
Romanians are probably used to see and hear about Transylvania in many movies. However, every time it is mentioned it is the same story- vampires, castles and horror tales that surround this “mysterious place”. Most cartoons also have reinforced this stereotype ( see the now famous movie Transylvania). This probably made people believe that Transylvania is a country and not an actual region of Romania. Not to mention a really dangerous place, which you would probably not add to the ” must visit list” any time soon.
A British cartoon, called Danger Mouse, recently however gave a more clear image of Transylvania ( in the episode called ” From Duck to Dawn”). The cartoon shows a few scenes of Cluj-Napoca city centre, with a “Pear” store and a few typical buildings and says
“Transylvania! In reality a modern province of Romania! But thanks to lazy writing in this show, a terrifying place populated by hunchbacked peasants and monsters!”

The cartoon might point out to other movies’ lazy writing, Transylvania being a typical place for writers to set as a background if the story has to have vampires in it. While the cartoon continues with the usual stereotyping, it is a breath of fresh air to see Transylvania shown as it really is- a modern province of Romania and not a ” terrifying place”!

If you live in UK you can watch the video on BBC iplayer


Leave a comment