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Pixar: Designing Digital Delights 皮克斯：3D动画新视界

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课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

The first thing viewers of Ratatouille will notice is how subtle the animation is. Despite the realistic appearance, everything from our lovable rodent hero to the shiny pots and pans of the gourmet kitchen is computer-generated. It could only be the work of one company: Pixar Studios, the leader in digital animation.

《料理鼠王》的观众最先注意到的是，动画的绘制非常细腻；尽管景物逼真，但事实上从我们可爱的老鼠主角到美食厨房中闪闪发亮的锅具，都是计算机绘制的。这只有可能是皮克斯这家公司的作品，它是数字动画的先锋。

Pixar began as a division of LucasFilm, owned by George Lucas, the director of Star Wars. During the 1980s, Pixar’s designers spent thousands of hours in the studio, breaking new ground for digital animation. They worked on special effects for movies such as Star Trek and Young Sherlock Holmes. The creative genius behind Pixar has been director and animator John Lasseter. From day one, Lasseter focused on quality, hiring only the best animators and shooting for nothing short of perfection. Apple founder Steve jobs believed in Pixar’s potential and purchased the company in 1986.

起初，皮克斯是卢卡斯电影公司的一个部门。该影业公司为《星际大战》的导演乔治卢卡斯所拥有。1980年代，皮克斯的设计人员在工作室中花了数千钟头的时间，为数字动画写下新的一页。他们为《星际奇航》和《出神入化》等电影制作特效。皮克斯背后的创意天才则是导演兼动画师约翰拉斯特。从一开始，拉斯特就非常注重质量，他只雇用最好的动画人员，努力做到尽善尽美。苹果计算机的创办人史帝夫．贾伯斯相信皮克斯的潜力，于是在1986年买下该公司。

Originally, Jobs wanted to steer the company in the direction of graphics hardware development. When this attempt failed, Pixar found itself on the brink of bankruptcy and had to rely on its animation department to pay the bills. After years of making animated commercials for LifeSavers, Tropicana and Listerine, Pixar’s big break finally arrived.

一开始，贾伯斯想要让皮克斯朝绘图硬件方面发展。此项尝试失败时，皮克斯便处于破产边缘，必须依赖动画部门来还债。在为LifeSavers糖果、纯品康纳和李斯德林制作了数年的动画广告后，皮克斯的绝佳机会终于来临了。

Vocabulary

subtle [ˋsʌt!] adj. 细微的; 不可思议的

digital [ˋdɪdʒɪt!] adj. 数位的﹐数码的

potential [pəˋtɛnʃəl] n. 潜力

steer [stɪr] v. 带领; 管理

bankruptcy [ˋbæŋkrəptsɪ] n. 破产

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ratatouille [ˌrætə'tuɪ] n. 蔬菜杂烩

animation [͵ænəˋmeʃən] n. 卡通片；卡通片绘制

rodent [ˋrodnt] n. 啮齿动物〈如大老鼠﹑兔子〉

gourmet [ˋgʊrme] n. 美食家

break new ground 开创新局面 to begin to do something that no one else has done; to pioneer

nothing short of  简直可以说是，几乎是  anything less than something

graphics [ˋgræfɪks] n.〔尤指计算机程序中的〕图﹐图表

commercial [kəˋmɝʃəl] n.（电视、广播中的）商业广告

break [brek] n.【口】机会；好运

课文朗读

课文讲解

Pixar’s commercials caught the eye of Disney, which teamed up with the small company to create the full-length animated film Toy Story. Pixar’s years of research and knowledge were finally put to the test, and the results were amazing. The film was a huge hit worldwide. Pixar followed this up by releasing seven additional films, including Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, both of which received critical acclaim and box office success.

