Astro Boy: The Franchise
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Astro Boy -The Franchise
He was created in the 1950’s, and was the first Japanese anime character to be translated and marketed outside of Japan. Welcome to Watchmojo.com, and today we’ll be learning about the long-running Astro Boy Franchise.
Astro Boy, known in Japan as “Tetsuwan Atomu”, which translates to “Mighty Atom”, began as a successful black and white comic strip in the 1950s. It was created by Osamu Tezuka, a doctor of medicine that had developed a strong passion for drawing. His comic series was serialized between 1952 and 1968 and was given several follow-ups, before being imitated by other characters, such as Mega Man.
In fact, the original comic, known as a manga in Japan, proved extraordinarily influential. Today, it is credited as the first Japanese series to embody the aesthetics of contemporary Japanese animation, and Osamu Tezuka has come to be known as the “God of Manga”.
Between 1959-1960, his comics had been given a live-action series do to its large following. It lasted only one year before being abandoned for an animated series. The live-action series is notable for having featured an animated opening, and its demonstration of the Japanese’s inexperience in film production during that era. Episodes of the show were later cut together and formed a compilation film that saw a release overseas. It was dismissed for its rough aesthetics and effects, such as Astro Boy being covered in plastic.
The animated series that followed was as revolutionary as the original comic due to its fresh stylization. It transformed Japanese animation by introducing the Anime style. The show was very successful and spawned 193 episodes and lasted 4 seasons. The series went on to be the first Japanese animated program to be exported around the world and enjoyed by a large international audience. The English version of the show was given a theme song. This impressed the Japanese producers so much that they added lyrics to their version as well, which began the trend of anime music.
Interestingly, Walt Disney himself was so impressed that he openly expressed interest in releasing an animated product similar to Astro Boy.
In the 80’s, Astro Boy was given an updated cartoon series. This cartoon put more emphasis on darker storylines and Astro Boy’s abilities. The series kept a light-hearted feel, but at times had very somber moments. The series was again re-introduced in 2003 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1963 series. It kept the classic art style of the original manga and anime, but modernized the animation and gave it high quality visuals.
Over his lifetime, Astro Boy has also starred in several action-orientated video games in the 90s while several attempts were made to produce a feature film. The Jim Henson Company and Columbia pictures began their ill-fated production planning on an Astro Boy movie in 1999, but the project was cancelled. Shortly following this, a Japanese-Canadian co-production for Imax was shelved as well.
Following these setbacks, Astro Boy’s star power diminished; however he eventually re-introduced himself to the world, and re-captured the imaginations of children and adults alike with his high profile computer animated film in 2009.
He was created in the 1950’s, and was the first Japanese anime character to be translated and marketed outside of Japan. Welcome to Watchmojo.com, and today we’ll be learning about the long-running Astro Boy Franchise.
Astro Boy, known in Japan as “Tetsuwan Atomu”, which translates to “Mighty Atom”, began as a successful black and white comic strip in the 1950s. It was created by Osamu Tezuka, a doctor of medicine that had developed a strong passion for drawing. His comic series was serialized between 1952 and 1968 and was given several follow-ups, before being imitated by other characters, such as Mega Man.
In fact, the original comic, known as a manga in Japan, proved extraordinarily influential. Today, it is credited as the first Japanese series to embody the aesthetics of contemporary Japanese animation, and Osamu Tezuka has come to be known as the “God of Manga”.
Between 1959-1960, his comics had been given a live-action series do to its large following. It lasted only one year before being abandoned for an animated series. The live-action series is notable for having featured an animated opening, and its demonstration of the Japanese’s inexperience in film production during that era. Episodes of the show were later cut together and formed a compilation film that saw a release overseas. It was dismissed for its rough aesthetics and effects, such as Astro Boy being covered in plastic.
The animated series that followed was as revolutionary as the original comic due to its fresh stylization. It transformed Japanese animation by introducing the Anime style. The show was very successful and spawned 193 episodes and lasted 4 seasons. The series went on to be the first Japanese animated program to be exported around the world and enjoyed by a large international audience. The English version of the show was given a theme song. This impressed the Japanese producers so much that they added lyrics to their version as well, which began the trend of anime music.
Interestingly, Walt Disney himself was so impressed that he openly expressed interest in releasing an animated product similar to Astro Boy.
In the 80’s, Astro Boy was given an updated cartoon series. This cartoon put more emphasis on darker storylines and Astro Boy’s abilities. The series kept a light-hearted feel, but at times had very somber moments. The series was again re-introduced in 2003 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1963 series. It kept the classic art style of the original manga and anime, but modernized the animation and gave it high quality visuals.
Over his lifetime, Astro Boy has also starred in several action-orientated video games in the 90s while several attempts were made to produce a feature film. The Jim Henson Company and Columbia pictures began their ill-fated production planning on an Astro Boy movie in 1999, but the project was cancelled. Shortly following this, a Japanese-Canadian co-production for Imax was shelved as well.
Following these setbacks, Astro Boy’s star power diminished; however he eventually re-introduced himself to the world, and re-captured the imaginations of children and adults alike with his high profile computer animated film in 2009.
