Jim Toomey: Learning from Sherman the shark

翻译人员: Jian Guo 校对人员: Zhu Jie

Cartoons are basically short stories.

卡通实际上也就是短篇小说。

I tried to find one that didn't have a whole lot of words.

我有试着找一个文字不多的故事。

Not all of them have happy endings.

但不是所有故事都有快乐的结局。

So how did I get started cartooning?

我是怎么开始画漫画的呢?

I doodled a lot as a kid,

我小时候常常乱涂乱画，

and if you spend enough time doodling,

如果你花足够的时间乱画，

sooner or later, something happens:

迟早，有些事会发生：

all your career options run out.

你可以选择的职业逐渐没有了。

So you have to make a living cartooning.

最后你就只有以画漫画为生了。

Actually, I fell in love with the ocean when I was a little boy,

其实，我还是小孩时就爱上了大海。

when I was about eight or nine.

当我在八，九岁左右。

And I was particularly fascinated with sharks.

我对鲨鱼特别着迷。

This is some of my early work.

这是我早期的一些作品。

Eventually, my mom took the red crayon away,

终于，我妈妈拿走了红色的蜡笔，

so it was [unclear].

那时很...[不清楚]。

But I'd like to relay to you a childhood experience of mine

不过我想给你们讲一个我童年的故事

that really made me see the ocean differently,

真的让我重新认识了海洋，

and it's become the foundation of my work

而且成为了我工作的基础

because, I feel like, if in a day,

因为, 我感觉, 如果有一天，

I can see the ocean differently,

我能重新认识海洋，

then I can evoke that same kind of change in others,

我也可以唤起其他人一些同样的改变，

especially kids.

尤其是小孩子们。

Before that day, this is how I saw the ocean.

在这之前，这是我眼里的大海。

It's just a big blue surface.

只是一个蓝色的大表面。

And this is how we've seen the ocean since the beginning of time.

这就是我们自古以来所看到的大海。

It's a mystery.

它是一个谜。

There's been a lot of folklore

有过很多民间传说

developed around the ocean,

都围绕着海洋。

mostly negative.

大多是负面的。

And that prompted people to make maps like this,

而这使人们画出了像这样的地图，

with all kinds of wonderful detail on the land,

让陆地上有各种精彩的细节，

but when you get to the waters edge,

但是当你到了的水域的边缘，

the ocean looks like one giant puddle of blue paint.

海洋看起来像很一大堆的蓝色油漆。

And this is the way I saw the ocean at school --

这就是我怎样在学校里看到海洋的--

as if to say, "All geography and science lessons

可以说：“所有的地理和科学课程

stop at water's edge.

停在了水的边缘之外。

This part's not going to be on the test."

这部分不会出现在考试题上。”

But that day I flew low over the islands --

但那天我乘飞机飞过一些岛 --

it was a family trip to the Caribbean,

那是和家人前往加勒比海度假，

and I flew in a small plane low over the islands.

我坐小型飞机从低空飞过这些岛。

This is what I saw. I saw hills and valleys.

这是我看到的。我看到了山丘和山谷。

I saw forests and meadows.

我看到了森林和草场。

I saw grottoes and secret gardens

我看到石窟和隐蔽的花园。

and places I'd love to hide as a kid,

和一些我作为小孩最爱玩捉迷藏的地方，

if I could only breathe underwater.

如果我能在水下呼吸的话。

And best of all, I saw the animals.

最棒的是，我看到了动物。

I saw a manta ray that looked as big as the plane I was flying in.

我看到了一只看起来和我们飞机一样大的蝠鲼。

And I flew over a lagoon with a shark in it,

我飞过了一个有鲨鱼的泻湖。

and that was the day that my comic strip about a shark was born.

然后这就是我的鲨鱼漫画诞生的日子。

So from that day on, I was an ordinary kid

因此从那天起，我还是一个普通的小孩

walking around on dry land,

在陆地上行走，

but my head was down there, underwater.

但我脑子里在想别的地方，在水下

Up until that day,

直到那天，

these were the animals that were most common in my life.

这些是在我生活中常见的动物。

These were the ones I'd like to draw --

这些是我喜欢画的 –

all variations of four legs and fur.

各种有四肢和毛皮的。

But when you got to the ocean,

但是当你到了大海，

my imagination was no competition for nature.

才知道我的想象力没法和大自然比。

Every time I'd come up with a crazy cartoon character on the drawing board,

每次我在画板上构思出一个疯狂的卡通人物。

I'd find a critter in the ocean that was even crazier.

我可以在海洋里找到一个更疯狂的小家伙。

And the differences in scale between this tiny sea dragon

拿这条小鲈鱼的体积差别来比

and this enormous humpback whale

和这只巨大的座头鲸

was like something out of a science-fiction movie.

就像是科幻电影里的故事。

Whenever I talk to kids, I always like to tell them,

每当我跟孩子们聊天，我总是喜欢告诉他们，

the biggest animal that ever lived is still alive.

有史以来最大的动物仍然活着。

It's not a dinosaur; it's a whale,

它不是恐龙，而是只鲸鱼。

animals as big as office buildings

和大楼一样大的动物

still swimming around out there in our ocean.

仍然在我们的大海里游来游去。

Speaking of dinosaurs, sharks are basically

说到恐龙，鲨鱼基本上

the same fish they were 300 million years ago.

还是和3亿年前同样的鱼。

So if you ever fantasize about going back in time

所以，如果你曾经幻想回到过去

and seeing what a dinosaur looked like,

和看恐龙是什么样的，

that's what a dinosaur looks like.

这就是恐龙的模样。

So you have living dinosaurs

所以你有活着的恐龙

and space aliens,

和外星人，

animals that evolved in zero gravity in harsh conditions.

动物在零引力和恶劣的条件中进化过来。

It's just incredible; no Hollywood designer

这简直令人难以置信， 没有哪个好莱坞设计师

could come up with something more interesting than that.

能创造出比这更有趣的东西了。

Or this fangtooth. The particles in the water

或这个尖牙鱼。在水中的很多微粒

make it look like it's floating in outer space.

使它看起来像在太空中漂浮。

Could you image if we looked through the Hubble Telescope

你能想象如果我们通过哈勃望远镜

and we saw that?

看到了这些？

It would start a whole new space race.

这将启动一个全新的太空竞赛。

But instead, we stick a camera in the deep ocean,

但是相反，我们把相机放入深海里，

and we see a fish, and it doesn't capture our imagination

我们看到一条鱼，而它没能捕获到我们的想象力

as a society.

作为一个社会。

We say to ourselves,

我们对自己说，

"Maybe we can make fish sticks with it or something."

“也许我们能用它做些炸鱼片或什么的。”

So, what I'd like to do now

因此，我现在想做的

is try a little drawing.

是试着画一下。

So, I'm going to try to draw this fangtooth here.

所以，我先试着在这里画这只尖牙鱼。

I love to draw the deep sea fish,

我爱画这些深海鱼，

because they are so ugly,

因为他们是如此的丑，

but beautiful in their own way.

但又有自己的一种美。

Maybe we can give him a little bioluminescence here --

也许我们可以在这里给他一个的小生物发光源 --

give him a headlight,

给他一个大灯，

maybe a brake light,

也许一个刹车灯，

turn signals.

转向灯。

But it's easy to see why these animals

但很容易看到这些动物为什么

make such great cartoon characters,

能作这么合适的卡通人物，

their shapes and sizes.

它们的形状和大小。

So some of them actually seem to have powers

所以其中一些看起来真的有些能力

like superheroes in a comic book.

像漫画里的超级英雄。

For instance,

举例来说，

take these sea turtles.

就拿这些海龟。

They kind of have a sixth sense

他们似乎有第六感

like Superman's x-ray vision.

像超人的x光视觉。

They can sense the magnetic fields of the earth.

他们可以感觉到地球的磁场。

And they can use that sense

而且他们可以用这个感应

to navigate hundreds of miles of open ocean.

在数百英里的广阔海样里导航。

I kind of give my turtle hands

我给他个海龟手掌

just to make them an easier cartoon character to work with.

只是为了这些卡通人物在漫画过程中更人性化。

Or take this sea cucumber.

或这个海参。

It's not an animal we draw cartoons of

这不是我们在漫画里画的动物。

or draw at all.

或拿来画的。

He's like an underwater Spiderman.

他就像一个水下蜘蛛侠。

He shoots out these sticky webs

他射出这些黏的网

to entangle his enemy.

来粘住他的敌人。

Of course, sea cucumbers shoot them out their rears,

当然，海参从后面射出来，

which, in my opinion, makes them much more interesting a superhero.

这在我看来，使它们成为更有趣的超级英雄。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

He can't spin a web anytime; he's got to pull his pants down first.

他不能随时撒网，他必须先把他的裤子脱下来。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Or the blowfish.

还有这个河豚。

The blowfish is like the Incredible Hulk.

河豚就像是神奇绿巨人。

It can change its body

它可以改变自己的身体

into a big, intimidating fish

成为一个很大，可怕的鱼

in a matter of seconds.

就在几秒钟内。

I'm going to draw this blowfish uninflated.

我先画这个还没充气的河豚。

And then I'm going to attempt

然后我要尝试

onscreen animation here.

在屏幕上做动画。

Let's see.

我们来看看。

Try and inflate it.

尝试给它充气。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"You talkin' to me?" See, he can inflate himself

“你在跟我讲话？” 看，他可以给自己充气

when he wants to be intimidating.

当他想变得可怕时。

Or take this swordfish.

或看来这只剑鱼。

Could you imagine being born with a tool for a nose?

你能想像自己的鼻子生下来就是个工具吗？

Do you think he wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says,

你认为他每天早上醒来，对着镜子说：

"Somebody's getting stabbed today."

“今天又有人要被刺伤。”

Or this lionfish for instance.

或例如这条狮子鱼。

Imagine trying to make friends

试着想想怎么去交朋友

covered with razor-sharp poisonous barbs.

当自己身上全是锋利的毒刺。

It's not something you want to put on your Facebook page, right?

这不是你想要的Facebook头像，对吧？

My characters are --

我的人物是 --

my lead character's a shark named Sherman.

我的主角是叫谢尔曼的鲨鱼。

He's a great white shark.

他是一只大白鲨。

And I kind of broke the mold with Sherman.

对于谢尔曼我打破了平常的模具。

I didn't want to go with this ruthless

我不想用这个无情的

predator image.

捕食者形象。

He's kind of just out there making a living.

他也只是在那儿谋生。

He's sort of a Homer Simpson with fins.

他像是带了鱼鳍的霍默辛普森。

And then his sidekick

然后他的助手

is a sea turtle, as I mentioned before, named Filmore.

是只海龟，正如我前面提到的，名叫费尔莫尔。

He uses his wonderful skills at navigation

他用他精彩的导航本领

to wander the oceans, looking for a mate.

在海洋中飘荡，寻找伴侣。

And he does manage to find them,

而且他有找到她们，

but great navigation skills, lousy pick-up lines.

虽然有伟大的航海本领，搭话却很糟糕。

He never seems

他似乎永远不会

to settle on

停下来

any particular girl.

在任何一个女孩身边。

I have a hermit crab named Hawthorne,

我有一只叫霍桑的寄居蟹，

who doesn't get a lot of respect as a hermit crab,

他作为寄居蟹不怎么受到尊重，

so he kind of wishes

所以他有希望

he were a great white shark.

他原本是一只大白鲨。

And then I'll introduce you to one more character,

然后我再多给你们介绍一个人物，

this guy, Ernest,

这个家伙，欧内斯特，

who is basically a juvenile delinquent

基本上是个少年犯

in a fish body.

在鱼的身体里。

So with characters, you can make stories.

所以用这些人物，可以编很多故事。

Sometimes making a story is as easy

有时侯编故事简单到

as putting two characters in a room

把两个人物在一个房间里

and seeing what happens.

看会发生什么事。

So, imagine a great white shark and a giant squid in the same bathroom.

所以，想象一个白大鲨和大乌贼在同一间厕所里。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Or, sometimes I take them to places

或者，有时我带他们去一些地方

that people have never heard of because they're underwater.

人们从来没有听说过，因为是在水下。

For instance, I took them skiing in the Mid-Atlantic Range,

比如，我带他们去大西洋中部山脉滑雪，

which is this range of mountains in the middle of the Atlantic.

这是在大西洋中部的山脉群。

I've taken them to the Sea of Japan,

我有带他们到日本海，

where they met giant jellyfish.

他们在那里遇见了巨大的水母。

I've taken them camping in the kelp forests of California.

我带他们去了加州的海带森林露营。

This next one here,

下面这个，

I did a story on the census of marine life.

我写了海洋生物人口普查的故事。

And that was a lot of fun because, as most of you know,

那非常有趣，因为你们大多数人都知道，

it's a real project we've heard about.

它是一个真正我们听说过的项目。

But it was a chance for me to introduce readers

但对我来说是一个机会给读者介绍

to a lot of crazy undersea characters.

很多疯狂的海底人物。

So we start off the story with Ernest,

因此，故事从欧内斯特开始，

who volunteers as a census taker.

作为人口普查志愿者。

He goes down and he meets this famous anglerfish.

他去碰到这只出名的华脐鱼。

Then he meets the yeti crab,

然后，他遇见了这个雪人蟹，

the famous vampire squid -- elusive, hard to find --

著名的吸血鬼乌贼-- 难以捉摸的，很难找到的--

and the Dumbo octopus, which looks so much like a cartoon in real life

和这个婴儿椅章鱼，它看起来太像一个在现实生活中的漫画

that really didn't have to change a thing when I drew it.

