你或许还记得去年八月里约奥运会闭幕式上的“东京八分钟”。就算四年后的奥运会不在这里举行，这位新东道主现场表演中的哆啦A梦、凯蒂猫、超级马里奥等著名动画角色也已经成功地抢了风头。
It was a wise choice since there is probably nothing that shouts “Japan” more loudly than the country’s animation, known as “Japanimation”. And this year marks the 100th anniversary (周年纪念) of the very first Japanese cartoon, made in 1917.
这是个明智之选，因为或许没有什么能比日本动漫更能代表这个国家的了。首部日本动画诞生于1917年，所以今年是日本动画的百年纪念。
In the past century, the wild imagination of Japanese animators continued to feed our curiosity. Monsters, fairies (仙子), robots and magic feature often in their work. It has also been inspiring film industries in other parts of the world. The touching story of Disney’s The Lion King (《狮子王》，1994), for example, actually comes from Japan’s Kimba the White Lion (《森林大帝》，1965). And the 1999 Hollywood hit film, The Matrix (《黑客帝国》), was also heavily influenced by the 1989 Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell (《攻壳机动队》).
在过去的一百年间，日本动画师们天马行空的想象力不断地满足着我们的好奇心。怪兽、仙子、机器人以及魔法生物是他们作品中的常客。日本动画也不断赋予了世界各地的电影业灵感。比如，迪士尼公司的《狮子王》 （1994）这一感人故事实际上就来源于日本的《森林大帝》（1965）。而1999年的好莱坞大片《黑客帝国》，也深受1989年日本漫画《攻壳机动队》的影响。
“I love his films. I study his films. I watch his films when I’m looking for inspiration (灵感),” John Lasseter, director of Pixar’s Toy Story, once said
“我爱他的电影。我研究他的电影。每当我要寻找灵感时，我就会看他的电影，”皮克斯工作室《玩具总动员》系列电影的导演约翰·雷斯特在谈到日本动画大师宫崎骏时，这样说。
And our thirst (渴望) for this imaginary world is only growing.
而我们对于幻想世界的渴望与日俱增。
At the end of last year, for example, the story of Japanese cartoon Pokemon (《宠物小精灵》，1997-) was brought to life with the help of augmented reality (AR，增强现实) technology. People in many countries are often seen searching for Pokemon in real life locations through the screens of their phones. They play it on their way to school, to work, and during holiday outings. Although Pokemon began as a video game a year before the cartoon came out, people should give the animation a “Thanks” for bringing it to a wider audience.
比如，去年年底，增强现实技术将日本动画《宠物小精灵》（1997-）的故事带入了现实世界。许多国家的人时常通过自己的手机，在现实生活中寻找宠物小精灵。人们在上班上学的路上，甚至假日出游途中，都在玩这一游戏。尽管《宠物小精灵》系列在动画推出的前一年就有了游戏版本，但人们还是要感谢动画，让更多的人知道了这一系列。
Besides being a source (来源) of entertainment, Japanese animation is also a shaping force of our daily lives. For example, wearing glasses used to be considered as uncool and geeky (书呆子气的), but after the 1981 TV animation Arale (《阿拉蕾》), in which there is a heavily-nearsighted (高度近视的) girl with wings and magic powers, glasses soon became fashionable. And the language we use – the word meng (萌), to name one – is also reportedly from Japanese animation.
除了为人们提供娱乐消遣，日本动漫还能影响我们的日常生活。例如，戴眼镜在过去曾被视为土气又呆板，但在1981年的动画片《阿拉蕾》播出后，动画片里的那个插着一对翅膀、会用魔法的高度近视女孩，令眼镜很快就变得时髦起来。而我们所使用的语言 —— 比如说“萌”这一词 —— 据说就来源于日本动漫。
But interestingly, with all the imagination that is so admired by modern fans, it would still be hard for Japanese animators in 1917 to believe that the two-dimensional (二维的) worlds that they were creating at the time would have such a big influence in today’s three-dimensional world.
但有趣的是，尽管（动画中的）想象深受现代粉丝们的喜爱，但对于1917年的动画师们来说，他们当时所创造的二次元世界会对今天的三次元世界有如此巨大的影响，这点依然令人难以置信。
查看更多关于【美文阅读】的文章
