Disney+ is now mostly worldwide and operates in places like parts of Europe, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia. With Disney+ operating in so many countries, they need to produce local content to appeal to those markets so, why not dub them and roll those shows out internationally? Let me explain.

Reason #1: Building A Larger Global Fanbase.

Recently Disney+ Latin America released the trailer and release date for their first original series, “Entrelazados”, which is said to be coming to Disney+ outside of Latin America at a later date, after it’s dubbed in 18 different languages. “Entrelazados” is the perfect show to start this trend with as it’s about, Allegra, a girl with a passion for musical comedy and embarks on a unique journey through time to unite her family and fulfil her professional dream of being the star in a “Freaky Friday” play. “Entrelazados” is just one of many Disney+ Originals from outside of the US, which includes “El Ristorantino De Arnoldo” and “I Cavalier Di Castelcorvo”, among others (neither of which have a confirmed dub for other languages).

If Disney rolled out their international shows on Disney+, those shows could find a bigger audience than initially thought. Consumers are always searching for the next big show to dive into and if Disney can provide those shows to a broader audience through Disney+.

Reason #2: They Already Have Dubbed/Subtitled Several Shows

This is something that many people probably don’t know Disney has done, but they have dubbed and subtitled several shows which now stream on Disney+ around the globe. Some notable shows that have gotten the treatment include “Bia”, “Alex and Co”, “Soy Luna”, and “Just Like Me”, which all got the dub/sub treatment and are all streaming on Disney+ in several countries. The fact that Disney has dubbed several shows suggests they have a team that works on translating their shows to other languages.

Reason #3: Making Non-Disney Fans Become Disney+ Subscribers

A big issue with Disney+ is how franchise focused a lot of the content on the service is. I mean, where else can you watch basically everything Star Wars has ever produced or a majority of the MCU movies? That’s where it becomes a problem for people who aren’t major fans of Disney franchises like Star Wars or the MCU.

What about children and adults who want something new and fresh that isn’t based on an already existing IP? If Disney releases their international shows on Disney+, it could foster a new fanbase for new shows and make non-Disney fans, join the Mickey Mouse Club.

Reason #4: It’s worked For Netflix

This is quite a simple but apparent reason, shows like “Money Heist”, “Lupin”, “Narcos” and “Squid Game” were all filmed in different languages. Still, Netflix offers all of them in either a subtitled or dubbed version or, in some cases, in both versions. Netflix has also been credited with popularizing K-Dramas and Anime to a lesser extent. The fact that Netflix has been able to master this worldwide distribution of international shows, so surely Disney can copy their success to some degree.

Final Thoughts:

In the 2010s, Disney had a strategy to produce local content, with Disney EMEA providing some if not all the funding for that content. Disney had several successes like “Penny On Mars”, “The Lodge” and Disney’s “11” (known as O11CE in several countries), but Disney has also had shows like “Soy Luna”, which whilst a really entertaining show, was quickly forgotten in countries like the UK and Ireland.

Disney doesn’t always dub their own shows. Instead, they’ve hired out S.D.I Media to dub a large number of the dubbed Disney Channel shows. As a Disney+ subscriber, I enjoy many shows Disney has produced and made available in my country. Still, I also feel that Disney should dub as many of their international shows as possible.

Disney has the platform in Disney+ to make more international content available to millions of people worldwide. Disney should dub and sub their shows made in other countries. In the US, if the series was produced for one of the Disney Channels or Disney+, say in Spain or France, then there is no reason why Disney couldn’t dub those shows and roll them out worldwide. Internationally we have Star so they could take content from international series and movies that Disney has the rights for and dub or sub them in multiple different languages.

All in all, I hope Disney looks at all the shows they’ve produced in different languages and decide to dub them and roll them out worldwide on Disney+ as it would give more creatives a chance for their shows and movies to be seen by a wider audience, it also leads to more content being available for your subscription.

 

What Do You Think? Should Disney+ Dub International Disney Shows?

 

I want to give a special thanks to Twitter user DubbedUK for their help with this piece.

 

You can follow my Twitter at realENHolloway

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Ethan Holloway

Ethan is an autistic, type one diabetic, Disney fan who grew up with properties like Iron Man, The Lion King, Aladdin and Toy Story. Ethan wants to someday get his own books/films/TV shows made to inspire those with disabilities to be themselves, but for now, Ethan covers his opinions on Disney, their content and how Disney+ can improve.

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