我画的他的时候真的没有什么需要改的。

I did another story on marine debris.

我写了另一个关于海洋废弃物的故事。

I was speaking to a lot of my friends

我和很多朋友聊过

in the conservation business,

做环境维护工作的，

and they --

然后他们 --

I asked them, "So what's one issue you would like everyone to know more about?"

我问他们， “那么，你们有没有一个想让大家了解更多的问题？”

And they said -- this one friend of mine said,

他们说 -- 这是我的一个朋友说的，

"I've got one word for you: plastic."

“我有一个词给你：塑料。”

And I told him, "Well, I need something a little sexier than that.

然后我告诉他, “恩， 我需要比这个更性感些的话题。

Plastic just is not going to do it."

仅仅塑料不够。”

We sort of worked things out.

我们大概解决了这个问题。

He wanted me to use words like polyvinyl chloride,

他想我用像聚氯乙烯的词语，

which doesn't really work in voice balloons very well.

但在漫画的对话气球里会很不自然。

I couldn't fit them in.

我没法把它们放进来。

So what I did was I made an adventure strip.

所以我写了一个冒险故事。

Basically, this bottle travels a long way.

基本上，这个瓶子经历了很长的旅行。

What I'm trying to tell readers

我想告诉读者们

is that plastic doesn't really go away;

就是塑料并没有真正的消失；

it just continues to wash downstream.

它只是继续流到下游。

And a lot of it ends up washing into the ocean,

而其中很多最终流入了海洋，

which is a great story if you attach a couple characters to it,

这是个很有趣的故事，如果你搭配一些人物在里面，

especially if they can't stand each other, like these two.

尤其是如果他们不能相互忍受对方， 像这两个。

So, I sent them to Boise, Idaho,

所以，我带他们到博伊西，爱达荷州，

where they dropped a plastic bottle

在那里他们扔了一个塑料瓶

into the Boise sewer system.

到博伊西的下水道系统。

And it ended up in the Boise River

它后来到了博伊西河

and then on to the Columbia River

然后到哥伦比亚河

and then to the mouth of the Columbia

然后到哥伦比亚海口

and to the Pacific Ocean

再到了太平洋

and then on to this place called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch --

然后这个叫大太平洋垃圾带的地方 --

which is this giant Pacific gyre in the North Pacific,

就是这个在北太平洋巨大的太平洋环流带，

where a lot of this plastic ends up floating around --

很多这种塑料最终漂浮在这里 --

and then back onto the lagoon.

然后返回到泻湖。

So that was basically a buddy story

所以这基本上是个好朋友的故事

with a plastic bottle following along.

多了一个塑料瓶跟着。

So a lot of people remember the plastic bottle anyway,

所以很多人还是记得这个塑料瓶，

but we really talked about marine debris and plastic

但我们真谈论的是海洋废弃物和塑料

in the course of that one.

在那个故事里。

The third storyline I did about a year and a half ago

第三个故事我大约在一年半前写的

was probably my most difficult.

可能是我最难的。

It was on shark finning, and I felt really strongly

这是关于鱼翅的，我感受很强烈

about this issue.

对于这个问题。

And I felt like, since my main character was a shark,

而且我感觉，因为我的主要人物是只鲨鱼，

the comic strip was a perfect vehicle for telling the public about this.

这个漫画是告诉公众完美的途径。

Now, finning is the act

现在，取鱼鳍是种行为，

of taking a shark, cutting the valuable fins off

拿一只鲨鱼， 把值钱的鱼鳍割下来

and throwing the live animal back in the water.

然后把活着的动物扔回水里。

It's cruel, it's wasteful.

这是残酷的，很浪费的。

There's nothing funny or entertaining about it,

没有什么可笑或有趣的，

but I really wanted to take this issue on.

但我真的想挑战这个问题。

I had to kill my main character, who is a shark.

我只有杀死我的主角，就是只鲨鱼。

We start with Sherman in a Chinese restaurant,

我们从谢尔曼在一家中餐馆开始，

who gets a fortune that he's about to get caught by a trawler,

他得到了一个预言说他将被拖网渔船捉住，

which he does.

结果真的发生了。

And then he dies.

然后他死了。

He gets finned, and then he gets thrown overboard.

他的鳍被割掉，然后他被扔到海里。

Ostensibly, he's dead now.

表面上看，他现在死了。

And so I killed a character that's been in the newspaper for 15 years.

我杀了一个在报纸上15年的动画人物。

So I got a lot of reader feedback on that one.

所以我收到了很多读者的反馈。

Meanwhile, the other characters are talking about shark fin soup.

