Garçon magique

I saw this movie several times around 1963 (in the Philipines) when I was about 5 years old. The movie theater was just across the street from our house and I went there everyday (for free) and I was able to see a lot of movies even at such a young age. I have forgotten many of the movies that I saw then but this one remained etched in my mind. There was something enchanting about this movie and it really mesmerized me. I remember it was about a young boy on some kind of a mission and that he had magical powers. And that's all I remember about this movie!

That's why I have not voted on this movie (yet!). I would really like to see it again but this is a very hard to find movie. Perhaps somebody out there can tell me where I can find or buy a copy. Any help is highly appreciated.

The movie is pure magic, just like Sasuke. The SFX are great, the plot is coherent and the fights! oh boy! It's a pleasure looking Sasuke materialize and de-materialize at will, or his flight scenes. The really humorous scene is when he gets to the prince's castle and gets sticked into the guard's sword until they let him pass and then he gets flying! With so much power who can put a parental figure on this boy? I ask. When I looked at this movie in my teens I loved it. I just would kill to see it edited and distributed in DVD and get it into my hands...(*sob*) However "Magic Boy" was a preview of the great potential of Asian cinema and anime production that there was yet to come.

I too saw ''Magic Boy'' on it's first release back in 1960. Being a fan of fantasy films, I was enchanted by the story and characters, though it was over 40 years before i saw it again. Alas, it lacks much of the magic I remembered. The story is just an excuse for the beautiful animation, and the characters are undeveloped. The motives of the witch, for instance, are left unexplained (yes, she's wicked, but why?) Many will think that my revised opinion is the result of seeing the film again not as a child, but as an adult. However, this is not true. Many films I enjoyed as a child still hold up wonderfully. ''Alakazam The Great'' for instance, is a superior Japanese animated feature.

I saw this movie on the big screen when I was 9 years old. The witch was as scary and impressive as the one in Sleeping Beauty. The boy's progression through learning magic was inspiring that all things are possible.

I continue to hope that this classic is not lost forever.

I saw this on first release, on the big screen. Released by MGM (Japan).

It has since been shown on UK satellite tv, but a long fight sequence seems to have been cut short. The transformation fight has some similarities to the later transformation fight in Disney's The Sword in the Stone - if you can watch the two back to back, the differences in style and tone are quite interesting.

Magic Boy is relatively primitive compared to modern anime, however you can still see the attention to detail, and the importance of the story telling. The sheer determination of our little hero is quite something to behold.

Worth checking out if you can find it and like modern anime.