15 different languages for one MARVELous creature

The importance of understanding other languages needs no explanation, but even in the most extreme fictional universe language plays an important part for all characters and therefore needs careful consideration by all the writers and producers of major films.

For the majority of Marvel’s blockbuster 2014 film Gardians of the Galaxy one of the main characters, a sentient tree-like creature called Groot has just one line: “I AM GROOT”. This simple phrase for this now popular character has since become a famous pop-culture reference.

Marvel UK uploaded this bonus feature to their YouTube channel showing how this phrase “I AM GROOT” is translated across fifteen different languages. View the video below:

Here Groot says his famous catchphrase “I AM GROOT” in English, Spanish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Japanese, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, Kazakh, French, Russian, Turkish, Hindi, German, Czech, and Mandarin.

Although the concept is quite alien to an English speaking audience, generally, foreign versions of Hollywood blockbusters have foreign counterparts who’s job it is to dub over them. Whole industries exist to not only translate but to dub films in their entirety in to German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian etc. Although it’s not too impressive, since it’s mainly just a single phrase, Vin Diesel, who voices the character of Groot was able to play his role in several other languages, which is quite a unique feat for a major character in a major movie:

For those budding Vin Diesels out there, Apple Language Courses offer language courses in 14 different languages!