Les Simpson

Les Simpson is the name for both French dubs (Quebec and France) of The Simpsons.

France

Characters

All characters speak standard French, with the exception of Apu (who has an Indian acccent), Carl (speaks inflected French) and Kirk Van Houten (has a stereotypical Belgian (Brussels) accent due to his surname). Sideshow Bob and Sideshow Mel become Tahiti Bob and Tahiti Mel, respectively. Santa's Little Helper becomes "Petit Papa Noël", the name a French Christmas song meaning "Little Father Christmas".

Translation

For the duration of the series, animation has remained the same, with English text being subtitled or spoken by a character. The only exception to this was the chalkboard gag, shared by both dubs.

Catchphrases

As well as translating original catchphrases (see table below), the France version has created some of its own. Homer says "Oh my God!" as "Ouh pinaise!" (based off "oh punaise!", French for "oh darn!"). Homer is unable to pronounce words such as "bibliothèque" (library), instead saying "bilibibiothèque".

Catchphrase	French version	Translation
"D'oh!"	"T'oh"1
"Eat my shorts"	"Va te faire shampouiner "	"Go shampoo yourself" (similar to "go to hell")
"Why you little..."	"espèce de sale petit"	"you dirty lil'..."

¹ Phillippe Peythieu misread the line "D'oh!" the first time he read it and kept it this way since.

Voice actors

For some celebrities, official dubbers are brought in, for voice actors for Mulder and Scully in The X-Files voice them in "The Springfield Files".

Character	French Voice	Seasons
Homer Simpson	Phillippe Peythieu	All
Marge Simpson	Véronique Augereau	All

Quebec

Characters

All characters speak Quebec French with a strong Québécois accent, except the town's elite (e.g. Principal Skinner and Reverend Lovejoy, who speak International French) and ethnic minorities also have different accents. Apu speaks creole while Carl has a African or Caribbean Black immigrant accent. Santa's Little Helper becomes "Le p'tit renne au nez rouge", the French for the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Cultural references

American cultural and political jokes are occasionally replaced with local references (e.g. Newt Gingrich reference replaced with a Mike Harris reference). Also American TV shows and films are often changed to reference Québécois ones (e.g. Homer goes form watching CSI:Miami to watching Fortier). The word "English" is often changed to the word "French". A more specific change was in "Midnight Rx", where the stereotypical English Canadian spoke French and the stereotypical French Canadian spoke English. In another episode English Canadians were given a stereotypical American accent, despite the main characters not having this.

Translation

For a while the animation was not changed, with English text being subtitled or spoken by a character. The only exception to this was the chalkboard gag, shared by both dubs. In later episodes text was changed as well ("Co-Dependent's Day's" "Cosmic Wars" became "La guerre de l'espace").

Catchphrases

As well as translating original catchphrases (see table below), the France version has created some of its own. Homer says "Oh my God!" as "Ouh pinaise!" (based off "oh punaise!", French for "oh darn!"). Homer is unable to pronounce words such as "bibliothèque" (library), instead saying "bilibibiothèque".

Catchphrase	Québécois version	Translation
"D'oh!"	"Oh!"1/"D'oh!"
"Eat my shorts"	"Manage de la crotte"	Loosely, a less offensive form of "East shit"
"Why you little..."	"Oh, Mon p'tit verrat"	Quebec expression
"I didn't do it"	"J'ai rien fait"	"I did nothing"

¹First few season

Voice actors

A team of voice actors dub two episodes a day. In general they also voice the celebrities.

Airing

The Quebec dub airs on Télétoon.