The New American Fairy Tale 《公主与青蛙》：新时代“公主”精神
文字难度：★★★
等待,是童话故事里“公主”的法宝——灰姑娘脚踩玻璃鞋在午夜的街头流连,等待王子将她发现;长发公主只身困于高塔,祈祷王子手持利剑将她解救;小红帽身陷囹圄,高喊着“救命”以此唤来猎人的帮助。她们美丽又娇弱,捧在手上怕融,含在嘴里怕化。迪斯尼的“申奥”大片《公主与青蛙》展现的却是另一番景象,还是王子与公主的故事,爱情、友情、温情、一见钟情,一样不少,唯独没有“等待”二字。公主魅力、魄力、行动力,样样都有,更不乏只身闯一片天的能力。片中宣扬的是一种新时代的“公主”精神,更是“美国精神”的输出——独立自主,争强好胜。而对于童话的“旧瓶装新酒”的改编风潮,其实是平民精神的胜利。 ——Mac
You’ve heard it before—a princess kisses a frog and it turns into handsome 1)Prince Charming. But what if, instead, she turned into a frog? And that’s not the only attractive factor of Disney’s Oscar-bite movie, The Princess and the Frog.
你先前听说过——公主吻了青蛙一下,青蛙就变成了一位英俊的白马王子。但是公主变成了一只青蛙,你会怎样看?而这还不是《公主与青蛙》这部合奥斯卡胃口的迪斯尼制作其唯一吸引人之处。
For most of the last century, the Disney ’toon heroine has been as white as, well...Snow White. The studio’s first feature-film superstar marked her debut in 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
上世纪大部分迪斯尼动画片的女主角都白得像……嗯……像白雪公主。她,迪斯尼出品的第一位故事片巨星,在1937年上映的《白雪公主和七个小矮人》中首次登场。
It would take some 60 years for the Disney artists to begin painting their leading ladies with all the colors of the wind, including the Native American 2)Pocahontas (1995), the Chinese 3)Mulan (1998), and the Hawaiian 4)Lilo (2002).
60年后,迪斯尼的艺术大师28们才开始描摹带有不同肤色的女主角,包括美洲土著的宝加康蒂(1995年)、中国的木兰(1998年)和夏威夷的丽萝(2002年)。
Yet only now, with The Princess and the Frog, have Disney 5)animators put a black female front and center. Ironically, the inspiration for the new film came from two 6)Caucasian men: current Pixar-Disney chief, John Lasseter, and the late Walt Disney himself.
然而直到今天,迪斯尼的动画大师们才借《公主与青蛙》一片将一位黑人女主角带到观众眼前并使其成为焦点。具有讽刺意味的是,这部新电影的灵感来自于两位白人男士:皮克斯—迪斯尼动画现任主管约翰·拉斯特和已故的沃尔特·迪斯尼本人。
"The story really came from an initial idea of doing an American fairy tale, which hadn’t been done at Disney,’’ said Princess co-director, Ron Clements. Discussion of the character’s race had some of the film’s 7)principals 8)bristling. ‘‘We walk around being black every day, and nobody talks about it,’’ noted 9)Anika Noni Rose, who supplies the voice of lead Princess, Tiana. ‘‘So, I suggest you follow your instinct and let it be nothing to be talked about.’’
“这个故事确实源自制作一个‘美国式’童话故事这一初步想法,而当时迪斯尼还未曾制作过那样的影片。”《公主与青蛙》一片的导演之一罗恩·克莱蒙特斯说道。而有关女主角种族设定的讨论还让部分主要配音演员兴奋不已。“作为黑人,我们每天行走在这个世界上,没人会把这当一回事,”为女主角提安娜公主配音的阿尼卡·诺尼·罗斯说道,“所以,我建议你跟随自己的直觉,视之为平常事,不要大惊小怪。”
Yet the actress continued to talk, ‘‘The big deal is that it will quietly affirm to young, brown-skinned children that they are special in this world, and I think that it is a bigger deal to those of us who grew up without it and are now adults and have been waiting for it. It’s exciting to us, because we know how important it is for our children to have, to be image affirmed.’’
这位女演员还继续讲道:“重要的是,这部影片平静地对棕色皮肤的小孩作出肯定——他们是这世上特别的人。另外,我觉得,对于我们这些在成长过程中缺乏这种肯定,一直盼着被肯定的成年人来说,这更为重要。我们对此很兴奋,因为我们知道,这对于我们的孩子来说是多么重要,我们在形象上被肯定了。”
Production was started on Princess in March 2006, long before the election of a new American president. But the coincidence isn’t lost on some members of the Princess cast. ‘‘It is historical in the sense that now there is ‘Obama’ and ‘Tiana,’’’ said 10)veteran character actress 11)Jenifer Lewis, widely known as ‘‘the black mother of Hollywood’’. ‘‘It is a new day,’’ she continued. ‘‘There is hope. There is change. That is what this movie is going to bring.’’
