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Astro Boy
Astro BoyTetsuwan AtomuMighty Atom
Genre	Action, Adventure, Science-fiction
Anime series: Astro Boy
Directed by	Osamu Tezuka
Studio	Mushi Productions
Network	Fuji TV NBC, syndication
Original run	1 Jan 1963 — 31 Dec 1966
No. of episodes	193

Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム, Tetsuwan Atomu; Literally meaning "Mighty Atom") first broadcast on television in Japan from 1963 to 1966. The story follows the adventures of a robot boy and a selection of other characters along the way.

Astro Boy is the first Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became familiarized as anime.Template:Verifysource It originated as a manga in 1951 by Osamu Tezuka, who is often reputed as the "god of manga".^[1] After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu, known as Astroboy in the United States and other Western countries, and again in 2003. For a time, Astro Boy enjoyed a level of popularity in Japan equivalent to The Walt Disney Company's image character Mickey Mouse.Template:Verifysource

1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Settings
4 Media
- 4.1 TV series
- 4.2 Film
5 References
6 External links

Plot Edit

Astro Boy is a sci-fi series set in a futuristic world where androids co-exist with humans. Its focus is on the adventures of the titular "Astro Boy" (or simply "Astro"), a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science Doctor Tenma (dubbed Dr. Boynton in the first series English anime and Professor Balfus in the Canadian dub of the second series) 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 realized that the little android could not fill the void of his lost son, especially since Astro couldn't grow or express human aesthetics (in one set of panels, Astro is shown preferring the mechanical shapes of cubes over the organic shapes of flowers). In the original 1960 edition, Tenma rejected Astro and sold him to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg (also called Caccitore), who abused the performers. In the 1980 edition, Astro naïvely signed himself away to the circus owner.

While Astro languished in Hamegg's circus, Professor Ochanomizu (Dr. Packadermus J. Elefun in the first series & second series, Prof. Peabody in the Canadian dub of the second series, and Dr. O'Shay in the third series), 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 legal guardian. He soon realized that Astro was gifted with superior powers and skills, as well as the ability to experience human emotions.

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. The series explored issues of morality, responsibility, racism, prejudice, true heroism, and loss. Template:Fact

Characters Edit

Mighty Atom (Tetsuwan Atomu; "Astro Boy") - The robot boy fashioned after Tobio Tenma (TENMA Tobio; "Toby Boyton"), he possesses the strength of 100,000 horsepower (later 1,000,000) and the heart of gold. He has seven amazing powers. He also has the ability to tell what's right and wrong. He first appeared in Episode 1: Birth of Astro Boy.

Uran (Uran) - Astro's cybernetic sister; a superhuman android with a naive, tomboyish personality. Constructed by Dr Elephun as a "gift" for Astro, Uran is an extremely mischievous litle girl who constantly lands her older brother in trouble. While lacking Astro's weaponry and propulsion systems, she in extremely powerful (50,000 horsepower) and regularly accompanies him on various missions (or attempts to). Like Astro, she is fully capable of experiencing human emotions - though being somewhat less 'mature,' she sometimes expresses them by being naughty or disobedient. Uran first appeared in Episode 25 (The Strange Birthday Present) under the name Astrogirl; in the manga she has always been known as Uran (although in the 2000 anime series she was renamed Zoran). In the 2003 anime & Naoki Urasawa's Pluto, Uran has the ability to communicate with animals.

Dr. Umatarō Tenma (TENMA-hakase; "Dr. Aster Boyton II") - The former head of the Institute of Science. Ever since his son passed away, he decided to build a robot boy who looks like his son. But when he discovered that Astro Boy couldn't grow, he sold his son to the circus. He only appears in Episodes 1: Birth of Astro Boy, and 97: Mystery of The Metal Men.

Hoshie Tenma (TENMA Hoshie) - deceased wife of Dr. Umatarō Tenma and mother of Tobio Tenma, and model for Astro's robot mother. Her facial features are taken from Michi, a superhuman being created from synthetic cells in the manga version of Metropolis. This is quite appropriiate as Michi was something of a spiritual predecessor to Astro and in a way could even be seen as his mother.

