New Imperialism in (re)translation: Disney in the Arab World

For speakers of Arabic, Disney’s animated feature films and TV products, both old and new, are increasingly made available in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), a pan-Arab version of the language which was hardly ever used for similar forms of entertainment until 2012. When Al Jazeera signed a large-scale distribution agreement with Disney, in 2013, things began to change radically, not only in terms of the variety of Arabic chosen for translation and re-translation, but also, more significantly, in terms of textual manipulation. Relying on a theoretical framework bringing together sociolinguistics, media and communication studies, translation and audiovisual translation studies, this article aims to unveil and discuss the linguistic, cultural, social, and political alterations behind the translation and re-translation of Disney’s animated products for the Arabic-speaking world. Examples from the recent, Arabic re-dubbing of Cinderella and Cinderella II will be provided and illustrated.