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.

圆圆的脑袋、豆芽菜般的娇小身材──美国动画剧《飞天小女警》(Powerpuff Girls)中三个小主角的这般形像，“粉丝”们一眼就能认出来。这三个十岁左右却会操空手道的小丫头是卡通电视网(Cartoon Network)热播节目中的明星。

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《飞天小女警》在日本播出时，她们的形像却发生了翻天覆地的变化。在名为《飞天小女警Z》(Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z)的新版动画中，三个小女孩不但长大了，腿变长了，还穿上了超短裙。在美国版的故事中，三个女孩是用糖、香料等好东西创造出来的。而在日本版中，女孩们却是因食用年糕产生的化学作用而拥有了超能力。

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过去，美国娱乐业在对外输出卡通角色时仅仅是配上外语。但近年来，亚洲成为他们重新包装设计形像、进行“翻创”(transcreation)的试验田。

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.

此举是为了让原来针对某一观众群设计的角色形像能在其他文化环境下产生共鸣。时代华纳公司(Time Warner Inc.)旗下卡通电视网亚洲制作部的制作人Yoshiya Ayugai表示，日本的小孩更易于认同与自己有关联的角色。Yoshiya Ayugai曾参与重新设计《飞天小女警》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年针对印度市场对《蜘蛛侠》(Spider-Man)形像进行翻创，尽管原形像已深入人心。在印度版《蜘蛛侠》中，主人翁的名字由彼得•帕克(Peter Parker)改成了帕维特•普拉哈卡(Pavitr Prabhakar)。而他超人力量的源泉，也从放射性的蜘蛛变成了神秘的瑜珈。并且其变身蜘蛛侠与邪恶势力战斗的造型中还穿上了印度的传统服装“斗提裤”。

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.

蜘蛛侠也是亚洲地区最早一宗翻创案例的主角。1978年，日本东映公司(Toei Co.)曾将彼得•帕克改变成拥有蜘蛛超能力的赛车冠军西谷拓也(Yamashiro Takuya)。而东映版蜘蛛侠的超能来自一只手镯，故事中他操纵着一部能变形的机器人与怪兽教授(Professor Monster)率领的邪恶势力作战。

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年夏季才登陆印度，名字变为《加利加利西姆西姆》(Gali Gali Sim Sim)，并新加入了一只喜欢跳邦拉舞的狮子布恩巴(Boombah)。邦拉舞是印度宝莱坞电影中常见的一种舞蹈。华特-迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Co.)在中国推出了米老鼠系列卡通人物的“Cutie”版造型，带有与日本Kitty猫造型相似的小眼睛、纽扣鼻和小得几乎见不到的嘴巴。有时候 Cutie版的米妮(Minnie)造型甚至拿着部手机。此系列造型是6年前在日本设计的，如今已经成为中国最畅销的少儿用品系列。

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.

就连成年人也喜欢Cutie版的米老鼠，比如在上海念研究生的Sarah Chen。今年23岁的她第一次在网上发现迪士尼的cutie造型时惊叹道：“这些造型这么可爱，就像小宝宝一样”。最后还买下一件带有Cutie版米老鼠造型的运动衫。

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.

大多数媒体公司都认为，有必要对产品进行本土化设计。虽然重播的《猫和老鼠》(Tom and Jerry)及好莱坞其他畅销动画片在国际上仍有市场，但美国卡通在大多数非英语市场的电视节目中都拿不到最好的成绩。适当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.

时代华纳旗下特纳电视网(Turner Networks)亚洲副总裁奥里恩•罗斯(Orion Ross)表示，放之四海而皆准的东西是很少见的。在如日本和印度之类有强烈国家认同感的地区，就有必要进行改编和调整。

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.'

