《疯狂动物城》上映一周票房创纪录

Animated¹ 'Zootopia' Breaks Disney Record 《疯狂动物城》上映一周票房创纪录

The movie had the largest opening weekend for a Disney animated film. People across the United States bought more than $75 million worth of tickets.

The box office totals pushed the popular movie, “Frozen,” to second place in opening weekend success.

Experts say “Zootopia” is expected to stay strong this weekend. They predict it will make as much as $50 million dollars more. Already, the movie’s worldwide box office total is more than $230 million.

“Zootopia” is a city of animals. The movie stars a bunny rabbit police officer and a fox criminal who team up to find a missing otter³. He is among several animals that have suddenly disappeared from the city.

Actor Ginnifer Goodwin provided the voice of officer Judy Hopps.  Justin Bateman is Nick, the con² artist.

Critics have strongly praised “Zootopia” for its sharp humor and strong message. The film explores racism⁴ and other intolerance in its portrayal⁵ of relations between two kinds of animals in the city.

Jared Bush and Phil Johnston wrote “Zootopia.” They told reporters that it started out as a spy movie set in several different animal worlds. But they found the mammal world especially interesting. So they changed the story.

Bush and Johnston said building the imaginary world took a lot of research. They both spoke⁶ about it to the website Inside the Magic.

Bush said they asked themselves, “What’s this world like? What’s the history of this world?” And then, he said, they went to the experts.

The writers spoke with people who study culture and group behavior, as well as those who study the psychology⁷ of individuals. And they talked with animal experts like zookeepers.

They learned that the natural world is made up of 90 percent prey⁸ animals and 10 percent predator⁹ animals.

“Zootopia” director Byron Howard says that discovery helped build the film’s themes prejudice and inclusion in a diverse world.

The creators have noted¹⁰ that that diversity was not easy to produce in drawings. There are 64 species represented in the movie. There are multiple neighborhoods that represent the different environments of animal habitats.

Disney says “Zootopia” is its most complex animation¹¹ yet. The extra effort is certainly paying off at the box office.

Words in This Story

ticket - n. a piece of paper that allows you to see a show, participate in an event, travel on a vehicle, etc.?

box office - n. used to describe how many tickets have been sold for a movie, play, etc.?

con artist - n. a person who tricks other people in order to get their money?

intolerance - n. the unwillingness¹² to allow some people to have equality, freedom, or other social rights?

portrayal - n. the act of showing or describing someone or something especially in a movie, painting, book, etc.?

prejudice - n. an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.?

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 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

3 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

4 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

5 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

8 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

12 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。