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Cartoon Characters Get Local Makeovers In Asia
BIG ROUND HEADS and tiny bodies make the Powerpuff Girls instantly identifiable to their fans in America. The preteen karate superheroes star in one of the top-rated shows on cable's Cartoon Network.
圓圓的腦袋、豆芽菜般的嬌小身材──美國動畫劇《飛天小女警》(Powerpuff Girls)中三個小主角的這般形像，“粉絲”們一眼就能認出來。這三個十歲左右卻會操空手道的小丫頭是卡通電視網(Cartoon Network)熱播節目中的明星。
Last year, though, the 'Powerpuff Girls' showed up in Japan with a whole new look. On 'Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z,' the heroines have grown up, sprouted long legs and wear skirts well above their knees. In the original American story line, the girls were created of sugar, spice and everything nice; their Japanese counterparts are normal girls who acquire super powers from a chemical reaction initiated by a rice cake.
去年《飛天小女警》在日本播出時，她們的形像卻發生了翻天覆地的變化。在名為《飛天小女警Z》(Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z)的新版動畫中，三個小女孩不但長大了，腿變長了，還穿上了超短裙。在美國版的故事中，三個女孩是用糖、香料等好東西創造出來的。而在日本版中，女孩們卻是因食用年糕產生的化學作用而擁有了超能力。
Once, American entertainment companies exporting characters just dubbed them into other languages. But in recent years, Asia has become the testing ground for character reinvention, a process called 'transcreation.'
border=0過去，美國娛樂業在對外輸出卡通角色時僅僅是配上外語。但近年來，亞洲成為他們重新包裝設計形像、進行“翻創”(transcreation)的試驗田。
The idea is to help characters designed with one audience in mind to really resonate in another culture. 'Japanese kids can more easily identify with characters they can relate to,' says Yoshiya Ayugai, a producer for Time Warner Inc.'s Cartoon Network Productions Japan, who helped re-create the Powerpuff Girls.
此舉是為了讓原來針對某一觀眾群設計的角色形像能在其他文化環境下產生共鳴。時代華納公司(Time Warner Inc.)旗下卡通電視網亞洲制作部的制作人Yoshiya Ayugai表示，日本的小孩更易于認同與自己有關聯的角色。Yoshiya Ayugai曾參與重新設計《飛天小女警》的角色形像。
Marvel Entertainment Inc. and Gotham Entertainment introduced a transcreated 'Spider-Man' to the Indian market in 2004, although the original had been familiar there for a long time. There, Spidey's alter ego, Peter Parker, is known as Pavitr Prabhakar. Spidey gains his powers from a mysterious yogi rather than a radioactive spider. When fighting crime, he sports a traditional loincloth.
Marvel Entertainment Inc.和Gotham Entertainment曾在2004年針對印度市場對《蜘蛛俠》(Spider-Man)形像進行翻創，盡管原形像已深入人心。在印度版《蜘蛛俠》中，主人翁的名字由彼得•帕克(Peter Parker)改成了帕維特•普拉哈卡(Pavitr Prabhakar)。而他超人力量的源泉，也從放射性的蜘蛛變成了神秘的瑜珈。并且其變身蜘蛛俠與邪惡勢力戰斗的造型中還穿上了印度的傳統服裝“斗提褲”。
Spidey also inspired one of the region's first transcreations. In 1978, the Japanese media company Toei Co. turned Peter Parker into a racing champion named Yamashiro Takuya, who wears a bracelet that gives him the powers of a spider. His alter ego, 'Supaidah Man,' controls a giant transforming robot to battle an enemy named Professor Monster.
蜘蛛俠也是亞洲地區最早一宗翻創案例的主角。1978年，日本東映公司(Toei Co.)曾將彼得•帕克改變成擁有蜘蛛超能力的賽車冠軍西谷拓也(Yamashiro Takuya)。而東映版蜘蛛俠的超能來自一只手鐲，故事中他操縱著一部能變形的機器人與怪獸教授(Professor Monster)率領的邪惡勢力作戰。
Sesame Street didn't arrive in India until the summer of 2006, as 'Gali Gali Sim Sim,' and introduced Boombah, an aristocratic lion fond of bhangra, a style of dancing seen in Bollywood films. Walt Disney Co. has had a hit in China with its 'Cuties' line of Mickey Mouse and friends featuring tiny eyes, button noses and the almost-not-there mouths of Japan's Hello Kitty. Sometimes the cutie Minnie even carries a cellphone. Disney came up with the design six years ago in Japan, and now it is a top seller among preteens in China who didn't grow up with the original Mickey.