对于一些已深入人心的角色造型，想改变它并不容易。虽然迪士尼让米老鼠Cutie化，但仍然坚持香港迪士尼乐园中灰姑娘和白雪公主角色必须由西方女性扮演。该公司某位发言人对此解释称，这些角色的扮演者赋予了动画形像以生命，因此必须与屏幕上的形像最为接近......这涉及到忠实于原造型的问题。

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)漫画作者查尔斯•M•舒兹(Charles M. Schulz)就禁止对他笔下的角色（著名卡通形像史奴比(Snoopy)就是《花生》漫画的主角之一）作任何改动。拥有《花生》漫画造型版权的 United Media Ltd.发言人表示，不会有改版的《花生》出现

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.

有时候，改动是不易察觉的。在《印度时报》(Times of India)上刊登的《花生》漫画中，史奴比就曾经是灰色的。当《华尔街日报》记者就此事询问United Media发言人时，他称此乃“配色错误”，应该会纠正过来。现在这份印度报纸上的史奴比已恢复成了白色。

Ratan Barua, senior cartoon colorist for the Times in New Delhi, says coloring Snoopy brown was his idea. 'I thought he should be brown,' he says. While he has complied with the distributor's request to adhere to white, he says the result is 'not very good.'

而《新德里时报》(Times in New Delhi)的高级配色师拉坦•巴鲁(Ratan Barua)却称，将史奴比改成灰色是他的主意。他表示，他觉得史奴比该是灰色的。虽然他按照出版商的要求为史奴比涂上了白色，但他表示，效果“不是很好”。

Characters occasionally thrive despite their foreignness. When Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon looked into bringing SpongeBob SquarePants to Japan, market research said the show was bound to flop. Japanese viewers were believed to favor characters whose appearance exudes warmth and comfort, a concept known in Japanese as iyashi. Iyashi characters -- typically round, with no mouth and small eyes -- rose to prominence in Japan during the long-running economic slump that began in the early 1990s, when people were anxious and uncertain about the future.

外来的角色偶尔也有成功的时候。例如当维亚康姆(Viacom Inc.)旗下的Nickelodeon电视频道准备在日本推出海绵宝宝(SpongeBob SquarePants)时，市场研究认为这是注定要失败的。因为据信日本的观众喜欢外表温暖舒服的造型，这是一种日本人称为“愈”(iyashi)的概念。根据这个概念设计的造型，通常是圆形的、没有嘴巴，眼睛也要小。此概念诞生于九十年代的日本，在经济长期低迷、老百姓对未来既渴望又迷茫的环境下逐渐流行起来。

SpongeBob, with his square body, huge mouth, buckteeth, big bug eyes and somewhat annoying personality, was the antithesis of iyashi. But viewers didn't mind: Nearly two million households soon tuned into the show every day. One thing that may have helped is that SpongeBob lives in an undersea world without humans and overt cultural references. 'There is very little about SpongeBob that is 'American,'' says Cyma Zarghami, president of the Nickelodeon MTV Networks Kids and Family Group.

而回过头来看看海绵宝宝的造型：方形的身体、巨大的嘴巴和门牙，还有那大眼睛以及有点讨人厌的性格。这些都与“愈”的概念相左。但观众们并不在乎这些，节目一经推出就有两百万家庭每天收看。海绵宝宝取得成功的原因之一在于，它生活在一个没有人类、也没有明显的文化参照的海底世界。Nickelodeon旗下Kids and Family Group总裁西马•扎哈米(Cyma Zarghami)表示，海绵宝宝身上带有的“美国”色彩非常少。

When Craig McCracken created the Powerpuff Girls show, he deliberately gave it what he thought was a 'Japanese look.' But when the show first aired in Japan in 2001, it failed to attract a wide audience. So Cartoon Network decided to reinvent the characters to boost its appeal in Japan, an idea Mr. McCracken welcomed.

