中國電影山寨《賽車總動員》,觀衆不買賬

China is no stranger to knockoff goods. Over the years, the country has taken the proverbial expression "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" to the next level, churning out scores of shanzhai, or counterfeit, items, including everything from fake Apple iPhones to Harry Potter books to Rolls-Royces and French luxury wines.

仿冒在中國不是什麼稀奇事。多年來大量生產山寨貨的中國，已經將"模仿是最真誠的恭維"這句諺語提升到新的層次。山寨的產品從蘋果的iPhone、哈利波特系列圖書到勞斯萊斯汽車和法國高級葡萄酒，無所不包。

But many Chinese are expressing outrage over one of the country's newest films, an animated children's movie that came out in theaters nationwide on Friday called "The Autobots," which many say bears a more-than-uncanny resemblance to Disney-Pixar's hit franchise "Cars."

但週五在國內新上映的兒童動畫《汽車人總動員》引發羣情激憤。許多人說這部片子與迪士尼-皮克斯(Disney-Pixar)的《賽車總動員》(Cars)有着異乎尋常的相似。

Indeed, based on the many comments online, it is clear that many Chinese are not buying the flattery argument.

的確，從網上的留言看，許多中國人對於這種"恭維"並不買帳。

"I know of the movie ‘Cars,' but I have never seen it," Zhuo Jianrong, director of the movie Autobots.

"我知道《賽車總動員》這部電影，但我從沒看過。"《汽車人總動員》導演卓建榮表示。

"This is the first time I've rated a film I didn't see based solely by its poster, thank you very much," wrote a user named Lancelot, one of more than 3,000 who gave the movie a one-star rating on the social networking website Douban.

豆瓣網上有三千多人給了這部片一星評價，其中一位用戶"蘭斯洛特"留言表示："沒看過，這是我第一次光憑藉海報就來打分，不謝。"

Since "The Autobots" hit theaters, users have been circulating a side-by-side comparison of the posters for it and the 2011 sequel "Cars 2." The similarities between the two posters are obvious, from the titles of the two films to the layout of the posters, down to the rendering of the "lead" cars that have the same blue eyes, goofy smiles and red paint job.

《汽車人總動員》上映後，網上流傳一張圖片，比較該片與2011年《賽車總動員2》的海報。兩張海報不論是標題，或是領頭汽車的藍眼、傻笑與紅色噴漆，都有明顯相似的地方。

The comparison was so obvious, in fact, that some Chinese said online that they were under the mistaken impression that the original Pixar film was getting a rerelease in Chinese theaters.

兩張海報如此神似，讓有些中國人在網上說他們誤以爲皮克斯的原作要再次於國內上映。

"I thought the original ‘Cars' was being rereleased on the mainland," wrote a user who goes by the handle Dianying Fan.

"我還以爲《賽車總動員》在大陸重映了呢，"微博用戶"電影販"寫道。

That user, like many others, called out "The Autobots" poster for using an image of a tire to block one of the Chinese characters in the title, making the original title, "Qiche Ren Zongdongyuan," appear to be "Qiche Zongdongyuan" ― which also happens to be the exact title used for the Disney-Pixar films.

這位用戶也像許多人一樣，發現《汽車人總動員》的海報用個輪胎擋住"人"字，會讓人將片名誤認爲是皮克斯的《賽車總動員》。

"If you're going to copy the original film, can you at least do it well?" the user asked.

"抄襲是不能好好抄嗎？"這名用戶寫道。

Reached by telephone, Zhuo Jianrong, the director of "The Autobots" and the chief executive of the film's production company, Blue MTV, said that he had not seen the original Pixar film but that he believed the negative publicity would benefit future sequels of Disney-Pixar's "Cars" franchise in China.

《汽車人總動員》的導演卓建榮接受了電話訪問，身兼製片公司"藍火焰影視動漫有限公司"首席執行官的他說，他沒有看過皮克斯的原作，但他認爲迪士尼-皮克斯工作室的《賽車總動員》續集會因這次的負面宣傳獲得好處。

"Many Chinese already have a fixed attachment to Disney's characters," Mr. Zhuo said. "We hadn't anticipated this."

"許多中國人已經對迪士尼角色有先入爲主的印象，"卓建榮說。"我們沒料到這點。"

The Walt Disney Company, which owns Pixar Animation Studios, released a statement saying, "We share the same concerns as many netizens and movie fans in China, but have no further comment at this stage."

擁有皮克斯動畫工作室的迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Company)則發表聲明稱："我們與許多中國網民與影迷同樣關注此事，但現階段我們不作進一步評論。"

According to Mr. Zhuo, the production company had earlier received a letter from Disney regarding the issue.

卓建榮說，製片公司曾經收到迪士尼公司關切此事的信件。

Mr. Zhuo said the company sent back a letter to Disney that said, "Our animated characters are all copyrighted in China, and we are operating within our legal parameters."

卓建榮說公司回信表示："我們的動畫角色持有中國版權，公司也是合法營運。"

But despite China's reputation for shanzhai, some Chinese say that piggybacking on the publicity of big studio films is not just a Chinese phenomenon.

然而即便中國因山寨惡名昭彰，有些中國人說在中國以外，也有搭大製片廠電影順風車的投機現象。

"To be honest, making coattail-riding counterfeits is not just a specialty of the Chinese film industry," wrote the Chinese blogger. "The United States has also made a lot of crappy counterfeit films."

"其實這種打擦邊球坐順風車的山寨也不算是中國電影的專利，"中國博客寫道。"美國也有很多這樣的山寨爛片。"

Some of the examples he cited included American "mockbusters" like "Atlantic Rim," a low-budget version of the 2013 science fiction film "Pacific Rim" and "Transmorphers," inspired by the director Michael Bay's "Transformers."

他舉出幾個"模仿大片"爲例。像是模仿2013年科幻電影《環太平洋》(Pacific Rim)的低預算版《環大西洋》(Atlantic Rim)，以及以邁克爾·貝(Michael Bay)的《變形金剛》(Transformers)爲靈感的《變形機體》(Transmorphers)。

Despite recent government efforts to promote the domestic animation industry, Chinese animated films have found only limited success at the box office. "The Autobots," budgeted at 10 million renminbi (about $1.6 million), is struggling, pulling in only about 3.87 million renminbi since its release last week, according to ChinaBoxOffice.

近年中國政府戮力提升國內動畫產業，但中國動畫電影的票房成績依然乏善可陳。根據中國電影票房數據中心的資料，《汽車人總動員》耗資一千萬人民幣，但從上週發片以來，只有387萬人民幣的票房。

"The Autobots" tells the story of a young engineering genius who creates three cars with an artificial intelligence system that allows driver and car to interact.

《汽車人總動員》的故事講述一位年輕工程天才，製造了三臺攜有人工智慧系統的汽車，讓車和駕駛員可以溝通。

"The film aims to teach children how to think creatively and overcome difficulties," Mr. Zhuo said.

"這部電影用意在教育孩子如何創新思考，克服困難，"卓建榮表示。