Will anyone try to bring Astro Boy to America again?

[Laughing Dragon]

I wasn't asking for that with the film. I just wanted it to be a bit darker, like it was in the pre production phases, not take away his cute kid voice, and not add so many new characters that it takes time away from the older ones who quite frankly matter more. And I think they didn't have to change the way certain characters were drawn, or named. I mean "Bill" Tenma. Come on! If you're going that route just call him Dr. Boyton like in the 80's show.

What's wrong with "Bill"? Some of the nicest people I know are named "Bill".

[ebronstein]

Nothing, when it's appropriate. Just say the name in your head. Bill Tenma. It doesn't work. they went out of their way to take everything anime like or Japanese out of the film, and the characters, and have reaped the results.

[Laughing Dragon]

Nothing, when it's appropriate. Just say the name in your head. Bill Tenma. It doesn't work. they went out of their way to take everything anime like or Japanese out of the film, and the characters, and have reaped the results.

Oh, really? They let the name "Tenma" stay in. Also the name "Hamegg". They included scenes from the original anime, like the one where Astro drills through the mountain. Osamu Tezuka himself makes an appearance. And they could have left out the "butt-guns", but they didn't - that, along with Toby's death, had to have been a tough choice for the writers/producers to make, when they could have left the former out altogether and, as for the latter, come up with another way for Astro to be created - such as having Toby become the Six Million Dollar Boy, a kid with robot parts. It's all a matter of opinion - but I think the writers did the best they could with the source material. They aimed to make Astro appealing to a wide 21st-century audience, not just to die-hard fans, and I don't blame them. Face it, we're a little fandom. We're not as numerous as the Star Wars fans or the Trekkers or the Potterites. In order for Astro to truly make a comeback, he has to appeal to as broad an audience as possible while staying in character as much as possible. And I think the movie succeeded in doing that. I love it. I wouldn't be at this message board if I didn't. And as soon as my local furshlugginer Blockbuster gets the DVD in (now they're telling me it'll be the 22nd!!!!!) I'll be grabbing one and probably wear out my DVD player watching it.

And I'd love a sequel, with the same names, voice cast, designs and characters. But again, to each his/her own. Your mileage may vary.

[ebronstein]

Oh yah, such changes really helped this film be a hit both here and in Japan . I'm just saying if they were so intent on westernizing , Pixarizing, and modernizing everything about astro. why not just call the dad Dr. Boyton, like in the 80's show. That would have made more sense. And did they really have to make him thirteen. What difference did that make? And why the new characters?

[Laughing Dragon]

Oh yah, such changes really helped this film be a hit both here and in Japan . I'm just saying if they were so intent on westernizing , Pixarizing, and modernizing everything about astro. why not just call the dad Dr. Boyton, like in the 80's show. That would have made more sense. And did they really have to make him thirteen. What difference did that make? And why the new characters?

Hmmm, I have a feeling that nothing but a word-by-word direct translation from the original manga onto the movie screen would have satisfied you. Do you really believe, however, that such a translation would have resulted in bigger box office here in the U.S.? Remember, there aren't that many Astro Boy fans out there, especially in the U.S. Would an average U.S. family have been thrilled with, say, seeing a little kid fighting robots in his underwear, or a little kid getting in a terrible car accident and his father carrying the little dead body away, or that same father trying to clobber the robot clone of his dead son with a shovel? I sincerely doubt that. And those are just a few of the reasons I believe that a more direct translation would not have worked any better than what Imagi came up with. The Astro Boy movie was overlooked by a moviegoing public that made assumptions or didn't know what to make of the movie because of poor advertising. But if you lurk on interactive websites like Twitter and do a search for "astro boy" you will see literally hundreds of accolades for the movie from people who gave it a try at the theater or on DVD and are surprised by how enjoyable it is. And speaking of DVD, it seems to be doing very well sales-wise. I'm sorry you weren't able to enjoy the movie. But to each his/her own.