克雷格•麦克科拉肯(Craig McCracken)制作《飞天小女警》时，特意赋予了他认为带有“日本色彩”的造型。但当2001年节目开始在日本播放时，并未吸引到大量观众。因此卡通电视网决定针对日本重新设计造型，并且得到麦克科拉肯的赞同。

In their transcreation, Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles got Japanese names and the lives of typical Japanese junior-high-school students. Since Japanese kids like to dress up like their favorite characters, the girls got more realistic outfits, with miniskirts, matching vests and hip-hugging belts.

在翻创过程中，布罗松(Blossom)、巴特卡普(Buttercup)和巴布斯(Bubbles)三个小女孩都有了新的日本名字，年龄设定也变成了日本高中生。鉴于日本小孩喜欢模仿心仪角色的穿着，因此新版角色的穿戴更现实化，不但穿上了迷你裙，还配了背心和紧身腰带。

Toei, the Japanese animation house brought in to help rework the characters, kept the original Powerpuff premise of crime-fighting girls with superhuman powers. To appeal to a preference among Japanese kids for longer, more dramatic plots, it made the seven-to-11 minute shows 15 to 20 minutes long. It also gave them a common Japanese theme: accepting people who are different.

参与角色重设计的东映公司保留了小女孩利用超能力与罪犯战斗的情节。为了能更长久地吸引日本儿童观众，制作组加入了更多本土化的剧情，并将每集动画的播放时间由7至11分钟延长到15至20分钟。此外，制作组还赋予这部动画一个在日本很普遍的主题：接受与自己不一样的人。

'Monsters can be anyone who is different from us. If we change our attitude, they can become our friends,' says Hiromi Seki, a producer at Toei who helped create the show. That is a particularly relevant message in Japan, where the pressures among children to conform are very intense.

参与协助制作该动画的东映公司制作人Hiromi Seki表示，任何与自己不同的异类都会被视为怪物。但只要改变这种态度，他们就能成为朋友。在日本，这是一个有重要意义的信息。在这个国家，孩子们中间要求一致化的压力非常大。

In one episode, an evil character threatens to bring about an eruption of Mount Fuji that would make Tokyo unbearably hot and spark global climate change. In another episode, a heartbroken performer of traditional kabuki theater turns into a monster and wreaks havoc on his community.

在其中一集，一个恶魔威胁要让富士山喷发，将东京葬送在火海中，并以此改变全球气候。而在另一集中，一位伤心的歌舞伎演员变成了怪兽并大肆进行破坏。

'In Japan, girly love themes are a must,' Ms. Seki says. When 'Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z' was launched in Japan a year ago, the executives at Cartoon Network soon realized that the revamped plots and skimpier outfits not only attracted young girls, but they also broadened the audience to include animation-obsessed adult men known in Japan as otaku, or geeks, who were also fans of the original.

Hiromi Seki称，少女恋爱的主题在日本是必有的。当《飞天小女警Z》一年前在日本播放后，卡通电视频道的管理层很快就认识到，经过修改的剧情和更苗条的角色造型不但吸引了年轻女孩，喜欢该动画原造型的“御宅族”也加入了进来。

So the network came out with special consumer goods like bookmarks, limited-edition DVDs and pop music targeted at viewers like Hironobu Kamata, a 42-year-old manager of a copyright office in Tokyo. Every Saturday morning, Mr. Kamata watches the Powerpuff Girls.

接下来，与新版《飞天小女警》有关的消费品，如书签、限量发行的DVD和面向Hironobu Kamata这样的动画观众的流行音乐等陆续推出。今年42岁的Hironobu Kamata是东京一家版权机构的经理，他每周六早上都要收看《飞天小女警Z》。

His favorite character is Miyako Goutokuji, the blond girl known as Bubbles in the U.S. 'I love it all! The characters are so cute,' says Mr. Kamata.

他最喜欢的角色是豪德寺都(Miyako Goutokuji)，即美国版中的金发女孩巴布斯。Hironobu Kamata称，我喜欢所有的角色，她们都这么可爱。