Mel Brooks Checks in for Hotel Transylvania 2
Mel Brooks, the legendary[傳奇的] comedian[喜劇演員] and filmmaker voices the ancient vampire Vlad—the angry old father of Adam Sandler’s Dracula—in the animated sequel[續(xù)集] Hotel Transylvania 2.
The centuries-old Vlad is “l(fā)ike my real personality[個(gè)性]. I’m pretty grumpy[脾氣壞的],” jokes Brooks, 88. “It was a good choice.”
The first Hotel Transylvania in 2012 explored the generational gap between Drac and his young (for a vampire) 118-year-old daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez), her need to see the world outside the family hotel and her attraction to the simple human Jonathan (Andy Samberg).
A family get-together in the sequel brings Vlad to town—along with some secrets and drama—to visit his son he hasn’t seen in years. He turns everybody’s life upside down, from Dracula, Mavis and Jonathan to hotel[老顧客] such as Frank (Kevin James), Wayne Werewolf(Steve Buscemi) and Murray the Mummy (Keegan-Michael Key).
Jonathan found Dracula intimidating[嚇人的] in the original[原作的] movie, but he’s really confused[使糊涂] by Vlad. “He actually lives in a cave—he is about as old school as it gets,” says producer Michelle Murdocca. “So when he comes and sees that Dracula is running a hotel, he’s like, ‘What is going on here?’”
Vlad can be mean and tough, Brooks says. “He doesn’t treat Dracula with a lot of respect[尊重] and they’re often arguing. It makes for some wonderful comedy.”
Horror comedies are natural for Brooks, who directed 1974’s Young Frankenstein and 1995’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It. For the latter[后者的] film, he had worked with the late Leslie Nielsen and other actors on doing a perfect vampire accent.
So for Vlad, “I had that with me. And I didn’t have to make it older because I’m almost 100, so I played it out of my own voice,” Brooks says.
Brooks also had ideas for Vlad’s look and design. The character originally was a little scarier and darker, but Brooks suggested the filmmakers open up his eyes and make them bigger and friendlier so kids would like him.
“Actually, it’s like a little bit of Mel coming through,” says Murdocca. “You can see that warm guy in there behind this exterior[外在的] of old, leathery[堅(jiān)韌的] spookiness[幽靈一般].”
傳奇喜劇演員及電影制作人梅爾·布魯克斯將在動(dòng)畫電影《精靈旅社》的續(xù)集中為德古拉(亞當(dāng)·桑德勒配音)的老爸—脾氣暴躁、老掉牙的吸血鬼老弗拉德一角配音。
這個(gè)活了幾百歲的弗拉德“就和我自己的性格一樣,脾氣暴躁。”88歲的布魯克斯開玩笑說?!罢媸沁x對人了?!?/p>
2012年的《精靈旅社》講述了德古拉和他年輕的(對于一個(gè)吸血鬼來說)女兒—118歲的梅菲絲(賽琳娜·戈麥斯配音)之間的代溝。梅菲絲想出去看看家庭旅館外面的世界并被人類喬納森(安迪·薩姆伯格配音)吸引的故事。
在續(xù)集里,弗拉德因?yàn)橐淮渭彝ゾ蹠?huì)而去城里看望多年未見的兒子,同時(shí)也帶來了一些秘密,制造了一連串戲劇事件。他把每個(gè)人的生活都弄得顛三倒四,包括德古拉、梅菲絲、喬納森,以及弗蘭克(凱文·詹姆斯配音)、狼人韋恩(史蒂夫·布西密配音)和木乃伊穆雷(基岡·邁克爾·基配音)等旅館的???。
在第一部電影里,喬納森覺得德古拉很可怕,而弗拉德卻讓他倍感困惑?!八≡谝粋€(gè)山洞里,為人有夠老派守舊的?!敝破嗣仔獱枴つ聽柖嗫ㄕf。“所以他剛到時(shí),看到德古拉在經(jīng)營一個(gè)旅館,他的第一反應(yīng)是:‘這里出什么事了?’”
布魯克斯說,弗拉德又苛刻又強(qiáng)硬。“他不怎么尊重德古拉,兩人常常鬧矛盾,由此產(chǎn)生了一些精彩的喜劇效果?!?/p>
恐怖喜劇對于布魯克斯并不是什么新鮮玩意。1974年他曾執(zhí)導(dǎo)過《新科學(xué)怪人》,1995年又執(zhí)導(dǎo)了《吸血鬼也瘋狂》。在后一部電影里,他與已故的萊斯利·尼爾森及其他演員創(chuàng)造出了一種恰到好處的吸血鬼的口音。
所以對弗拉德這個(gè)角色,“他身上的特點(diǎn)我都了然于心。我也不必刻意扮老,因?yàn)槲冶緛砭涂煲话贇q了,所以我只需要用自己的聲音去演繹就可以了,” 布魯克斯說。
布魯克斯對弗拉德的外型和設(shè)計(jì)也有自己的想法。這個(gè)角色原本的設(shè)定更加陰暗嚇人,但布魯克斯建議制片人讓弗拉德的眼睛睜開,讓他的雙眼看起來大一點(diǎn)、友善一點(diǎn),孩子們才會(huì)喜歡他。
“其實(shí)透過這個(gè)角色可以看到一點(diǎn)梅爾·布魯克斯的影子?!蹦聽柖嗫ㄕf?!澳憧梢钥吹皆谶@個(gè)家伙蒼老強(qiáng)韌、陰森嚇人的外表背后,是一個(gè)溫暖的人。”