Alakazam el grande

Like others on this site, I have warm memories of this film, having watched it since I was a child. American International did a fine job, in my opinion, of dubbing the picture. What makes their version of "Alakazam The Great" for me though, is the truly beautiful score by Les Baxter (an AIP regular) which perfectly complimented the visuals. A soundtrack album was released back in '61, which I found 35 years ago--at a thrift shop in excellent condition. HBO video released a widescreen videotape of the film about 10 years ago. They did a great job--wonderful picture and sound. Alas, it went out of print when the AIP package changed hands. MGM (now Sony) holds the rights. Hopefully, one day, they will release a DVD.

Although it's not the spectacle of the greatness of Japanese Anime, the Western release of Saiyu-ki was a testament to the early days of the art.

Alas, like so many classics of animation, such as Toei's "Gulliver's Travels Beyond The Moon (Gariba no uchu ryoko)" or Nelvana's "Rock & Rule", this film will never be seen again except on rare, pirated copies, for it has been cast into the pit of Moritorium Hell, where major video chains unceremoniously trash the remaining copies into a dumpster without the opportunity to purchase them to try to salvage history. This disgusting form of book burning for profits by the major studios that now run the major video rental chains, leading to the demise of the Mom & Pop stores of the past will be remembered as corporate greed at it's worst.

I hope there is a special Hell for these arrogant suits.

I really did not want to vote on the movie, since I have not seen it since I was a kid. But, this movie was such a great movie to me as a kid, that almost 40 years later, I am trying to find it. If this was such a bad movie (according to the critic), there needs to be more of them made. The movie had classic good versus evil situations, was able to teach morals in a very entertaining manner, and was light and dark all at the same time. I can go so far as to say that it was the loyalty, friendship, and mercy exhibited by the lead character and his friends that indelibly burned this cartoon in my psyche all of these years. I too find that I had no idea that all of these famous stars were in the movie, but now that I know, when I finally get the movie again, I will have another reason to love it.

I was stunned to see this listing; I have been trying to find this movie for years. It may be lame, a terrible dubbed version of a chopped up hack job, but I still have dreams based on this film 30 years later. It would show up on the afternoon movie program and I would always greet it like an old friend; I would love to see it again.

I loved this movie in the 1960's when it used to play regularly on a television channel in Buffalo, New York. What a shock when I saw it recently! The dubbed American version is disjointed and pretty silly, but that's not the big surprise. It is clear from watching it now that the Japanese film underlying it is a retelling of part of the epic Chinese classic, The Journey to the West, written by Wu Cheng-En in the 16th century. In The Journey to the West -- the standard English translation is by Arthur Waley -- the monk Tripitaka is travelling to India seeking rare Buddhist scriptures, which were later housed in the Big Goose Pagoda still standing today in Xi'an, a city best-known to Westerners for its terracotta warriors. The monk has many adventures along the way, accompanied by his friends Sun Wu-Kong / Monkey (here called Alakazam) and Chu Pa-Kie / Pigsy. Throughout the Far East, these characters are known to everyone and are fixtures of popular culture. Hot-tempered, impetuous Monkey / Alakazam is the particular favourite of little boys of all ages. Watch this movie and try to guess what is actually going on in the Japanese film.