remolded to suit the audience]], or [[{{Macekre}} worse]].

Ted Woolsey was the primary translator for most of Squaresoft's[[note]]the same Squaresoft which would later give us today's Creator/SquareEnix[[/note]] UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem-era {{RPG}}s from 1991–96. He is a polarizing figure in the video game community, even today. Depending on whom you ask, you'll get wildly varying opinions on his work. To some, Woolsey was an iron-fisted dictator who was convinced that [[ViewersAreMorons American gamers were morons]], and couldn't accept a culture besides their own. To others, Woolsey was a hard-pressed but nonetheless creative artisan who was the primary reason that these games weren't [[WidgetSeries rendered incomprehensible to Westerners]], [[BlindIdiotTranslation translated literally with little regard for accuracy]], [[CutAndPasteTranslation completely remolded to suit the audience]], or [[{{Macekre}} worse]].

This sometimes leads to the strange effect that re-releases with more literal or accurate translations, whether they are purely literal or merely closer to the original while still being localized, can actually [[InternetBackdraft start wars]] between fans of the Woolseyisms, the diehard purists, and the poor saps who only know one way to read the story and have no idea what's going on. Attempts to appease the first two groups have led more recent re-releases to reuse some of the more favorite lines.

!!!Now divided into:

Ted Woolsey was the primary translator for most of Squaresoft's[[note]]the same Squaresoft which would later give us today's Creator/SquareEnix[[/note]] UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem-era {{RPG}}s from 1991–96. He is a polarizing figure in the video game community, even today. Depending on whom you ask, you'll get wildly varying opinions on his work. To some, Woolsey was an iron-fisted dictator who was convinced that American gamers were morons, and couldn't accept a culture besides their own. To others, Woolsey was a hard-pressed but nonetheless creative artisan who was the primary reason that these games weren't [[WidgetSeries rendered incomprehensible to Westerners]], [[BlindIdiotTranslation translated literally with little regard for accuracy]], [[CutAndPasteTranslation completely remolded to suit the audience]], or [[{{Macekre}} worse]].

* Woolseyism/{{Other}}

** Woolseyism/{{Undertale}}

See also CulturalTranslation.

ThrowItIn is the more domestic variation that more or less comes straight to the translators, rather than having to go out of their way to change it.

Ted Woolsey was the primary translator for most of Square's[[note]]the same Square which would later give us today's Creator/SquareEnix[[/note]] UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem-era {{RPG}}s from 1991–96. He is a polarizing figure in the video game community, even today. Depending on whom you ask, Woolsey was either an iron-fisted dictator who was convinced that American gamers were morons or a hard-pressed but nonetheless creative artisan who was the primary reason the scripts for these games weren't either [[WidgetSeries rendered incomprehensible to Westerners]], [[BlindIdiotTranslation translated literally with little regard for accuracy]], or, on the contrary, [[CutAndPasteTranslation completely remolded to suit the audience]] or [[{{Macekre}} worse]].

Either way, his impact was keenly felt. He frequently modified the scripts he was handed in order to render them more accessible for American release. Fans coined the term "Woolseyisms" to refer to places where Woolsey had obviously been tinkering with the original Japanese script. In a 2007 interview, Woolsey revealed that the original drafts of his translation had to be cut by over 25% just to fit on the SNES cartridge for testing, as Japanese is, in written form, often a more compact language than English, which accounts for the amount of cut or abridged material in [[http://www.playeronepodcast.com/2007/02/15/transcript-of-ted-woolsey-interview/ his version.]]

Either way, his impact was keenly felt. He frequently modified the scripts he was handed in order to render them more accessible for American release. Fans coined the term "Woolseyisms" to refer to places where Woolsey had obviously been tinkering with the original Japanese script. In a 2007 interview, Woolsey revealed that the original drafts of his translation had to be cut by over 25% just to fit on the SNES cartridge for testing, as Japanese is, written form, often a more compact language than English, which accounts for the amount of cut or abridged material in [[http://www.playeronepodcast.com/2007/02/15/transcript-of-ted-woolsey-interview/ his version.]]

Either way, his impact was keenly felt. He frequently modified the scripts he was handed in order to render them more accessible for American release. Fans coined the term "Woolseyisms" to refer to places where Woolsey had obviously been tinkering with the original Japanese script. In a 2007 interview, Woolsey revealed that the original drafts of his translation had to be cut by over 25% just to fit on the SNES cartridge for testing, as Japanese is a more compact language than English, which accounts for the amount of cut or abridged material in [[http://www.playeronepodcast.com/2007/02/15/transcript-of-ted-woolsey-interview/ his version.]]

