Al-Shamshoon or آل شمشون is the name of the Arabic dub of The Simpsons, which first aired in September 2005. It was an adaptation of the series to a Muslim Arab culture, in order to eliminate many of the references in the series that are offensive to the most conservative currents of Islam in spite of being normal in the West.
The dubbing was produced by the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), and starred famous movie star Mohamed Henedi as the voice of Homer.
History[]
Before an actual dubbed version existed, they had the original episodes in English, but with Arabic subtitles. Later, it was not only dubbed in Arabic (with subtitles provided for shots including written English, such as the chalkboard gags), but references to alcohol (Duff Beer and Moe's Tavern), pork (bacon and hot dogs), and numerous other themes have been deleted or significantly modified. For instance, Homer drinks soda instead of beer, eats beef sausages as opposed to pork, and all references to Moe's Tavern were cut.
The premiere of this dubbing made news, especially in the United States, causing a series of conflicting reactions. The series performed very poorly, as the Arab public, who already knew the series in English, greatly rejected this dub, leading to its failure. Due to massive criticism from viewers and even from executive producer John Swartzwelder, only 34 of the 52 adapted episodes were aired before the show was pulled.
Localization[]
- The characters were given typical Arabic names such as Omar, Mona and Badr for Homer, Marge and Bart respectively as part of the retooling, while voices were provided by leading Arabic voice actors including Egyptian film star Mohamed Heneidi as "Omar",
- Springfield is changed to "Rabeea" (which is Arabic for Spring). and made it look like an American town with a major Arab population.
- All names are adapted and changed to proper names from the Middle East region. This is often common in dubbings of children's series, as well as in dubbed shows from nearby regions like Turkey, but English-speaking names are otherwise rarely adapted.
Censorship[]
- Most of the censorships were done for religious reasons, since the majority of the Middle East are Muslims or produce a culture clash with Islam:
- All references to alcohol, especially beer (e.G. Duff Beer, which is Homer's favorite beer), were removed. They were replaced by non-alcoholic drinks, such as soda.
- Any reference to pork (bacon and hot dogs) was censored: When sausages, or any piece of meat or sausage, appears on the screen, it is indicated that it is beef (Homer eats beef sausages in the dub). Similarily, donuts were called cakes.
- According to ABC News, the scene in "Moaning Lisa" where Homer eats "lite" pork rinds was deleted.
- References to other religions (e.G. Christianity and Judaism were cut. Reverend Lovejoy, for example, is not shown; The First Church of Springfield also does not appear; and Krusty the Clown's appearances are kept to a minimum.
- Treehouse of Horror episodes, however, were aired and dubbed despite being a series of Halloween episodes, which muslims do not celebrate.
- The censorships were carried out in different ways: text replacement (e.G. 'soda' instead of 'Duff'); massive cutting of scenes; completely rewritten dialogues; etc.
Online Presence[]
Due to its poor reception, Al-Shamshoon episodes were never released on home video. All but five of the aired episodes have been found online.