The Top 10: Titles changed for foreign markets

‘The Great British Baking Show’ and other familiar but different names outside their country of origin

Alan Bennett’s play ‘The Madness of George III’ became ‘The Madness of King George’ on its big screen outing (Rex)

This has been in the Listellany production line since about 1998, when JK Rowling’s first book was published in the US as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. A lot of good nominations for this one, so I’ve made it a Top 20. In no particular order...

1. The Golden Compass. US title of Northern Lights, by Philip Pullman. Nominated by Tom Railton. Really annoys some people. “The title of the His Dark Materials trilogy was intended to be The Golden Compasses (another Paradise Lost reference) but Pullman changed his mind; the US publishers preferred the earlier title, thinking it described the alethiometer,” said John Oxley.

2. Seven Years of Reflection. The French title of The Seven Year Itch was Sept ans de reflexion. Thanks to Steve Van Riel.

3. Why Don’t Sleeping Birds Fall Out of Trees? German title of Mick O’Hare’s book, Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze? which he nominated himself. It was translated into Czech as Why does the foam on my beer collapse?

4. The English Beat in US and The British Beat in Australia, but they were just The Beat over here. Nominated by Chris Jones and Simon Hix. Suede became The London Suede in the US. Martin Sykes-Haas.

5. The Great British Baking Show is what The Great British Bake-Off became in the US because Bake-Off® is a registered trademark of the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest. Thanks to Pat Roberts.

6. Chocolate for Breakfast was the title of Bridget Jones’s Diary, the film, in Germany. From Jake Goretski.

7. Licence to Kill was the title given in Italy to Doctor No, the first James Bond movie. Which obviously caused a problem when the Bond film called Licence to Kill came out in Britain in 1989, said Tom Harris. The Italians called it Vendetta Privata, said Sam Korn.

8. The Madness of King George was the title of the film of Alan Bennett’s play, The Madness of George III, so that Americans wouldn’t worry they’d missed the first two films. Many nominations, and many disputes about whether the story is true. Joshua Topp quoted Nicholas Hytner, the director, who said: “That’s not totally untrue; but there was also the factor that it was felt necessary to get the word king into the title.”

9. Tom Elvis Jedusor is the French version of Tom Marvolo Riddle in the French Harry Potter (to allow the anagram “Je suis Voldemort”). Nominated by Chris James.

10. Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Changed from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the UK market, because the BBC thought ninja sounded too violent. Thanks to Ali Hughes and Adam Wagner.

11. The Teeth of the Sea. Jaws is called Les Dents de la Mer in France. Nominated by Jo-Anne Burrow and Andrew Stuart. “Probably enough justification on its own to leave the EU,” said Steven Panthera.

12. Good Neighbors. The US title of the TV series The Good Life. From Craig73.

13. Men Who Hate Women, by Stieg Larsson (Män som hatar kvinnor in Swedish) became The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Nominated by Jen Persson.

14. Schindler’s Ark, the novel by Thomas Keneally, became Schindler’s List in the US, and the film followed. Thanks to Graham Kirby.

15. Edge of Day. The US title for Cider with Rosie, by Laurie Lee, although the film was called Cider with Rosie. Another from Graham Kirby.

16. Stamboul Train, by Graham Greene, became Orient Express in the US, and for the film. A third from Graham Kirby, who added that 31 PG Wodehouse books had different titles in the US, probably the winner over Agatha Christie, who had 25.

17. TJ Maxx became TK Maxx in the UK to avoid confusion with the Liverpool-based national chain TJ Hughes. From Daniel Elton.

18. Journey to the End of Hell. The Deer Hunter was released in France as Voyage au bout de l’enfer. Nominated by John Peters. “Interesting bit of literary nationalism,” added Kevin Mahnken, “as the original alluded to James Fenimore Cooper’s American classic The Deerslayer (1841), while the export referred to Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s 1932 novel, Journey to the End of the Night.”

19. Fleshmarket Alley. Ian Rankin’s book Fleshmarket Close would have confused Americans. Thanks to Alan Robertson.

20. Little Fred and Big Ed was one of the early titles of an English translation of Asterix, William French learned from the Jewish Museum London exhibition, until Anthea Bell, journalist Oliver Kamm’s mother, “worked her literary alchemy”.

Next week: Most impressive predictions, such as Marshal Ferdinand Foch on the Versailles Treaty, 1919: “This is not a peace treaty, it is an armistice for 20 years.”

Coming soon: Fictional bands, such as Driveshaft in Lost.

Your suggestions please, and ideas for future Top 10s, to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk