Astro Boy
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Image:AstroBoyVolume1.jpg Astro Boy is the American title for the Japanese animated series Tetsuwan Atomu (鉄腕アトム), which roughly translates to "Mighty Atom" (literally "Iron-arm Atom"); or Atom boy first broadcast on Japanese television from 1964 to 1966.
Astro Boy is the first Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became known as anime. It originated as a manga comic series started in 1952 by Osamu Tezuka, who is known as the "god of manga". After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy in the US and other Western countries) and again in 2003. For a time Astro Boy enjoyed a level of popularity in Japan equivalent to Disney's Mickey Mouse. Astro Boy bears some similarities with the Italian boy-puppet Pinocchio [1].
The animated Astro Boy series was produced by Mushi Productions, a studio established and headed by Tezuka.
The original Tetsuwan Atomu manga stories are now available in English, published by Dark Horse Comics in a translation by Frederik L. Schodt. They follow the television series in using "Astro Boy", the name most familiar to English-speaking audiences, instead of "Tetsuwan Atomu. Names of the other characters, such as Dr. Tenma and Professor Ochanomizu, are those of the original Japanese.
Chuang Yi plans to publish a more recent manga version of Astro Boy in Singapore.
The 2003 Japanese television series acknowledges the "Astro Boy" name. Although the character is still named "Atomu" ("Atom" in English), the series' onscreen title is Astro Robot Tetsuwan Atomu, with the latter part written in Japanese characters; the scene in which the newly-activated robot is named has been written to support either character name. In the English-language version the character, and the show, is of course once more called Astro Boy.
Image:Astroboy.png In the original story, Astro Boy was created in Takadanobaba on April 7, 2003. On the same day in the real world, a city in Japan (Niiza of Saitama prefecture) granted Astro Boy a special citizenship. This is in contrast to the hardship Astro Boy went through in the fiction to be a part of human society, including obtaining a citizenship.
In 2004, the character Astro Boy was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame. The series of graphic albums was nominated for the Harvey Award for Best Presentation of Foreign Material in 2003.
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Manga Plot summary
Astro Boy is a science fiction series set in a future where androids co-exist with humans. Its focus is on the adventures of the titular "Astro Boy", a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science Dr. Tenma (Dr. Boyton in the first series English anime, Dr. Balfus in the second series) in order to replace his son Tobio, or Astor Boyton III in the first series English anime, Toby in the remake of the first series English anime. After Tobio died in a car accident, Dr. Tenma built Astro in Tobio's image and treated him as lovingly as if he were the real Tobio, but soon came to the fact that the little android could not fill the void of his lost son, especially due to the fact that he wouldn't grow. In the original 1960 edition, Tenma rejected Astro and sold him to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg (also known as Cachatore), who abused the performers. In the 1980 edition, Astro naïvely signed himself away to the circus owner.
While languishing in Hamegg's circus, Professor Ochanomizu (Dr. Packadermus J. Elefun in the first series, Prof. Peabody in the second, and Dr. O'Shay in the third), the new head of the Ministry of Science, noticed Astro Boy performing in the circus. He managed to make Hamegg turn Astro over to him. He brought Astro along and treated him gently and warmly, becoming his new fatherly figure. He soon realized Astro was gifted with superior powers and skills, as well as the ability to experience human emotions.
Soon enough, Astro Boy became an android super-hero with a strength equivalent to 100,000 horsepower (75 MW). He has the ability to fly through jets in his arms and legs, lift many times his own weight, magnify his hearing up to 1000 times, deploy machine guns set in his rear-end, and is equipped with an electro-heart that can discern people's criminal intentions, and bright eye-lamps to assist his vision. In the more recent series Astro Boy was also given an arm cannon and lasers in his fingers.
Astro then fought crime, evil and injustice. Most of his enemies were robot-hating humans, robots gone berserk or alien invaders. Each story almost always included a big robot battle involving Astro as one of the fighters.
The series explored issues of racism, prejudice, true heroism, and loss.
Trivia
- Astro's cry of "Let's rocket!" in the 2003 dub is also the morphing call yelled by the Space Rangers in Power Rangers in Space.
- In the original black-and-white series, Astro's cry was "Let's go -- go -- go!!
