時尚雙語:美國卡通 亞洲翻創

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。在名爲《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，亞洲成爲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.

此舉是爲了讓原來針對某一觀衆羣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製作部的製作人Yoshiya Ayugai表示，日本的小孩更易於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，儘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祕的瑜珈。並且其變身蜘蛛俠與邪惡勢力戰鬥的造型中還穿上了印度的傳統服裝“鬥提褲”。

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隻手鐲，故事中他操縱着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，名字變爲《加利加利西姆西姆》(Gali Gali Sim Sim)，並新加入了一隻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、鈕釦鼻和小得幾乎見不到的嘴巴。有時候 Cutie版的米妮(Minnie)造型甚至拿着部手機。此係列造型是6年前在日本設計的，如今已經成爲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造型時驚歎道：“這些造型這麼可愛，就像小寶寶一樣”。最後還買下一件帶有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爲，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)亞洲副總裁奧裏恩•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.'

對於一些已深入人心的角色造型，想改變它並不容易。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爲接近......這涉及到忠實於原造型的問題。

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。現在這份印度報紙上的史奴比已恢復成了白色。

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《新德里時報》(Times in New Delhi)的高級配色師拉坦•巴魯(Ratan Barua)卻稱，將史奴比改成灰色是他的主意。他表示，他覺得史奴比該是灰色的。雖然他按照出版商的要求爲史奴比塗上了白色，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.

外來的角色偶爾也有成功的時候。例如當維亞康姆(Viacom Inc.)旗下的Nickelodeon電視頻道準備在日本推出海綿寶寶(SpongeBob SquarePants)時，市場研究認爲這是註定要失敗的。因爲據信日本的觀衆喜歡外表溫暖舒服的造型，這是一種日本人稱爲“愈”(iyashi)的概念。根據這個概念設計的造型，通常是圓形的、沒有嘴巴，眼睛也要小。此概念誕生於九十年代的日本，在經濟長期低迷、老百姓對未來既渴望又迷茫的環境下逐漸流行起來。

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.

而回過頭來看看海綿寶寶的造型：方形的身體、巨大的嘴巴和門牙，還有那大眼睛以及有點討人厭的性格。這些都與“愈”的概念相左。但觀衆們並不在乎這些，節目一經推出就有兩百萬家庭每天收看。海綿寶寶取得成功的原因之一在於，它生活在一個沒有人類、也沒有明顯的文化參照的海底世界。Nickelodeon旗下Kids and Family Group總裁西馬•扎哈米(Cyma Zarghami)表示，海綿寶寶身上帶有的“美國”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•麥克科拉肯(Craig McCracken)製作《飛天小女警》時，特意賦予了他認爲帶有“日本色彩”的造型。但當2001年節目開始在日本播放時，並未吸引到大量觀衆。因此卡通電視網決定針對日本重新設計造型，並且得到麥克科拉肯的贊同。

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.

在翻創過程中，布羅鬆(Blossom)、巴特卡普(Buttercup)和巴布斯(Bubbles)三個小女孩都有了新的日本名字，年齡設定也變成了日本高中生。鑑於日本小孩喜歡模仿心儀角色的穿着，因此新版角色的穿戴更現實化，不但穿上了迷你裙，還配了背心和緊身腰帶。

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.

參與角色重設計的東映公司保留了小女孩利用超能力與罪犯戰鬥的情節。爲了能更長久地吸引日本兒童觀衆，製作組加入了更多本土化的劇情，並將每集動畫的播放時間由7至11分鐘延長到15至20分鐘。此外，製作組還賦予這部動畫一個在日本很普遍的主題：接受與自己不一樣的人。

'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.

參與協助製作該動畫的東映公司製作人Hiromi Seki表示，任何與自己不同的異類都會被視爲怪物。但只要改變這種態度，他們就能成爲朋友。在日本，這是一個有重要意義的信息。在這個國家，孩子們中間要求一致化的壓力非常大。

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，一個惡魔威脅要讓富士山噴發，將東京葬送在火海中，並以此改變全球氣候。而在另一集中，一位傷心的歌舞伎演員變成了怪獸並大肆進行破壞。

'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稱，少女戀愛的主題在日本是必有的。當《飛天小女警Z》一年前在日本播放後，卡通電視頻道的管理層很快就認識到，經過修改的劇情和更苗條的角色造型不但吸引了年輕女孩，喜歡該動畫原造型的“御宅族”也加入了進來。

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.

接下來，與新版《飛天小女警》有關的消費品，如書籤、限量發行的DVD和麪向Hironobu Kamata這樣的動畫觀衆的流行音樂等陸續推出。今年42歲的Hironobu Kamata是東京一家版權機構的經理，他每週六早上都要收看《飛天小女警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.

他最喜歡的角色是豪德寺都(Miyako Goutokuji)，即美國版中的金髮女孩巴布斯。Hironobu Kamata稱，我喜歡所有的角色，她們都這麼可愛。