Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins (Wikipedia featured)

Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins is a 2008 television film created by Discovery Films and Oxford Scientific Films as a prequel to the Animal Planet series Meerkat Manor.

《猫鼬庄园：故事开始》是一部由 Discovery Films 和 Oxford Scientific Films 于 2008 年制作的电视电影，是动物星球系列剧《猫鼬庄园》的前传。

A scripted documentary narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, the film details the life of a meerkat named Flower from birth to her becoming the leader of a meerkat group called the Whiskers.

这部有剧本的纪录片由乌比·戈德堡 (Whoopi Goldberg) 担任旁白，详细介绍了一只名叫“花”的猫鼬从出生到成为狐獴组织“胡须”的领导者的一生。

The film is based on the research notes of the Kalahari Meerkat Project and primarily uses wild meerkat "actors" to represent those in the story.

该影片根据卡拉哈里狐獴项目的研究笔记改编，主要使用野生狐獴“演员”来代表故事中的人物。

Shot over two years at the Kuruman River Reserve in Northern Cape, South Africa, the film employed a much larger crew than the series.

这部电影在南非北开普省的库鲁曼河保护区拍摄了两年多，雇用的工作人员比该系列剧要多得多。

Some scenes were shot at a wildlife park in the United Kingdom, while others were created using camera tricks and trained film animals.

一些场景是在英国的野生动物园拍摄的，而另一些场景则是使用摄影技巧和训练有素的电影动物拍摄的。

The 75-minute film premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival before its television premiere on Animal Planet on May 25, 2008.

这部时长 75 分钟的电影于 2008 年翠贝卡电影节首映，随后于 2008 年 5 月 25 日在动物星球电视上首映。

While it was praised for its cinematography, for maintaining the depth of coverage of the television series, and for its accessibility to newcomers to the series, it was criticized for not offering anything new to fans.

虽然它因其电影摄影、保持电视剧的报道深度以及对剧集新人的可及性而受到赞扬，但它也因没有为粉丝提供任何新内容而受到批评。

The Kalahari Meerkat Project noted that the film was not completely accurate but praised it overall and recommended against analyzing it.

卡拉哈里狐獴项目指出，这部电影并不完全准确，但总体上赞扬了它，并建议不要对其进行分析。

Several reviewers praised Goldberg's narration, but the script was criticized as being too simplistic for adult viewers.

一些评论家赞扬了戈德堡的旁白，但该剧本被批评为对于成人观众来说过于简单。

The meerkat Flower is born in the Kalahari Desert on March 15, 2000, to Holly, the leader of a meerkat group called the Whiskers.

猫鼬花 (Flower) 于 2000 年 3 月 15 日在喀拉哈里沙漠出生，父亲霍莉 (Holly) 是狐獴群体胡须 (Whisker) 的首领。

After an attack by a rival group, the Lazuli, the Whiskers are forced to surrender their territory and move to a new home.

在受到竞争对手天青石族的攻击后，胡须被迫交出领土并搬到新家。

A hawk kills Holly when Flower is a year old, and her father abandons the group to find a new mate.

花儿一岁时，一只鹰杀死了霍莉，而她的父亲则抛弃了这个群体去寻找新的伴侣。

Flower's sister Viale becomes the group's matriarch and chooses Youssarian, a roving male from the Lazuli, as her mate.

弗劳尔的妹妹维亚莱成为了这个群体的族长，并选择了来自天青石的流浪雄性尤萨里安作为她的伴侣。

Flower mates with Yossarian's brother, Zaphod, but Viale kills the resulting pups and banishes Flower from the group, allowing her to return later.

弗劳尔与约塞连的兄弟赞福德交配，但维亚莱杀死了所生下的幼崽，并将弗劳尔逐出群体，让她稍后返回。

During a time of starvation and drought, Viale attempts to lead the group across a road to forage.

在饥饿和干旱时期，维亚勒试图带领大家穿过一条路去寻找食物。

As she crosses, she is struck and killed by a passing truck.

当她过马路时，她被一辆路过的卡车撞死。

As the Whiskers attempt to adjust to the loss of their leader, a snake approaches the group.

当胡须们试图适应失去领袖的情况时，一条蛇接近了他们。

Flower steps in to lead an attack to drive it off.

花介入引导攻击将其击退。

In doing so, she becomes the new leader of the group.

通过这样做，她成为该小组的新领导者。

Zaphod returns to the group to be her mate, while Yossarian steps aside and leaves the group.

赞福德回到队伍中成为她的伴侣，而约塞连退到一边离开了队伍。

Flower leads the Whiskers back to their original home, and after a brief battle, the Whiskers reclaim it from the Lazuli.

花儿带领胡须们回到了原来的家园，经过短暂的战斗，胡须们从天青石手中夺回了家园。

At end of the film, an on-screen note describes Flower's death during the third season of Meerkat Manor and the children she left behind.

影片结尾处，屏幕上的一条注释描述了花儿在《猫鼬庄园》第三季中的死亡以及她留下的孩子们。

Created by Oxford Scientific Films for Discovery Films, Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins is a prequel biography of Flower, the central meerkat of the highly rated documentary series Meerkat Manor.

《猫鼬庄园：故事开始》由牛津科学电影公司为 Discovery Films 制作，是一部关于《花》的前传传记，《花》是广受好评的纪录片系列《猫鼬庄园》中的中心猫鼬。

Caroline Hawkins, creator of the series, wrote the script using notes taken by Kalahari Meerkat Project researchers, including head researcher Tim Clutton-Brock.

该系列的创作者卡罗琳·霍金斯 (Caroline Hawkins) 使用卡拉哈里狐獴项目研究人员（包括首席研究员蒂姆·克拉顿-布洛克）的笔记编写了剧本。

Hawkins notes that Oxford Scientific Films believes the film is the first natural history prequel to be created.

霍金斯指出，牛津科学电影公司认为这部电影是第一部即将制作的自然历史前传。

The film was directed by Chris Barker and Mike Slee, while Whoopi Goldberg, a known Meerkat Manor fan, provided the narration.

该片由克里斯·巴克和迈克·斯利执导，著名猫鼬庄园粉丝乌比·戈德堡担任旁白。

Meerkat Manor normally films episodes using a crew of only two or three people to avoid disturbing the meerkats; the film was shot over two years at the Kuruman River Reserve, where the Kalahari Meerkat Project that the meerkats are a part of is based, and employed a much larger crew.

猫鼬庄园通常只使用两到三人的摄制组来拍摄剧集，以避免打扰猫鼬；这部影片在库鲁曼河保护区拍摄了两年多的时间，猫鼬所属的卡拉哈里猫鼬项目就以该保护区为基地，并雇用了更多的工作人员。

Breaking from the series' pure documentary format, the film does not include footage of the project meerkats depicted in the story.

与该系列的纯纪录片格式不同，这部电影不包括故事中描绘的猫鼬项目的镜头。

Instead, wild meerkat "actors" represented Flower and her family; Flower was depicted by approximately eight female meerkats.

相反，野生猫鼬“演员”代表了弗劳尔和她的家人；花朵由大约八只雌性猫鼬描绘。

The camera crew sought out appropriately aged meerkats for each scene, then filmed them until they behaved in ways the script required.

摄制组为每个场景寻找适当年龄的猫鼬，然后拍摄它们，直到它们按照剧本要求的方式行事。

While the majority of the meerkats filmed were partially habituated, the cinematographers had to move carefully to avoid scaring the animals.

虽然拍摄的大多数猫鼬都已部分适应，但电影摄影师必须小心移动以避免惊吓到这些动物。

The crew used radios to keep in contact with one another as they followed the meerkat groups around.

船员们在跟踪狐獴群时使用无线电保持彼此联系。

Although the park normally prohibits low-flying aircraft, the production crew was given permission to film for three days using a low-flying helicopter.

尽管公园通常禁止飞机低空飞行，但制作组获准使用低空飞行的直升机进行为期三天的拍摄。

Mounted to its front underside was a new type of camera that was not affected by the shaking of the helicopter.

安装在其前下方的是一种不受直升机晃动影响的新型摄像机。

Colour scenes depicting the birth of meerkat pups were obtained by filming captive meerkats at the Cotswold Wildlife Park in the United Kingdom.

描绘狐獴幼崽出生的彩色场景是通过在英国科茨沃尔德野生动物园拍摄圈养的狐獴而获得的。

Because of the viewer backlash Animal Planet received for allowing meerkats from the Meerkat Manor series to die, the producers of the film debated including the filmed death of a young meerkat who was bitten by a snake.

由于动物星球因允许猫鼬庄园系列中的猫鼬死亡而受到观众的强烈反对，因此电影制片人就是否将一只年轻猫鼬被蛇咬伤的死亡镜头拍摄下来进行了争论。

They questioned whether viewers would understand that the meerkats were wild animals and that human interference would disrupt the animals' natural life cycles.

他们质疑观众是否会理解狐獴是野生动物，人类的干扰会破坏动物的自然生命周期。

In addition, to avoid disrupting the research, crews are only allowed to film within the research area under a strictly enforced agreement not to interfere with the meerkats' lives.

此外，为了避免干扰研究，工作人员只允许在研究区域内进行拍摄，并严格执行不干扰狐獴生活的协议。

The producers ultimately included the scene, but the meerkat's cries for help as it lay dying were edited out.

制片人最终保留了这一场景，但猫鼬垂死时的呼救声被剪辑掉了。

Other meerkat deaths depicted were reenactments.

描绘的其他猫鼬死亡事件都是重演。

For Viale's death scene, the crew rigged a camera mounted on a platform on the side of a truck.

为了制作维亚莱的死亡场景，工作人员在卡车侧面的平台上安装了一台摄像机。

Robin Smith, the film and series main cinematographer, hung partially out of the truck to hold the camera steady, giving the visual impression of a truck bearing down on a meerkat.

