DHX Media Polly Pocket

MarcoPolo Learning: a dubbing journey to space and beyond

About the client

MarcoPolo Learning is an award-winning developer of premium educational content and games for the digital era. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in London, the company has accumulated an impressive portfolio of 500 video lessons and thousands of learning activities for children aged 3-7. Its hugely successful, STEAM-focused TV show, The Polos, has delighted viewers in over 500 million households globally. VSI teamed up with MarcoPolo Learning to produce Latin American dubbed and voiced versions of their animated, children’s e-learning series.

The project

Services:
Dubbing and Voice-over

Languages:
Latin American Spanish

The Polos centres around a group of friends who are united in their curiosity about the world and set off on the ultimate adventure. Their travels take them on many exciting journeys, including discovering fossils in the dinosaur age, gazing in wonder from space at our solar system, exploring the Amazon rainforest and much more. With an emphasis on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths), the app is an enjoyable and informative e-learning tool, with lots of upbeat songs to sing along to.

After connecting with MarcoPolo at Kidscreen in 2018, our team in London followed the growth of the platform and were pleased to join forces in the localisation of The Polos for the LatAm market. Working with our team in Mexico City, we produced the dub and voice-over, from English to Latin American Spanish, of 386 one-minute episodes, also known as “appisodes” since they’re designed to be viewed in their World School video and game app.

Our approach

Each episode of The Polos featured a narrator, so selecting experienced actors with the right tone of voice to carry the weight of the story was the first step in casting for the series. Finding voices that children could relate to and who they would enjoy listening to and learning from was critical, so we chose two actors who specialised in voicing children’s tv series. The rest of the cast consisted of child talent, playing the six main characters of the Polos, ensuring the characters were relatable for their intended audiences. They also had the task of recording 13 songs in the show, with their catchy lyrics encouraging young viewers to sing along.

Due to local government restrictions around covid-19, the children’s parts were recorded remotely, and it was a unique learning experience for the actors. The recordings were led by a dubbing director with many years of experience in e-learning content who guided them and offered advice and suggestions along the way to help flesh out their performances. The director and VSI’s dubbing and voice-over team worked alongside the cast to bring to life the essence and tonality of the original voices from the show. They ensured that the personality of each character was present in the localised version, with the actors also delivering their own unique touch in their performances.

Outcome

This was VSI’s first localisation project with MarcoPolo Learning, and we enjoyed collaborating with them on their e-learning content. We’re pleased that children in Spanish-speaking countries have now been introduced to The Polos, and we’re confident that the Latin American voice-over and dub is a faithful reflection of the original hit series. Maintaining a remote recording schedule with a young cast was a fun challenge for our entire team, and it was one we took on wholeheartedly. We look forward to seeing what’s in store for The Polos and what new adventures they will embark on in the future.