Doh! Cantonese version of Simpsons movie stretches actors to the limit

Seems improbable and almost sacrilege, but The Simpsons Movie, which premiered on Thursday night at UA Langham Place, has been given a Canto-dub version.

With the four main vocal cast members - Wyman Wong Wai-man as Homer, Josie Ho Chiu-yee as Marge, Ivana Wong Yuen-chi as Lisa and Denise Ho Wan-sze as Bart - present, each readily admitted it was an impossible task to replicate characters from such an institution of television.

'It's like a foreigner trying to translate a Stephen Chow Sing-chi film, it's very difficult and there will be something lost in the translation, but we tried our best to keep to its original spirit,' said Josie Ho.

'Voicing Marge was total torture to my voice, ' said the actress, who deliberately didn't drink any water during the dubbing to imitate the character's dry, parched hack.

For Denise Ho, the biggest challenge was capturing impish Bart's non-verbal quirks and tics. 'Bart has all sort of laughs, some sound dirty, some sound cunning. I found that most challenging.'

However, it was the Chinese version of the lead character who felt he had the most homeric of duties.