Recent releases of animated films in English demonstrate that language varieties are increasingly widespread and are used to attribute different features to different characters. This introduces an additional dimension to a film that translators need to consider for subsequent dubbed versions. Lately it would appear that attempts have been made to develop dubbed products that better reflect the underlying linguistic diversity of the source text, particularly in the field of animation, where many factors allow for this adaptation to take place.
In order to assess audience perception of characters in an original version animated film and two dubbed versions, I am currently performing a series of questionnaires in which groups of native speaker viewers are asked to record their opinions of characters. For this study I am using the Semantic Differential Scale, which allows quantification of perceived characteristic traits according to relative positioning on bipolar rating scales. The selected audiovisual material consists of clips from animated films, and an audience divided by native languages (English, Catalan and Spanish) is required to complete an assessment for four linguistically diverse characters in each film. Each film utilises multiple varieties in the original. In some cases, the dubbed version also makes use of multiple varieties whereas in others a single variety is used.
In this paper I will present the methodology and the results of this trial. I will describe the characteristics of the clips, audience perception of the dubbed versions with reference to the original version. In addition, I will discuss how these results might encourage further research into the field of audiovisual translation. I will also draw attention to the possible pitfalls of the Semantic Differential Scale, with a special view to cultural differences across languages.

Laia DARDER holds a Licenciature in Catalan Philology from the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Spain) and a BA in Hispanic Studies with Catalan Philology from the University of Sheffield (UK). Since September 2004 she has been doing PhD research at the same university, where she is currently employed as a part-time tutor, both for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Laia Darder regularly holds workshops and gives lectures at the University of Sheffield and the University of Leeds as part of the MA in Screen Translation. She also works as a translator and interpreter and has extensive experience in subtitling acts for poetry festivals. Her thesis explores the Spanish and Catalan translations of four animated films and assesses the implications of translation choices on the audience using statistical analysis of collected data. The four films contain language varieties in their original versions and some translations have kept this diversity. Laia Darder’s research analyses these translations, taking into account the sociolinguistic and cultural issues connected to the translation of language varieties. She has presented her research at several international conferences.