暌违半世纪，重返蘑菇村|半世纪是多少年
时间：2019-01-08 03:19:54 来源：柠檬阅读网 本文已影响 人 
“在那山的那边海的那边，有一群蓝精灵。他们活泼又聪明，他们调皮又伶俐……” 每次提起蓝精灵，Wendy的脑海里便会响起这个旋律，会不会是小时候练舞听了太多遍的缘故？
作为70后和80后两代人成长的“文化地标”，蓝精灵终于在这个10月迎来了50岁生日！庆祝活动早在2008年初便徐徐展开，动画片随后推出了DVD全集，明年还将上映3D电影版――这些蓝色的小家伙果真要卷土重来了……
Even non-TV viewers couldn’t escape their influence on youth culture, vocabulary and joke-telling. The Smurfs took America by storm in the 80s with a cartoon series that won Emmys along with fans, as the little blue 1)imps laughed and played in their 2)idyllic mushroom village, always a 3)wee step ahead of the 4)villainous Gargamel.
Gargamel: Stop all that happiness out there! I said STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT!
It did stop in the early 90s, when the Smurfs’ human guardians decided the American market was getting 5)oversaturated. So they brought the Smurfs home to their Belgian birthplace.
The Smurfs began life in a comic strip created by Pierre Culliford, a Belgian cartoonist, 50 years ago. So are they having a mid-life crisis? 6)Au contraire! They’re planning a comeback.
But can they succeed? Unlike their 80s-era 7)forebears, kids these days can play 8)virtual tennis
and drive virtual race cars � even STEAL them � on their TVs. It’s hard to imagine them being
9)mesmerized by these 10)cutesy little creatures endlessly repairing their mushroom houses or picking flowers in the forest. But that’s not something that worries the man in charge of global marketing for the Smurfs, Hendrik Coysman.
Coysman: People like simple things because we’re living in such a complicated, confused world. It’s so 11)hectic. The Smurf village can be a good place to rest for a couple of minutes or hours.
Reaction to the relaunch may already be proving him right. And children like these youngsters in Berlin do indeed seem to be impressed with the simple life of the
creatures they know as “Schlumpfe.”
“The Smurfs build all sorts of things for themselves, bridges and things like that,” says 8-year-old Harun Sariustan.
“My favorite Smurf always has a pencil over his ear. He writes stories,” shares 9-year-old Marlene Hunger.
But there have been 12)detractors over the years. Some Americans just felt it was too sickeningly sweet. But the most frequent complaint has been about the male-female 13)ratio and 14)gender roles. Papa Smurf makes all the big decisions, while lovely Smurfette, the most 15)prominent of just three females, does little more than run around in high heels. Hendrik Coysman says the Smurfs’ world is getting a birthday makeover, acknowledging it needed one.
Coysman: If you look at our society, there has been a 16)dramatic change in the social and cultural environment, so we are thinking in that direction.
Most details of the changes are still secret, except for the fact that Smurfette will finally be getting some female company.
The Smurfs are also hoping to have an impact outside the mushroom village. They’ve teamed up with 17)UNICEF to raise money and awareness to help other little beings whose lives in the real world aren’t all so...well, smurfy.
即使是不看电视的人也躲不过它们对青少年文化、英语词汇和笑话的影响。上世纪八十年代，蓝精灵风靡美国，其系列动画虏获了艾美奖和众多粉丝的芳心；在故事中，这些蓝色的小淘气在充满田园诗意的蘑菇村嘻笑玩耍，总能略胜邪恶的格格巫一筹。
格格巫：别在外头欢天喜地的！我说停止、停止、快停止！
九十年代初，这股热潮确实一度归于沉寂。当时，蓝精灵的人类守护者认为美国市场出现过度饱和的状况。于是，他们将蓝精灵带回其诞生地――比利时。
50年前，蓝精灵首次出现在比利时漫画家皮埃尔・居里福德的连环漫画中。那么，它们如今正面临中年危机吗？恰恰相反！它们准备卷土重来！
但是，它们能取得成功吗？现在的小孩可不像八十年代的前辈，他们可以通过电视机打虚拟网球，驾驶虚拟赛车――甚至虚拟“偷”车。很难想象他们会迷上这些总是在不停地修补蘑菇屋或者在森林里采花的忸怩小家伙。但蓝精灵的全球市场营销掌门人――亨德里克・科伊斯曼并不担心这个
问题。
科伊斯曼：人们喜欢简简单单的东西，因为我们生活在一个如此复杂、令人困惑的世界里，日子过得如此手忙脚乱。蓝精灵村可以为我们（的心灵）提供一个休憩几分钟或几小时的好去处。
人们对蓝精灵东山再起的反响或许已经证明他是正确的。这些柏林小孩看起来确实被小家伙们（他们称之为“Schlumpfe”）的简单生活深深吸引了。
“蓝精灵自己建造了各种各样的东西，比如桥梁之类的，”8岁的哈伦・萨里厄斯坦说。
“我最喜欢的蓝精灵在耳朵上夹着一支铅笔。他会写故事，”9岁的马琳・洪格尔这样说道。
但多年以来一直存在着批评的声音。一些美国人觉得蓝精灵甜美得让人生恶。但最常见的抱怨还是针对故事的男女比率和性别角色。蓝爸爸会作出所有重大决策，而可爱的蓝妹妹作为故事中仅有的三位女性中最重要的角色，却只知道蹬着高跟鞋到处跑。亨德里克・科伊斯曼说，蓝精灵世界正在酝酿“生日大变身”，他也承认改变是必要的。
科伊斯曼：如果你看看我们的社会，（就会发现）社会与文化环境都发生了翻天覆地的变化，因此我们也在考虑这方面的问题。
改变的具体内容还不得而知，我们只知道蓝妹妹终于有女伴了。
同时，蓝精灵也希望能对蘑菇村以外的世界产生一定影响。它们与联合国儿童基金会联合起来，致力于筹集善款并引起人们的关注，以帮助其它在现实世界中不是那么……呃，蓝精灵式悠闲度日的小家伙。