电影和剧集的主要摄影师罗宾·史密斯 (Robin Smith) 将身体的一部分悬挂在卡车上，以稳定摄影机，给人一种卡车冲向猫鼬的视觉印象。

To provide bird and snake footage, professional handlers were employed, ensuring the meerkats were not deliberately put in danger.

为了提供鸟类和蛇的镜头，聘请了专业处理人员，确保猫鼬不会被故意置于危险之中。

In 2007, the real Flower was killed by a snake bite—before the film and the third series of Meerkat Manor had finished shooting.

2007年，在电影和《猫鼬庄园》第三季拍摄完成之前，真正的花儿被蛇咬死了。

According to Executive producer Mick Kaczorowski, Flower's death imposed the need for a "bigger" ending to the film than the producers originally planned; Flower's death was addressed and the coda added.

根据执行制片人米克·卡佐罗夫斯基的说法，弗劳尔的去世迫使影片需要一个比制片人最初计划的“更大”的结局；解决了弗劳尔的死，并添加了尾声。

The film premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival on 30 April in the Spotlight section, before airing in the United States on Animal Planet on May 25.

该影片于 4 月 30 日在 2008 年翠贝卡电影节的聚光灯部分首映，随后于 5 月 25 日在美国动物星球频道播出。

Its television premiere was followed by the 30-minute Making of Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins special.

电视首映后，播放了 30 分钟的《猫鼬庄园制作：故事开始》特别节目。

The film was screened at the 2008 Festival du film britannique de Dinard in France, as The Meerkats, and at the Wildscreen Festival in Bristol on October 18 and 24, 2008.

该影片以《猫鼬》的名义在 2008 年法国迪纳尔大不列颠电影节上放映，并于 2008 年 10 月 18 日至 24 日在布里斯托尔的 Wildscreen 电影节上放映。

It was released to Region 1 DVD in North America on 3 June 2008, with the Making of ...

它于 2008 年 6 月 3 日在北美发行了 Region 1 DVD，制作...

special included as an extra.

特别包括作为额外的。

The DVD also includes another special, The Science of Meerkat Manor, giving viewers a look at how the Kalahari Meerkat Project researchers work with the meerkats.

DVD 还包括另一个特别节目《猫鼬庄园的科学》，让观众了解卡拉哈里猫鼬项目的研究人员如何与猫鼬一起工作。

It is scheduled for Region 2 DVD release in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2009.

计划于 2009 年 11 月 2 日在英国发行第 2 区 DVD。

In 2009, the film was nominated by the Cinema Audio Society for an award in the "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for DVD Original Programming" category, losing out to the music documentary If All Goes Wrong.

2009年，这部电影被电影音频协会提名为“DVD原创节目混音杰出成就奖”，但输给了音乐纪录片《如果一切都错了》。

Variety's Ronnie Scheib did not think that Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins offered anything new for viewers of the television series, feeling that it was a "re-edited, re-scored, re-narrated" version of the existing series.

Variety 的 Ronnie Scheib 并不认为《猫鼬庄园：故事开始》为电视剧观众提供了任何新内容，认为它是现有剧集的“重新编辑、重新评分、重新叙述”版本。

While he found Goldberg's narration to be higher quality than in most documentaries of this type, he also felt that it "pales after a while." Scheib praised the film for its cinematography and the depth and quality of coverage of the meerkats, and said their activities "constantly amaze", while noting that the film was a condensed and embellished version of actual events that did not distort the meerkats' story.

虽然他发现戈德堡的旁白比大多数此类纪录片的质量更高，但他也觉得“过了一段时间就显得苍白无力”。沙伊布赞扬了这部电影的摄影以及对狐獴的报道的深度和质量，并表示它们的活动“不断令人惊奇”，同时指出这部电影是真实事件的浓缩和修饰版本，没有扭曲狐獴的故事。

The Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project, a sponsorship for the research group studying the meerkats, thought the film was a "heart-touching tribute to Flower, with amazing meerkat, landscape and wildlife footage".

卡拉哈里狐獴项目之友是研究狐獴的研究小组的赞助商，他们认为这部电影是“对弗劳尔的感人至深的致敬，其中有令人惊叹的狐獴、风景和野生动物镜头”。

Though the group noted that the film changes some details from the life history reports it was based on, they felt the film should be enjoyed rather than analyzed.

尽管该小组指出这部电影改变了其所依据的生活史报告的一些细节，但他们认为这部电影应该被欣赏而不是被分析。

Common Sense Media reviewer Emily Ashby felt the film was accessible to fans and newcomers to the series; she praised the story's scope and emotional impact, calling it a "captivating journey" that did not avoid depicting the "harsh facts of life in the wild".

Common Sense Media 评论家艾米丽·阿什比 (Emily Ashby) 认为这部电影适合该系列的粉丝和新人；她赞扬了这个故事的范围和情感影响，称这是一次“迷人的旅程”，并没有避免描绘“野外生活的残酷事实”。

Official site

官方网站

Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins at IMDb

IMDb 上的《猫鼬庄园：故事开始》

Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins at Rotten Tomatoes

猫鼬庄园：故事始于烂番茄