Humorous elements and translation in animated feature films. DreamWorks (2001-2012)

This paper will present some of the results stemming from the thesis "La alusión como fuente de creación de humor y su traducción: análisis del cine de animación de DreamWorks (2001-2012)" (López González 2015). This study had as its main objective the analysis of intertextual humour in fourteen DreamWorks animated feature films to reveal which are the humorous elements (Martínez Sierra 2008) used in the creation of humour. A definition of intertextual humour will be provided as well as details related to how Martinez Sierra’s classification of humorous elements was applied to the study of animation. The results obtained will show how humour can be triggered for audiences of all ages from the original version films. In order to reach the Spanish target audience these films were dubbed and subtitled into Spanish. Here, attention will be paid to the dubbing process and three examples of how humour has been translated within some of the categories described by Martínez Sierra will be commented on.