英语杂谈：30 Walt Disney's work - part 1

The new family movie "Ice Age: The Meltdown" is written for laughs. But some people might also see it as a serious message about the dangers of climate warming.

The film brings back the animated² animals from the two thousand
two hit movie "Ice Age." The main characters are a wooly³ mammoth⁴
named Manny, a sloth⁵ named Sid and a saber-toothed tiger named
Diego.

In the first movie, Manny, Sid and Diego faced the dangers of the coming prehistoric⁶ freeze. This time they are threatened by floods from the melting of the Ice Age.
At first, the animals love the water. Later, when they discover the threat, they must warn everyone else and find a way to save their valley.
MOVIE SOUND: "It's all part of my 'Accu-weather' forecast. The five-day outlook⁷ is calling for intense⁸ flooding followed by ... THE END OF THE WORLD!"

The world of cartooning has changed a lot since the days when Walt Disney drew his
characters by hand. Animated cartoons are especially labor-intensive. Animators create a sense of movement through a progression of many images. Each image is a little different than the one before it. Today many animators, including the ones who made the "Ice Age" movies, get help from computers.

But Walt Disney's work still influences modern cartooning. He started his company in
nineteen twenty-three. He had his first big success five years later. He combined animation⁹ with sound in the nineteen twenty-eight film "Steamboat Willie."

"Steamboat Willie" was the first movie to star Mickey Mouse. Later came other famous Disney characters, including Donald Duck.
Donald Duck is over seventy years old now, but you could never tell by looking at him. To animate¹ something means to give it life. Animated characters can live forever -- or at least as long as they stay popular.

Another form of cartooning is the comic strip¹⁰. Comic strips¹¹ are a drawing or a series of drawings that present a situation or tell a little story. Comic strips are usually good for a laugh or at least a smile.
American newspapers commonly publish a page or more of them each day. These are usually black-and-white drawings. Sunday funnies are often published in color.

Readers of all ages enjoy the comics in the newspaper.

On television, cartoons used to be thought of as mainly for children. But times have
changed. For example, Cartoon Network says one-third of the people who watch its
programs are over the age of eighteen. So it offers special late-night programming called "Adult Swim." These cartoons are meant to appeal to what it calls "a grown-up sense of humor¹² and other adult sensibilities."
One of the shows, "The Boondocks," is based on a newspaper comic strip.
"The Boondocks" is the story of Huey and Riley, two young African-American boys. They come from a rough part of Chicago, Illinois. Now they live with their grandfather in a mainly white community. The characters are known for their sharp observations about life there, and life in general. Huey speaks his mind like a revolutionary.

"The Boondocks" often deals with issues of race and social justice. The strip is more political
than most comic strip readers are used to. Some think it is great; others think it goes too far.
"The Boondocks" appears in about three hundred fifty newspapers. Aaron McGruder is the
cartoonist who created it. He has been taking a break from the print version¹³ since March,
and does not plan to have new ones until October. "Every well needs refreshing," he says.
 

1 animate   

v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的

参考例句：

• We are animate beings,living creatures.我们是有生命的存在，有生命的动物。
• The girls watched,little teasing smiles animating their faces.女孩们注视着，脸上挂着调皮的微笑，显得愈加活泼。

2 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

3 wooly   

adj.毛茸茸的；糊涂的

参考例句：

• I like the feel of this cloth and it has a warm wooly feel.我喜欢这块布的手感,它摸上去毛茸茸的很暖和。
• He wore a brown t-shirt with jeans and a pair of shoes,with a wooly hat covering his hair.小贝身穿一件棕色t恤，搭配牛仔裤和皮鞋，头戴一顶盖住头发的羊毛帽子。

4 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

5 sloth   

n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散

参考例句：

• Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。
• The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。

6 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

7 outlook   

n.观点，见解；展望，前景

参考例句：

• The outlook for the economy is bright.经济前景光明。
• Her outlook gradually widens.她的眼光渐渐开阔了。

8 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

9 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。

10 strip   

n.长条，条状；连环漫画；n.脱衣舞；vt.脱衣，剥夺；挤干(牛奶)；vt.拆卸；去除(烟叶的茎)；vi.脱衣，表演脱衣舞；剥落

参考例句：

• I need one more strip of cloth to finish this decoration.我还要一根布条来完成这个装饰品。
• We had to strip the old paint from the doors.我们只好把门上的旧漆刮掉。

11 strips   

n. 条，片 名词strip的复数形式

参考例句：

• Cut the vegetables into thin strips. 把菜切成细条。
• The baskets are woven from strips of willow. 这些篮子是用柳条编的。

12 humor   

n.(humour)幽默，诙谐

参考例句：

• He is distinguished for his sense of humor.他以其幽默感著称。
• American humor is founded largely on hyperbole.美式幽默主要以夸张为基础。

13 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？