2019年经济学人 迪士尼创新策略:翻拍经典动画的真人版电影(2)

 

Never-ending story

永不结束的故事

“Cinderella” (2015) made $535m from a budget of $95m. “The Jungle Book” (2016) took $963m from $175m. The $300m marketing¹ and production budget of “Beauty and the Beast” (2017), starring Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellen, made it the most expensive musical ever. Within ten days of its release it was the highest-grossing film of its genre², eventually making $1.2bn in ticket sales. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney has been the most profitable studio for the past four years, earning more than $7bn at the global box office in 2016 and 2018. Its share price has risen by more than 150% since 2012.

《灰姑娘》（2015）以9500万美元的预算赚了5.35亿美元。《奇幻森林》（2016）以1.75亿美元的预算赚了9.63亿美元。《美女与野兽》（2017）市场营销和制作预算达3亿美元，由艾玛·沃特森、艾玛·汤普森、伊万·麦格雷戈和伊恩·麦凯伦主演，这部的音乐剧有史以来成本最高。上映十天之内就成为同类电影中票房最高的，最终票房收入达12亿美元。据好莱坞报道，迪士尼是过去4年最赚钱的电影公司，2016年和2018年的全球票房收入超过70亿美元。自2012年以来，其股价已上涨了150%。

Princesses and talking animals are not the only characters to have been summoned back to the screen: audiences have been swamped by hordes³ of wizards, cape-wearers, dinosaurs⁴ and Jedi. But in this fairy-tale realm, Disney has an edge. Generations of children grew up on its animated⁵ backlist, and enough time has passed to retell the classics using new technology (and for fans to take children of their own). Reboots of old flicks⁶ have actually become less common in Hollywood overall, falling from 17% of top films in 2005 to 4% in 2017 (though prequels and sequels abound). But they are one of Disney’s staples⁷. In 2019 it will add “Dumbo”, “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” to its roster⁸ of “live-action remakes”, which replace the original cartoons with filmed footage and computer-generated imagery. “Pinocchio”, “Snow White”, “James and the Giant Peach”, “Peter Pan” and “The Little Mermaid” will follow.

公主和会说话的动物并不是唯一被召回银幕的角色：成群结队的巫师、斗篷侠、恐龙和绝地武士已使观众应接不暇。但在这个童话国度里，迪士尼拥有绝对优势。一代又一代的孩子都是看迪士尼动画长大的，而且对于用新技术重现经典，时间已经过去得够久（以前的粉丝们都能带着孩子去看了）。在好莱坞，翻拍老电影已不那么常见，从2005年的17%下降到2017年的4%（尽管前传和续集比比皆是）。但迪士尼的主打之一就是翻拍。2019年，迪士尼将《小飞象》《阿拉丁》和《狮子王》列为“真人版翻拍名单”，将用电影镜头和电脑生成的图像代替原始卡通。《匹诺曹》《白雪公主》《詹姆斯与大仙桃》《彼得·潘》和《小美人鱼》后续也会翻拍。

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

3 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

6 flicks   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的第三人称单数 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• 'I shall see it on the flicks, I suppose.' “电影上总归看得见。” 来自英汉文学
• Last night to the flicks. 昨晚看了场电影。 来自英汉文学

7 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

8 roster   

n.值勤表，花名册

参考例句：

• The teacher checked the roster to see whom he would teach this year.老师查看花名册，想了解今年要教的学生。
• The next day he put himself first on the new roster for domestic chores.第二天，他把自己排在了新的家务值日表的第一位。