時尚雙語:“藍精靈”喜迎50歲生日！

“藍精靈”喜迎50歲生日！

The little blue cartoon Smurfs are planning to celebrate their 50th birthday this year with a new TV series, books and a film, their human promoters said Monday.

Throughout 2008, 20 European cities will be flooded by the minute characters only "three apples high" as in the cartoons.

The Belgium cartoonist Pierre Culliford, best known by his pen name, "Peyo," first introduced the tiny blue figures in a comic strip in October 1958. He called them Schtroumpf and they became known worldwide as the Smurfs.

"The invasion will begin on January 20 and end in October," said Hendrick Coysman, head of the Belgian-based IMPS group which holds the rights to the cartoon characters and is controlled by Peyo's widow Nine and children Veronique and Thierry Culliford.

The sale of tens of thousands of small figurines will benefit the United Nations Children's fund, Coysman said.

A much larger Smurf statue, decorated by an unnamed celebrity, will be auctioned off on October 23, the 50th birthday date, with the proceeds also going to the UN's children's fund.

The Smurfs are also to head back to the big screen with a co-production with the US Paramount film group, Coysman said.

In an apparent nod to gender parity, new female characters will also be introduced to the Smurf village to help out Schtroumpfette, the only female.

The cartoonist Peyo died in 1992 at age 64. Since then, his family and collaborators have continued his work "in the same spirit of humour and creativity," IMPS said in a statement.

Since their humble origins in the Belgian children's comic-strip magazine Spirou, the Smurfs have sold 25 million cartoon albums worldwide in 25 languages.

A testament of their enduring popularity: One million Smurf DVDs were sold last year alone, Coysman said.

　卡通人物“藍精靈”今年50歲啦！據主辦方本週一介紹，爲了給這羣藍色的小精靈“祝壽”，以“藍精靈”爲主題的系列新版動畫片、圖書和電影將與觀衆見面。

據介紹，慶祝活動將持續今年一年，歐洲20個城市將遭到“藍精靈”的“突襲”，這些小精靈和漫畫中一樣，只有“三個蘋果”高。

1958年10月，比利時漫畫家皮埃爾•庫利福德（筆名：皮尤）創造的“藍精靈”卡通形象首次出現在連環漫畫中，他給這羣小精靈起名爲“Schtroumpf”，也就是後來享譽全球的Smurfs（“藍精靈”）。

比利時IMPS集團總裁亨德里克•考伊斯曼說：“藍精靈‘突襲’活動將於本月20日啓動，10月份結束。” 擁有“藍精靈”版權的 IMPS集團由皮尤的遺孀奈茵和他的兩個孩子弗洛尼克和希裏•庫利福德掌控。

考伊斯曼說，數萬只“藍精靈”的銷售收入將捐給聯合國兒童基金會。

由一位神祕人物精心裝扮的一個“藍精靈”巨人將於10月23日——“藍精靈”50歲生日當天公開拍賣，拍賣所得將捐給聯合國兒童基金會。

據考伊斯曼介紹，“藍精靈”還將被“派拉蒙”影視公司搬上大熒幕。

爲了體現性別平等，“藍精靈”村還將迎來一批女性新成員，家族中唯一的女性成員“藍妹妹”再不會孤單了。

“藍精靈”的創造者皮尤於1992年去世，享年64歲。IMPS集團在一份聲明中說，皮尤去世後，他的家人和合作方秉承了他“幽默與勇於創造”的精神，繼續他的事業。

當年“藍精靈”首次登上比利時《斯皮魯》兒童漫畫雜誌時還是羣不起眼的“小傢伙”，但自它們面世以來，《藍精靈》動畫片在全球的銷量達到2500萬張，並以25種語言發行。

考伊斯曼說，《藍精靈》DVD僅去年一年的銷量就達到了100萬，這足以證明“藍精靈”的長久生命力。