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Gigantor

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Gigantor
Gigantor Volume 1 DVD
GenreAdventure, Mecha, Noir, Science Fiction
Manga
Written byMitsuteru Yokoyama
Published byKobunsha
MagazineShōnen
Original run1956 – 1966
Volumes21
Anime
Directed byMitsuteru Yokoyama (JP), Fred Ladd (USA)
StudioTele-Cartoon Japan (now extinct)
Released 20 October 1963 – 27 May 1965

Gigantor (鉄人28号, Tetsujin 28-gō, literally "Iron Man #28") is a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama that was first published in 1956 and was later adapted into several anime series, the first in 1963. It was the first "giant robot" series. A live action motion picture with heavy use of computer generated graphics was produced in Japan in 2005 based on the old comics as opposed to the newer version in "New Gigantor" which was translated into many languages.

Plot And Symbolism

The series is set in the "future" year of 2000. A boy named Jimmy Sparks (Shotaro Kaneda - 金田 正太郎 Kaneda Shōtarō - in the Japanese version) is the nephew of Dr. Bob Brilliant (Dr. Shikishima, 敷島博士 Shikishima-hakase) and lives with him on a remote island. Jimmy usually wears shorts and a jacket, carries a firearm and occasionally drives a car. Jimmy fights crime around the world with the help of a huge remote-controlled robot, Gigantor. The robot is made of steel, and has a rocket-powered backpack for flight, a pointy nose, eyes that never move, and incredible strength, but no intelligence. Whoever has the remote control controls Gigantor.

There is a notable resemblance between the characters of Jimmy and Gigantor and the characters of the boy Hogarth and the giant robot in Ted Hughes' well-known children's book The Iron Man, which was published in 1968. It is not known whether Hughes ever saw the Gigantor series.

In post World War II and then Cold War era Japan, it is likely that the plots for the episodes were symbolic of the things going on in the world at the time. This assumption can be made given how many plots revolved around one oppressive country invading another peaceful one, requiring Gigantor's aid to save them. It is debatable whether or not the writers meant for the oppressive country to be representative of the United States (Like many writers of the time did in the Japanese genre of giant monster and robot heroes) or of the Soviet Union, or even both. The same is true in the reverse, as peaceful countries could be the United States or symbolic of a country under the 'Iron Curtain' (Both would fit with the Soviet Union being portrayed as the oppressor) or as Japan itself (Which would fit if the oppressing country was the United States). Curiously, Gigantor's size, facial features & European knight-style armor suggest that the robot itself may have been inspired, at least in part, by Japanese perceptions of foreigners.

History

In 1963, Fred Ladd, while working on the animated feature Pinocchio In Outer Space and on the animated TV series The Big World of Little Adam had seen artwork of Mitsuteru Yokoyama presenting a giant robot remote-controlled by a young boy. The Tokyo-based artist had designed the robot for a Japanese shōnen manga series Tetsujin 28 and later a black-and-white animated TV series called Tetsujin-28-go.

Ladd, who had produced the successful international, English-language adaptation of Astroboy, and Al Singer formed a corporation called Delphi Associates, Inc. in order to produce and distribute an English-language version of Tetsujin-28-gō. They took only 52 episodes of the Japanese series for the American market, and renamed the series Gigantor. Peter Fernandez wrote much of the English script, and participated in the dubbing. The series became an immediate hit with juvenile audiences, though adult reactions were sometimes hostile.

It was playing at 7:00 p.m. on New York's WPIX-TV in January of 1966 when Variety gave it a particularly scathing review, calling it a "loud, violent, tasteless and cheerless cartoon." which was "strictly in the retarded babysitter class."

Even this reviewer, however, had to grudgingly admit the popularity of Gigantor, writing, "Ratings so far are reportedly good, but strictly pity the tikes and their misguided folks."[1]

Gigantor became a popular Japanese export during this time. The series was shown on Melbourne television in January 1968 through Trans-Lux, on Channel 10 at 5:00pm. It was described by the TV Week as an "animated science fiction series about the world's mightiest robot, and 12-year-old Jimmy Sparks who controls the jet-propelled giant." The series was also screened in New South Wales (presumably around the same time) on the 0-10 Network's Sydney affiliate Channel 10. It was also screened in New Zealand around the same time.

Gigantor was one of a number of Japanese TV series that enjoyed strong popularity with young viewers in Australia during the 1960s. The first and undoubtedly the most successful of these was the hugely successful live-action historical adventure series The Samurai, the first Japanese TV series ever screened in Australia, which premiered in late 1964. It was followed by a contemporary ninja-based live action espionage series, Phantom Agents, and a number of popular Japanese animated series including Astro Boy, Prince Planet, Marine Boy and Kimba the White Lion, the cartoon series which is reputed to have been the uncredited basis for Disney's The Lion King.

