Former Disney executive the chosen one For a global audience, we aim to translate into 600 languages and make our Bible-based series accessible to viewers of all cultures and backgrounds. Rick Dempsey worked at Disney for more than 30 years, his last role being Senior Vice President of Creative, where he led teams that translated films such as: beauty and the beast, aladdin and lion king to other languages.
He currently holds a similar role. please come and seeIt is a non-profit organization affiliated with. the chosen one To spread the series to the world. Dempsey is Come and See's vice president of creative and global localization.
“I have been training for 35 years to achieve my goals. the chosen one” Dempsey told Crosswalk Headlines.
When Dempsey joined Disney in 1988, he was working for Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney and son of Walt's brother. Dempsey was a Christian who believed he could make a meaningful impact by providing family-friendly entertainment to audiences around the world.
By the time the pandemic hit, Dempley felt God leading him in a different direction.
“I realized now that it was time to move on. We know that Disney is going in a different direction than where I started in 1988, and I thought, 'Hey, this could be a prompting from the Lord'…I've always been a believer all my life and I've been very involved in my local church. [was] This is a great opportunity to be the salt and light in this business and slow down the decline. [But] I felt like I was losing some of my saltiness at Disney, so it was time to move on.
A chance encounter during a vacation in Hawaii changed the course of his career. Dempsey was sitting on a bench enjoying a shaved ice there when he met a man named Brad Hill. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Hill learned that the department needed a leader in the translation market and introduced Mr. Dempley to Come and See. Dempsey was soon hired.
He was already a fan of the series.
“I watched it and just said, 'This is probably the best Christian production I've ever seen.' … What separates it? the chosen one The quality is so amazing. The character development was very good and I was drawn into it. So I was already used to it. ”
Dempsey's most widely translated projects at Disney include frozenwith over 50 translations. for the chosen onethe goal is much more ambitious: 600 translations — a 12x increase. It may sound like a monumental feat, but the series has already reached 125 translations, setting a world record in the process.
“If you go to Google and ask, 'What is the most translated show of all time?' — it will say the chosen one. ”
But importantly, Dempsey wants to avoid what he calls “Godzilla-esque dubbing,” where voices and lip movements are severely mismatched and disrupt the viewer's experience. His projects at Disney also avoided those mistakes.
“It's all about matching the lips and making it look like it's actually coming from that character. That's very important to us, so we follow the same practice.” the chosen one. ”
The tone of voice is also faithful to the original character.
Dempsey's work at Disney is well known to fans of the film. frozenEven if you don't know his name. Ten years ago, his team helped dub Elsa's voice, a feat that was featured in the film. YouTube multilingual sequences leave me alone. It has been viewed 95 million times.
“The biggest comment I got from that was, 'I didn't know Idina Menzel could sing in all these languages,'” he said with a smile. “That's not her. It's a really great casting job.”
Photo provided by: ©Please come visit us.
michael faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His articles have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star, and Knoxville News Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's podcast! he is the host of crosswalk talka podcast where he speaks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christians are making their faith a priority in Hollywood, and discover the best Christian movies, books, TV and other entertainment. can be found crosswalk talk above LifeAudio.comor subscribe at apple or spotify So never miss an interview that is sure to encourage your faith.
First publication date is January 8, 2025.
