So who here thinks Astro Boy rocks?
Shows how much I am out of touch with anime.. I haven't even heard of Metropolis before!.. looking at Sony's website http://www.sonypictures.com/cthv/metropolis/ , I can see some of the ideas are similar to those in Astroboy.. What kind of mention did they give in Metropolis? I know in the movie version of BlackJack (another comic created by Osamu), they had some jig-saw puzzles which showed Astroboy and Kimba the White Lion (which Disney ripped off with the Lion King)... BlackJack was beautifully animated btw... Sony is supposed to be working on an Astroboy movie (with 3D graphics) since 2001, so I can't wait for that!!
Holy crap.. anyone wanna see a preview of the Astroboy movie? go to this page.. http://astroboy.jp/c/009/movie/index.html Some fantastic animation...
The English version of the trailer is below the first one (which is in Japanese).. there are some familiar characters in that clip (some redesigned)... It looks AWESOME! **500 sumea credits to anyone who can grab the 30mb trailer and convert it to divx for me [;)]**
I kinda had hoped they'd search for the original voice actors from the 80's series, but I guess that might have been too much of an ask.. The new voices sound cool though. Can't wait for this!@!@@!
I did have a feeble attempt years ago.. nothing to write home about. I would like to model and animate him though!
On the flipside, I was scared of astroboy when I was a kid, and I never liked the show...at all :)
Not to say that I don't like anime, just not astro boy.
Or that speed racer s*** - not that I put them in the same category, I know that astroboy has pedigree and all compared to that speed racer git....they're basically just two japanese "cartoons" that I never liked - wierd!
Anyone here actually seen the original metropolis? I haven't seen either, but I hear that the Metropolis animated version was pretty crap - and the original movie was much better...although almost impossible to watch due to modern movie standards (ie color and sound).
Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au
"Metropolis animated version was pretty crap"
That kind of talk going to get you into a whole heap of trouble. :)
My opinion is that Metropolis was great, loved it to death (watched on the big screen and those 3D city scapes are wow.) I know that its not everyones cup o tea, and I am an anime fan, but it is good.
Oh and to clear up any confusion the animated version is not a remake of the original. It is a inspired by film. Similar world, Similar theames.
Pantmonger
hi souri
sorry to get back to you so late computer problems.
metropolis rocks!!!
screenplay written by katsuhiro otomo
concept/design rintaro
osamu tezuka first penned metropolis before astroboy in fact astroboy was created from metropolis and the ideas transformed into astroboy 50 yrs ago
both otomo and rintaro worked with tezuka on the original astroboy and made it as homage to tezuka.
i think tezuka was japans granddaddy of manga but i think hayao miyazaki is the god of manga
Apparently there's not only going to be a movie but a new series!!! I dunno - it could be awasumo or they could fudge it completely ...
From Aint It Cool News - [url]http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=14713[/url]:
quote:Sony To Create New Astro Boy TV Series
Could Be Available Next Year
ICv2 reports Sony Pictures Television International is preparing a new 52-episode version of the classic Astro Boy anime series by Osamu Tezuka. The studio plans to keep the same classic anime character design that made the original Astro Boy series so influential in the development of Japanese animation. Produced in 1963, the original black-and-white Astro Boy anime series (Tetsuwan Atom in Japanese) introduced themes and robot characters that have echoed throughout anime history as has the "big eyes, small mouth" character design of Tezuka's classic character. Many Tezuka fans actually prefer the 1980 color remake of the original series, upon which Mr. Tezuka was able to lavish additional resources unavailable in 1963. Unfortunately the 1980 color series will not be available in the U.S. on DVD until after the Astro Boy feature film is released.
Sony is also producing the computer animated Astro Boy feature film, which is now slated for a 2005 release. It is likely that the new Astro Boy TV series will also be largely computer-generated. So far Sony has not released a timetable for the production of the new series, but the company is planning on presenting the new series at the MIP-TV trade show later this year.
For anyone who regards Astro Boy as just another brainless anime with a lot of shrieking that was around when you were young - I really urge you, go back and have another look. It's a quality series, well written, touching and intelligent. I loved it as a kid and still love it today.
