经济学人148:韩国动画 企鹅和政治

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

　　商业 韩国动画 企鹅和政治

　　Pororo the penguin² could be the next Teletubbies

　　小企鹅波罗罗可能会成为下一个天线宝宝

　　CHILDREN'S characters are often subversive⁴. Harry⁵ Potter promotes underage sorcery. Tinky-Winky encourages homosexuality (he is purple and carries a handbag). And Pororo, an adorable cartoon penguin, is probably a communist.

　　儿童的影视角色常被指责有害儿童的身心健康。比如哈利波特带头违反未成年施法令；比如天线宝宝丁丁鼓励同性恋（他穿紫色的衣服、并且带着女士提包）；而可爱的卡通小企鹅波罗罗，还很有可能是个共产主义者！

　　Not really. But South Koreans until recently feared that Pororo, one of their most popular cultural exports, might be banned in America because of a link with the communist North. A few episodes made between 2002 and 2005 were part-produced by North Korean animators, and thus possibly fell foul⁶ of America's ban on imports from that benighted⁷ country. After an uproar⁸ in South Korea, however, America's Treasury⁹ Department announced last month that the show was a form of "information" and therefore not subject to sanctions.

　　事实当然并非如此。但韩国最近突然担忧起他们最受欢迎的文化出口之一——小企鹅波罗罗——可能会被美国禁止引进，因为该动画片和共产主义的北朝鲜有一定联系。2002年到2005年期间，该动画有几集的部分工作是由北朝鲜的动画工作者代工的，因此可能会触犯美国禁止从该愚昧之国进口产品的禁令。然而，碍于南韩的强烈呼声，美国财政部于上个月宣布，该节目属于一种"信息"形式，因此并不在对朝鲜制裁的范畴之内。

　　Pororo and his pals¹⁰ (Poby the polar bear, Crong the dinosaur¹¹, etc) delight anklebiters in more than 100 countries. In South Korea, the little blue penguin has 1,500 spin-off products and a section in a theme park. In March 3m Pororo-branded postage-stamp sets sold out in just ten days. Pororo is so powerful that Koreans call him Potongryong ("President Pororo"). According to the Seoul Business Agency, Pororo will generate global sales of 38 billion won ($36m) this year, and the brand is worth 389.3 billion won for Iconix (the firm that created it) and others.

　　波罗罗和他的伙伴（北极熊波比，恐龙克戎，等等）取悦了超过100个国家的小朋友。在南韩，这只蓝色的小企鹅拥有1500多种派生产品，还在主题公园里拥有自己的专区。3月份，3百万张波罗罗主题邮票在10天内售之一空。波罗罗风头正劲，被韩国人称为Potongryong（"总统波罗罗"）。据首尔的代理商称，今年波罗罗的全球销售额有望达到380亿韩元（3600万美元），而对于创造波罗罗的Iconix公司和其他相关公司来说，该品牌的价值高达3893亿韩元。

　　Two explanations are offered for Pororo's success. First, Choi Jong-il, the founder¹² of Iconix (pictured, with friend), meticulously¹³ studied the storylines, theme music and other aspects of Western preschool hits such as Teletubbies. Second, Korea is home to legions of gifted animators. (Korean schoolkids are obsessed¹⁴ with Japanese-style manga.)

　　波罗罗的成功有两种解释。第一，蔡正日，Iconix的创造者（见照片，和波罗罗小朋友在一起），细致入微地研究了许多西方学前教育的成功作品——例如天线宝宝——的故事情节，主题音乐和其他方面。第二，韩国是大批才华横溢的动画制作者的故乡。（韩国的学生非常迷恋日本动漫）

　　South Korean animators have for many years done much of the heavy lifting on American TV shows such as "The Simpsons". Some American firms have also made use of cheaper animators from the North. Jing Kim, a Beijing-based businessman, claims that he has helped a number of companies to subcontract animation work from 500 artists at SEK Studio in Pyongyang.

　　多年来，韩国的动画工作者为《辛普森一家》等美国电视节目承担了很多重活累活。一些美国公司也已经开始雇佣价格更低廉的北朝鲜动画师。京金，一位驻扎北京的商务人士，宣称自己帮助过一系列公司，将动画作品的合同转包给拥有500名画师的平壤SEK工作室。

　　Pororo's success suggests that South Koreans can sell stories as well as drawing skills. Yet the cartoon attracts controversy¹⁵ at home. One exasperated¹⁶ father has started a campaign to make Pororo eat Korean food, instead of Western cakes. But just as Pororo himself dreams of flying, his creators dream of global stardom. So Pororo probably won't be wolfing kimchi anytime soon.

　　波罗罗的成功，表明了韩国人不仅能出卖画技，也能卖出整部动画。然而《淘气小企鹅》在国内也引发了争议。一位愤怒的父亲发起了一场运动，要求波罗罗在动画片中吃韩国食物而不是西方的蛋糕。但就像小企鹅波罗罗梦想着飞行一样，它的制作者也梦想着让该作品风靡世界。由此看来，近期内波罗罗不太可能会捧着泡菜狼吞虎咽。

分享到：