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If there’s one defining aspect of the star of raunchy comedy "Ted," it’s that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks about him. As a matter of fact, if he were describing himself, Ted’s first instinct would probably have been a stronger word than “damn,” but being neither a magical living stuffed animal nor the on-screen avatar of massively influential and wealthy comedian Seth MacFarlane, I have to be a touch more careful in my choice of vocabulary.
But shockingly enough, it turns out Ted is capable of self-censoring, as the recently released sequel "Ted 2" is being edited into a family-friendly picture aimed at kids as young as 12 in Japan.
"Family Guy," the resurrected TV series that MacFarlane rode to stardom, is virtually unknown in Japan, but that didn’t stop the first "Ted" movie from being a massive hit. While sarcastic English-language comedy usually doesn’t translate very well into Japanese, "Ted" had enough universally understandable visual humor with its slapstick and gross-out gags to draw plenty of Japanese moviegoers to theaters.
There’s no doubt the film also benefited from Japanese adults’ lower resistance to animated entertainment, plus the country’s general affinity for cute things. Honestly, Ted actually is pretty cute when he’s not spouting vulgarities, and the relative lack of indisputable obscenities meant that the dialogue’s Japanese translations (whether in dubbed or subtitled form) weren’t as out-and-out foul as many of the English lines they were matched to.
Still, "Ted 2" was still judged adult enough in content to warrant an R15+ rating in Japan, for which admission is restricted to those 15 and above. Nevertheless, "Ted 2" had a great first weekend in Japan last week, with ticket sales 141% above the opening for its predecessor. And while Western audiences might find the film’s moments of supposedly heartfelt emotion to simply be surrealistically corny beats that heighten the comedy, many Japanese moviegoers took them as genuinely sentimental. So while after watching the movie, some said “It’s even raunchier and funnier than the first,” others reactions were along the lines of:
“It’s crazy, but I felt moved by Ted.” "I laughed a lot, but in the end, it had me feeling sentimental.” “I want to see this movie with my family!”
Actually, in the run-up to "Ted 2’s" release, an edited version of the original "Ted" was shown on Japanese broadcast television. After taking a look at the high ratings it garnered, as well as listening to audience feedback, the sequels producers have announced that they’ve created a version of "Ted 2" with “milder dialogue” and “reedited scenes,” which will play concurrently with the unedited version in Japanese theaters.
Ted himself appeared in the movie’s official Japanese Twitter account to help spread the word.
“【Mr. Ted’s emergency apology press conference】
‘Eh, so sorry for all the dirty language. In order to show myself as an earnest middle-aged dude, we’re releasing a 'Ted 2' PG12 version right away, one that’s less vulgar and that you can watch as a family. That’s all I’ve got to say.’”
And then he bowed in contrition (photo below).
The new version, for which parental guidance is recommended for viewers under the age of 12, is officially called the "Ted 2 I Can’t Wait Until I Become an Adult” Version, and will only be shown in Japanese-dubbed, 2-D format. The edited version opens in Japan on Saturday.
Source: Eiga Fan
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Dangan Ronpa and Ted come together for some bear-y cute naughtiness! -- Japanese Twitter users can’t help but respond to suggestive-looking starfish with crude humor -- Japanese TED Speaker Turns Yo-yo Performance into a Martial Art, Receives Standing Ovation
© Japan Today
28 Comments
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harvey pekar
Ted 2, no matter how edited, should not be watched by 12 years olds.
lationz
lol this is so pathetic. It's clearly an adult movie. Japan just locks onto the cuddly bear (as they are won't to do, like with their numerous mascots) and thinks "Hey, we can market this! It's friendly and cute! Those Americans had some vulgar language in it, but that's cause they're American! Let's just actually ruin the content and premise of the movie and make it our own"
tl;dr: You can't just go around editing movies like this where the whole PREMISE of the movie is that the bear is supposed to be vulgar. I bet they edited out the bong-smoking scenes from the original and more too, I'm guessing?
kaynide
...yeah, isn't the premise of this movie about Ted getting married/having a kid? And by having a kid I mean having his friend (or someone else) knock up his girlfriend?
I mean, I remember one scene in the commercial involved them breaking into an athlete's house so they could steal his sperm. Not exactly kid friendly however you spin it.
Bossu
or know nothing about Seth MacFarlane's work prior to Ted..including his satirical takes on Japanese culture
MarkX
I was surprised last night as i was teaching a group of three elementary school boys, and they started singing the Thunder buddy song. I had completely forgot about it, and they told me to google it. I did and started to play it and forgot how raunchy the song is, but then I listened to the Japanese version and it is much more tame. They then told me that they had watched it on network TV a few weeks back, which also surprised the hell out of me. But now reading this report, the language has been so diluted and changed to make it into a story of a talking teddy bear, nothing more, nothing less. I guess Seth McFarlane is laughing all the way to the bank!
