6. Providing the voices for the characters is a cast that includes Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow--all great 1)comedy actors. Meyers, famous for his role as the funny 2)spy Austin Powers, plays the 3)title role of Shrek. He says he took the role in part because Shrek's tale is "a great story about accepting yourself for who you are." Director Andrew Adamson says that Meyers was able to step into his character and stay there, even between takes. Meyers became Shrek, and provided wonderful, 4)improvised lines. "The 5)improv moments were gold," says Adamson. "Those are the moments that give the 6)animators the most to go on, because at that point, it's not a written piece of dialogue, it's a character come to life."

為這些角色配音的演員包括麥克梅爾斯、艾迪墨菲、卡麥蓉狄亞以及約翰李斯高--個個都是卓越的喜劇演員。以飾演滑稽間諜奧斯汀鮑爾而聞名的梅爾斯，擔任主角史瑞克的配音。他說他之所以會答應演出這個角色，部分原因在于史瑞克的故事「以接受自己的本色為主題，是個精采的故事」。導演安德魯亞當遜說梅爾斯能夠融入角色，甚至在等待下場拍戲的時候都不改變。梅爾斯變成了史瑞克，并且提供了相當棒的即興臺詞。亞當遜表示：「這些即興演出的時刻相當珍貴，它讓動畫家能充分發揮，因為這時候已經不是事先寫好的臺詞，而是活生生的角色在說話。」

6. 1)comedy (n.) 喜劇 2) spy (n.) 間諜 3) title role 與劇名同名的角色，通常就是主角 4) improvise (v.) 即興創作 5) improv (n.) 即興表演 6) animator (n.) 動畫家

7. Playing Shrek's 1)talkative buddy, a 2)donkey, is 3)veteran 4)comedian Eddie Murphy, another great 5)improviser. 6)Co-director Vicky Jenson said that Murphy "could make you fall on the floor laughing with his 7)interpretation of even a single word." Murphy explains that he likes to do animated films because, if they're done right, they last forever. And he says his kids love them. "I explained to them that Daddy is playing a 8)jackass in Shrek, and they really got a kick out of it. They love hearing their father's voice come out of a cartoon."

老牌喜劇演員艾迪墨菲為史瑞克多話的伙伴--一只驢子--配音，他也很會即興表演。副導維琪簡生說，墨菲「即使只詮釋一個字，也能讓你笑得在地上打滾。」墨菲解釋說他很喜歡參與動畫片，因為只要做的好，動畫片可以永垂不朽。而且他說他自己的小孩也都很喜歡。「我對他們解釋說，老爸要在《史瑞克》里扮演驢子，他們全都樂壞了。他們很喜歡聽到老爸的聲音從卡通人物的嘴里發出來。」

7.1) talkative (a.) 健談的，多話的 2) donkey (n.) 驢子 3) veteran (a.) 老經驗的 4) comedian (n.) 喜劇演員 5) improviser (n.) 即興演出者 6) co-director (n.) 副導演，共同導演 7) interpretation (n.) 詮釋 8) jackass (n.) 公驢，愚蠢的人

8. To 1)bring these characters and their world to life, the 2)filmmakers have used the latest in animation technology. To 3)portray human 4)emotions, they rely on a 5)unique 6)facial animation system developed at PDI/DreamWorks. The complex system builds up a character's face 7)layer by layer, from the 8)skull up through all the 9)individual muscles, all the way to the skin--or in some instances, the hair. It allows the character to show an astonishing 10)range of emotions. Also 11)available to the filmmakers was new technology for animating 12)fluids and fire. They put it to good effect, creating the 13)fearsome dragon's fire-breath, moats of boiling 14)lava, and a silly 15)scene involving a bath of mud and beer.

電影工作者使用最新的動畫科技，賦予這些角色和他們的世界生命。為了表現人類的感情，他們靠的是PDI/夢工廠研發出來的一套獨特的臉部動畫系統。這套復雜的系統一層一層地建造出角色的面貌，從頭骨往外到每根肌肉，一直到皮膚--有時是毛。角色能夠表現來的感情范圍大得驚人。此外電影工作者還可以使用一種最新科技來制作流體及火焰的動畫。他們運用出極佳的效果，創造出惡龍噴出的火、滾燙巖漿的護城河，以及在泥漿和啤酒中洗澡的一個可笑場景。

8.1) bring ... to life (v.) 使……活起來 2) filmmaker (n.) 電影工作者 3) portray (v.) 描繪 4) emotion (n.) 情感 5) unique (a.) 獨一無二的 6) facial (a.) 面部的 7) layer (n.) 層 8) skull (n.) 頭骨 9) individual (a.) 個別的 10) range (n.) 范圍 11) available (a.) 可以取得，有供應 12) fluid (n.) 液體，流體 13) fearsome (a.) 可怕的 14) lava (n.) 熔巖 15) scene (n.) 場景

9. "We 1)envisioned a magical environment that you could 2)immerse yourself in," says 3)co-producer Aron Warner. "Every leaf on every tree moves, the dirt moves, the dust rolls ... there's a sense of 4)atmosphere, a sense of weight to the 5)props. You can almost smell it." 共同制作人阿倫華納這么說：「我們想象出一個奇幻的世界，你可以沉浸在其中，」「每一棵樹上的每一片葉子都會動，泥土會動，灰塵滾滾……有空氣的感覺，道具彷佛有重量感。幾乎聞得到。」

9.1) envision (v.) 想象 2) immerse (v.) 沉浸 3) co-producer (n.) 共同制片 4) atmosphere (n.) 氣氛，大氣層 5) prop (n.) 道具

10. The 1)combination of great comedy actors and advanced technology promises a 2)memorable movie. Shrek's world and story are brought 3)vividly to life, and the 4)timeless 5)moral of the story is 6)convincingly realized. As producer Katzenberg says, "Each of our characters comes to understand that there is something wonderful-warts and all-about who they are. I think that's true for all of us: that the people who 7)ultimately come to know and love us, see the strengths inside of us. Whether you're a princess, a donkey, or even a big, green, 8)stinky ogre, you can find love and happiness."

偉大的諧星與先進科技的結合，保證會是一部令人難忘的電影。史瑞克的世界和他的故事生動地呈現出來，故事里的永恒寓意也表現得令人信服。就像制作人卡森伯格所說：「我們每一個角色到最后都發現，自己的本色--包括瑕疵在內--有相當美好的一面。我認為我們每一個人也都是這樣：到最后能了解并愛我們的人，都是看出了我們內在的力量。不管你是公主、驢子，甚至是又大又臭的綠色妖怪，都能找到愛與幸福。」

10. 1) combination (n.) 組合 2) memorable (a.) 難忘的 3) vividly (adv.) 生動地 4) timeless (a.) 永恒的 5) moral (n.) 教訓，道德 6) convincingly (adv.) 有說服力地 7) ultimately (adv.) 到最后 8) stinky (a.) 發臭的