Full of film

[Stefan Diös]

Norbert, about Rosa's "Treasure Under Glass":

>But on page 12 Donald asks if the camera is ready, and the nephew
>answers: "Ich hab eben einen neuen Film eingelegt", in english: "I just
>put in a new film." So, if the film is changed in the middle of the
>story, the photograph from page one can't be in the camera at the end of

>the story.


I'm sure you will get many answers to this one - let me put in one of them.
There is no reference to a new roll of film in Don's original script. The
nephew says, "Watertight and full of film". So, obviously, the German
translator made a mistake here.

But just as obviously, he didn't make that mistake because he
misinterpreted the original dialog. What he was trying to do was to add
some extra detail and flourish to his text, or to make it flow more easily
and naturally - which, as I have stated here many times before, I believe
is his job rather than to translate every line literally. When I translate
Disney comics, I usually ask myself (more or less subconsciously, nowadays)
questions like these: "What would the character say in this situation?" or
"What needs to be explained for the story to work?". More often than not,
the answer is just about the same that's already in the balloon, because
the writer (and his editor) posed the same questions while working. But it
sure happens even at my stage that I want to add something extra, or
rewrite some passage in order to make it clearer, funnier or whatever. It
may not be my official job description, but if need be, I want to be
something of a "dialog editor" just as much as a translator.

So in this case, my German colleague found it natural to express the
resourceful nephews' readiness to go to work by having them put in a new
film in the camera - and as a consequence, an important point in the story
was lost. Oops! Not good, of course - but I'm sure that anyone on this list
who ever worked with scriptwriting, editing, or translating can tell you
how easy it is to overlook small details in the continuity, especially in a
long story like this. You go back and re-read your script for the umptieth
time (or somebody else does it behind you!), you change a word or a line to
make the text more snappy... and some original reason for that word or line
might be obscured. Why, even the best of artists sometimes move a nephew
around the panel without erasing the first one... so we get Fooey! This
kind of mistake is of course much easier to make in the texts. I have seen
numerous such instances in the thousands of stories I have worked with, and
I couldn't honestly say I never made any myself. That's the risk you run
when trying to do a "good" job! But I do try to be careful, not the least
so when working with such a scrupulous writer and artist like Don Rosa.

Anyway, one of the reasons I wanted to say something about "Treasure Under
Glass" is that it just left my desk for the second time - the first was
almost ten years ago. The Scandinavian readers (at least the Swedish) will
se it reprinted during the summer. I vividly remember the kicks I got out
of this story when first reading it. At that time, I considered it one of
Don's best efforts ever. Well, everyone knows he has done many masterpieces
since then, but I think this one still compares very well. It's ingenious,
inspiring and intricate (though not overly so) and contains some remarkably
breathtaking scenes. So those of you up north who haven't read it yet are
in for a summer treat!


Stefan Dios
Malmo, Sweden