《公主与青蛙》这部影片从2006年3月就开始制作了,比美国总统的换届竞选要早得多。但这部影片里的一些角色和这次竞选的结果不无巧合。“‘奥巴马’和‘提安娜’的出现都具有历史意义,” 享有“好莱坞的黑人妈妈”之美誉的资深女演员詹妮弗·路易斯说道。“新的一天到来了,”她继续说道,“有希望,有变革,这就是这部影片要带来的。”
From some perspectives, it is not an American style fairy tale at all. The Princess and the Frog is set in 12)jazz-age New Orleans, where 19-year-old Tiana works as a waitress, saving up 13)nickels and dimes in the hopes of opening up a restaurant of her own. But her life plan is sent on a 14)detour when a 15)dashing, 16)Old World prince, Naveen, comes to town and runs 17)afoul a 18)voodoo-practicing “Shadow Man”, who transforms him into a frog. The frog prince persuades Tiana to give him a kiss in hopes of being restored to his true self. Instead, she turns into a frog, too. The couple ends up 19)on the run in the 20)bayou, where they meet an 21)assortment of colorful characters. Of course, it’s a happily-ever-after story. But the writers throw a few twists into the 22)formula.
从某些角度来看,该故事和什么美式童话根本就不搭边。《公主与青蛙》的背景设在处于爵士乐时代的新奥尔良,在那儿,19岁的提安娜是个服务员,她把钱一分一毫地积攒起来,为的是开一间属于自己的餐馆,但其人生突然来了个急转弯,这和一位衣着华丽的欧洲王子那威恩的到来有关。他在镇上与懂伏都巫术的“黑影人”发生了冲突,被其变成一只青蛙。这位青蛙王子说服了提安娜给他一个吻,希望借此变回人形。然而结果却是,提安娜也变成了一只青蛙。俩人最后只得在河口沼泽地里逃命,在那儿,他们遇上了各色有趣的人物。当然,这是个大团圆结局的故事。但编剧“旧瓶装新酒”,在套路中添上了一些曲折情节。
Because the story is set in real, historical America, the divide between rich and poor isn’t just the old 23)medieval hierarchy of princes and peasants. There is no 24)overt reference to racism, but in the opening scene, when a child Tiana returns from the 25)opulent home of her mother’s client, Big Daddy La Bouff, to her own family’s 26)ramshackle 27)abode, the social context couldn’t be clearer.
因为故事的背景设在美国历史上一个真实存在的时期,所以当时的贫富差距并非只是王子与农民之间那种中世纪旧式等级差距那么简单。影片里没有直接提及“种族歧视”的问题,但在开始的那一幕里,还是个孩子的提安娜从她母亲的顾客“老爹”拉布夫那富丽堂皇的家回到她自己那摇摇欲坠的小屋,其社会背景再清晰不过了。
As a result, Tiana is no 28)wide-eyed dreamer waiting for her Prince Charming to 29)sweep her off her feet. In one of the movie’s wonderful musical 30)interludes, Tiana sings to Naveen, “I’ve worked for everything I’ve got, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
结果是,提安娜不是个等着白马王子爱上自己的天真梦想家。在影片其中一段美妙的音乐间奏中,提安娜向那威恩唱道:“我为所得的东西都付出了辛勤的劳动,一切就应如此。”
In The Princess and the Frog, the lesson Tiana must learn is that, while dreams can be wonderful, they are not as important as our day-to-day connection with other human beings.
在《公主与青蛙》一片中,提安娜一定学到了——梦想虽然很美好,但它们都不及我们日常与他人的联系来得重要。
After a decade of devotion to computerized animated classics—from 31)Finding Nemo to 32)Up—Disney finally goes back to her tradition. The Princess and the Frog isn’t just Disney’s best traditionally animated feature since Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King in the early ’90s; it recaptures the fairy-tale magic of a more innocent era while also updating it for a 33)world-wise, 21st-century audience. The smart storytelling combines with spectacular visual set pieces and a spicy musical 34)gumbo to deliver one of the finest films in any genre.
从《海底总动员》到《飞屋环游记》——在专注于电脑动画大制作整整十年之后,迪斯尼最终回归到她的传统动画制作上。《公主与青蛙》不只是迪斯尼自上世纪90年代初期制作的《美女与野兽》和《狮子王》之后最好的传统动画片,它重拾了一个更为纯真的年代里那些童话故事里的“魔法”,还增添了新元素,来适应我们这些21世纪精于世故的观众们。这种巧妙的故事讲述方式结合了壮观的视觉效果以及香辣“秋葵浓汤”般的音乐,呈现了一部无论从哪个类别来说都是最棒的电影。
