Global Frame 1차교정.docx
[Global Frame]
Representative Icons of Different Countries
by Kim Do-yeon, International Reporter, hana14@mju.ac.kr
In 2003, a national icon was born in Korea, ’Pororo,'
who gained the nickname 'President Mr. Po.’ Children stop crying if parents
turn on ’Pororo' programs, which created a new word, ’Pororo effect.' Like
this, the popularity of ’Pororo' is beyond just a simple character. ’Pororo' is
in Korea, but what are the national characters of other countries? We arranged a
list of praised iconic characters of different countries.
1. Korea: ’Pororo'
’Pororo' is an animation
consisting of different
stories of some animals who live in a snow village. The characters are a penguin,
a beaver, a dinosaur, a white bear, a humming bird, and a fox. The penguin,
’Pororo,' is a character that wears a pilot hat and goggles, which is a flightless
penguin's dream. While the popularity of ’Pororo' skyrocketed, it was natural
to see ’Pororo' characters displayed on school supplies, household items, taxis,
and more.
2. USA: ‘The Simpsons’
‘The Simpsons’ has
been loved by Americans for a long time and was chosen as Time magazine's best television
series. It was made by Matt Groening and first introduced on the FOX broadcasting
network in 1987. The hero of this animation is Homer, the man of the house and representative
of the working middle-class. Marge is Homer's wife and represents housewives.
Bart and Lisa are elementary students, and Maggy is a baby. It’s a typical
family structure that has a daily life similar to ours. The Simpsons appeals to
the public by delivering satirical messages and expressing American dark comedy
through their routines. It has been televised during peak-hours for the longest
time in American broadcast history and will soon televise its 28th
season.
3. Japan: Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty was
made by Sanrio, a Japanese design company, in 1974. At that time, Sanrio tried
to make a character that would overtake the American character 'Snoopy', which
was popular in Japan. Inspired by Japan’s favorite animal, the cat, they made
Hello Kitty.
Although it doesn't appear in books or cartoons, it was
made into an extraordinary television movie. As its popularity rose, a mainly
Hello Kitty theme park was created in Tokyo. It has entertained the public of
all generations, not just kids.
4. Belgium: ‘The Smurfs’
Belgian cartoonist Pierre
Culliford created ‘The Smurfs.’ They are blue dwarves that live in the forest. The
word ‘smurfs’ was derived from misspeaking the word 'salt' when he was dining out
with fellow Belgian André Franquin. Originally, The Smurfs played supporting
roles in Joan and Pirurui, which was
his other cartoon. But, the Smurfs became more popular than the main character.
After realizing the Smurfs’ popularity, he created The Smurfs, which had the Smurfs as the main roles. Due to the original
cartoon's popularity, it was produced for television animation with Hanna
Barbara Productions in 1981.
5. Finland: Moomin
‘Moomin’ was made
by the female storywriter Tove Jansson. Although its appearance is similar to a
hippo, it was created to model a troll in Scandinavian folklore (not like a troll
in Harry Potter). The round-looking Moomin troll appeared as the main character
in novels, cartoons, picture books, and animations. The story is based on the imaginary
tribe Moomin and its interesting adventures which are based in Finland's unique
natural environment. Moomin has inspired many people through Finnish characteristic
calm touching and has become the nation's character. Due to Moomin's
popularity, character goods, museums, and theme parks were created. Especially,
Moomin World in Naantali grew up to landmark place for the area.
6. Holland: Miffy
‘Miffy’ is called
'Nijintje' (little and cute rabbit) in Holland. ‘Miffy’ was created by writer
Hendrik Magdalenus Bruna in 1955. Miffy's story consists of various episodes in
which the character suffers during growth. At that time, children grew up with
Miffy and naturally gained the love of the Dutch. Now, Miffy is working hard to
help troubled kids. And, as not using harmful substances to children in Miffy products, Miffy has been a representatively nice
character.
As we can see when
we look at the representative characters of each country, they represent more
than merely characters in stories and give people valuable meaning. Though the characters
represent something that happened during that time period, they have stories of
feelings that connect to society today.
Characters provide friends, fun, and dreams, and also create
exchanges of feelings when viewers enjoy time together. Sometimes we learn a
lot from simple and easy things. If you see meaning in characters that you can’t
find in adults, you can also discover hidden wisdom about life through their stories.