Professor Ochanomizu (OCHANOMIZU-hakase; "Dr. Packerdermus J. Elefun") - The present head of the Institute of Science and a fearless campaigner for robotic rights. Kind, patient and good-natured, he serves as a mentor for both Astro and Uran, and would willingly give his life for either. Somewhat eccentric by nature, he tends to be excitable when faced by a scientific mystery, particularly when his opinions are questioned by his scientific colleagues. He first appeared in Episode 1: Birth of Astro Boy, where he rescued Astro from Caccitore's circus.

Police Inspector Tawashi (Tawashi-keibu; "Inspector Gumshoe") - a highly-placed police detective with an innate distrust of androids and robots. Due to his opposition to Tokyo's robotic population, Gumshoe has a long-standing feud with both Dr Elephun and Mr Pompous, and frequently engages in volatile arguments with them. While arrogant, cantankerous and downright rude, he eventually comes to respect Astro's courage and abilities, even calling for his assistance in particularly difficult cases. Partnered with Chief McClaw, he first appeared in Episode 2: Colosso.

Police Inspector Nakamura (Nakamura-keibu; "Chief McClaw") - The chief of the police and the partner of Inspector Gumshoe. Played mainly for comic relief, he was normally portrayed as fat, dim-witted and gullible; a stereotype "clueless flatfoot" of the period. Nonetheless, he instantly recognised Astro's good side and frequently stood up for Astro Boy against his bullying partner (as seen in Episode 23). He first appeared in Episode 2: Colosso.

Shunsaku Ban (BAN Shunsaku; "Albert Duncan") aka. Mr. Mustachio (Higeoyaji; "Daddy Walrus") - originally introduced as a private investigator in the American dub, Higeoyaji played several roles in the series, including school teacher and marial arts expert. Like Dr. Elephun, Higeoyaji serves as a surrogate father for Astro and Uran, providing guidance and advice when necessary. While gruff and comically short-tempered, he harbours a deep admiration for Astro, seeing him as the son he never had, and even stands up to the formidable Inspector Gumshoe in the boy's defence. Higeoyaji first appeared in Episode 7: Zero, the Invisible Robot. In both the original comic strip and the Japanese series, he was Astro's school teacher (in Naoki Urasawa's Pluto he has apparently been promoted to principal), and his knickname was Mr Mustachio. In the 2003 remake, he is notably absent from Astro's school, working full time as a private eye and is also the uncle of Ochanomizu's assistant, Yuko Kisaragi.

Mama and Papa - Astro Boy's robotic parents. Mama is depicted as an idealized 1960s housewife. Sweet, kind and nurturing. She is entirely trusting of her son's impeccable nature, knows he would never deliberately lie or harm another being (as seen in Episode 20). In contrast, Papa is portrayed as something of a well-meaning blowhard, often jumping to conclusions and losing his temper over minor incidents. They first appeared in Episode 2: Colosso. In the Sankei Newspaper Astroboy manga series it is revealed that Mama was modified to resemble Dr. Tenma's wife who had died of a heart condition shortly after Astro was sold to the circus.

Cobalt (Kobaruto; "Jetto") - Astro Boy's cybernetic brother. His origins differ in the continuities of the manga & anime versions. In the manga he is an inferior copy of Astro created as a replacement by Prof. Ochanomizu when he mas missing & presumed scrap. In the anime version he was a defective prototype of Astro built by Dr. Tenma, then sealed within the ministry of science archives & later released. Jetto has abilities comparable to his brother's, but lacks Astro's intelligence and common sense. Clumsy, accident-prone and gullible, he is a constant source of trouble for Astro's family (and everyone else who crosses his path. Despite these problems, Jetto is often shown to be extremely kind hearted and loyal. In addition to the abilities that were copied from Astro, he also shares a kind of telepathic link with his brother that gives him the ability to sense when Astro is in danger & home in his location. He originally died a heroic death at the conclusion of the Midoro Swamp story arc in the Shonen Magazine serial version of the manga, but Tezuka later changed his mind & rewrote the ending for the paperback version so that he survived. He first appeared in Episode 84: Brother Jetto. In the manga, his name is Cobalt. After the original anime & manga series ended Cobalt fell into obscurity, largely due to the fact that Atlas was recast as Astro's "brother" in the 1980s anime, making Cobalt's role somewhat redundant.

