Astro Boy

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~

I thought the 60's theme song from this cartoon series was one of the best and coolest of any cartoon series ever. Very underrated. Sounded like a school chorus choir, from what I remember. Anyone know of where you can find it/download it? "there u go Astro boy, on your mission today, rocket high to the sky,etc" Also are there any remastered DVD's out on this series. I checked Ebay and Amazon and could not find anything? There was a complete VHS set put out years ago but I thought the quality was terrible even for VHS Also, who was the name of the cool villain , who always regenerated body parts?Any help out there? Seansky

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.

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.