Older, odd anime more than Speed Racer
Posted on Friday, May 9, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/MovieStyle/225219/
Speed Racer careens into theaters today, dragging with it a $ 120 million budget, the bruised reputation of its directors, the Wachowski brothers — whose careers need a shot of nitro after the flameouts of the last two Matrix debacles — and the summer hopes of a movie industry in need of a few winners.
Back in the 1960 s and ’ 70 s, though, few could imagine that Hollywood would ever pin hopes on a live-action take on what then seemed to be strange, disturbingly violent Japanese cartoons that were totally at odds with American sensibilities. Speed Racer 1. 0 — like its contemporaries Gigantor, Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion — was imported into the United States in the ’ 60 s through the wonders of syndication and an apparent need to fill afternoon airwaves with something other than Mike Douglas, old movies and teary soaps. Filler, thy name is Speed Racer.
So, no matter what the audience reaction to the Wachowskis’ vision is, there’s going to be increased interest in what they based it all on: those odd Japanese cartoons from an earlier era. Here’s a guide to the four big ones.
Astro Boy (1963-64 )
Based on a 1950 s comic book by Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy was the first Japanese cartoon to be seen widely in the United States.
Its back story is arguably the darkest. It’s the 21 st century and robotics engineer Dr. Boynton is bereft after the death of his son in a car accident. So he creates a robot in his son’s image but, distraught that the replicant can’t replace the real thing, sells him into slavery at a robot circus, where he’s held under the cruel thumb of ringmaster Cacciatore. The boy, dubbed Astro Boy, is freed by a robots-welfare activist, Dr. Elefun, who teaches the kid how to be a crimefighter and all-around conqueror of evil. Updated versions of the tale were seen in 1980 and 2004.
DVDs available: Astro Boy: Ultra Collectors Edition, Set 1; Astro Boy: Ultra Collectors Edition, Set 2.
Gigantor (1965-66 )
Gigantor, featuring a giant robot controlled by a boy, has roots that go back to the ’ 50 s when Tokyo artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama came up with the story for a Japanese boys’ magazine. That was subsequently turned into a TV show, Tetsujin 28-Go (Iron Man 28 ).
DVDs available: Gigantor, Boxed Set 1, Episodes 1-26; Gigantor, Boxed Set 2, Episodes 27-52.
Speed Racer (1967-68 )
Originally created by Japanese comic-book artist Tatsuo Yoshida, Speed Racer chronicled the adventures of race-car driver Speed (real name: Go Mifune, hence the M on his helmet ), his girlfriend Trixie, his car Mach 5 and his nemesis, Racer X. The series, originally titled Mach Go Go Go, was slightly altered for the American market by director Peter Fernandez who, according to Entertainment Weekly, toned down the violence and added that catchy theme song.
DVDs available: Speed Racer Episodes 1-11; Speed Racer Episodes 12-23; Speed Racer 3 Episodes 24-36; Speed Racer Vol. 4; Speed Racer Vol. 5.
Kimba the White Lion (1966-67 )
Kimba the White Lion was created by Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka and, as with his earlier work, there were political elements at play, although they didn’t always translate to the episodes seen in the West.
Orphaned after his king-ofthe-jungle dad Caesar is slain by hunters and his mom captured, cub Kimba has to step up to become the leader of all animals. The problem is that he likes what he has seen of how humans organize themselves and wants to reorganize the animal kingdom to make prey and predator equal; this doesn’t sit too well with some.
DVDs available: Kimba the White Lion Ultra DVD Box Set; Kimba the White Lion, Vol. 1-4 from Cartoon Classics.