美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Bambi' Artist Tyrus Wong Dies At 106

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

Tyrus Wong, the artist behind the design of "Bambi," died on Friday. He was 106. Wong was a Chinese immigrant, and his vision for "Bambi" was inspired by landscape drawings from the Song Dynasty. The film's art was praised as a breakthrough when it came out. But Tyrus Wong's work wasn't widely recognized until he was in his 90s.

Joining me now is Pamela Tom, writer and director of a documentary called "Tyrus," and she knew him for almost 20 years. Welcome to the program.

PAMELA TOM: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: So I think it's best to start with Disney's "Bambi" movie (laughter) because I want to get a sense of what was groundbreaking or what was distinctive¹ about his style at a time when Disney movies were really popular - right? - that golden age kind of window.

TOM: Yeah, yeah. What was so distinctive about "Bambi" was his approach, this very spare and very poetic² approach. Prior to "Bambi," they had released "Snow White." And if you look at the forest in "Snow White," you see every detail, every twig³, you know, every leaf.

Tyrus took an entirely⁴ different approach, you know, with the less-is-more. He had a very painterly style. It was just - you see the - literally⁵ the brush strokes in the paintings and in the backgrounds. And he - you know, he was just trying to evoke⁶ the feeling of the forest rather than the forest itself. And so when Walt Disney saw some of his sketches⁷, he said, that's it. This is going to be the look.

CORNISH: It's interesting because he was actually a pretty low-level animator there at first, right?

TOM: That's correct. He had gotten married in 1938 and decided⁸ he needed a full-time⁹ job. So Disney was hiring artists, but they often hired even the most skilled and talented artists like Tyrus Wong as a lowly in-betweener. Those were people who drew the sketches in-between the main drawings. And it was very tedious work. He hated it. You know, he said his eyes felt like ping pong balls.

So when he heard that "Bambi" was in pre-production, he went home, and you know, he read the book and drew these little thumbnail sketches and brought them back to the studio and showed them to the art director.

CORNISH: He also had a very interesting journey to America. As we mentioned, he's a Chinese immigrant, and he left his village when he was 9 years old. What was distinctive about that move?

TOM: Well, a lot of the immigrants to America were coming during that period. There was poverty. There was drought. There was great political turmoil¹⁰. So like many immigrants even today, you know, he and his father left for better opportunities. What was distinctive about it is that he was coming to America during the height of anti-Chinese the sentiment.

The Chinese Exclusion¹¹ Act was in effect, which essentially¹² barred all laborers¹³ except for a small, narrow class of Chinese. And so they came under assumed identities as the son of a merchant, and he had to memorize these details of a person he was not and was detained at Angel Island for almost a month while being interrogated¹⁴.

I like to call it the original extreme vetting¹⁵, but the purpose of Angel Island was to really have Chinese return back to their country, to trip them up.

CORNISH: Yeah, you're talking about an interrogation and detention¹⁶. He was 10 years old...

TOM: That's right.

CORNISH: ...When he did all this on his own. I mean talk about "Bambi."

TOM: Yeah, exactly, and he never saw his mother again. And he was scared to death. He didn't know where his father was. He was the only kid in Angel Island at the time of his detention. And I think that early experience really informed his life. He became very resourceful, you know? He was a survivor¹⁷. He knew how to overcome that adversity. And you can imagine that was his first introduction to the U.S.

CORNISH: Today, he has such a reputation among animators, many who cite him and his influence. What do you think his legacy¹⁸ will be?

TOM: Tyrus' legacy will definitely always be connected to "Bambi" for having created such beauty and poetry and lyricism, the likes of which we have really never seen since then. And he continues to influence animators and artists today. You know Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen, Ralph Eggleston - all these people still look to his work for inspiration today.

CORNISH: That's Pamela Tom. She's the writer, director and co-producer of the documentary "Tyrus" about the animator Tyrus Wong. He died on Friday at the age of 106. Pamela Tom, thanks so much.

TOM: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF ASAF AVIDAN SONG, "ONE DAY/RECKONING SONG")

1 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

2 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

3 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

7 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

10 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

11 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

12 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

13 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

14 interrogated   

v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• He was interrogated by the police for over 12 hours. 他被警察审问了12个多小时。
• Two suspects are now being interrogated in connection with the killing. 与杀人案有关的两名嫌疑犯正在接受审讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

16 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

17 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

18 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。