A note also for anyone searching out the original `Metropolis' (the silent film) - I can't emphasis enough, FIND A DECENT VERSION. I'm serious - it's not worth watching in a bad version, the film is wrongly transferred (the frame rate was different in the silent era, about 16 frames per second to sound's 23, which requires readjustment) and it'll play like a dirge and go forever. Unfortunately, the JEF Films version (black cover with blue writing, 123 minutes duration) is the worst you can get, but is also the most commonly found.
Find the newly released DVD if you can, or the Giorgio Moroder soundtrack version, which you can still find on the classics shelf at plenty of video stores.
[;)]
Hmmm ... don't know about this idea about not using the original voice actors for the Astro movie ... [?]
I remember renting a lot of videos in the 80's and ALWAYS seeing that damn Metropolis preview (with that freaky looking metal female), so I finally rented it out to see what it was all about.. very interesting stuff [:)] They used some of Vangelis's music too for the soundtrack, so that was cool..
Tripika is right on the nail there.. Astroboy was definately not your run of the mill cartoon flick! Most episodes had some moral or lesson - the entire series covered issues like prejudice, racism, greed, preserving nature, good triumphs over all, size doesn't matter etc... you name it!! And yes, the stories were fantastic!
And hey, in the last 2 episodes of the series, Astro visited Australia too!! (and yes, you saw kangaroos) [:)]
Tripitaka, the new voices are quite good actually.. [:)] I was a bit disappointed at first that they didn't use the same voice actors, but the more I watched the preview, the more I liked the new voices. [:)]
Monkey Magic... that was a great TV series too.. the thing I'm lost about that show was - did they ever reach India?? (I need closure! [;)])
quote:Originally posted by shiptu_shaboo
i think tezuka was japans granddaddy of manga but i think hayao miyazaki is the god of manga
I wanted to go to watch Spirited Away at the cinema, but I will definately buy the DVD when it comes out.
Tezuka gets credits as the first to adopt the wide eyed cartoon look in Japan, and also for Japan's first animated television series - 'Tetsuwan Atom? (Astro Boy). And he's come up with so many great comics/characters.. Astro boy, Kimba the white lion, Black Jack, Princess Knight. So yeh, he definately deserves the grandfather of anime title. [:)]
i have had many friends visit japan and the anime that trickles its way to australia is terrible, we only get such a small portion of the masterpieces that are produced in japan
tezuka and his influence on western animation like disney is so obvious
and only now do masters like tezuka and miyazaki get cinema releases decades down the track.
if you can get your hands on another miyazaki, Princess Mononoke its a great film
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/
My brother is an ENORMOUS anime/manga freak - videos and DVDs line his walls, he'd have several hundred at the very least (and I'd definitely say Astro Boy was a major influence on his tastes). He also gets very irritated by the western perception of anime as either a bunch of screechy cartoons for kids, or post-apocalyptic violent doomfests like `Akira'. Sure, there's vapid cartoons or cliched ones - but there are also some incredibly insightful and thoughtful ones, too. `Wings of Honnemaise' for example, or any of Miyazaki, is worth watching as a serious scholar of film.
Oh, Souri - I don't know if they ever got to India in Monkey Magic, but I have on tape the episode where Monkey runs after those big slug people yelling `Idiots! Poofters!'. LOL!
Yes, it's an old thread... but rather than start a new one, I thought I'd just tack on the end of this one to see if anyone's seen the new Astro tv cartoon yet? I was switching tv channels and happened to find an episode on channel 2 today, and I'm looking forward to seeing some more! Animation totally rocks, nice futuristic world and great cartoon style. Astro looks cool, but I prefer the old voice from the 80's series. [:)] Dr Elephun was there, and he's instantly recognisable and the same as they've always drawn him. One thing that was missing was the famous Astroboy theme song! Usually during every episode in the 80's version, especially during the climax and Astro is kicking arse or something, that damn catchy theme song is on, without fail. Didn't here a lick of it here though! [:(] Anyway, if you're an Astro fan, check your tv guides to see what time it's on, but I think it's on weekly, every Thursday afternoon on ABC. [:)]
That was the second episode on today. The first one last week was great, showing Astro?s creation. I personally didn?t miss the 80?s theme really, I thought the electric guitar rock tune worked well, but I did miss the little running animation they used to have at the end of the show! [;)]
Overall, I think they?ve done a great job. I?m particularly glad that Astro seems to have the same personality. I was worried that they would make him into an entirely new character with a rebellious, ?cool? attitude, with ?cool? catch phrases. They seemed to have kept the shows integrity.
