ASTRO-BOY

ASTRO-BOY. Syndicated weekly TV series. Japan, 1963. Animated.

Scientist whose son has died creates robotic replacement, Astro Boy (Naha, Science Fictionary). There is also an English-language series.[1]

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ASTRO BOY. David Bowers, director and story. Osamu Tezuka, manga; Timothy (Hyde) Harris, script, with Bowers.[2] Hong Kong & USA: Imagi Studios and Tezuka Productions et al. (production) / Summit Entertainment (US distribution), 2009; see IMDb entry for details on production and distribution.[3] Featured voice actors: Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Charlize Theron, Samuel L. Jackson. As of spring 2021, still available in English on DVD and Blu-ray, e.g. at link.[4]

Reviewed by De Witt Douglas Kilgore, "Astro Boy [film], SFRA Review #291 (Winter 2010): pp. 24-25.[5]

In line with other big screen comics adaptations, Astro Boy delivers an origin story designed to bring a general audience up to speed. If you missed that a brilliant but neglectful father built Astro in the image of his dead son, you get the picture. If you wonder whether an artificial boy [...] can replace the flesh and blood original, this film leaves us in no doubt where our sympathies should lie. You will see the father’s Frankenstein-like rejection of his robot son drive the hero’s personal journey after he falls into an underworld, gains a group of helpful friends and defeats a nasty Fagin-like character, liberating robots and human children alike from exploitation. Astro returns to Metro City in time to save it from its power-mad leader, proving himself, winning his father’s devotion. All is resolved when the father discovers that robots are people, too, and Astro blasts off to defend the city from a new menace with his blessing. (Kilgore, pp. 24-25)

Erlich/Dunn et al., original / RDE 14Mar21