《愛寵大機密》 紐約城萌翻一夏

What do pets do when their owners are not around? It’s a question that *haunts pet lovers. So when Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination–the animation house behind Despicable Me–posed this question to Despicable Me co-director Chris Renaud, they both agreed to explore the answer in a movie.

主人們不在的時候，萌寵們都幹了些什麼呢？這是寵物愛好者們一直想要知道的一個問題。所以當電影《神偷奶爸》製作公司——照明娛樂公司的創始人克里斯•梅勒丹德利向《神偷奶爸》導演之一的克里斯•雷納德提出這一問題時，他們不約而同地打算在電影中探索這個答案。

That’s how The Secret Life of Pets came to be. It depicts how dogs, cats and birds cope with their days alone and their pet-to-pet friendships in the Big Apple.

這便是電影《愛寵大機密》的創作初衷。它講述了在紐約城的狗狗、貓咪、鳥兒們是如何獨自度過一天以及這些萌寵之間的友情。

The movie, to be released in Chinese cinemas on Aug 2, has been a huge hit since its Hollywood debut on July 8. As of July 24, it has grossed about $260 million (1.7 billion yuan) at the US box office. But the film’s success is not only the result of its intriguing premise, but also of its *anthropomorphic approach, which *endows animals with human-like qualities.

這部電影即將於8月2日登陸中國院線。影片自7月8日好萊塢首映後引發轟動，在美國共收穫了2.6億美元票房（約合17億人民幣）。但這部電影的成功不光是因爲它有趣的設定，更是因爲它採取了擬人化的手法，賦予了動物們人類的品質。

Anthropomorphism is hardly a new concept, according to Ramin Setoodeh of Variety Entertainment. Aesop’s fables in ancient Greece were some of the earliest, most famous stories to use this technique. “Starting in the 1920s, the entertainment industry got into the talking animal business with Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse competing with Warner Bros’ Bugs Bunny,” Setoodeh wrote. What followed was a wave of talking animals on screen, in films like Bambi (1941) and shows like Mister Ed (1958-1966), featuring a deer and horse respectively.

《綜藝》雜誌的拉明•賽圖德認爲，擬人化並不是一個新名詞。古希臘的伊索寓言便是最早也是最有名的使用這一手法的故事。“自20世紀20年代起，以華特•迪士尼的米老鼠和華納兄弟的兔八哥之間的競爭爲代表，娛樂界開始發展能言動物產業，”賽圖德寫道。緊隨而來的是一股會說話的動物的銀幕浪潮，比如電影《小鹿斑比》（1941）以及電視節目《愛德大人》（1958-1966）便分別由一隻鹿和一匹馬擔任主角。

This year, talking animals have been especially active on screen. If you look at box office charts, you’ll find that, of the top 12 biggest films so far in the US, half of them have featured talking animals. That list includes Disney’s The Jungle Book and Zootopia, as well as Fox’s Kung Fu Panda 3 and Sony’s The Angry Birds Movie.

今年，會說話的動物在銀幕上格外活躍。查看票房排行榜你就會發現，到目前爲止的美國票房前十二名的電影中，半數都由會說話的動物擔任主角。這包括了迪士尼的《森林王子》和《瘋狂動物城》、福克斯的《功夫熊貓3》以及索尼的《憤怒的小鳥》。

Why is that? “These cuddly creatures are serving as an *antidote to dark times in the world,” Setoodeh writes. “Some executives in Hollywood are starting to wonder if audiences are growing *weary of bullets and *apocalyptical imagery on the big screen, because of all the real-life tragedies from mass shootings and terrorism attacks.”

爲什麼會這樣？“這些可愛的生物就像是這個世界黑暗時代中的一劑解藥，”賽圖德寫道。“因爲在現實生活中如槍擊案和恐怖襲擊等悲劇的發生，一些好萊塢高層開始懷疑，觀衆已經逐漸厭倦了大銀幕上的子彈以及末日景象。”

Quick-witted animals offer an escape. “It’s a concept that people understand, get and really like,” Jeff Bock, an analyst at the entertainment research firm Exhibitor Relations, told Variety Entertainment. “We love these creatures. Put in a human *persona, and people go gaga.”

而這些聰明的動物則提供了一個逃避之法。“這是人們瞭解並且真正喜愛的一個概念，”娛樂調查公司北美院線聯盟分析師傑夫•博克在接受《綜藝》雜誌採訪時表示。“我們喜愛這些生物。賦予它們人物角色，人們便會狂熱的喜歡它們。”