VOA标准英语2012--Hopes of Chinese Animation Ride on 'Tofu Boy'

 

Hopes of Chinese Animation¹ Ride on 'Tofu Boy'

Popular western movies like Kung Fu Panda are presenting a challenge for Chinese animators, who have yet to produce a hit among international audiences.

But for Director Sun Lijun, creator of Legend of a Rabbit, a 3D film about a clueless rabbit who doesn't know he's inherited awesome² kung fu abilities, raising China's animation standards is critical.

Prior to its 2011 release, which was preceded by a massive international marketing³ campaign, Legend of a Rabbit was expected to be a Chinese-animation masterpiece. Although Sun says he was not completely satisfied with the film, it nonetheless drew attention to China's burgeoning⁴ role in the feature-length animation industry.

“What made me proud is that The Guardian⁵ had an article that was titled 'China Picks Cartoon Fight with Hollywood,'" he says. "It means that, as a Chinese, I am competing with the United States. It's just like Liu Xiang competing in the 100 meters - this is definitely a proud thing for Chinese.”

Because "Rabbit" received mixed international review -- both the U.S.-based Hollywood Reporter and the Kuala Lumpur's Sun Daily cited technical strengths and plotline weaknesses -- the hopes of Chinese animation are riding on Sun's newest character, Tofu Boy, a good-hearted, but naughty young lad made of bean curd⁶.

Arguing that a good story is not the most important thing in feature-length animation, Tofu Boy's storyline, says Sun, won't be critical to its success.

“A good cartoon first of all has to have a good character that arouses people's emotions," he says. "Years later, we forget about the story, but the characters remain in our consciousness."

One of Sun's collaborators on Tofu Boy, which is set for release in 2013, is American Kevin Geiger, head of Magic Dumpling Entertainment, a Beijing-based animation-content development company with branches in Taipei and Los Angeles.

Tofu Boy's character, says Geiger, will be loosely based on Pinocchio.

“It's not an adaptation of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, but inspired by the story of a good little boy who makes bad decisions and learns about life the hard way," he says.

Geiger, who spent 12 years working for the Walt Disney Company in feature animation and visual effects, now prefers to be part of a Chinese entity⁷.

“The advantage we have by having Magic Dumpling in the mainland, being a wholly-owned Chinese company, is that the quotas⁸ that apply to Chinese television, to Chinese films, don't apply to Chinese content that we are creating in the Magic Dumpling's headquarters in China," he says.

Historically protective of its own film industry, China recently relaxed annual quotas on the number of foreign films allowed -- from 20 to 34, a gesture welcomed by industry counterparts in the West.

U.S. animation heavyweights Disney and Dreamworks have long been eager to reach Chinese audiences, and recently set up cooperative arrangements with Chinese partners to start taking advantage of what Geiger calls the country's “red hot market.” 

1 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。

2 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

5 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 curd   

n.凝乳；凝乳状物

参考例句：

• I'd like to add some pepper to the bean curd.我想在豆腐里加一点辣椒粉。
• The next one is bean curd with crab roe.下一个是蟹黄豆腐。

7 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

8 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。