暌違半世紀(jì)，重返蘑菇村

“在那山的那邊海的那邊，有一群藍(lán)精靈。他們活潑又聰明，他們調(diào)皮又伶俐……”

每次提起藍(lán)精靈，Wendy的腦海里便會響起這個旋律，會不會是小時候練舞聽了太多遍的緣故？

作為70后和80后兩代人成長的“文化地標(biāo)”，藍(lán)精靈終于在這個10月迎來了50歲生日！慶祝活動早在2008年初便徐徐展開，動畫片隨后推出了DVD全集，明年還將上映3D電影版——這些藍(lán)色的小家伙果真要卷土重來了……

Even non-TV viewers couldn’t escape their influence on youth culture， vocabulary and joke-telling. The Smurfs took America by storm in the 80s with a cartoon series that won Emmys along with fans， as the little blue 1)imps laughed and played in their 2)idyllic mushroom village， always a 3)wee step ahead of the 4)villainous Gargamel.

Gargamel: Stop all that happiness out there! I said STOP IT， STOP IT， STOP IT!

It did stop in the early 90s， when the Smurfs’ human guardians decided the American market was getting 5)oversaturated. So they brought the Smurfs home to their Belgian birthplace.

The Smurfs began life in a comic strip created by Pierre Culliford， a Belgian cartoonist， 50 years ago. So are they having a mid-life crisis? 6)Au contraire! They’re planning a comeback.

But can they succeed? Unlike their 80s-era 7)forebears， kids these days can play 8)virtual tennis

and drive virtual race cars – even STEAL them – on their TVs. It’s hard to imagine them being

9)mesmerized by these 10)cutesy little creatures endlessly repairing their mushroom houses or picking flowers in the forest. But that’s not something that worries the man in charge of global marketing for the Smurfs， Hendrik Coysman.

Coysman: People like simple things because we’re living in such a complicated， confused world. It’s so 11)hectic. The Smurf village can be a good place to rest for a couple of minutes or hours.

Reaction to the relaunch may already be proving him right. And children like these youngsters in Berlin do indeed seem to be impressed with the simple life of the

creatures they know as “Schlumpfe.”

“The Smurfs build all sorts of things for themselves， bridges and things like that，” says 8-year-old Harun Sariustan.

“My favorite Smurf always has a pencil over his ear. He writes stories，” shares 9-year-old Marlene Hunger.

But there have been 12)detractors over the years. Some Americans just felt it was too sickeningly sweet. But the most frequent complaint has been about the male-female 13)ratio and 14)gender roles. Papa Smurf makes all the big decisions， while lovely Smurfette， the most 15)prominent of just three females， does little more than run around in high heels. Hendrik Coysman says the Smurfs’ world is getting a birthday makeover， acknowledging it needed one.

Coysman: If you look at our society， there has been a 16)dramatic change in the social and cultural environment， so we are thinking in that direction.

Most details of the changes are still secret， except for the fact that Smurfette will finally be getting some female company.

The Smurfs are also hoping to have an impact outside the mushroom village. They’ve teamed up with 17)UNICEF to raise money and awareness to help other little beings whose lives in the real world aren’t all so...well， smurfy.

即使是不看電視的人也躲不過它們對青少年文化、英語詞匯和笑話的影響。上世紀(jì)八十年代，藍(lán)精靈風(fēng)靡美國，其系列動畫虜獲了艾美獎和眾多粉絲的芳心；在故事中，這些藍(lán)色的小淘氣在充滿田園詩意的蘑菇村嘻笑玩耍，總能略勝邪惡的格格巫一籌。

格格巫：別在外頭歡天喜地的！我說停止、停止、快停止！

九十年代初，這股熱潮確實一度歸于沉寂。當(dāng)時，藍(lán)精靈的人類守護(hù)者認(rèn)為美國市場出現(xiàn)過度飽和的狀況。于是，他們將藍(lán)精靈帶回其誕生地——比利時。

50年前，藍(lán)精靈首次出現(xiàn)在比利時漫畫家皮埃爾·居里福德的連環(huán)漫畫中。那么，它們?nèi)缃裾媾R中年危機(jī)嗎？恰恰相反！它們準(zhǔn)備卷土重來！

但是，它們能取得成功嗎？現(xiàn)在的小孩可不像八十年代的前輩，他們可以通過電視機(jī)打虛擬網(wǎng)球，駕駛虛擬賽車——甚至虛擬“偷”車。很難想象他們會迷上這些總是在不停地修補(bǔ)蘑菇屋或者在森林里采花的忸怩小家伙。但藍(lán)精靈的全球市場營銷掌門人——亨德里克·科伊斯曼并不擔(dān)心這個

問題。