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To Infinity and Beyond! – The Success of Pixar 皮克斯—动画魔法师

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“To infinity and beyond!” Buzz Lightyear’s line from the hugely successful Toy Story (1995) was a cute joke. At the time, few would have guessed that Pixar, the computer graphics (CG) studio which produced Toy Story, was headed in that direction. Since then, Pixar has done for CG animation what Disney did for hand-drawn animation. ___1___ What’s the secret of Pixar’s remarkable success?

「飞向宇宙，浩瀚无垠!」这句可爱的玩笑话是来自卖座强片《玩具总动员》(1995)里巴斯光年的名言。当时几乎没有人会猜到，皮克斯这个制作《玩具总动员》的计算机绘图工作室会一头栽进这个领域。从那时开始，皮克斯对计算机动画的贡献就好比迪斯尼对手绘动画的贡献一样。一路走来，这家公司已经获得十七座奥斯卡金像奖并赚进二十五亿美金。到底皮克斯惊人的成功表现有何秘诀?

Pixar films push the limits of technology, creating amazingly realistic cartoons. From Sulley’s blue fur in Monsters, Inc. (2001) to sunlight reflecting underwater in Finding Nemo (2003), Pixar continually astounds audiences. Surprisingly, however, technological wizardry isn’t Pixar’s goal. ___2___

皮克斯制作的影片把技术推至极限，创造出几可乱真的卡通。从《怪兽电力公司》(2001)里毛怪的蓝色毛发，到《海底总动员》(2003)中海底反射的阳光，皮克斯不断地让观众感到惊艳。然而令人讶异的是，高超的技术并不是皮克斯的宗旨；相反的，讲好听的故事才是它的宗旨。

Pixar isn’t afraid to include jokes that kids might not understand, such as a superhero crushed by the boredom of office life in The Incredibles. As Edwin Catmull, Pixar’s founder, notes, “Children live in an adult world … part of what makes life interesting for them is that they’re trying to figure things out.” ___3___

皮克斯不怕讲一些小孩子听不懂的笑话，像是《超人特攻队》(2004)里一个超级英雄被无聊的办公室生活压的喘不过气。如同皮克斯的创办人艾德恩卡穆尔所言:「小孩居住在大人的世界里......让他们生活变得有趣的一部分，就是他们正试着去理解一些事情」。更何况买电影票的毕竟是大人。

Pixar began as a small part of George Lucas’s empire. Lucas sold the company to Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers, in 1986. ___4___ Pixar would make the cartoons, and Disney would distribute them under the Disney name.

皮克斯原来只不过是乔治卢卡斯帝国的一个小小部门。1986年，卢卡斯把公司卖给苹果计算机的创办人史提夫乔布斯。1990年代时，皮克斯与迪斯尼签了一份十年的合约，合约规定皮克斯要制作动画，而迪斯尼则要以迪斯尼的名义负责发行这些影片。

But the Disney-Pixar relationship turned sour in 2004. ___5___ Time will tell if Pixar is headed beyond infinity, but its changes are looking good.

但是迪斯尼与皮克斯的关系在2004年恶化，预计在2006年推出动画《汽车总动员》后，他们的关系将会随之正式划下句点。时间会告诉我们皮克斯是否真能够飞向浩瀚无垠的宇宙，但他们成功的机会看来颇大。

－By Iain Ferguson 

(A) On the contrary, telling great stories is.
(B) In the nineties, Pixar signed a ten-year deal with Disney.
(C) With the next Pixar cartoon, Cars, scheduled for 2006, their relationship will formally end.
(D) Along the way, the company has collected 17 Academy Awards and made US$2.5 billion.
(E) Plus, it’s adults who buy the movie tickets after all.

Vocabulary

animation [͵ænəˋmeʃən] n. 卡通片；卡通片绘制

remarkable [rɪˋmɑrkəb!] adj. 值得注意的；非凡的

astound [əˋstaʊnd] v. 使震惊；使大惊

boredom [ˋbordəm] n. 无聊；厌倦

distribute [dɪˋstrɪbjʊt] v. 分发；分配

More Information

infinity [ɪnˋfɪnətɪ] n. 无限，无穷

line [laɪn] n. 台词

push the limits of 挑战极限; 把.....推向极限

wizardry [ˋwɪzɚdrɪ] n. 魔法

turn sour 变质, 变调

Monsters Inc. Trailer

Toy Story - Official Trailer  [1995]

The Incredibles (2004) Trailer