THE British have always prided themselves on their sense of humour, not their sense of humor. And there is more separating the Brits' and the Americans' idea of a joke than a different spelling.

British comedy has always been more *understated than that of their American cousins. And if you're looking to sum up British comedy, you could do worse than watch one of the Wallace and Gromit films. The most recent was shown on British television last Christmas.

The films follow the adventures of the two characters. Wallace is a clumsy, elderly man from the north of England. He enjoys eating cheese and creating *wacky inventions. He lives with Gromit, his pet dog, who often proves to be more intelligent than his owner.

The short movies (as well as one feature-length film released in 2005) are animated from Plasticine (a type of moldable clay) models of the characters. The plots see Wallace getting into various *scrapes and being saved *in the nick of time by his loyal dog.

The show's humor is always subtle, understated and very British. In one of the films, Gromit is seen reading Crime and Punishment by "Fido [a popular dog's name] Dogstoyevsky", a *pun on the name of writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The joke isn't accompanied by laughs. In fact it flashes up on the screen so quickly, if you blink you'll miss it.

Nick Park, the director and creator of Wallace and Gromit, never expected the huge success that has come with the films. He has already won four Oscars for his work, the Queen of the United Kingdom is a huge fan, and last Christmas 14 million people tuned in to watch the latest installment.

"I never thought playing with Plasticine would lead to such a glamorous lifestyle, to be honest. What's great is that I often meet Hollywood stars," he told the Independent. All Wallace and Gromit films are painstakingly shot. Even with a large team of animators, an entire day of filming often only produces two or three seconds of usable footage. Park directed another movie, Chicken Run, in the same fashion.

"It's not glamorous, really. You spend your time in the dark, in studios without sunlight, and you come out occasionally," Park told the Manchester Evening News. "If you think through every scene detail and the work that's gone into it, it makes the finished product more special, definitely."

Wallace sums up a particular type of British hero. He may be *hapless and a little awkward, but his heart is in the right place and he always does the right thing in the end.

英语词汇解析

attorney <美>律师, (业务或法律事务上的)代理人

accomplice 同谋者, 帮凶

compelling 引人注目的

corroborate 确证

hapless 倒霉的, 不幸的

in the nick of time千钧一发之刻

pun 双关语

understate 打着折扣说, 保守地说, 有意轻描淡写

wacky 古怪的,疯癫的

weak-kneed 软弱的, 不果断的

vicarious 代别人做的

villainy 邪恶, 坏事, 恶行

scrapes麻烦，倒霉的事

subplot (剧本, 小说中的)陪衬情节, 次要情节

whisk away 急速带走

你饶了我把！！

水平有限，看不懂哦！

WESTERN NATION‘S FILM AND TV PLAY，FILLED THE SENSE OF HUMOR WITH TO CONNOTATION，I COMPARED LIKE，THE COMEDY I HAVE LIKED，BUT YOU SAID THIS COMEDY I HAVE NOT LOOKED，WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY NEXT TIME。

Neither do I.

chokeberry :
    we can learn English each other,RIGHT?