(1). Disney goes back to the future
迪士尼:回到未来
(2). An old new world
旧的新世界
(3). Live-action remakes of classic cartoons are one of the most lucrative innovations in cinema
经典动画片的真人版翻拍是电影界最赚钱的创新之一
(4). 1:In January 1991 Jeffrey Katzenberg, then chairman of Walt Disney Studios, sent a 28-page memo to his colleagues.
2:Entitled “The World is Changing: Some Thoughts on Our Business”, it lamented that the studio had lost its way.
3:The finances were sound—Disney had outdone its competitors at the box office the year before—but Mr Katzenberg felt the company was unduly focused on blockbusters.
4:It should be less fixated on big budgets, big names and whizzy effects, he urged, and concentrate on developing original ideas and executing them well.
5:“People don’t want to see what they’ve already seen,” he said. “Our job is not to count on recycled formulas, but to create and develop fresh, new stories.”
1:1991年1月,时任华特·迪士尼工作室董事长的杰弗瑞·卡森伯格向同事们发送了一份28页的备忘录。
2:备忘录题目为《世界正在改变:业务畅想》,哀叹工作室正迷失方向。
3:一年前,迪斯尼在票房上超过了它的竞争对手,尽管财务状况良好,但卡森伯格认为工作室过于关注大片。
4:他敦促道,不应过度关注巨额预算、明星演员和技术特效,而应注重发展创意并将其执行。
5:“人们不想看已经看过的,”他说。“我们的工作依靠的不是循环公式,而是创新发展令人耳目一新的故事。”
(5). 1:His advice now seems quaint.
2:Of the ten most expensive films ever made, Disney is responsible for six.
3:In 2012 the studio hired Alan Horn as its chairman after a successful stint at Warner Brothers, where he had devoted a hefty share of the budget to a handful of “event films”, such as the Harry Potter series.
4:If the average American only sees around five movies a year, he reasoned, they are most likely to opt for “something of high production value, be it because of the story, or the stars involved, or the special visual effects”.
1:他的建议在现在看起来很奇怪。
2:史上最昂贵的10部电影中,迪斯尼出品了6部。
3:2012年,在华纳兄弟娱乐公司,阿兰·霍恩投入大量的预算用于少数“事件电影”,如《哈利波特》系列,大获成功后,迪士尼工作室聘请阿兰·霍恩担任董事长。
4:他推断,如果一个美国人平均一年看大约五部电影,那么最有可能选择的是“高产值的电影,无论是故事本身,还是出演的明星,亦或是特效”。
(6). 1:That approach can backfire. One calculation by Stephen Follows, a film consultant, implies that half of Hollywood productions with budgets over $100m lose money.
2:When Mr Horn arrived at Disney, it was lurching towards two of the worst-ever box-office flops.
3:“John Carter” (2012) and “The Lone Ranger” (2013), a pair of untried action stories, lost around $200m each.
4:But since then the studio seems to have found a magic formula: extravagant remakes of animated fantasies that audiences already love.
5:Discounting Mr Katzenberg’s dim view of blockbusters can evidently be risky, but big bets seem safer if film-makers eschew his yen for novelty, too.
6:Or so Disney’s recent record suggests.
1:这种做法可能适得其反。电影咨询师斯蒂芬·福洛斯的一项计算表明,预算超过1亿美元的好莱坞影片中,有一半是赔钱的。
2:霍恩先生来到迪斯尼时,正值两部影片几乎沦为史上票房最差。
3:《异星战场》(2012)以及《独行侠》(2013)是两部没有经验的动作片,每部亏损将近2亿美元。
4:但从那以后,工作室似乎找到了一个神奇的公式:以全新的方式改拍观众喜爱的动画片。
5:忽视卡森伯格对大片的悲观看法显然是有风险的,但如果电影制作商避开对新奇事物的渴望,那么大片似乎更安全。
6:至少迪士尼最近的票房表明了这一点。