《芝麻街》(Sesame Street)2006年夏季才登陸印度，名字變為《加利加利西姆西姆》(Gali Gali Sim Sim)，并新加入了一只喜歡跳邦拉舞的獅子布恩巴(Boombah)。邦拉舞是印度寶萊塢電影中常見的一種舞蹈。華特-迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Co.)在中國推出了米老鼠系列卡通人物的“Cutie”版造型，帶有與日本Kitty貓造型相似的小眼睛、紐扣鼻和小得幾乎見不到的嘴巴。有時候 Cutie版的米妮(Minnie)造型甚至拿著部手機。此系列造型是6年前在日本設計的，如今已經成為中國最暢銷的少兒用品系列。
Adults like Sarah Chen, a 23-year-old graduate student in Shanghai, like them, too. 'They are so cute and sweet, just like a little baby,' says Ms. Chen, who first discovered the Disney cuties online and eventually purchased a sweater with the modified Mickey Mouse on it.
就連成年人也喜歡Cutie版的米老鼠，比如在上海念研究生的Sarah Chen。今年23歲的她第一次在網上發現迪士尼的cutie造型時驚嘆道：“這些造型這么可愛，就像小寶寶一樣”。最后還買下一件帶有Cutie版米老鼠造型的運動衫。
Most media companies acknowledge the need to localize their fare. While there is still a global audience for 'Tom and Jerry' reruns and Hollywood blockbusters, American imports don't top the TV ratings in most non-English-speaking markets. Transcreation nods to that need for local relevance.
大多數媒體公司都認為，有必要對產品進行本土化設計。雖然重播的《貓和老鼠》(Tom and Jerry)及好萊塢其他暢銷動畫片在國際上仍有市場，但美國卡通在大多數非英語市場的電視節目中都拿不到最好的成績。適當的本土化改造仍有必要。
'There are very few things that work everywhere,' says Orion Ross, a vice president of creative at Time Warner's Turner Networks in Asia. 'Places with strong national identities, like Japan and India, need adaptation and change,' he says.
時代華納旗下特納電視網(Turner Networks)亞洲副總裁奧里恩•羅斯(Orion Ross)表示，放之四海而皆準的東西是很少見的。在如日本和印度之類有強烈國家認同感的地區，就有必要進行改編和調整。
For some time-tested characters, change doesn't come easily. Disney tweaked Mickey into 'Cutie' form but still insists that only Western women can play Cinderella and Snow White at Tokyo and Hong Kong Disneylands. A Disney spokeswoman says, 'These performers bring the animated roles to life and are therefore cast to most closely resemble the on-screen characters. . . . It's about remaining true to the original animated feature.'
對于一些已深入人心的角色造型，想改變它并不容易。雖然迪士尼讓米老鼠Cutie化，但仍然堅持香港迪士尼樂園中灰姑娘和白雪公主角色必須由西方女性扮演。該公司某位發言人對此解釋稱，這些角色的扮演者賦予了動畫形像以生命，因此必須與屏幕上的形像最為接近......這涉及到忠實于原造型的問題。
The family of 'Peanuts' creator Charles M. Schulz, who died in 2000, forbids any changes to his comic strip. 'There is no adapting Peanuts,' says a spokeswoman for United Media, the New York company that distributes the feature to newspapers around the world.
像2000 年逝世的《花生》(Peanuts)漫畫作者查爾斯•M•舒茲(Charles M. Schulz)就禁止對他筆下的角色（著名卡通形像史奴比(Snoopy)就是《花生》漫畫的主角之一）作任何改動。擁有《花生》漫畫造型版權的 United Media Ltd.發言人表示，不會有改版的《花生》出現
Sometimes, though, changes slip in under the radar. The Times of India printed the Peanuts strip with the dog Snoopy painted brown. After The Wall Street Journal asked about that, a United Media spokeswoman said it was a 'coloring error' that would be corrected. Now, Snoopy is white in the Indian newspaper.
有時候，改動是不易察覺的。在《印度時報》(Times of India)上刊登的《花生》漫畫中，史奴比就曾經是灰色的。當《華爾街日報》記者就此事詢問United Media發言人時，他稱此乃“配色錯誤”，應該會糾正過來?，F在這份印度報紙上的史奴比已恢復成了白色。