* [[Woolseyism/{{Anime}} Anime and Manga]]
** ''[[Woolseyism.DragonBallZ Dragon Ball Z]]''
** ''[[Woolseyism.YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''

** ''[[Woolseyism.MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]''

Either way, his impact was keenly felt. He frequently modified the scripts he was handed in order to render them more accessible for American release. Fans coined the term "'''Woolseyisms'''" to refer to places where Woolsey had obviously been tinkering with the original Japanese script. In a 2007 interview, Woolsey revealed that the original drafts of his translation had to be cut by over 25% just to fit on the SNES cartridge for testing (as Japanese is a more compact language than English), which accounts for the amount of cut or abridged material in [[http://www.playeronepodcast.com/2007/02/15/transcript-of-ted-woolsey-interview/ his version.]]

->''"This is White Snow, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a town filled with snow]]. \\

Ted Woolsey was the primary translator for most of Square's UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem-era {{RPG}}s from 1991–96. He is a polarizing figure in the video game community, even today. Depending on whom you ask, Woolsey was either an iron-fisted dictator who was convinced that American gamers were morons or a hard-pressed but nonetheless creative artisan who was the primary reason the scripts for these games weren't either [[WidgetSeries rendered incomprehensible to Westerners]], [[BlindIdiotTranslation translated literally with little regard for accuracy]], or, on the contrary, [[CutAndPasteTranslation completely remolded to suit the audience]] or [[{{Macekre}} worse]].

Woolseyisms and [[SuperlativeDubbing well-made dubs]] overall are most likely to be found within translated {{seinen}} anime, where even with the AnimationAgeGhetto, translators know better than to attempt to turn an adult program into a low-quality kids' show. {{Shonen}} anime, with their younger demographics, usually don't fare as well. Woolseyisms are also so common in Latin American dubs that many people actually prefer watching the Hispanic dub rather than the Japanese original.

[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Enjoy the world of snow.]]" \\

Enjoy the world of snow." \\

->''"This is White Snow, a town filled with snow. \\

Sometimes, things are considered Woolseyisms because of how drastically different languages can be, often resulting in a few things becoming LostInTranslation if it's a direct translation, or something that doesn't exactly translate over ''period''. These include but are not limited to puns, regional dialects, accents, and [[ShoutOut shout outs]] to pop culture. Subbed shows and manga usually get around these by putting a note on the side explaining what they're mentioning.

Ted Woolsey was the primary translator for most of Square's SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem-era {{RPG}}s from 1991–96. He is a polarizing figure in the video game community, even today. Depending on whom you ask, Woolsey was either an iron-fisted dictator who was convinced that American gamers were morons or a hard-pressed but nonetheless creative artisan who was the primary reason the scripts for these games weren't either [[WidgetSeries rendered incomprehensible to Westerners]], [[BlindIdiotTranslation translated literally with little regard for accuracy]], or, on the contrary, [[CutAndPasteTranslation completely remolded to suit the audience]] or [[{{Macekre}} worse]].

** ** ''[[Woolseyism.DragonBallZ Dragon Ball Z]]''

{{Atlus}}.com lays bare the processes of Woolseyizing with their [[http://www.atlus.com/pd.php Production Diaries.]] Some are about Woolseyizing, but others are about localization in general -- marketing, website design, and so on. Atlus is currently considered the company that most does Woolseyisms to good effect, since their [=RPGs=], being much more Japanese-flavored than other companies' series, require lots of re-interpretation and adaptation of idioms and concepts. In the process, characters are given attitudes and verbal patterns that make them distinctive and give them sometimes even more fleshed out personalities.

** Woolseyism/Undertale

Either way, his impact was keenly felt. He frequently modified the scripts he was handed in order to render them more accessible for American release. Fans coined the term "'''Woolseyisms'''" to refer to places where Woolsey had obviously been tinkering with the original Japanese script. In a 2007 interview, Woolsey revealed that the original drafts of his translation had to be cut by over 25% just to fit on the SNES cartridge for testing (as Japanese is a more compact language than English), which accounts for the amount of cut or abridged material in his version.[[http://www.playeronepodcast.com/2007/02/15/transcript-of-ted-woolsey-interview/]]