湯姆和杰瑞：貓和老鼠斗過的80年

陳義杰

《貓和老鼠》是歐美經(jīng)典動畫，于1940年2月10日在美國首播。這個機靈老鼠與笨貓的故事，堪與米老鼠和唐老鴨的故事相媲美。沒有動物世界中恃強凌弱的殘酷，只有兩個鄰居之間的日?，嵤潞图姞帯?/p>

A cartoon cat， sick of the annoying mouse living in his home， sets a plot to take him out with a trap loaded with cheese. The mouse， wise to his plan， safely removes the snack and saunters away with a full belly. You can probably guess what happens next. The story ends with the cat yelling out in pain， as he almost always does.

MGMs animation department， where creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera worked， had struggled to imitate the success of other studios which had hit characters like Porky Pig and Mickey Mouse. Out of boredom， the animators， both aged under 30， began thinking up their own ideas. Barbera said he loved the simple concept of a cat and mouse cartoon， with conflict and chase， even though it had been done countless times before.

Puss Gets the Boot became the first released in 1940. The debut was a hit and won the studio an Oscar for best animated short. Despite their work， the animators were not credited on the win. A change of heart came only when a letter arrived from an influential industry figure in Texas asking when she would see another one of those “wonderful cat and mouse cartoons”.

According to Barbera there was no real discussion about the characters not speaking， but having grown up with silent films starring Charlie Chaplin， the creators knew they could be funny without dialogue. Music composed by Scott Bradley underscored the action and Toms trademark humanlike scream was voiced by Hanna himself.

For the best part of the next two decades， Hanna and Barbera oversaw the production of more than 100 of these shorts. Each took weeks to make and cost up to $50，000 to produce， so only a handful could be made every year. These Tom and Jerrys are almost universally considered the best， which win six more Academy Awards and cameos in Hollywood feature films. “Ill bet when you watched them as a child， or even if you look at them right now， you would be hardpressed to know when they were made. Its‘evergreen. It doesnt fade，” said Jerry Beck， a cartoon historian who has worked in roles across the industry.

In the 80 years since their creation， the cat and mouse have appeared in everything from a “kids” version to a 1992 musical movie where they sang and spoke. Warner Brothers， who now own the rights to Tom and Jerry， will release a new liveaction film just before Christmas this year. Not much is known about the project， except that actors including Chlo？觕 Grace Moretz and Ken Jeong have signed on.

Reading Check

1. When was Tom and Jerry first released？

A. In 1940. B. In 1992. C. In 2002. D. In 2012.

2. What can be inferred from paragraph 4？

A. Most funny films are without dialogue.

B. Bill Hanna composed the music of Tom and Jerry.

C. The creators talked many times about the characters voice.

D. Charlie Chaplins silent films influenced the creators a lot.

3. Whats Jerry Becks attitude to Tom and Jerry？

A. Indifferent. B. Satisfied. C. Ambiguous. D. Negative.

4. Who owns the rights to Tom and Jerry now？

A. Ken Jeong. B. Scott Bradley.

C. Warner Brothers. D. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

The story ends with the cat yelling out in pain， as he almost always does. 故事以貓痛苦的叫喊結(jié)束，就像往常一樣。

【信息提取】end with...意為“以……結(jié)束”。

【句式仿寫】派對以一首流行歌曲結(jié)束。