Disillusioned
Kids under 12 would not understand half of the adult innuendoes in this movie. I saw the first one - well, most of it because it was crap and I turned it off three-quarters of the way through - and it is not suitable for kids at all! It has an MA rating for a good reason. Changing the dialogue is just stupid! As stated above, it's just another case of the Japanese going nuts for anything fluffy!
turbotsat
To what end? This isn't the 80's. Doesn't any 12-y-o with a cellphone have free access to online manga of various degrees Celsius?
Magnet
Thank you, Fun Police...
WarwickNchuaa
Oh what a surprise. People jump through hoops to watch something cutesy.
Even though the whole premise of the character is that he's a pot-smoking, prostitute-loving, horned-up loser.
But look! Teddy bear! Kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
YuriOtani
In other words it BORING
Peace Out
We must ensure our kids have as little information about certain things as possible. Measured ignorance is the basis of all the good we have in this world. And oh yes. Lets support censorship whenever we can!
bass4funk
I thought the movie was funny as hell. Having said that, unless you grew up in a western culture and know all the innuendos and the colloquial ways of American or western humor, comedy just doesn't translate well and anyone that lives in Japan and knows Japanese culture and speaks the language can tell you translating this movie anything similar in this genre is climbing a serious mountain, it's impossible to translate the movie to Japanese and have the same laughable affect in the same way it does to western people. The same goes for the opposite, I find most Japanese humor rather boring, I speak Japanese and know the culture, but to me, most of the comedy puts me to sleep and I would hate to see what it would be like if they dubbed the movie in another foreign language, might turn out to be really, really bad.
Wc626
12 yr old kids have no business watching Ted in the first place. Just cause he's a cute bear, do japanese think it's one of those rated G movies?
cevin7
Why don't you watch "Winnie the Pooh", kids?
lationz
I'd bet good money on exactly this :P
nath
"Mom, what`s a bong?"
gokai_wo_maneku
Americans find this funny? A trash talking bear? None of this is funny when said by a human. Why is it funny when said by a bear? American humor has devolved. Reflecting American society? Ted is the Donald Trump of beardome.
wtfjapan
its the rudeness of the bear that makes it funny, edit it and you just kill the movie
gokai_wo_maneku
"rudeness"? Still not funny. Well, maybe white trash funny.
PTownsend
To each his own, but I tried to watch it on a long flight and stopped shortly after starting. This movie made anything done by The Three Stooges look intellectual in comparison.
gokai_wo_maneku
Yes, the Three Stooges. Funny, and they never used a 4 letter word!
Wc626
I like the 3 Stooges too. But that was over 50-60 years ago. Comedy has evolved big time. Movies like Ted, Superbad, Anger Management, Don't be a Menace While Drinking Your Juice etc are just friggin' hilarious cause they're so stupid.
@gokai, I don't know. It just is. Wasn't that scene funny when Ted was arguing with his wife? That part was Comedy Central-
5SpeedRacer5
quip number 1: I think someone once said Japan is a nation of 12-year-olds? Maybe this proves it.
quip number 2: "Yes, the Three Stooges. Funny, and they never used a 4 letter word!" I think nyuk is a four letter word.
observation: And actually, a more important point is how few comedy movies actually cross among countries these days. I think if you took away all the ROM-COMS and Disney fare (minions? comedy? uh yeah.), there is not a whole lot left. So it makes sense that the Japanese powers that be are trying to take TED and turn him into some Crayon shin-chan just to make a buck.
observation: Tone deaf movie audiences. The ads in Japan for Prometheus made it look almost like a religious movie. I went to see it in a theater because I knew what it was... an Alien prequel... and settled right in with my popcorn. Sitting right in front of me was this really old couple... mid70s maybe?... and they did not say anything or even move during the whole movie. I don't think they knew what hit them.
Kobe White Bar Owner
oh yea edit it "harda harda"
roosterman77
@Wc626 -- 12 yr old kids have no business watching Ted in the first place. Just cause he's a cute bear, do japanese think it's one of those rated G movies? --
If I just see the character Ted I would think he was from a G rated movie and I'm sure most people would if they don't know the movie. In fact, when my kids first watced Ted I had know idea what it was about... actually, I thought it was funny and we had a good laugh.
Jalapeno
So, this means it's half the length of the original.
GrungeHamster
Well it might be true that 'rudeness' or vulgarity is not witty or brilliant on its own, but it doesn't mean there is nothing else to it.
Look at South Park. Al Gore and his unending search for Man-Bear-Pig? He ca't seem to convince people he is real and everyone else refuses to take him seriously about seeing him when really this is just mirroring the way so many didn't pay attention to global warming which Gore is a huge activist on.
How about the Japan episode about eating whale and dolphin? Taking a closer look at that episode reveals it has less to do with Japanese eating whales and dolphins and the more it has to do with the hypocrisy of western society eating egregious amounts of cows and chickens while complaining about other cultures and societies eating different animals.