British cartoon breaks stereotypes about Transylvania

danger mouse transylvaniad

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!”

danger mouse cluj

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”!

 

danger mouse teryfying place scene

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

 

 


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7 responses to “British cartoon breaks stereotypes about Transylvania”

  1. simonjkyte Avatar

    Bram Stoker originally wanted to write about Ireland I think – in fact the whole book is really about the Irish situation but coded.

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    1. romanian1982 Avatar

      That’s interesting! I’ve never heard about that.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. simonjkyte Avatar

        But it almost certainly has not done tourism any harm

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      2. romanian1982 Avatar

        I think Romanians did not take advantage of the free advertising. I feel like they could to more with this idea. Several years ago there was this project on the work- a Dracula park, however it did not pan out. If it was for me, I would not go for something like that, it feels a bit kitch like. I would go more on quality- traditions, nature, authentic experience- live in a traditional house, that type of thing.

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      3. simonjkyte Avatar

        yes I agree – don’t go down kitch route

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      4. simonjkyte Avatar

        I think then he chose Styria in Austria before encountering some book about Transylvanian superstititions. But there are coded references back to the Irish ‘problem’ every few pages

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      5. romanian1982 Avatar

        This seems interesting. It would made for an interesting article as well. Misconceptions about Dracula and Bram Stoker.

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