美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Elena Of Avalor' Takes The Throne As Disney's First Latina Princess

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: 

This year, Disney premiered its first Latina princess.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ELENA OF AVALOR THEME SONG")

GABY MORENO: (Singing) Elena, Elena of Avalor.

SIEGEL: Elena of Avalor sings and plays guitar. She goes on adventures and rules her kingdom. And she has her own highly rated animated¹ TV show on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior. NPR's Mandalit del Barco has her story.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ELENA OF AVALOR THEME SONG")

MORENO: (Singing) In a kingdom old and grand, a princess bravely rules the land.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE²: Elena Castillo Flores is a 16-year-old crown princess who was trapped in an amulet³ for 41 years, so technically⁴ she's 57, which would make her one of Disney's oldest princesses. At any rate, her backstory begins when another animated Disney princess, Sofia the First, sets her free. Elena confronts the evil sorceress Shuriki, voiced by Jane Fonda, who killed her parents, imprisoned⁵ her in that amulet and took over the kingdom.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELENA AND THE SECRET OF AVALOR")

JANE FONDA: (As Shuriki) Princess Elena...

AIMEE CARRERO: (As Princess Elena) The time has come to pay for your crimes.

TRAVIS WILLINGHAM: (As King Roland II) Crimes - what crimes?

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena) Shuriki invaded Avalor and overthrew⁶ the royal family - my family.

DEL BARCO: Elena drives Shuriki out and begins her reign⁷ over Avalor. Aimee Carrero, a Dominican-Puerto Rican actress, is the voice of Elena.

CARRERO: She is the first princess actively⁸ ruling her kingdom. And I think that's new. So she has a day job. You know, there's no Prince Charming. She's her own hero. She's learning that leadership is about sacrifice and not about this sort of totalitarian control over the people that she rules and sort of resembles more of a president than, you know, princess. There's never been a better time to tell this story.

DEL BARCO: Since Elena didn't age inside the amulet, she's still a teenager who tries to convince her grandfather she's responsible enough to rule.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ELENA OF AVALOR")

EMILIANO DIEZ: (As Francisco, singing) One day, you'll be ready.

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena, singing) I am already ready.

DIEZ: (As Francisco, singing) You almost are ready.

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena, singing) I'll show you.

SILVIA OLIVAS: I've been waiting for a Disney Latina princess since I was a little girl.

DEL BARCO: Silvia Olivas is co-producer and head writer of "Elena of Avalor."

OLIVAS: I asked the same thing. Why did it take so long? But I'm happy that we're here now. I think about when I was a little girl, what I wanted to see. And now that I'm a mom, it's so important to me to make sure we get Elena right.

DEL BARCO: That meant having a brown-skinned Elena but also characters of many hues⁹ to reflect the diversity of Latinos. The show was inspired by Latin American traditions and folklore¹⁰, says executive producer Craig Gerber, who created Elena.

CRAIG GERBER: She'll travel into the jungle to save her sister who's been kidnapped by, you know, these shapeshifting creatures. Or she'll try to deal with this volcano monster, and every time he gets angry, the volcano erupts, you know? And she's going to eventually travel to the magical realm that the jaquins come from. These are the flying jaguars¹¹. And the sport that they play in Avalor is based on the ancient Meso-American ballgame.

DEL BARCO: One episode celebrates Brazilian-style carnival¹² - another, Mexican-style Day of the Dead. The latest episode about Navidad - Christmas - includes a Puerto Rican-style parranda, or caroling. The show's music also draws from different Latin American genres¹³ like merengue, salsa, bossa nova, banda. While Aimee Carrero sings most of Elena's tunes¹⁴, it's Grammy-nominated Gaby Moreno who sings her catchy¹⁵ theme song.

MORENO: Indirectly¹⁶ you are sort of teaching everybody about who we are. And I think that's a wonderful thing I think to have a better understanding of a culture. That creates empathy, and that is so badly needed nowadays.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As Princess Elena, singing) This is my time.

DEL BARCO: At Disney's California Adventure theme park in Anaheim, Princess Elena already has her own parade. Among her fans are 7-year-old Lauren Stenger, Grace Elena Enriquiez and sisters Milani and Jay Tibayan.

LAUREN STENGER: I like that she's brave and she likes to go on adventures.

GRACE ELENA ENRIQUEZ: She loves to help her friends.

MILANI TIBAYAN: She's fierce because she's a great ruler.

JAY TIBAYAN: The stories are telling that girls can do anything.

DEL BARCO: At the parade, Dora Vilanova says Elena is a great role model for her 4-year-old brunette daughter Liana.

DORA VILANOVA: The other day, she was talking about the princesses with blond hair, and she said, Mommy, the villains¹⁷ have darker hair color. And now she says that Elena looks like her. And she has, like, the same hair color that she does. That was sweet. She looks up to her.

DEL BARCO: The new Latina princess is on TV every day. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELENA AND THE SECRET OF AVALOR")

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena, singing) Now off I must fly to the palace once more to win back the freedom of all Avalor. I've spent my whole life waiting just for this day, and nothing will get in my way. This is my time. I have a...

1 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 amulet   

n.护身符

参考例句：

• We're down here investigating a stolen amulet.我们来到这里调查一个失窃的护身符。
• This amulet is exclusively made by Father Sum Lee.这个护身符是沙姆.李长老特制的。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

6 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

7 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

9 hues   

色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点

参考例句：

• When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出，更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
• Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方，枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。

10 folklore   

n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.在中国的民间传说中蝙蝠是好运的象征。

11 jaguars   

n.（中、南美洲的）美洲虎( jaguar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jaguars are largely nocturnal creatures. 美洲虎基本上是夜行动物。 来自辞典例句
• Jaguars (Panthera onca) once ranged from southern South America to theUnited States. 美洲虎曾经分布在北美洲南部和美洲南部。 来自互联网

12 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

13 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

14 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 catchy   

adj.易记住的，诡诈的，易使人上当的

参考例句：

• We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号，旧的不够吸引人。
• The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。

16 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

17 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》