In July 1994, Fox Family Films, a division of 20th Century Fox, acquired the rights to "Gigantor" for a live-action motion picture.[2] Anticipating that Gigantor would become a franchise for the studio, Fox tapped screenwriters Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes to prepare the script and budgeted between $35 million and $50 million for the film.[2] Executive producers Fred Ladd and Aeiji Katayama indicated that Mitsuteru Yokoyama would get an executive producers credit and that the 50 foot robot would be updated and modernized for the 1990s with a 12 foot height and morphed and computer-generated features.[2]

Voice acting

Jimmy Spark's voice was that of Billie Lou Watt. The voice of Inspector Blooper (Dr. Otsuka 大塚署長 Ōtsuka-hakase) was that of Ray Owens. Gilbert Mack voiced Dick Strong. Peter Fernandez provided the voices of other Gigantor characters. In the 2004 version of Gigantor, dubbed by Geneon/Ocean Group the voice of Shotaro Kaneda is played by Reece Thompson, and Nathan Tipple.

Characters

Whimsical English names were given to the show's characters, such as "Dick Strong", a secret agent; a funny policeman named "Inspector Blooper"; and enemies, such as, "The Spider", "Dubble Trubble", and "Dr. Katzmeow".

Stations

Alphabetized by city.

Secret Valley

In the last episode titled "The Secret Valley", the Gigantor team decide to holiday in Australia. They end up in the bush on a sheep station. They call the natives "savages" and, instead of being Aborigines, are Native Americans with feathers on their heads, riding horses. The dubbing team tried to imitate the Australian English phonology but did not come close.

Sequels and Spin Offs

The 1980-81 Iron Man #28 (Tetsujin-nijūhachi-gō) series was created with 51 color episodes based on a modernized take upon the original concept art. In 1993, Ladd and the TMS animation studio converted the series into The New Adventures of Gigantor and broadcast it on America's Sci-Fi Channel from September 9 1993 to June 30 1997.

There was also a sequel series, Iron Man #28 FX (Tetsujin-nijūhachi-gō-Efu-Ekkusu), about the son of the original controller operating a new robot (with Daddy and the original, FX-less #28 appearing from time-to-time to help), which ran in Japan in 1992.

A number of characters and robots from the Tetsujin 28 series appeared (albeit with altered backgrounds) in Giant Robo: The Animation, an OAV series that drew on Mitsuteru Yokoyama's entire body of work. In one of the Giant Robo parodic spin-off OAVs, "Mighty GinRei" (鉄腕GinRei, Tetsuwan GinRei), a version of the original Tetsujin appears under the name "Jintetsu."

An American made Gigantor comic book series was released in 2000 by Antarctic Press. The comic lasted for twelve issues and was later collected in 2005 in trade paperback form. The comic used elements from the anime Giant Robo as well as Marvel Comics references though the later issues became closer to the original animation.

2005 saw a rebirth of the Tetsujin-28 franchise. Unlike the past attempts to modernize the franchise, a live action motion picture and an accompanying TV anime series (broadcast April 4 to September 29 2004 and written and directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa) were produced one year earlier in the retro-style of the original manga/anime series (with the TV series even taking place ten years after World War II, approximately the same time as the manga debuted). The new TV series has been released in the United States under its original name Tetsujin-28 by Geneon and in the UK by Manga Entertainment, the first time a Tetsujin-28 property has not been localized to "Gigantor" in America or other English speaking nations. The live action movie has been licensed for a UK release by Manga Entertainment, however no date has been set.[3]

On March 31, 2007, a feature length film, entitled "Tetsujin 28-go: Hakuchu no Zangetsu" (which translates as "Tetsujin 28-go: The Remaining Month") and based on the same characters and visual designs as the 2004 Yasuhiro Imagawa TV series was released in Japanese theaters. There are currently no announced plans to release the film in other countries.[4]

Creators behind Gigantor have unveiled plans for another updated design, a "Gigantor for the New Millennium." This newest form of the giant robot is called G3 and differs from past designs. The new Gigantor is a meld of robot and cyborg. According to the main site: "Driven by a complex neuro-system of DNA-impregnated neurochips, Gigantor G3 is a living Cybot!" [2]".

Trivia

  • Even though Gigantor's official height is three stories tall, he seems capable of significantly altering his size depending on the situation. This is obviously due to animation problems. He may go from the size of Jimmy Sparks to the size of a ship without warning.
  • Metal band Helmet once covered the show's theme song.
  • Gigantor was also referenced in the movie Speed.
  • Gigantor was politically parodied on an April 22, 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse as "Torboto: The Robot that Tortures People." The main robot "Torboto" looked nearly identical to "Gigantor", yet was built by the United States Government, controlled by Dick Cheney, and used to humiliate and torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The introduction of the sketch patterned itself both visually and musically after the American "Gigantor" theme.
    • It should be noted that the name "Torboto" was an amalgam of the words "torture" and "robot", and included the suffix '-tor' from "Gigantor" in its name.
  • Also the name of Mr Floppay's "long" time friend. Seen in such films as "Waiting for the Client" and "Mouthsplit."
  • Gigantor is the name of a German punk rock band from Hannover.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Variety, January 26, 1966
  2. ^ a b c Parker, Donna. (July 19, 1994) Hollywood Reporter Fox reinvents "Gigantor" robot. Page 3.
  3. ^ Tetsujin 28 volume 1 insert
  4. ^ [1] Tetsujin 28-go: Hakuchuu no Zangetsu Official Japanese Movie Site
  5. ^ Boehm, Mike. (February 16, 1988) Los Angeles Times Punks Make Contact at Lively Dickies/Circle Jerks Show. Section: Calendar; Page 8.
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