2007年VOA标准英语-New Animated Film 'Surf's Up' Tackles World of

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
11 June 2007

A new animated¹ family film dips into the high thrills world of 'big wave' surfing; but these athletes are not the usual tanned, muscular icons² of the beach. They are penguins³. Surfing penguins. Alan Silverman has a look at Surf's Up.

Cody Maverick⁵, a young rockhopper penguin⁴, was never at home on the Antarctic ice. Where he really wanted to be was out catching⁶ the waves on his home-carved surfboard (carved from ice, of course).

He learns, however, that making a dream come true is hard work, even if it involves doing something you love:

When Cody gets the chance to compete in the big surfing competition on tropical Pen-Gu Island (which looks suspiciously like the North Shore of Hawaii's Oahu island), he makes new friends, including a surfing chicken named Joe, voiced by Jon Heder.

And he loses his heart to a beautiful penguin lifeguard named Lani, played by Zoey Deschanel.

"They're more human than animal-like, these penguins; you have this personal connection with them. They're very human," says Shia LaBeouf, who does the voice of Cody and says the wave-riding sport is ideal for the Surf's Up coming-of-age theme.

"There is something magical about surfing and the fact that it's bands of energy moving through water," says LaBeouf.

"What other sport do you ride bands of energy? When you break it down into what it is, it's a magical thing and it is not just a sport, it's a lifestyle. It really changes you. It mellows⁷ you out. People come out of yoga and they are in a whole different place. You watch people come off the beach and their mentality⁸ is changed.

Jeff Bridges, who grew up surfing on southern California's Malibu coast, brings his knowledge of that world to the character he voices: a laid-back old penguin dude who - reluctantly at first - becomes mentor⁹ to brash young Cody.

"What the journey for my character was all about was a guy who has something in his youth that he loves and then he kind of loses it," he says. "He spends the rest of life mourning that and trying to get back to it. That's kind of an ancient story, I think. Then, in the relationship with this young guy who is going through a similar thing, they teach each other and learn about life that way. It's a good tale."

Usually voice acting¹⁰ for animated films involves spending long sessions alone in the recording¹¹ booth; but the Surf's Up directors brought cast members together for many sessions. Jon Heder and Zoey Deschanel explain they were encouraged to improvise¹² and actually act out the scenes.

"The animators use a lot of your gestures. They videotape you," explains Deschanel.

"Yes, you kind of automatically start acting it a little bit physically¹³ ...and there are moments where we actually did, when we were shooting together, like the scene where I'm pushing Shia into your character," adds Heder.

"I literally¹⁴ was pushing him," Heder explains.

"You also have to get the feeling like you are picking somebody up, so they have sandbags for you because it has to sound like it," notes Deschanel. "I spent so much time dragging around a sandbag because I was supposed to be dragging Shia around."

"You do catch yourself doing that a lot ...looking like a fool ...but I was miming¹⁵ it instead of using a sandbag," Heder says. "You think 'this is really weird¹⁶.' "

" Falling down, I would really fall down," said Deschanel.

Along with the characters, Surf's Up features amazing depictions of what it is like to be on the crest¹⁷ of a wave: impossible camera shots that co-director Chris Buck¹⁸ says the computer animators kept making better and better.

"We said early on that if we can't do the waves I don't think we can do this movie," Buck says. "Even from their early tests, the guys blew us away ...and they kept saying 'this is nothing. We're not happy with that' and they just kept making it better and better."

Surf's Up is co-directed by Chris Buck and Ash Brannon. Real-life surfing champions including Kelly Slater and Rob Machado served as technical advisors¹⁹.

1 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。

2 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

5 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。

6 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

7 mellows   

（使）成熟( mellow的第三人称单数 )； 使色彩更加柔和，使酒更加醇香

参考例句：

• A tart temper never mellows with age. 凶悍的性情，绝不会因为年龄增长而变得温和。
• Wine mellows with age. 酒陈则味醇。

8 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

9 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

12 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

13 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

14 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

15 miming   

v.指手画脚地表演，用哑剧的形式表演( mime的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The actor was miming the movements of a bird. 这位演员正在摹拟一只鸟的动作。 来自互联网
• Enneagram in Miming. A Silence Theatre production. 无声模式制作，用默剧手法介绍九型人格。 来自互联网

16 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

17 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

18 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

19 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网