与此同时，其他的人物在谈论鱼翅汤。

I do three or four strips after that

那之后我画了三四段漫画

where we explore the finning issue

其中我们探讨割鱼鳍

and the shark fin soup issue.

和鱼翅汤的问题。

Sherman's up in shark heaven.

谢尔曼在鲨鱼天堂。

This is what I love about comic strips, you know.

这就是我喜欢漫画的原因，你知道。

You really don't have to worry about the audience suspending its sense of disbelief

你真的不用担心观众因为感觉怀疑而停下来

because, if you start with a talking shark,

因为，如果你开始就有一只会说话的鲨鱼，

readers pretty much check their disbelief at the door.

读者几乎在一开始就把他们的质疑抛到九霄云外了。

You can kind of do anything.

你几乎什么都可以做。

It becomes a near-death experience for Sherman.

它成为了谢尔曼的濒死体验。

Meanwhile, Ernest finds his fins on the internet.

在此时，欧内斯特在互联网上找到了他的鳍。

There was a real website based in China

有一个在中国的真实网站

that actually sold shark fins,

那里实际在卖鱼翅，

so I kind of exposed that.

所以我揭发了它。

And he clicks the "buy now" button.

他点击了“立即购买”的按钮。

And voila, next-day air, they show up,

瞧，次日空运，它们到了，

and they surgically reattach them.

他们用手术重新接上了它们。

I ended that series with a kind of a mail-in petition

我最后用一封请愿书结束了这个漫画系列

that encouraged our National Marine Fishery Service,

鼓励我们的国家海洋渔业服务，

to force other countries

迫使其他国家

to have a stronger stance with shark management.

对鲨鱼的管理有更强硬的立场。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Thanks.

谢谢。

I'd like to end with a little metaphor here.

我想在此用一个比喻来结尾。

I've been trying to think of a metaphor to represent Mission Blue,

我一直在想一个比喻来代表蓝色运动，

and this is what I came up with.

这是我想到的。

Imagine you're in an enormous room,

想象你在一个巨大的房间里，

and it's as dark as a cave.

它像洞穴一样的黑暗。

And you can have anything in that room, anything you want,

而且你可以拿那间房子里的任何东西，你想要什么都可以，

but you can't see anything.

但你看不到任何东西。

You've been given one tool, a hammer.

给了你一个工具，铁锤。

So you wander around in the darkness, and you bump into something,

然后你在黑暗中闲逛，你碰撞到了个东西，

and it feels like it's made of stone.

而且感觉就像是石头做的。

It's big, it's heavy. You can't carry it away,

它很大，很沉重。你搬不动它，

so you bang it with your hammer, and you break off a piece.

你就用你的铁锤敲它，你敲掉了一块。

And you take the piece out into the daylight.

然后你把这一块拿出来到光明的地方。

And you see you have a beautiful piece of white alabaster.

当你看到你有一个美丽的白色雪花石膏。

So you say to yourself, "Well, that's worth something."

你对自己说：“好，这是值钱的东西。”

So you go back into the room,

所以，你回去房子里，

and you break this thing to pieces, and you haul it away.

你把这东西打成碎片，再把它拖走。

And you find other things, and you break that up, and you haul those away.

而你找到其它的东西，把它们打破，把那些也拖走。

And you're getting all kinds of cool stuff.

你得到了各种有趣的东西。

And you hear other people doing the same thing.

而且你听到其他人也在做同样的事情。

So you get this sense of urgency,

所以，你有了这样的紧迫感，

like you need to find as much stuff as possible as soon as possible.

就像你必须尽快找到尽可能多的东西。

And then some yells, "Stop!"

然后有人大叫：“住手！”

And they turn up the lights.

然后他们打开了灯。

And you realize where you are; you're in the Louvre.

现在你知道你在哪里了，你在卢浮宫里。

And you've taken all this complexity and beauty,

你将这些复杂和美丽的一切，

and you've turned it into a cheap commodity.

变成了廉价的商品。

And that's what we're doing with the ocean.

而这正是我们对海洋做的。

And part of what Mission Blue is about

而蓝色运动的一部分就是关于

is yelling, "Stop!"

大声呼喊“住手！”

so that each of us --

所以我们每个人 --

explorer, scientist, cartoonist, singer, chef --

探险家，科学家，漫画家，歌手，厨师 -

can turn up the lights in their own way.

可以用自己的方式在打开灯。

And that's what I hope my comic strip does in a small way.

而这就是我希望我的漫画能以小小的方式做到的。

That's why I like what I do.

这就是为什么我喜欢我的工作。

Thanks for listening.

感谢各位。

(Applause)

(鼓掌）