I loved this scene from the first episode last week, where Astro climbed out of his room to go play with the flying things outside (cars and stuff), and ended up falling a long long way down to the ground, before discovering he could fly. It was very cool to see Astro zipping through the futuristic city! ?It?s got me trying to model some architecture of my own!
Anyway, I?m gonna tape it every Thursday arvo (5.25pm ABC), to watch after work. For those 25 minutes, I?m almost a kid again!
(I wonder if he?ll have that little gun that pops out of his bum again? Remember that!? [:D])
Ah, I would've loved to have seen the first episode. I agree about what you said about the shows integrity. That episode I saw with the robots battling in a sports arena which turn on a reluctant Astro is exactly in the spirit of things..
I've been doing some reading online on how the new Astro Boy cartoon is being received, and unfortunately it's not doing too well in the U.S.. They've jumbled up the episodes, taken the show off air for a couple of weeks due to bad ratings etc.. People have noticed that the American cartoon network that's showing it is really milking the advertisement dollar by editing out parts of each episode so they can fit more ads in the half hour showing. I can kinda understand the kinda poor reception the new cartoon is getting in America though, since they only received the b/w cartoon series in the 50's or 60's, and missed the 80's series entirely. The enthusiasm and fanbase for Astro Boy is usually seen from countries where the 80's episodes were shown (Asian pacific, Canada, parts of Europe, China etc)..
Just a little bit more on the voice acting on the new Astro - it's funny how a different voice can really change the way a character comes across, I think. The new Astro's voice sounds like a somewhat older Astro with some coarse pitches here and there. It tends to make him sound a bit bratty at times, whereas the 80's Astro had such a sweet voice. It just made him all the more innocent and vulnerable. The voice on the new Astro definately sounds different to the trailer that Sony did last year (which I very much preferred to than the current voice). You can download the [url="http://astroboy.jp/c/009/movie/data/.stream/w_astroboy_100k.wmv
"]3mb trailer[/url] and see what I mean.. (or you can [url="http://astroboy.jp/c/009/movie/data/.stream/w_astroboy_1000k.wmv"]download the 30mb version[/url] - it's a pretty cool trailer). I had thought this trailer was of the movie, but it looks like the TV series. Is it?
All this Astro talk is probably freaking out the regulars.. [:)]
Ok, I'm sorta bringing back this old thread - feel free to ignore it if you never grew up in the 80's and watching Astroboy and Monkey Magic before / after school was a daily ritual [;)] Look away now, some serious geekiness ahead! I think they repeated Monkey on the ABC in the early 90's, so you young dudes might not be totally in the dark here [;)]
Anyway, I noticed that Siren Entertainment (or Siren Visual as they're known now?) have got the [url="http://www.sirenvisual.com.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=showFilmProduct&cata…"]Monkey Boxset[/url] which they started selling late last year (and it seems to be a hot seller - it costs a whopping $260 though. I've read that you can find it cheaper at Kmart or Target). It contains all the episodes from the 2 seasons of Monkey, *including 13 missing episodes which were never aired in Australia or the UK*.
I decided to look up on them internets about the show to find out what happened there, and other Monkey trivia. I hit the jackpot at www.monkeyheaven.com which has tonnes of faqs, and info about the show. I'll make a list of stuff which either had always puzzled me as a kid or I find pretty mind blowing now that the answers are available.
1. The 13 missing episodes were from season 2. They were never redubbed, so were never seen in Australia or the UK (Monkey was pretty big in the UK for the same reasons as in Australia - it became a ritual for kids to watch before or after school). In 2004, for the release of the Monkey DVD's, they grabbed all the *original* voice actors from the 80's series to provide voice for the missing 13 episodes. How incredible is that?! It's been like 24 years!
2. The actress who played Tripitaka died of Leukemia a few years after Monkey, she was only 27 [:(]
3. Why did they get a new guy to play pigsy in the second season? Because the show wasn't expected to last more than one season, so the actor had organised another acting job after the first season.
