袁瑞

Tucked away1） in the small European country of Malta is a place you'd probably never expect to find in the real world—Popeye's Village. Also known as Sweethaven Village， it is an ideal family-vacation spot and one of Malta's major tourist attractions. The fun park is modeled on the theme of the favorite children's cartoon character， Popeye the Sailor Man. Interestingly， this village was the actual set used by Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions to shoot the 1980 film Popeye， based on the comic strips by E. C. Segar.

At Sweethaven， you can expect to see models of all the main characters of the popular children's cartoon—Popeye the Sailor Man， Olive Oyl， Bluto， Swee'Pea and Wimpy. You can also go on joy rides and visit play houses， puppet shows， museums， and cinema sessions featuring the film Popeye and the construction of the set. You can even star in your own film， record it and take it home. But that's not all， there are a host of2） other things to see and experience， like face painting， balloon modelling， storytelling， open-air barbeques， crafts and Wii3） games. There's also a mini golf course4） and a free wine tasting for adults. The season-specific activities are a huge hit5） as well； these include water trampolines6）， play pools and boat rides during the summer， and a Christmas Parade along with Santa's toy town in December.

Although Popeye was created way back in 1929， the popularity of this character has remained intact7） through the decades. I remember many happy hours of my childhood spent watching reruns8） of the old 1960s Popeye cartoons on TV； it was the only way my mother could get me to eat spinach9）！ The film version was made by Robert Altman starring Robin Williams， and was shot at Sweethaven in 1980. The construction of the set started in 1979 and it took seven months to build with the help of 165 workers. There are 19 real wooden buildings， the materials for which were imported from Holland and Canada， because Malta doesn't have any forests. The all-wooden village was constructed to give it a 1920s look and feel. 8 tons of nails were used to make the structures stand， and 2000 gallons of paint to make them look cartoony. They also built a huge breakwater10） in Anchor Bay， to protect the set from high seas.

Popeye village is well-connected and a short bus-ride away from Mellieha Bay. The fun park is accessible all year round， but opening times vary according to the season.

在歐洲小國馬耳他藏著一個(gè)你可能從未想過地球上會(huì)真實(shí)存在的地方——大力水手村。這里也被稱為甜蜜港灣村，是家庭度假的理想去處，也是馬耳他最主要的旅游景點(diǎn)之一。這個(gè)樂園是以大力水手這個(gè)小朋友們最喜歡的卡通人物為主題而建造的。1980年，派拉蒙電影公司和華特·迪士尼制作公司拍攝了以E. C. 西格（編注：美國連環(huán)漫畫家）的連環(huán)畫為藍(lán)本的電影《大力水手》，有意思的是，該電影的真實(shí)布景就是這個(gè)村子。

在甜蜜港灣村，你可以看到深受小朋友們歡迎的卡通片中所有主角的模型，包括大力水手、奧麗弗·奧莉、布魯托、小豆子和威皮。你也可以駕車游玩，參觀劇場(chǎng)，看木偶戲，游覽博物館，參加以電影《大力水手》和布景建筑為特色的電影活動(dòng)。你甚至可以出演自己的電影，并把它拍攝下來帶回家。但這還不是全部，這里還有很多其他活動(dòng)可以去觀看和體驗(yàn)，比如臉部彩繪、用氣球做造型、講故事、露天燒烤、做手工、玩任天堂的游戲等。這里還有一個(gè)迷你高爾夫球場(chǎng)，還會(huì)提供葡萄酒供大人們免費(fèi)品嘗。特定季節(jié)的活動(dòng)也很受歡迎，包括夏季特有的水上蹦床、打水球和劃船，以及12月份才有的圣誕游行和在圣誕老人玩具城的活動(dòng)。

雖然大力水手的創(chuàng)作可以追溯到1929年，但幾十年來這一人物還是那么受歡迎，熱度絲毫不減。我記得小時(shí)候看電視上不斷重播20世紀(jì)60年代的那些關(guān)于大力水手的經(jīng)典動(dòng)畫片，這讓我度過了許多美好的時(shí)光，而這也是媽媽能讓我吃菠菜的唯一辦法。1980年，羅伯特·奧爾特曼導(dǎo)演在甜蜜港灣村拍攝了這個(gè)動(dòng)畫片的電影版，擔(dān)任領(lǐng)銜主演的是羅賓·威廉斯（編注：美國著名喜劇演員）。電影的布景從1979年開始搭建，由165名工人用了七個(gè)月的時(shí)間建造完成。布景共有19個(gè)實(shí)木建筑，因?yàn)轳R耳他沒有任何森林，所以木材都是從荷蘭和加拿大進(jìn)口來的。這樣一來，整個(gè)村莊就全由木材搭建而成，看起來給人一種20世紀(jì)20年代的感覺。為了使所有建筑能夠矗立在那里，工人們用了八噸重的釘子來固定，而為了使這些建筑看起來很卡通，他們又用了2000加侖的涂料來涂色。工人們還在錨灣建了一個(gè)巨大的防浪堤，以保護(hù)這些建筑免受巨浪的沖擊。

大力水手村交通十分便利，離梅利哈灣（編注：馬耳他的一個(gè)度假勝地）也不遠(yuǎn)，乘坐巴士很快就可以到達(dá)。這個(gè)樂園全年都可以游玩，只是開放時(shí)間會(huì)因季節(jié)的不同而有所不同。210445.png

1. tuck away： 藏入，隱沒

2. a host of： 許多

3. Wii： 日本任天堂公司于2006年推出的家用游戲機(jī)

4. course [k??s] n. 高爾夫球場(chǎng)

5. hit [h?t] n. 成功而風(fēng)行一時(shí)的事物

6. trampoline [?tr?mp?li?n] n. 蹦床

7. intact [?n?t?kt] adj. 完整無缺的，未受損傷的

8. rerun [?ri?r?n] n. （影片的）重新放映

9. spinach [?sp?n?t?] n. 菠菜

10. breakwater [?bre?kw??t?（r）] n. 防波堤；防浪墻