经济学人下载:迪士尼创新策略:翻拍经典动画的真人版电影(4)

Producers and directors can now draw on astoundingly sophisticated computer-generated effects. Except for the actor who played Mowgli, “The Jungle Book” was entirely digital; the authentically lush rainforest and convincing animals earned an Oscar. Jon Favreau, the director, will apply the same techniques to “The Lion King”. “We can put any animal next to a real one and not be able to tell the difference,” claims Richard Stammers, the visual-effects supervisor on “Dumbo”. The animators size up muscle, the wrinkles of skin and the movement of fur. Lacking an airborne elephant to copy, researchers studied the physics of large birds. For imaginary creatures such as the Beast, animators use the latest motion-capture technology, which tracks actors’ movements and facial expressions and then transposes them onto digital figures. The uncanny realism instils a sense of wonder of its own.
如今制片人和导演可以利用惊人的计算机生成的复杂效果。除了扮演毛克利的演员，《奇幻森林》完全是数字化的；真实茂密的热带雨林和以假乱真的动物赢得了奥斯卡奖。导演乔恩·法夫罗将把同样的技巧运用到《狮子王》中。“我们可以把任何动物放于一个真实的动物旁边，却不能分辨真假，”《小飞象》的视觉效果总监理查德•斯坦默斯声称。动画师对肌肉、皮肤的皱纹和皮毛的运动进行评估。由于没有大象可以模仿，研究人员研究了大型鸟类的物理特性。对于像野兽这样的虚拟生物，动画师使用最新的动作捕捉技术，跟踪演员的动作和面部表情，然后将其转换成数字图像。神秘的现实主义注入了一种奇妙的感觉。

These revamps are not the only way Disney is ransacking its canon. In 2018 it released “Mary Poppins Returns” and a film about Christopher Robin, a pal of Winnie-the-Pooh’s; Cruella de Vil, Rose Red (Snow White’s sister), Tinker Bell and Prince Charming are all in line for their own movies. Fears that Disney would tarnish its family heirlooms with these do-overs and spin-offs seem to have been unfounded. On Rotten Tomatoes, a review-aggregator site, audiences give “The Jungle Book” an 86% approval rating—a similar score to the original’s, as is that of the new “Cinderella”.
这些改进并不是迪士尼翻拍经典的唯一方式。2018年，迪士尼发行了《欢乐满人间》续集，以及一部关于小熊维尼的朋友的电影《克里斯托弗·罗宾》；克鲁埃拉·德维尔、红玫瑰（白雪公主的妹妹）、小叮当和白马王子都将改编为真人电影。人们担心迪士尼的大改编会玷污经典之作，但这种担心似乎是没有根据的。在影评聚合网站烂番茄上，观众对《奇幻森林》的支持率为86%——和原版的分数差不多，新版《灰姑娘》也是这个情况。

Still, Mr Katzenberg’s insistence on “fresh, new stories” has not been wholly discredited. There are only so many venerable cartoons to revisit, and the exciting novelty of seeing real actors and realistic animals breathe life into fantastical yarns may fade. Franchise apathy has already struck: “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (2018) received decent reviews but failed to break even. The circle of live-action films may yet turn out to be a wheel of fortune.
尽管如此，卡曾伯格坚持“新鲜的新故事”的主张并非完全丧失可信度。可以重温的经典漫画数量有限，真实的演员和真实的动物为奇幻的故事注入生命，但这种令人兴奋的新奇感可能会消退。特许经营权的冷漠已经引起了人们的注意: 《游侠索罗：星球大战外传》（2018）得到了不错的评价，但仍未能实现收支平衡。真人电影圈最终可能会变为命运之轮。