经济学人148:韩国动画 企鹅和政治

 　　Business Korean animation¹ Of penguins³ and politics

　　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。

1 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

2 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

3 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

7 benighted   

adj.蒙昧的

参考例句：

• Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened,heed only one side and you will be benighted.兼听则明，偏信则暗。
• Famine hit that benighted country once more.饥荒再次席卷了那个蒙昧的国家。

8 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

11 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

12 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

13 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句

14 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

15 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

16 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。