Dubbing Alice in Wonderland for Indonesia requires transforming logical absurdity into culturally coherent silliness. The 1951 and 2010 Indonesian dubs demonstrate that successful localization prioritizes laugh triggers over lexical loyalty. Future research should examine audience reception among Indonesian children: Do they perceive the dubbed Wonderland as “weird” in the same way English-speaking audiences do? And how do dubbing studios handle newer adaptations, such as the 2021 Alice’s Wonderland Bakery series, which introduces modern slang?
Indonesian dubbing of Alice in Wonderland follows a pattern of functional equivalence over formal equivalence. Puns are not translated; they are replaced with new wordplay using Indonesian’s agglutinative potential. Nonsense is preserved as a tone, but not necessarily as Carroll’s specific linguistic devices. Importantly, the Indonesian dubs avoid direct borrowing (e.g., leaving “tea party” as pesta teh is fine, but “Mad Hatter” becomes Pembuat Topi Gila – a calque that works because hat-making is culturally neutral). alice in wonderland dubbing indonesia
[Generated for Academic Review] Date: April 16, 2026 And how do dubbing studios handle newer adaptations,
In the 1951 film, the Mad Hatter’s riddle (“Why is a raven like a writing desk?”) is left unresolved in English. The Indonesian dub transforms it into: “Kenapa gagak mirip meja tulis? Karena keduanya tidak pernah membalas surat!” (Back-translation: “Why is a raven like a writing desk? Because neither ever answers letters!”) Here, the dub creates an original punchline based on gagak (raven) not being a letter-writer and meja tulis (desk) as a recipient of letters. The absurd logic is preserved, but the cultural reference to Carroll’s non-answer is replaced with a functional joke. Nonsense is preserved as a tone, but not