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Snow white (cartoon) in Polish


Rain33 14 | 19
28 Jul 2011 #1
I was looking for some videos on youtube and ran across Snow White in Polish. I thought this video was very entertaining, especially "Heigh-Ho" part towards the end.

Here is the video:


boletus 30 | 1,361
29 Jul 2011 #2
^^ Nice. In the comments to the "youtube" someone explained that this is the 1938/1939 dubbing of the original American rendition. But here is something strange I noticed - the Polish Seven Dwarfs, Krasnoludki, actually sing "Hej ho, hej ho, do domu by się szło" (Heigh-ho, heigh-ho - it would be good to go home), while somehow, after the WWII, this refrain was sung as: "Hej ho, hej ho, do pracy by się szło" (Heigh-ho, heigh-ho - it would be good to go to work).

It looks like a communist work propaganda. There are about 47,700 results with the reference to "work" but only about 2,040 results with the reference to the original "home". I know, the phrase with "work" was often used ironically, but still - the numbers are staggering. Anyone cares to comment on this?

I did some search and came across the interview with Zygmunt Kałużyński, a famous (deceased) film critic, "Wprost" 2001,

translate: I still remember the words. Even though I am old, I happen to happily hum some words, for example: "On the tree in the forest, sat a skunk, I approached to catch the skunk, but he did not smell like a rose somehow." ("Na drzewie w lesie siedział tchórz, już byłbym złapał tchórza, podszedłem blisko, a on wtem zapachniał nie jak róża".) And the whole chorus would sing: "Oh, do not sing this song ever again, I have not heard such foolish lyrics in all my life" ("Ojej, piosenki tej nie śpiewaj nigdy znów, w życiu nie słyszałem jeszcze takich głupich słów".)

These texts were written by Marian Hemar, one of the greatest writers in the Polish literature representing the artistic sense of humor and satire. Not only he was a great maker of verses, but he also had a sense of Polish language - full blood, lively and common. I believe that the Polish text to "Snow White" is an achievement. Moreover, do you know that Walt Disney himself has recognized it as the best foreign language version (and at that time there were a dozen or so of them)?

OP Rain33 14 | 19
29 Jul 2011 #3
I wonder what Walt Disney thinks of the Russian version of Snow White's Heigh-Ho? There is a version of the "silly song" out there in youtube space. Here is the video: ...


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