‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ Planning Ojibwe Dub
Disney and Lucasfilm are planning to dub Star Wars: A New Hope to Anishinaabemowin, also known as Ojibwe, an indigenous language spoken by the Ojibwe people in North America, who live in territories across the North of the United States and Eastern Canada.
The project, revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, is a partnership between Disney/Lucasfilm, the Canadian government, and the Dakota Ojibwe Tribal Council, along with the Canadian APTN network and the University of Manitoba. The recording is expected to take place in Canada in 2024 with Skywalker Sound completing the sound mixing and post-production. Auditions for voice actors will take place early next year.
As part of the announcement, they have already revealed the Ojibwe translation of “May the Force be with you”: “Gi-ga-miinigoz Mamaandaawiziwin”. Pablo Hidalgo also posted the news on Twitter, adding the project is in the works in Winnipeg.
Proud to be a part of making this happen: An Ojibwe dub of Star Wars (ANANGONG MIIGAADING) is in the works in my hometown of Winnipeg:https://t.co/N0XE5fPhPh pic.twitter.com/SztTjuEIQX
— Pablo Hidalgo (@pabl0hidalgo) December 18, 2023
The Ojibwe are one of the largest Native American communities in the United States, and the second largest First Nations people in Canada. The language is largely spoken in Manitoba, Ontario, and Minnesota. This will be the second translation of A New Hope into a Native American language, after the Navajo dubbing in 2013. Said Lucasfilm senior manager of distribution operations Michael Kohn in a statement:
“Working on the Navajo version of Star Wars: A New Hope was a highlight of my career. I am very excited to revisit this type of project again and hopefully preserve and expand the Ojibwe language for future generations.”
No release date has been set, and no plans have been announced for the dubbing of more Star Wars films beyond A New Hope. The Navajo dub now lives on Disney Plus, available worldwide. It was the first translation of a major Hollywood blockbuster into a Native American language.
For more information, visit StarWarsOjibwe.com.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
