美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'Coco,' Pixar Finds Joyous Life — In Death

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Pixar's animators seem willing to go anywhere in pursuit of fresh enchantment¹. They plunged² to the ocean's depths in "Finding Nemo," levitated³ with helium balloons in "Up" and entered a child's mind in "Inside Out." Now in the movie "Coco," they're visiting the afterlife. Critic Bob Mondello suspects audiences will be dying to go along.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE⁴: Twelve-year-old Miguel lives with his shoemaking family in a Mexican village, his days happy except for one thing. His family has been music-free for three generations. His grandmother allows no blowing into soda⁵ bottles...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")

RENEE VICTOR: (As Abuelita) No music.

MONDELLO: ...No listening to passing car radios...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")

VICTOR: (As Abuelita) No music.

MONDELLO: ...No singing with strolling players.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")

VICTOR: (As Abuelita) No music.

ANTHONY GONZALEZ: (As Miguel) I think we're the only family in Mexico who hates music.

MONDELLO: Miguel knows why. Years ago, his musical great-great-grandfather grabbed his guitar and left, never to return. On Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, when it's said the deceased return to visit their families, no one so much as mentions great-great-granddad, which means Miguel gets a bit of a shock when he strums a guitar in a cemetery⁶ on that day and finds himself and his street puppy transported to the land of the dead.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")

GONZALEZ: (As Miguel) You've got to stay with me, boy. We don't know where...

MONDELLO: It's the most eye-popping and lively afterlife you can imagine with streets paved in fluorescent⁷ flower petals⁸ and skeletons doing production numbers about dancing papaya seeds. The plot arguably has more complications and psychedelic spirit critters than it really needs, but you can't blame Pixar's animators for splurging on images when the point of everything they do is family.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")

GONZALEZ: (As Miguel) This isn't a dream then. You're all really out there.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character) You thought we weren't.

GONZALEZ: (As Miguel) Oh, I don't know. I thought it might have been one of those made-up things that adults tell kids, like vitamins.

MONDELLO: Coco, I should mention, is Miguel's great-grandmother, the child of that musical great-great-grandfather who never came back. She anchors the film, as you'd expect a matriarch to do, and she also figures in a moment that will reduce audiences to tears as surely as did that story in "Up" about the grumpy, old man losing his wife. In both cases, the tears are joyous⁹ about memories that can unite families and even transcend¹⁰ death. Though "Coco" strikes plenty of comedic kid-flick poses, it's no accident that its big song is...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")

GONZALEZ: (As Miguel, singing) Remember me. Don't let...

MONDELLO: Also no accident - its plot centers on Mexico's Day of the Dead. The final credits end with a note that Dia de los Muertos is a tradition rooted in the lore¹¹ of indigenous¹² peoples. To learn more, says a legend on the screen, visit your local library. I bet a lot of folks will right after they call their grandmothers. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")

GONZALEZ: (As Miguel, singing) Thought I have to travel far, remember me. Each time your hear a sad guitar, know that I'm with you the only way that I can be. Until you're in my arms again, remember me.

1 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

2 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

3 levitated   

v.（使）升空，（使）漂浮( levitate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The magician levitated the woman. 魔术师把那名妇女浮在空中。 来自互联网
• Lastly, the maglev planar motor was levitated stably. 最后，实现了磁悬浮平面电机悬浮系统的稳定悬浮。 来自互联网

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

6 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

7 fluorescent   

adj.荧光的，发出荧光的

参考例句：

• They observed the deflections of the particles by allowing them to fall on a fluorescent screen.他们让粒子落在荧光屏上以观察他们的偏移。
• This fluorescent lighting certainly gives the food a peculiar color.这萤光灯当然增添了食物特别的色彩。

8 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

10 transcend   

vt.超出，超越(理性等)的范围

参考例句：

• We can't transcend the limitations of the ego.我们无法超越自我的局限性。
• Everyone knows that the speed of airplanes transcend that of ships.人人都知道飞机的速度快于轮船的速度。

11 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

12 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。