皮克斯的电视广告吸引了迪斯尼的注意，后者便和这家小公司合作，创造了动画长片《玩具总动员》。皮克斯多年来的研究和知识终于开始接受考验，而成果非常惊人，该部电影在全世界都很卖座。皮克斯乘胜追击，又相继推出七部影片，包括《海底总动员》和《超人特攻队》。这两部动画不但风评极佳，也创造了极好的票房。

One of the trademarks of a Pixar film is its meticulous attention to detail. Lasseter believes that “Every moment in an animated scene must have a reason for being.” For example, the team at Pixar spent months observing sea life before they began drawing the rough sketches for Finding Nemo.

皮克斯的一项特色是非常注重细节。拉斯特认为，「动画片中任何的动作都要有存在的理由」。举例来说，皮克斯团队在绘制《海底总动员》的草图前，就已费时数月观察海中生物。

Pixar also knows that fancy animation alone is not enough to create a great movie. Lasseter thinks the growth of the main characters is equally important. In Cars, for example, we watch the hero, Lightning McQueen, change from an arrogant rookie race car into a compassionate hero who cares for others.

皮克斯也了解，光是靠花俏的动画并不足以制作一部好电影，拉斯特认为主角的成长也一样重要。比方说，在Cars这部电影中，我们看到主角闪电麦坤从一部自负的菜鸟赛车，变成一个富同情心、会关怀别人的角色。

Pixar’s future looks bright. There are already plans in the works for Pixar’s next release, a story about a robot named Wall-E. With its innovative graphics technology and superb attention to story development and details, Pixar is sure to take us into many more previously unimaginable fantasy worlds.

皮克斯看来前途无量，他们已为下一部关于机器人卡哇-E的影片拟好了许多计划。皮克斯既有创新的绘图科技，也注意故事的铺陈和细节，一定能带我们走进更多前所未见的奇妙世界。

−by Jamie Blackler

Vocabulary

critical [ˋkrɪtɪk!] adj. 评论性的

trademark [ˋtred͵mɑrk] n.（人或物的）标记，特征

arrogant [ˋærəgənt] adj. 傲慢的

compassionate [kəmˋpæʃənet] adj. 有同情心的; 充满怜悯同情的

innovative [ˋɪno͵vetɪv] adj. 创新的

superb [sʊˋpɝb] adj. 极好的﹐超级的; 杰出的

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catch the eye of 某事引起..的注意 to be attractive or different enough to be noticed by people

team up with someone 与...合作 to join with another person or group to achieve something

full-length [ˋfʊlˋlɛŋθ] adj. 全长的; 未删节的 of a normal or standard length

put to the test 使受试验(或考验) to find out how good someone or something

acclaim [əˋklem] n. 称赞

meticulous [məˋtɪkjələs] adj. 对细节十分注意的﹐一丝不苟的

being [ˋbiɪŋ] n. 存在；生存

sketch [skɛtʃ] n. 略图，草图

fancy [ˋfænsɪ] adj. 别致的；花俏的

rookie [ˋrʊkɪ] n. 新手

fantasy [ˋfæntəsɪ] n. 幻想﹐想象

Reading Questions

1. The word “generated” in paragraph one is closest in meaning to _____.

A.  produced

B.  distributed

C.  specified

D.  defined

2.   Which of the following did NOT happen during Pixar’s early years?

A.  It began as a section of another company.

B.  Animators spent many hours perfecting their art.

C.  The employees worked on special effects for other films.

D.  Its first large project was doing animation for the Star Wars films.

3.   What did Pixar do after finding itself in a serious financial situation?

A.  It borrowed money from Apple founder Steve Jobs.

B.  It made animated advertisements for other companies.

C.  It headed in the direction of graphics hardware development.

D.  It established a new animation department to pay the bills.

4.   What is the author’s attitude toward Pixar?

A.  That its success is well-deserved.

B.  That it had a lot of luck along the way.

C.  That it should be praised for invention animation.

D.  That the awards it received were completely undeserved.

Toy Story - Official Trailer  [1995]

The Incredibles (2004) Trailer

Answer