- In the opening of The Simpsons episode 'Tis The Fifteenth Season all the members of the family are dressed up as Japanese superheroes. Bart is dressed up similar to Astroboy, wearing red boots and slicked back black hair.
- American Idol 4 finalist Constantine Maroulis voices a Mechanic in an episode.
- Astro Boy had two video games for the Famicom and Super Famicom that were only released in Japan. The Famicom version was done by Konami.
- In 2004 Sega released Astro Boy: Omega Factor for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, an earlier version of which had been released in Japan about six months previously. The U.S. version received great reviews [2], as had the earlier Japanese release, though the American version incorporates a number of changes and improvements. Interestingly, a number of other characters created by Osamu Tezuka have cameo appearances in the game, including Ambassador Magma, Amazing 3, Black Jack (manga), Big X, Rainbow Parakeet, Kimba the White Lion, and Unico.
- A PS2 version of Astro Boy was also released by Sonic Team and published by Sega which brings the Astro Boy universe to the third dimension. Unfortunately the PS2 version received a poor two star rating from GameSpy [3] compared to 4.5 stars [4] for the Game Boy Advance game.
- In commemoration of Astro Boy's "birth" in Takadanobaba on April 7, 2003, the JR platform in Takadanobaba has used the theme music from the TV series to signal that a train is about to leave.
- Naoki Urasawa's manga Pluto is a retelling of a story arc in Tetsuwan Atomu called "The World's Strongest Robot."
- Hamegg (Cacciatore in the American version) appears as a villain in the Kimba the White Lion anime.
- Stanley Kubrick who saw Astro Boy asked the creator, Osamu Tezuka, to be a production designer on 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- In 1977, Toei Animation was given permission by Tezuka to make an anime that was inspired by Astro Boy. It was called Jetter Mars, and in the end turned out to be an almost carbon copy with the scripts just having the characters names changed.
- In the DC comics Elseworld Kingdom Come Astro Boy's face an be seen on a billboard during the League's battle on the rogue Meta-humens of Japan.
The Astroboy March (1964 version)
Music by Tatsuo Takei; Lyrics by Don Rockwell
There you go, Astroboy, on your flight into space.
Rocket hi----gh, through the sk----y
For adventures soon you will face.
Astroboy bombs away,
On your mission today,
Here's the count----down,
And the blast----off, Image:AstroBoymanga.JPG Everything is go, Astroboy!
Astroboy, as you fly,
Strange new worlds you will spy,
Atom ce----lled, jet pro----pel----led
Fighting monsters high in the sky,
Astroboy, there you go, will you find friend or foe,
Cosmic ran----ger, laugh at dan----ger, everything is go, Astroboy!
Crowds will cheer you, you're a he----ro, as you go, go, go, Astroboy!
Astro Boy '80s Series Opening Theme (English Version)
Soaring high in the sky
He may be small, but only in size.
Astro Boy, Astro Boy
He is brave and gentle and wise.
Stronger than all the rest
This mighty robot will pass the test
Oh villains fear him, so we'll cheer him
The amazing Astro Boy.
When you need someone strong
Our robot friend is there before long.
Astro Boy, Astro Boy
He will try to right any wrong.
When there's danger nearby
No matter who, what, where, when or why
He will defend us. He'll befriend us
The amazing Astro Boy.
Astro Boy '80s Series Closing Theme (English Version)
Come and join us in our melody
A song of happiness for you and me
Dream of joys, sing about a boy
Name of hero Astro Boy.
Come and join us in our fantasy
We can all be heroes you and me
Dream of joys, sing about a boy
Name of hero Astro Boy.
Trying not to wait so long
So tune in for a fight for life
Strong as steel and with a heart of gold
Dream of love and all your heartfelt voices will be heard
Sharing dreams and bringing joy for all.
Astro Boy animation: 1964, 1980 and 2003
1964 series
This version originally premiered on Fuji TV, on New Year's Day 1963, but was eventually moved to the NHK network. It was the first anime to be broadcast outside Japan. It lasted for three seasons, with a total of 193 episodes. At its height it was watched by 40% of the Japanese population that had access to a TV. In 1964 there was a feature-length animated movie called Hero of Space released in Japan.
