美国国家公共电台 NPR Careful With Those Birthday Candles, Smokey: Beloved Bear Turns 75

Careful With Those Birthday Candles, Smokey: Beloved Bear Turns 75

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to switch gears now and celebrate an American icon¹ named Smokey Bear. The Forest Service's symbol of fire prevention turns 75 today. Smokey's the longest-running public service ad campaign. And while he has proved a pretty popular bear across the generations, some are concerned he has done his job too well.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMOKEY THE BEAR")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Smokey the bear. Smokey the bear...

JACKSON WEAVER³: (As Smokey Bear) Hello there, folks. This is Smokey, the forest fire-preventin' bear...

BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE⁴: Smokey Bear first appeared on a poster on this date in 1944, but his roots go back a little earlier. In 1942, a Japanese sub attacked an oil field in Southern California. It was the only Japanese attack on the US mainland. Next to the oilfield was the Los Alamos National Forest, and officials worried about the effect on the war effort if the forest itself had been attacked [see POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION below]. So the War Advertising⁵ Council developed a campaign, says Wendy Melillo, an American University professor who has written about Smokey.

WENDY MELILLO: The original posters were quite scary in nature. So they had the face of a Japanese soldier with a lighted match and a menacing grin and a slogan that said, careless matches aid the Axis⁶.

NAYLOR: When the war ended, the Forest Service needed a new way of conveying the danger of forest fires. At first, they used posters with Bambi, but Disney controlled that character. So Melillo says the Ad Council hired artist Albert Staehle, who brought us Smokey.

MELILLO: The Forest Service wanted, you know, something strong - right? - to protect our national forests. But it wanted it animated⁷ to be appealing, you know, to children and families. And so the first Smokey is a really sweet-looking bear with a pair of jeans on. And he's holding a bucket of water, and he's pouring it over the campfire.

NAYLOR: Melillo says the image of Smokey has evolved over time.

MELILLO: The bear gradually adopts a forest ranger⁸ hat. We eventually see the shovel⁹ coming in. And there is an image of classic Smokey that has endured throughout the campaign.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WEAVER: (As Smokey Bear) How about joining us on a little visit to a big star? Today it's a wonderful friend of mine, Roy Rogers. And here he comes now.

NAYLOR: In the '50s, the Forest Service and the Ad Council began producing public service announcements to run on radio stations.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROY ROGERS: (As himself) Welcome to the ranch¹⁰, Smokey. Seems to me that the last time we got together was at Madison Square Garden...

NAYLOR: And a short film featuring the character Hopalong Cassidy told the story of a real-life bear cub¹¹ who survived a New Mexico forest fire and was flown to Washington, where he took residence at the National Zoo, and who was named - what else? - Smokey.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LITTLE SMOKEY: THE TRUE STORY OF AMERICA'S FOREST FIRE PREVENTIN' BEAR")

WILLIAM BOYD: (As Hopalong Cassidy) On the first sunny day, little Smokey was presented to the National Zoo in Washington and became a living symbol of forest fire prevention. The kids went for the whole idea like a bear goes for honey, and little Smokey seemed to like the new setup too.

NAYLOR: The Smokey campaign continued to change with the times. Melillo says Smokey was given his own ZIP Code in the '60s.

MELILLO: So mail would start pouring in to Smokey. And you'd also see the occasional pot of honey would be sent through the (laughter) mail to Smokey.

JENNIFER BALCH: We still need fire in our landscapes.

NAYLOR: That's Jennifer Balch, a professor at the University of Colorado. The number of forest fires since the Smokey campaign began has declined. But in recent years, they've gotten larger and more destructive. And scientists talk about the Smokey Bear effect, the belief that all fires are bad. Balch says that's just not the case.

BALCH: And this is incredibly important. And it's very hard to understand because we, in part because of Smokey, think that, you know, all fire is bad, and we must remove fire from the landscape, whereas that's actually not what we should be doing.

NAYLOR: Balch says because there have been fewer fires, more fuel has built up, which, combined with climate change and more people living near what were previously¹² wilderness¹³ areas, has led to more intense and devastating¹⁴ fires, such as the one that destroyed the town of Paradise, Calif., last November.

Smokey's tagline was revised to, only you can prevent wildfires in 2001. And the campaign continues. Smokey has a website and Twitter and Instagram accounts and new TV spots featuring a talking emoji-style Smokey.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STEPHEN COLBERT: (As Smokey Colbear) Hi. I'm your host, Smokey Colbear (ph), filling in for Smokey, because after 75 years of...

WEAVER: (As Smokey Bear) Only you can prevent wildfires.

COLBERT: (As Smokey Colbear) ...Turns out there's much more to say...

NAYLOR: And who's to say the fire-preventin' bear won't be around for another 75 years?

Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF GENE² AUTRY'S "SMOKEY THE BEAR")

GENE AUTRY: (Singing) Smokey the bear...

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Smokey the bear...

[POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: The broadcast version of this story incorrectly stated that the 1942 attack on an oil field in Southern California was the only Japanese attack on the mainland in World War II. It was not the only attack. The reference has been corrected in the audio available online. Additionally, in the audio the Los Padres National Forest is incorrectly referred to as Los Alamos National Forest.]

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

3 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

4 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。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

7 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。

8 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

9 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

10 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

11 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

12 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

13 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

14 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。