[cybotron]

Each incarnation of Astro turns into an attempt to change and destroy him. We have to wait for the Japanese version. Astroboy is one of the most despised characters and icons in the world. Astro has had many incarnations, and everytime an astroboy wave appears, it is quickly destroyed. And Astro always comes back anyway. The heroes of this age are murderers and thugs in pop culture. Astro is a threat to that mindset. Everybody, every production house that has ever gone into Astro is defunct. But Astro still remains. Amid High Intelligence as an Icon. Astro will be back in another incarnation when he is needed. This time he was needed to remove the "Bomb Belt" from Denkou! Technostructures living in the Sky supported by Robot slave labor is a socialist and communist evil state. The RRF, is real. So is the electronic inabled class of the Astroboy world. Few of you are scared by the prospect of the Fall of Metro City into the tekno wasteland of the barbaric robot junkyard. But that is the world you live in.
Thus the powers of thought and mind control were against Astro. Against this film which was made in communst China! A movie which shows the decadent Tekno elite falling into a 3rd world junkyard! Why would anyone in his right mind expect the western mind to accept and embrace such a scenario? The enemy is not pluto or hades and his minions, but the President and his "Peacekeeper" of course IMAGI is closed! The project is yet another anticapitalist antitech rant from ChiComm mind control. Astro will be back! Just as heroic, in 3D with glasses. The Cosmic Divine will always be uplifted. Will the next Astro be based on this one? No! Of course not. Astro is a weapons system. Not a gay icon. Not a little boy. An Aerospace icon that is the goal of advanced tech. A flying autonomous gun that can think and choose targets. There is no end to the pursuit of a real Astroboy.

[Dragonrider1227]

I still say anyone whining about the changes made to Astro Boy should go take a look at the Dragonball movie. Imagi's Astro Boy may not be perfect, but it could've been WAAAAY worse

[cybotron]

I still say anyone whining about the changes made to Astro Boy should go take a look at the Dragonball movie. Imagi's Astro Boy may not be perfect, but it could've been WAAAAY worse

4 sure!

[ebronstein]

Yes, but to quote an old musical line: "For me, it's all or nothing." I was fine with some of the changes they made, but I can't just be grateful that they made the movie at all. I was expecting a film that would set the standard of western adaptations of anime characters. That would be slightly more gritty, slower paced, and actually portray astro as a boy instead of a teenager. It's not dragon ball evolution, thank God, but I really saw no need to add new characters, make astro's voice "pubescent," and add a non subtle political allegory that will instantly date the film. And why did they have to go out of their way to make it look like something from pixar. They should have learned what made them successful with TMNT, and stick with a story that older kid's/teenagers will appreciate. Instead they turned something great into a hodgepodge of imitation, with an ending that seemed totally out of left field.

[ebronstein]

Hmmm, I have a feeling that nothing but a word-by-word direct translation from the original manga onto the movie screen would have satisfied you. Do you really believe, however, that such a translation would have resulted in bigger box office here in the U.S.? Remember, there aren't that many Astro Boy fans out there, especially in the U.S. Would an average U.S. family have been thrilled with, say, seeing a little kid fighting robots in his underwear, or a little kid getting in a terrible car accident and his father carrying the little dead body away, or that same father trying to clobber the robot clone of his dead son with a shovel? I sincerely doubt that. And those are just a few of the reasons I believe that a more direct translation would not have worked any better than what Imagi came up with. The Astro Boy movie was overlooked by a moviegoing public that made assumptions or didn't know what to make of the movie because of poor advertising. But if you lurk on interactive websites like Twitter and do a search for "astro boy" you will see literally hundreds of accolades for the movie from people who gave it a try at the theater or on DVD and are surprised by how enjoyable it is. And speaking of DVD, it seems to be doing very well sales-wise. I'm sorry you weren't able to enjoy the movie. But to each his/her own.

I will say it again: I was not looking for a direct translation of the Manga. I Just thought they could afford to take some risks. The rewards were out there if they did. The best "kid's movies" always showed dark elements, and did not shy away from them. As far as the "undies" issue goes, they showed it in the 60's, and no one was offended. If parents today would be, the makers could explain to them that astro is a robot, and therefore, requires no clothing. Otherwise, could anyone justify the addition of new characters?