学文网A new CG注1 animated film from 20th Century Fox Animation (the makers of the Ice Age films) will be in theatres this March. Horton Hears a Who! is based on the book, first published in 1954, by Ted Geisel, who wrote under the pen name Dr. Seuss. His books have sold over 200 million
copies, and have been translated into 15 languages. The “Horton” series (Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches the Egg) are 1)consistently among the top-selling of all Seuss titles.
Horton Hears a Who! tells the story of Horton the
elephant who hears a cry for help coming from a 2)speck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Who-ville注2. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but 3)torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Still, Horton stands by the 4)motto that, “After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.”
Jim Carrey and Steve Carell
Join the Cast
Jim Carrey, who played the title role in How the Grinch Stole Christmas注3, will provide the voice of the lovable elephant Horton in Horton Hears a Who!. Carell has been cast as the voice of the Mayor of Who-ville.
In a statement announcing the casting of Carrey and Carell, Chris Meledandri, president of 20th Century Fox Animation, said, “At the heart of the movies that we make are the characters, and in Horton, Geisel has created a character with an 5)unwavering 6)moral
center, a charming 7)innocence, and a selfless
8)willingness to protect others, even at his own expense. Geisel had one of the greatest
imaginations of the 20th century, and Jim
Carrey’s extraordinary talents are a wonderful
match to Geisel’s vision. Steve Carell will not only be bringing his great comedic abilities to the role of the Mayor, but also his gift of finding the 9)humanity in every character he plays.”
“The film’s CG 10)imagery,” Meledandri added, “and the extraordinary artists at Blue Sky Studios will give us the opportunity
to truly transport audiences into a
Seuss world for the very first time.”
Jim Carrey on His Role
Asked what film he’s up to, Jim Carrey replied, “At the moment, I’m doing Horton Hears a Who! - the cartoon version of Horton Hears a Who - which is going to be beautiful. I have always loved all Dr. Seuss [stories] and I’m lucky enough to have been the Grinch. Audrey Geisel, Dr. Seuss’ widow, liked what I did and she asked me to do Horton.”
Carrey says the idea of playing Horton the elephant
really 11)appealed to him. “I love the idea that a person
is a person, no matter how small and the idea of worlds within worlds within worlds. Because sometimes I sit out in my backyard and I look at the birds, and a 12)hummingbird will come down ‘wap’ goes flying past my head注4 and will threaten me and stuff like that. I realize that it has no respect for my 13)deed to the land, you know? That’s its 14)property 15)as far as it’s concerned. And that’s just the reality…We think that we’re the ones in control. Everybody does.”
Although Carrey and Carell are both providing voices in Horton Hears a Who!, they probably won’t see each other until it’s time to do 16)press for the film. “Everybody pretty much does their thing solo in those cartoons,” explained Carrey. “We’ll be promoting it
together. I’m sure.”
一部由20世纪福克斯公司动画部（《冰河世纪》系列电影出品者）出品的全新CG动画电影将于今年三月上映。电影《霍顿奇遇记》根据1954年首次出版的小说改编而成，该书作者为“苏斯博士”（泰德・盖泽尔的笔名）。他的书已售出超过2亿本，被翻译成15种语言。“霍顿”系列（包括《霍顿奇遇记》、《霍顿孵蛋》）一向是苏斯博士作品中最畅销的作品。
《霍顿奇遇记》讲述了大象霍顿听到一粒灰尘上传来了求救声。虽然他看不见那粒灰尘上有人，但他还是决定出手相助。原来，这颗尘埃是一群“无名氏”的家园，他们住在“无名村”里。霍顿答应帮忙保护这群无名氏和他们的家，但这只让他被邻居不断烦扰，因为他们不相信有东西可以在这颗小尘埃上存活。然而，霍顿仍然坚定不移地守护那句座右铭：“一个人就是一个人，无论他多渺小。”
金・凯瑞、史蒂夫・卡洛尔加盟配音阵容
曾主演《圣诞怪杰》的金・凯瑞将为《霍顿奇遇记》中可爱的大象霍顿配音，而卡洛尔则被选为无名村市长的配音员。
在宣布凯瑞和卡洛尔将加入配音阵容时，20世纪福克斯公司动画部总裁克里斯・梅莱丹德里说：“我们制作的电影的核心是剧中角色，在‘霍顿’里，盖泽尔创作了一个道德标准坚定不移的角色――他有动人的纯洁和一种舍己为人的无私精神。盖泽尔是20世纪最富有想象力的人之一，而金・凯瑞非凡的表演才华正与之相得益彰。史蒂夫・卡洛尔不仅将他的喜剧魅力赋予市长一角，也将展现他在扮演每一个角色时皆能发掘其人性光辉的天赋。”
梅莱丹德里接着说：“这部影片的CG动画影像，以及蓝天工作室出色的艺术家会让观众真实置身于苏斯博士的世界，这是之前从来没有过的。”
金・凯瑞畅谈角色
当被问到他正在拍什么电影时，金・凯瑞回答道：“目前我正在拍《霍顿奇遇记》的动画版，它会让人耳目一新。我一向很喜欢苏斯博士的所有（故事），能够饰演格林奇我感到很荣幸。苏斯博士的遗孀奥德丽・盖泽尔很喜欢我的表现，于是邀请我扮演霍顿。”
凯瑞说自己真的被扮演大象霍顿的想法吸引住了。“我很欣赏‘一个人就是一个人，无论他多渺小’这种看法，也很喜欢一个世界里有另一个小世界，而里面又有一个个小世界的想法。因为有时我坐在自家后院里看鸟，有只蜂鸟会飞下来，‘袭击’我的头之后飞走，做些威胁我之类的事情。我意识到它并不因为我拥有这块土地的地契而对我产生敬意，懂吗？就它而言，那是它的财产。这就是事实……我们总认为自己是（万物的）主宰，每个人都这么认为。”
虽然凯瑞和卡洛尔都为《霍顿奇遇记》配音，但他们可能要到电影会时才会碰面。“在制作动画片时，每个人几乎都是单独工作的，”凯瑞解释说。“我们一定会一起出席影片的宣传活动，我相信。”