Ken'ichi- Astro's classmate. He's the class president and also the smartest. He first appeared in the manga Episode, The Hot Dog Corps.

Settings Edit

Various places where the show's events play out:

The Institute of Science- The place that builds robots. Astro Boy was first built by Doctor Tenma in the year 2030. The current head man is Professor Ochanomizu.

Russia- The country of the north. There was a hide out of the Hot Dog Corps.

The underground World- An underground place where the nations of Poi Poi and Terra Firma are having a war.

Baal's Temple- A hideout where Novocain and his gang worships Baal. It's later destroyed by Novacain but Baal turns out to be a getaway rocket ship and Astro Boy, Professor Natsu, and the others were able to escape in time.

Halava- The only country with no peace. Dictator Ahmud rules with an iron fist. Astro Boy, Mr. Pompous, Dr. Quad, and Bobka later liberated the country.

Netcircle- A country in the east inhabited by many strange people.

Golgonia (Shangri-Le in the English anime) - The country ruled by the dictator Hitlini (Chancellor Rudolph Hatter). He rules the country with an iron fist and is intent on world conquest and in pursuit of immortality. Prof. Ochanomizu is kidnapped and taken there to assist in his ambitions. The country was based on Nazi Germany. The Chancellor's dictatorial name is a portmanteau of "Hitler" and "Mussollini", both fascist rulers, his given name is also a reference to Adolf Hitler.

Media Edit

TV series Edit

The beginning anime series was produced by Mushi Productions. It 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 four 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. It was an anthology of three episodes; The Robot Spaceship, Last Day on Earth and Earth Defense Squadron. The latter two were a special treat for Japanese fans since the theatrical versions were filmed in color.

English-language broadcast

For the English version, the producers, NBC Enterprises, settled on "Astro Boy" after discussions with producer Fred Ladd and representatives from NBC led them to the name. (The title "Mighty Atom" for an atomic powered robot, as "Astro Boy" was thought of back then, was considered too generic and not "catchy enough" a title for a children's program for American TV.) 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 until Dark Horse Comics published it in the 2000s, although Gold Key Comics published a version in the United States based on the TV episodes.^[2]

Billie Lou Watt — Astro Boy/Astro Girl/Mother
Ray Owens — Dr. Elefun/Dr. Boynton
Gilbert Mack — Mr. Pompus/Father

The English adaptation included an opening theme song with the words: "There you go, Astro Boy! On your mission today! Here's the countdown and the blastoff! Everything is go Astro Boy!...," The English show's original producer Fred Ladd, claims that the Japanese producers were so impressed by the adding of lyrics to the (until then) instrumental song that they then added words to the Japanese version, starting the "anime music" trend.^[3]

In 2007, Cartoon Network began broadcasting and webcasting episodes of NBC's 1960s broadcast as a part of its Adult Swim line-up.

Aired broadcasted TV history

Template:Flagicon Japan

1963-1966: Fuji TV

Template:Flagicon U.S.A

1963-1966: Syndication
1966-1978: NBC

Film Edit

In 1962, MBS released a Live Action movie, a compilation film made up of episodes from the 1959-60 live action TV series that came before the 60's animated television series which loosely followed the manga. The opening sequence (around 1 minute) is an anime type animation, and the rest is a Black and White movie. The whole movie lasts for 1h15m. It can be clearly seen that it was made at the beginning of Japanese movie making history, as we can see that pistols have their barrels covered with white paper before they are shot, as it can be seen in some of the scenes being cut up to match some dynamic movement and or stunt moves. Special effects and Scenography can be compared to, that time, American B-Class movies.

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.Template:Verifysource A feature film was announced in 1999 by Columbia Pictures and Jim Henson Productions. 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. A Japanese IMAX featurette was made in 2005, based on the 2003-2004 anime, titled Astro Boy/TetsuWan Atomu--Visits the Person, IGZA--100,000 Light Years Away!, but has only been shown in Japan.

A feature film version is slated for 2009 from Imagi Animation Studios.