4. How come the show stopped before they ever reached India? Season 1 provided to be hugely popular, ratings wise, but the scores were too low during Season 2 so it was axed. [:D]
Well, for the voice redub in 2004, the guy who was the voice of Pigsy (he was also the voice of Golem in the animated series of Lord of the Rings) passed away just under a month of completing his work for the 13 missing episodes. I thought that was pretty amazing, and fans are really fortunate that he was able to voice Pigsy one last time before he was gone.
I've been doing some reading on the tale that Monkey was based on and found that there really was a Tripitaka who travelled to India to research and scribe down Buddhism teachings. It took some 17 years and 25,000kms of travel though many hazards and very close calls. On his return, he lost lots of those manuscripts when his boat capsized. [:0] You can read all [url="http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/h/hiuen_tsang.htm"]about it here[/url]. It's pretty fascinating stuff.
I'm planning to buy the complete boxset, but what Sirens Entertainment is charging is a total rip off at $265!!! The ABC shop has it for $205.95 as a few other places, and I'm sure you can get it even cheaper if you look around.
I couldn't resist and went out and bought the Monkey Collection's Edition boxset for about $195 or so. It's got all the redubbed missing episodes as well. I know there's a 25th anniversary edition which I think is only available in the UK - they have an extra disc with a making-of documentary and another documentary called Monkey nuts which is all about the voice actors reuniting for the redubs. Well, that isn't in my boxset [:(]
I was sorta debating on whether I should even buy it or not though. Rose coloured glasses of nostalgia and all that. You see, my friend asked me if I ever saw Voltron (lion) DVD's to immediately buy it for him as he was a huge fan of the series when he was small. So, when I came across one set of three Voltron boxes on sale at EB Games one day, I snapped it up for him. I remember that I kinda liked the show when I was a kid as well, so I thought I'd have a look before I passed it on to my mate.
It was bad. Terrible. I couldn't even bare watching more than 10 minutes of it. The animation was poor, the story was laughable, and the voice acting was absolutely *horrendous*. You know those *weird* voice re-dubs that some crazy fans are doing with those GI Joe cartoons? It was almost at that level bad. Anyway, when I gave it to my friend, he was pretty thankful. I refrained from telling him how immensley crap it was, choosing to rather wait till he sees it for himself. When I next saw him, he expressed his utter disappointment on the show. He couldn't believe that he adored this cartoon so much before.
So back to Monkey, I was *praying* that this didn't suck just like Voltron, especially since I invested $200 on the fancy boxset. Well, I'm glad to say that it rocks [:)]. It's bloody hilarious. Season one of the series contains so many great stories, laughs, and memorable moments. Season two is still ok, but some of the stories from the missing episodes were real duds. There wasn't as much humour in the redubs either. I think this has got to do with the original (english) writer not coming back for the redubbed versions. I read on that monkey heaven site that the original writer didn't receive much in scripts/translations for each episode, but rather got a general synopsis of what was going on. So it was up to him to fill in the blanks and add his own dialogue and humour. I'd say that the new writer for the redubbed epsiodes got a direct translation of each episode and used mostly that.
For those who are interested, the redubbed voice work for Monkey was *spot on*. He sounds exactly the same as 25 years ago. Tripitaka's voice was almost spot on, it just seemed *slightly* deeper than it originally was. The voice work for Sandy was a bit peculiar though. At times it sounded nothing like him, while at other times, it sounded just like him. I think Pigsy's voice was a bit of a miss though [:(]
Monkey r0xx0rs my b0xx0rs. Watching the series as a mature (ha!) adult, I was shocked (pleasantly) to find how much grotty adult humour it contained. The dragon princess making the magic wishing staff grow for example... Monkey's persistant use of the word poofter makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.
If you wanna know more, Monkey is based on the book of the same name by Wu Cheng En, which in turn is based on the myth Journey to the West. Here in Oz, Monkey is published by Penguin Classics, although I had a bugger of a time finding it. Check the classics shelf at your bookshop, it's good stuff. I'd like to get a copy of the original myth, but apart from hunting through mythology at the library I wouldn't know where to begin. Just about every Buddhist country has a version, right through Asia and the Pacific Rim.
*In my best Homer voice*
Yes Souri, Yes he does.
Pantmonger
[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/evilbunny/Jagged/GamaPantsWeb.gif[/img]