《驯龙高手2》将成今夏最大热门的5大理由

　　How To Train Your Dragon 2 has a significant amount of goodwill going into release. The first movie still represents DreamWorks Animation’s most sustained box office run since the original Shrek thirteen years ago. Earning nearly five times its opening weekend gross, How to Train Your Dragon was one of the few early 2010 successes that didn’t see a massive benefit from Avatar’s earlier success in the 3D format. In fact, the film’s $43.7 million opening weekend was considered underwhelming at the time--but phenomenal word of mouth propelled it to $218 million in North America--making it the highest grossing DreamWorks Animation release outside the Shrek franchise.
　　《驯龙高手2》进入票房有着大量的好声望。自13年前《怪物史瑞克》面世，《驯龙高手》一直代表着梦工厂动画公司最持久的票房运作。赚取首映周票房几乎5倍的收益，《驯龙高手》是2010年初成功电影中极其少见地未得益于《阿凡达》3D格式的早期成功。事实上，影片4370万美元首映周票房在当时被认为太不起眼了——但惊人的口碑助推了北美2亿美元票房——令其成为梦工厂动画公司《怪物史瑞克》系列以外最卖座电影。

　　Dragon went on to post strong home video sales, more than doubling the revenues of Shrek Forever After despite the ogre’s fourth installment earning 10 percent more ($239 million versus $218 million) theatrically. The film boasted an excellent 98 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, a 2010 Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film, and a 91 percent Flixster audience score. In addition, DreamWorks successfully moved the property into the realm of television with Cartoon Network’s Dragons series.
　　《驯龙高手》尔后又继续录得家用录像旺势销售，并超过了《怪物史瑞克4》双倍的收入，尽管史瑞克第四部影院票房多赚得10%（2.39亿美元对2.18亿美元）。本片傲人的业绩包括在烂番茄得分是卓越的98%， 2010年奥斯卡最佳动画片电影提名，并且Flixster观众打分91%。此外，梦工厂成功将影片移植到电视领域，成为卡通网络的驯龙系列。

REASON 2
MARKET MONOPOLY
理由2
市场垄断

　　How to Train Your Dragon 2 will be this summer’s only major animated release before Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue (July 18). For the first time since 2005, there will be no Pixar release. That’s a huge advantage for any competing studio, but an amplified one for a DreamWorks sequel that follows what has arguably been their most popular film of the past decade.
　　《驯龙高手2》将会是今夏迪士尼《飞机总动员：火线救援》（7月18日）之前发布的唯一一部大型动画。自2005年以来头一遭没有皮克斯影片发布。这对任何一家竞争工作室来说都是巨大的优势，而且对梦工厂这个系列来说更会倍增，该系列无疑是过去十年间他们最受欢迎的影片。

　　Dragon 2 should also benefit from the two-month window between it and fellow Fox release, Rio 2. With no direct competition to speak of, it’s a safe bet that kids will be hankering for their first big screen cartoon of the BOXOFFICE USA summer when June 13 rolls around. It’s also comfortably distanced from Disney’s Maleficent (May 30) and Paramount’s Transformers: Age of Extinction (June 27) by two weeks on each side.
　　《驯龙高手2》与其对手福克斯公司发布的《里约大冒险2》之间有两个月空窗期，应当也有所帮助。由于根本无正面竞争可言，可以安全地打赌，6月13日席卷而至时孩子们将渴望争睹美国票房夏季第一部大银幕动画片。同时它与迪士尼公司的《沉睡魔咒》（5月30日）、派拉蒙公司的《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》（6月27日）也分别拉开两周的舒适间隔。

REASON 3
DEAN DEBLOIS & JOHN POWELL
理由3
迪恩·德布洛斯与约翰·鲍威尔

　　Dean DeBlois may not be a household name, but as part of Disney’s writing team on Mulan and Lilo & Stitch over a decade ago (codirecting the latter title with Chris Sanders), his credentials speak for themselves. He followed those films with the original How to Train Your Dragon adaptation, again co-writing and co-directing with Sanders. The latter took time away to write and direct The Croods, but DuBlois’ continued oversight of the Dragon films is encouraging from a standpoint of maintaining consistence in quality storytelling.
　　迪恩·德布洛斯名字可能并非家喻户晓，但十几年前作为迪士尼《花木兰》与《星际宝贝》编剧团队（与克里斯·桑德斯共同执导后者），他的资格不言自明。他完成这些电影后对原版《驯龙高手》做改编，再次与桑德斯共同编写与执导。后者花费时间来写作与执导《疯狂原始人》，但迪恩·德布洛斯继续督导《驯龙高手2》电影，从保持一致的高品质讲故事角度来看是令人鼓舞的。

