Astro Boy

WE recall seeing this ASTRO BOY (Japanese/NBC Distribution, 1963-66)* the first time on our local NBC Station. This was WNBQ, Channel 5 here in Chicago. This station, which would soon change its call letters to WMAQ in order to conform with the flagship & charter member NBC Radio station, aired the ASTROBOY Episodes on Sunday Mornings, at about 10:00 A.M.; which seemed to be an odd hour for a first-run series, animated or not.

THERE CERTAINLY must have been a lot lost in the translation; for we were not certain of this little android's origin nor what was his mission here on earth. The opening montage of scenes depicts the robot-child flying, punching and otherwise seemingly rendering his enemies harmless, helpless and hog-tied. All of these tightly edited highlight scenes were performed without any dialogue with a sound track that played an ASTROBOY Theme Song being rendered energetically by what is obviously a juvenile choral group and a robustly played organ.

AS WE recall little ASTROBOY engaged in some grown-up sized struggles with some nasty, evil and powerful villain-opponents. His actions and demeanor bore a strong resemblance to that of the American Comic Book Super Heroes; who had been doing their thing in the 4 Color printed pages of the Comics Magazines (aka Comic Books or even "Joke Books" in some circles) for well over a Quarter Century by this time. Their style of action & adventure had also been eagerly adapted to the airwaves in Radio and TV Series and Motion Picture Serials & Features.

BUT THIS character still seemed to be very different. Our instincts told our still less experienced and (even) innocent naivety that there was something distinctly alien or foreign about this production. The rather obvious post synchronized dubbing of the English dialogue adds to the highly unique overall look and feel of the adventures. The talk of the characters seems to be somewhat out of synch with their movements; which further adds to giving it a surreal and dream-like appearance.

IN THE EPISODES we recall, the little Android's 'life'** and activities were all played out under the auspices of a brilliant scientist-inventor. (What else didja expect, Schultz?) As his mentor, Professor Elephant provided counsel and guidance; but little in the way of family, love or true understanding. The kindly, but stern professor apparently got his moniker from his physical appearance.

IN MUCH the same manner as that followed so successfully by Chester Gould with his immortal comic strip, DICK TRACY (Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate, 1931-Present), the creative team behind young ASTROBOY'S supporting characters endowed them with names highly descriptive of their physical appearances. Ergo, as we might expect, Professor Elephant possessed a magnificent proboscis. His entire design, as were all characters in the series, was most definitely done in a cartoony style. The good Professor's entire look was sort of like a mixture of caricatures of W.C. Fields, veteran character Actor Maurice Cass and the proverbial "Rolly-Polly Policeman".

THIS SERIES was the first example of Japanese Animation that we ever saw. No doubt it was more than likely the same for most of our readers and viewers of the mid 1960's. The term "JAPANIMATION" certainly had not been coined at this point in time and ASTROBOY surely was a most memorable trail blazer for the genre in the U.S., U.K. and the rest of the Western Civilized World. While we don't pretend to have understood it, either then or even now, we had a bizarre attraction for its unique stories and method of rendering same.

IN short, we liked it. Both Schultz and I recommend it; so give it a try if you get the opportunity.

NOTE: * The Japanese name for the little guy was literally ATOM BOY; which was probably considered to be inappropriate for viewing for Americans. (Or some such silly-assed reasoning!)

NOTE: ** An Android is defined as an Automotan (Robot) with a human-like and realistic appearance.

POODLE SCHNITZ!!

Tezuka'films are also good for not only children but for adults.

Last week I saw four episodes of this 'Astro boy' at a open-air theater. Episode-1 'Birth of ATOM'; Why Dr.Temma produced ATOM and what is a position of robots? We will know good relationship between us. 116,117 'The strongest robot'; Why we want strongest one? 193 'The greatest adventure on earth'. Last episode of series of TV.

Each episode teach us good friendship with us and robots and give us great courage and offer hope.

I watched movie on TV in my childhood and took encourages and hope. Both now and in the future they give us great things.

Astroboy (based on the Japanese cartoon character Mighty Atom) was the creation of Dr Osamu Tezuka, an influential figure in the early development of manga (Japanese comics). Atom was the first animated series produced by Tezuka's TV and film production company, Mushi Studios. The initial episode was shown as a TV special on New Year's Eve (one of the most widely viewed evenings on Japanese television) and an instant success. NBC networking executives visiting Japan saw the popularity of the series and purchased the US broadcast rights. Shortly thereafter, the English version, renamed Astroboy, was in syndication throughout America. The story line follows the adventures of a robot created in the likeness of a scientist's dead son. The scientist goes mad and sells the boy robot to a circus. In the climax of the first episode, the robots, though horribly mistreated by the circus owner, rescue circus patrons from certain death when a massive fire destroys the main tent. In reward for their heroism, the robots are granted their freedom. The remaining episodes deal with a wide range of issues, from the longing of robots for human emotions and families, to the destruction of the environment. Pretty hefty stuff compared to the funny animal hi-jinx of Saturday morning! In retrospect, the series is pretty remarkable. Though the translation was greatly softened and sometimes edited for juvenile audiences, the often dark and profound subject matter still is quite apparent. Some episodes, particularly toward the end of the English dubbed series, also exhibit increasingly dreamlike and surreal imagery. Simultaneously there was an increasing amount of violence in these programs and American parents were concerned on the effect of such shows on impressionable young minds. Sadly the American series was canceled after 104 episodes, but the Japanese productions continued for another 89 episodes. In the final episode produced in Japan, Atom sacrifices himself to save the world by manually guiding a missile toward a runaway asteroid.

I was eight years old when this originally aired in the U. S. It very much resonated with me. Of course, I loved any kind of science fiction at that age, and still have a fondness for it, although I'm of course much more discriminating now. The show was set in the then far off year of 2000. Like many other such depictions, it was quite optimistic about what things would be like. Future society was depicted as full of automation (robots were commonplace), flying cars, space travel, an overall high level of prosperity, etc., which of course instantly appealed to me, but what really captured my imagination was the character of Astro Boy himself. He was immensely powerful and could fly, but he was also smart, heroic, kind, sensitive, and caring. He was my ideal of what a boy should be, and it didn't matter that he was a robot. The show advocated giving robots rights as sentient beings. I remember writing an essay in school about him.

Back then, I paid no attention to the low frame rate or the crudeness of the animation, and in retrospect, they never were what mattered. What mattered was the sense of wonder and thrills and empathy for a character who was superhuman, but wanted love just as any human does.

Fans of this cartoon cult classic will definitely want to check out the fantastic rendition of the Astro Boy theme song, featured on the Osaka Popstar album 'Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk'. It takes the theme song, speeds it up, and puts a punky twist on it, but without a hint of the snotty patronization you hear in other punk covers. It really makes you think, "now that's what this theme song is supposed to sound like!" Also, some of you Astro Boy fans might be interested to know that the album contains another cover of a popular cartoon's theme song, Sailor Moon. A less-speedy, but just as catchy version, with heart-felt vocals and melodious guitar riffs. A real gem for fans of TV theme songs, and anime/classic cartoons. :-) ~Darlene~