‘Ted 2’ Has Been Edited for Japanese Preteens

Ted 2 JP 2

If there’s one thing that drives me crazy, it’s watching edited, televised versions of R-rated comedies. Generally about one-third of the jokes still work just as well, another third lose some of their punch and humor, and another third are rendered totally meaningless or cut out completely, based a study I made up for this article.

Well imagine my surprise when I heard not just that Seth MacFarlane’s comedy Ted 2 been edited down (censored might be a more appropriate term), but it is actually being turned into a completely different, now family-friendly film for Japanese audiences.
Even the unedited version is a bit tamer in Japan, as there are not enough direct vulgarity translations in Japanese for everything to come through. In other words, the movie became less obscene because it used other words.

For example, at one point in Ted 2, Mark Wahlberg exclaimed, “What the fuck?” (Probably numerous times.) The Japanese version? “Uso daro?”, which literally means, “It’s a lie, isn’t it?” or the equivalent of “Are you kidding me?”

When all was said and done, Ted 2 was given an R15+ rating, which you can probably deduce means that admission is restricted to those 15 and above.

The result was a fantastic first weekend in Japan last week, with ticket sales 141% above the opening of the first Ted. Not only did the Japanese enjoy the humor, but they identified with the film’s emotional aspect, saying things like, “I laughed a lot, but in the end, it had me feeling sentimental,” or “I want to see this movie with my family!”

That last person got their wish, as – following a super-successful, super-edited TV version of the first film – an even more censored version was created and aimed at an even younger audience. The new film contained “milder dialogue” and “reedited scenes,” and is being featured concurrently with the unedited version in Japanese theaters right now.

The bear himself even made an appearance on the movie’s official Japanese Twitter account to drum up support, saying, “Eh, so sorry for all the dirty language. In order to show myself as an earnest middle-aged dude, we’re releasing a Ted 2 PG12 version right away, one that’s less vulgar and that you can watch as a family. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

He then bowed, much like you’d expect the Japanese Ted to do.

The funniest part? They even gave the film a longer, kid-focused titled: Ted 2: I Can’t Wait Until I Become an Adult.

[via RocketNews24]