　　Composer John Powell also returns for Dragon 2. In addition to a variety of other genres, Powell’s been a go-to collaborator in the world of animation for over sixteen years--including contributions to the Kung Fu Panda films, Happy Feet, two Ice Age sequels, the original Shrek, and many more. The musical score for the first Dragon garnered him his first Oscar nomination, though. Outside of enthusiasts, a movie’s musical palette is an often overlooked and underappreciated element in a film’s ability to tell an emotional story and, in turn, help it connect with audiences. Powell returning to what is perhaps his most successful canvas (so far) is good news toward that end.
　　作曲家约翰·鲍威尔也回归《驯龙高手2》。鲍威尔成为动画世界的首选合作者逾十六年——包括对《功夫熊猫》电影的贡献、《快乐的大脚》、两部《冰川时代》系列、原版《怪物史瑞克》，等等等等。不过首部《驯龙高手》的配乐为他赢得首个奥斯卡提名。除了发烧友以外，影片音乐渲染在电影讲述情感故事强化感染力时是经常被忽略、低估的因素。鲍威尔回归或许是他（迄今为止）最成功的作品是朝向这一目标的好消息。

REASON 4
UNIVERSAL APPEAL
理由4
普遍的吸引力

　　Underscoring the remarkable holding power and after-market success of the first film was its ability to entertain an audience beyond kids and pre-teens. The film’s visual vibrance and humor were just as conducive to strong word of mouth as its mature, heartstring tugging story that kept parents and older audiences invested.
　　超强凝聚力以及首部影片次级市场的成功基础取决于娱乐观众能否超越孩童与少年阶段。电影的视觉震动与幽默感与其强劲的口碑同样有益，因为圆满、扣人心弦的故事会吸引父母与年长观众掏钱观影。

　　The sequel’s addition of Hiccup’s long lost dragon-riding mother (voiced by Cate Blanchett) could serve to further increase interest among women in the otherwise male-heavy story, while simultaneously moving the main characters’ narrative forward. An increased scope and scale of action shouldn’t hurt either.
　　续集中添加小嗝嗝失散多年的龙骑士母亲（由凯特·布兰切特配音），在这个偏重男性的故事中有助于进一步提高女性的兴趣，同时更能铺陈主角的叙事。情节范围与规模的增多也无害。

REASON 5
ANIMATION’S BOX OFFICE EXPLOSION
理由5
动画票房爆发

　　Concluding Dragon 2’s five keys to success, its release comes at an opportune moment. The brief “animation slump” of 2011 (which saw Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, and Happy Feet Two each fall short of lofty expectations) is long past. 2012 delivered solid returns for the likes of like Brave, Madagascar 3, The Lorax, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Hotel Transylvania, and Wreck-It Ralph, while 2013 and 2014 have continued the upward trend.
　　在《驯龙高手2》成功的5个关键因素中压阵的是开映的恰当时机。2011年短暂的“动画衰落”早就成为历史（《功夫熊猫2》、《汽车总动员2》与《快乐的大脚2》每一部都深负盛望）。2012年则回报丰厚，譬如《勇敢传说》、《马达加斯加3》、《老雷斯的故事》、《冰川时代4》、《精灵旅社》以及《无敌破坏王》，而2013年与2014年继续呈上升趋势。

　　In fact, a whopping four animated movies have earned over $250 million domestically in the past ten months: Frozen, Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, and The LEGO Movie—besting the 12-month record of three set by Up, Toy Story 3, and the original Despicable Me between 2009 and 2010. While that doesn’t outright prove every major animated release is going to do gangbusters in a hot market, it does reaffirm the selling power of quality family movies. Demand for them rarely to seems burn out, and when they hit, they can hit big.
　　事实上，过去十个月里4部强劲的动画电影已赚得超过2.5亿美元国内票房：《冰雪奇缘》、《卑鄙的我2》、《怪物大学》与《乐高大电影》——超越了《飞屋环游记》、《玩具总动员3》与《卑鄙的我》三部影片在2009年至2010年的12个月保持的纪录。虽然这并不能直接证明每一部动画大片的上映都能在火爆的市场上势如破竹，但肯定了高品质的家庭类电影的销售力。对这类影片的需求鲜有枯竭，当它们来袭时，那将会十分劲爆。