English version
The English version was called Astro Boy instead of Mighty Atom due to the existence of a comic book character with a similar name. Of the 193 episodes created in the series, 104 were adapted into the English version by Fred Ladd. The manga was not translated into English, although Gold Key Comics published an unauthorized verson in the states.
- Billie Lou Watt — Astro Boy/Astro Girl/Mother
- Ray Owens — Dr. Elefun/Dr. Boynton
- Gilbert Mack — Mr. Pompus/Father
1980 series
This series focused more on Astro's robotic skills and also had a somewhat darker storyline. While it still had its fun moments, at times the series could be quite sombre and sad. It wasn't uncommon for robots or human characters that featured in episodes to suffer for their actions or the misdeeds of others. During the course of the series, Astro gained a mother, a father and a sister named Uran. The scripts of this version were largely written by Osamu Tezuka, although others were also involved. The story introduced Astro's evil brother Atlas, who was created from stolen blueprints by Count Walpurgis (Walper Guiss in the American version) who was a European arms manufacturer.
Characters also had much different personalities. Astro himself comes across much more child like and innocent than his 2003 counterpart. He seems quite unsure of himself but gains confidence with time. Uran is a mischievous character who sometimes thinks of herself before others but does generally have a good heart despite how she acts sometimes. In the Japanese version also, when Uran featured in episodes the episodes would have special credits differing from the one normally used. Atlas' character is much like that of the Blue Knight in the 2003 series, always trying to get Astro to side with him and wanting to defeat the humans. Dr. Tenma Hardly features at all in this version of the series. It is implied at the end of the second Episode (third in the Japanese version) that Tenma died while Astro was away being forced to work in Hamegg's circus.
The series ran for 52 episodes and did not have a proper series ending. The U.S. dub stayed quite true to the original Japanese version yet had a shuffled order of episodes due to the way American syndication worked at the time. The U.S. dub was called The New Adventures of Astro Boy, like before when the series came out there was no translation of the manga but an unauthorized comic book version was released. There are two different English language dubs, one from Canada (the version shown in the US) and the other from Australia. While there was no official ending to the series the final episode in the Japanese run, "Astro's First Love", featured a special introduction by Osamu Tezuka.
The 1980 series has since been released on DVD by Madman Entertainment and Anchor Bay, though there are differences between the Madman and Anchor Bay sets. Madman's set having more deleted scenes and the first 2 episodes unedited in Japanese. However the U.S. Anchor Bay set has an edited Japanese track to go with the U.S. edited episodes and has put in some scenes originally not in the U.S. dub.
2003 series
In 2003, a new Astro Boy anime series was created to celebrate the birth date of Astro Boy (as well as the 40th anniversary of the 1963 series). Under the original English name (instead of Tetsuwan Atom), it kept the same classic art style as the original Astro Boy manga and anime, but was revisioned and modernized with more lush, high-quality, near-theatrical animation and visuals. It combined the playfulness of the early anime with the darker, more serious and dramatic Science Fiction themes of the manga and the '80s anime. The anime broadcasted in Japan (on the same date as Astro's birth in the manga, April 7, 2003) with lots of fanfare. Directed by Kazuya Konaka and written by Chiaki J. Konaka.
The show was eventually picked up by Sony Pictures Entertainment. However, Kids WB picked up the broadcasting rights. Fans balked at the Dub, as the original music score was changed and show was given horribly uneven scheduling. It was bounced back and forth between Kids WB and Cartoon Network until it was eventually cancelled. TOM, the host of Toonami, the block that aired the show on the Cartoon Network even made a joke during his review of the video game tie in, Astro Boy: Omega Factor that "Astro has no love here in the States". This could easily be viewed as Williams Street's view of the situation as anime fans with their hands tied by red tape in regards to the situation of being allowed to air the show.
