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His work was validated with the successful coaching of the nearly 60 plus voice actors, most of whom lacked skills in reading and writing Navajo.Īssociate Professor Joe Kee speaks to a group of Native American young men during the Navajo Twin Heroes Conference about the importance of knowing about their Navajo language and culture. Kee’s main responsibility was to ensure the Navajo language was spoken correctly, smoothly, and clearly. One slip of the tongue could cause disruption between the adaption and dubbing process.

Timing was of the essence, even to a mere millisecond.”

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I had to be very quick on my feet to change, add, delete, and recommend words and phrases within a matter of seconds so that the words are adapted and adjusted smoothly with the movie characters’ lip and mouth movements.

One has to understand that the Navajo language is very descriptive with most conversation pieces being drawn out to clarify words and situations unfamiliar to daily Navajo speech. “My role in the adaptation process included recording character voices within strict allotted times, most ranging from three to ten seconds in length. The experience opened my eyes to so many avenues that the Navajo language could take in the future,” said Kee. “After the completion of the translation, I began my work on the adaptation process of the movie. “I am hopeful that the translations and dubbing of both ‘ Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’ in 2013 and ‘ Finding Nemo’ in 2016 will continue to create momentum and excitement amongst the Navajo youth to learn and relearn their language, and that the translated movies will inspire them to communicate with their elders even more so.” -Associate Professor Joe Kee This was another historic occasion for the Navajo Nation as this would be only the second time, and a first for an animated version, that a major motion picture would be translated into a Native American language in its entirety. Two translators were selected to completely translate the movie into their native language. In 2013 he was instrumental in the translation of “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” movie.Īt an hour and forty-minutes, “Finding Nemo” contains more dialogue lines than the previously translated Star Wars movie. This would be the second film Kee translates into Navajo. In January 2015, Kee was invited by the Navajo Nation Museum and Library to present his resume and credentials to be one of the Navajo translators on the Pixar project. My ability to speak Navajo fluently has given me the power to communicate, the knowledge to comprehend, the patience to understand, and the skills to help people.” “It extended as far as adapting and dubbing the movie while working with directors and voice actors. “My involvement with ‘Finding Nemo’ goes well beyond my work with just the translation of the movie into the Navajo language,” said Kee. After a year in the making, the Disney Pixar animated movie “Finding Nemo” has been fully translated into Navajo and is ready for this weekends premiere as “Nemo Ha’deist’ii’.' UNM-Gallup Associate Professor Joe Kee was instrumental in the success of this long anticipated project.