Great examples of local adaptations - by Pixar!

Local adaptations are all around us, shaping our everyday experiences with products and services - often without us even realising it especially when they’re done well.

In this video, I’ll highlight a few subtle yet important local adaptations made by PIXAR, showing how these thoughtful changes enhance the relevance and appeal of their films across different cultures.

I talked about one of the examples in my book, “Research for Global Growth: Strategies and Guidance for Cross-Cultural Insights”, and some of my talks. Many people often tell me how much they like the example because it’s not something they expected or realised, but it makes perfect sense when I point it out.

TRANSCRIPT 

Intro

[00:00] My name is Chui Chui Tan. I help businesses navigate cultural nuances for global growth. In these videos, I will talk about the themes that come across in my work with my clients - covering misconceptions about localisation, success case studies, challenges, and the best way to adapt to different cultural contexts.

In this video, I want to dive into something a bit fun. I want to show you examples of cultural adaptations that you have probably experienced without even realising it. Local adaptations are actually much more common than people think.

Pixar in making small but significant local adaptations of its movies

[00:36] I'm going to talk about one of my favourite companies, Pixar. Hopefully you have seen at least one or two of their movies. Pixar actually has a very long history of making small, but significant changes to its movie, to account for cultural differences to make their movies more culturally relevant, to show respect to the local customs and to give the audiences around the world a better and more tailored experience.

Inside Out - Examples of content/picture local adaptations

[01:07] One example of this can be seen in Inside Out - one of my favourite Pixar movies. The story is actually follows an 11-year-old girl named Riley and her emotions.  

In one scene, Riley is disgusted when her dad tries to feed her broccoli. That is what most people around the world saw in the movie, except in Japan. In Japan, Pixar learned that broccoli isn't something children dislike or consider gross. In fact, the Japanese kids love them. But you know what they don't like? Green bell peppers. So Pixar actually reanimated three different scenes to replace the broccoli with green peppers for  their Japanese release.  It sounds very simple, but it's very clever though. Because it respects local tastes and make the scenes more relatable to the Japanese audiences . Here's another example in the same movie.

Riley's dad imagines himself, watching a game of hockey. But in some countries that was changed to football or soccer. Because it's a far more popular and loved game in these countries.   📍 Again, this might sound like minor tweak, but Pixar team was very, very clear on what localisation is and what is not for the company. It's not about translating their scripts and pictures, but it's also about translating the whole experience. For Inside Out, I believe they made about 55 localisation changes.

Let me give you a few more examples, so you can see how deep these local adaptations go.

The Incredibles - Local adaptation on the movie line

[02:42] In The Incredible, you might remember some intense arguments among the Incredible family members, the mum Helen , the husband Bob - the Mister incredible and the kids. Well, in some international versions, those arguments were toned down because direct confrontations is less socially acceptable in some countries and some cultures. For example in the U.S. version, the term "Shut Up!" was used in one of the arguments. This type of direct language is very common in America media, and it's typically more acceptable in family-friendly contexts. But in the UK and Ireland, the phrase "Shut Up" can come across rather rude, especially in family setting. So Pixar change it to less confrontations phrase - "Quiet down". And in Germany and in Spain they use similar softer alternatives, replacing it with something along the lines as "Be quite".

But in Japan, the line was turned down even further to fit with the country's cultural values around politeness. So what did they get? They get "Chotto" means "Hey, hang on a minute" or "Hold on" in this context.

Toy Story 2 - Local adaptation of the picture and background music

[03:37] Here's another example where the adaptation is not only the scene or the phrase, but also the background music. In Toy Story 2, Buzz Lightyear gives a speech to inspire other toys where he was standing very proudly with a U.S. flag behind him and the U.S. national anthem plays. For international audiences though, the scene was changed. We, the rest of the world, we see a rotating globe in the background and they replaced the anthem with a new piece of music called "One World", composed by Randy Newman. Again, it's a small change, but one that makes the movie more globally inclusive as well.

Coco - Local adaptation of the movie title

[04:37] Sometimes it's not just about changing scenes or lines or background music, even the movie titles get adapted.  Take Coco as an example, it's set in rural Mexico. In Brazil, the movie wasn't called Coco because the word can mean coconut water or something much less pleasant - poop water. Depending on how it's pronounced and which syllables you emphasise on when you're pronounce the word. So in Brazil, the movie was actually renamed to Viva to avoid any confusions.  

Cultural adaptations on businesses

[05:12] These cultural adaptations for each market are a sign of respect for their local audience, but also much more than that. They enhance the viewing experience by making it more relevant to their culture and their customs and what their familiar with. It's the same when you think about adapting your products and services for different markets. It's not just about tweaking your products or interface design. It goes far beyond that. It goes into your marketing materials, your campaign themes, your operations, even your payment methods and pricing plans, or the content you offer. And sometimes you might even need to rethink your brand name or positionings in these markets.

Local adaptations should touch on multiple facets of a business.

The secret to the best local adaptations

[05:59] You know what the secret is. The best local adaptations the ones that fit so seamlessly into experience to the point that where your local audience doesn't even notice them. But if they are missing? Trust me, people will notice and they will either be frustrated or complain about them. Or just simply stop using your product or service altogether.

Outro

[06:25] I hope you enjoy these examples and find this video both insightful and maybe a bit thought-provoking. If you have any other thoughts about this topic, or if there's something specific you want me to cover, or you want me to answer, please post a comment below. Thank you, and I will see you again soon.

Subscribe YouTube Channel: @chuichuitan