The entire series is currently available on DVD in one single boxset. However the US set is not fully complete, with one episode in the set being omitted called "Eternal Boy" and replaced with a clip show episode. This is because the episode features a character very much akin to Disneys version of Peter Pan, which if had been included, may have caused copyright issues with Disney. The order of episodes on the set is in the order they were run in syndication which is different from the Japanese order. As characters such as Astro's sister, Zoran, show up in episodes before the episodes they were introduced in for the Japanese version. This DVD set also has a short feature about the shows development that heavily hints at pressure put on the anime developers by Sony to make Astro more of a hero than a boy. This is reflected in the dub as scenes where Astro has emotional moments or where he is acting child like are cut or the script is changed to Astro saying something different. That said the later episodes of the dub do follow along the same lines of the Japanese script. Image:Astro boy.png The series, however, had slightly more success in the UK where it was picked up by the BBC for it's children's block and digital only Children's channel from 2003 to 2005. The shows run lasted about as long as the US one (up to the 2-part episode featuring Pluto) after which the BBC stopped airing new episodes. This may be because (as one presenter commented after an episode) Astro was a darker show compared to the other cartoons CBBC aired (even in its edited state). The western dub has never been aired fully on TV in the UK or US. Despite how well Astro may have fareed in the UK airing and DVD's being advertised, the series has not been released on DVD in the UK. Same goes with the previous 80's and 60's series (which also did not air in the UK). Interestingly enough, CBBC has started airing recently unaired episodes of Astroboy, starting with a two part story dealing with Rock, a chracter recently associated with "Metropolis" and the Pheniox, the most powerful entity in Tezuka's chracters.
A trailer from 2001 made for this series when it was in development presented several major differences from the final series. With different designs for characters such as Atlas. With the characters speaking in English (with voices completely different to the voices that would eventually end up in the US dub) and animation not found in the final series.
Japanese version
- Makoto Tsumura — Atom
- Shinya Owada — Nagamiya Tenma
- Akiko Kawase — Yuko
- Banjo Ginga — Inspector Tawashi
- Hisashi Kastuta — Professor Ochanomizu
- Kazuki Yao — Skunk
- Miki Maruyama — Uranium
- Nobuyuki Hiyama — Atlas
- Miyoko Shoji — Helen
- Motoko Kumai — Tamao
- Naoki Tastuta — Robita
- Rie Kugimiya — Nyanko
- Susumu Chiba — Shibugaki
- Yuu Urata — Official/Clerk
- Yuko Sato — Ken'ichi
English version
- Candi Milo — Astro/Kennedy
- Wally Wingert — Dr. O'Shay/Skunk/Blue Knight/Wally Kisagari/Katari/Harley/Kato
- Bill Farmer — Detective Tawashi
- Susan Blu — Zoran
- Dorian Harewood — Dr. Tenma
- Maile Flanagan — Matthew
- Greg Cipes — Atlas
- Jennifer Darling — Nora
- Sandy Martin — Abercrombie
- Lara Jill Miller — Alejo
- Faith Salie — Yuko
- Tabitha St. Germain — Mimi
Other
In 1977 there was an anime called Jet Mars (in the English version Jetter Mars) done by Toei Animation under commission by Osamu Tezuka. It was originally meant to be loosely based on Astro Boy, but in the end turned out to be a carbon copy, with only the characters names changed. This series lasted only 27 episodes. He can be found as a cameo in Astro Boy: Omega Factor as well.
Tezuka met Walt Disney at the 1964 World's Fair, at which time Disney said he hoped to "make something just like" Tezuka's Astro Boy. A feature film was announced in 1999 by Columbia Pictures and Jim Henson production. However, nothing has come of this announcement since then. There were plans for a Japanese-Canadian IMAX coproduction, but it was shelved in 2000 while it was early in production.
There is a reported U.S. live-action feature being planned for release in 2006 or 2007. There is an animated feature that according to IMDB is currently in production; and is a Japan/US co-production.
Facts
Astro Boy has its own sushi restaurant in Gushikawa, Okinawa, Japan called Atom boy.Keiji Inafune, the creator of the Mega Man series, said that Astro Boy was a big source of inspiration.
External links
English
- New Astro Boy Cartoon Series Website
- astroboy-online.com
- {{{2|{{{title|Astro Boy}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- {{{2|{{{title|Astro Boy}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- {{{2|{{{title|Astro Boy}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- {{{2|{{{title|Astro Boy}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Comic Book Awards Almanac
Japanese
Chinese
es:Astroboy fr:Astro, le petit robot id:Astro Boy ja:鉄腕アトム ko:우주소년 아톰 no:Astro Boy sv:Astro Boy zh:铁臂阿童木 zh-min-nan:Goân-chú Sió-kim-kong