Modern Social Science Research

With the increasing globalization of cultural exchange, animated films have emerged as a pivotal medium for cross-cultural communication. Consequently, the translation of animated film subtitles constitutes a critical conduit for bridging linguistic and cultural divides between source and target audiences. High-quality subtitle translation not only facilitates mutual understanding between viewers and the original work, but also supports translators in conveying nuanced meaning, thereby enabling audiences to appreciate the linguistic artistry, grasp emotional subtleties, discern the creators’ artistic intent, and engage meaningfully with the source culture’s values and aesthetics. Informed by advances in multi-modal discourse analysis, contemporary subtitle translation extends beyond mere textual equivalence to encompass the integrated interpretation of visual cues, auditory elements (music and sound effects), and paralinguistic features such as character expression and gesture. Based on a multi-modal perspective and taking the case of Zootopia, this paper analyzes the practical strategies and typical characteristics of multi-modal animation subtitle translation.

Multi-modal perspective; Animation subtitle translation; Zootopia