Astro Boy

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » October 8th, 2007, 10:05 am

http://blog.newsarama.com/2007/10/04/as ... is-coming/

Nice image!

Post by **Randall** » October 8th, 2007, 10:52 am

I like it. I have to admit I'm a bit jazzed about seeing this. I have all the Astro Boy DVD sets, and enjoy all 3 versions of the show. Unlike a lot of other 2-D characters, I think Astro will work nicely in 3-D CGI.

Post by **droosan** » October 8th, 2007, 6:52 pm

Sony Imageworks was doing some development work on an Astro Boy feature several years ago (though, that was to be a 'live-action' treatment, IIRC) .. it 'died' when the recent japanese CGI TV series was announced. Still, it's hard to believe a media juggernaut like Sony managed to 'let go' of the property .. to a (relatively) small company like Imagi, of all places.

With that news, 'poof' goes any chance I had of working on it. Oh, well ..

The 'teaser' image is promising .. here's hoping it'll be good.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » October 8th, 2007, 10:58 pm

I have to admit that I was NOT a fan of Astro Boy for many years.

Before my time...

Crudely animated...

I just couldn't "get into it"...

BUT, I changed my mind after I read several of the original manga published in the United States by Dark Horse as well as catching reruns of the original "Astro Boy" TV series on Cartoon Network.

The character is a solid concept. He's a likeable version of Pinocchio who has superhuman abilities.

Astro Boy is also a VERY weird show with wacky situations and very solid moral underpinning. What's not to like?

The character designs are excellent and hold up well in the series as well cameos that they make in more modern TV series and movies like the Metropolis anime. (You can spot Mustachio as a detective in Metropolis along with other familiar Astro Boy character-types like the detective's young nephew and the head industrialist of Metropolis.)

Astro Boy is in many ways Japan's Mickey Mouse.

I just hope the company making the new feature doesn't lose sight of who this character is. ]

Post by **Daniel** » October 9th, 2007, 12:56 am

Jensen has 'Astro Boy' flight plan -- more info.

I like the image, too.

Post by **YCougar** » October 9th, 2007, 9:19 pm

That's a pretty sweet teaser image - mysterious, yet awesome. And I'm not even an Astro Boy fan. I can see myself bothering to read up on it and going to see this if it looks cool enough further down the road.

And it'll likely only get better, visually - compare the first teaser image of TMNT with the finished product and marvel at the difference.

Post by **Meg** » October 10th, 2007, 8:05 pm

Looks like one of those 'concept-art-turned-poster' situations to me...It's nice though.

Post by **cmoon** » October 15th, 2007, 9:08 pm

Not to be the negative person here, but it seems like nothing can come of this but bad things. It isn't as though hollywood knew what to do with Godzilla. As a fan of Tezuka and the 60's and 80's series, I don't even care for the 2003 remake. How this US made, CG movie will fair--well, I think I know the answer now, but I'll let time prove me right

Post by **Daniel** » October 16th, 2007, 3:25 am

With Godzilla, if looked upon individualy, I think its actually a good film. Nice special effects, and a so-so story.

In comparison, yup, it fails. I'm a major fan of the original films, and one of the main factors is the music. Without that, well, its just lame. (look at Godzilla Final Wars)

Post by **droosan** » October 18th, 2007, 1:54 am

cmoon wrote:Not to be the negative person here, but it seems like nothing can come of this but bad things. It isn't as though hollywood knew what to do with Godzilla. As a fan of Tezuka and the 60's and 80's series, I don't even care for the 2003 remake. How this US made, CG movie will fair--well, I think I know the answer now, but I'll let time prove me right

Not that it makes much difference to your argument regarding 'Hollywood-produced' versions of foreign franchises/films .. but Imagi Animation Studios is based mostly in Hong Kong and Tokyo. They do have a (small) facility in Los Angeles .. but the bulk of their actual production is done off-U.S. shores. :idea:

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In the 2001 Toho film Godzilla GMK (Godzilla-Mothra-King Ghidora: Giant Monster All-Out Attack), there was a pretty funny dig at the 1998 'Hollywood' Godzilla:

The 'premise' was that all the various Godzilla films in the franchise were 'documentaries' of various Godzilla 'attacks' during the decades since 1954.

At one point in the film, a member of a committee discussing the details of these 'documentaries' had a throw-away line to the effect of, "we recently received a report of a Godzilla attack in New York during 1998 .. but after a thorough investigation, we concluded it was not a 'true' Godzilla attack."

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Also, in the 2004 film Godzilla: Final Wars, the 'Hollywood' Godzilla made a (brief) appearance as the first giant monster dispatched by the aliens against Godzilla. After the japanese Godzilla quickly (and easily!) defeats the 'Hollywood' Godzilla, the alien commander pounds his fist in anger and declares (again, paraphrasing), "I knew that @#&!*!! salamander was no-good!"

Post by **Daniel** » October 18th, 2007, 3:25 am

Another fan, eh?

Yup, everything is exactly how droo described it.

Even though the battles were expected to be short, (how many villains were there?) I was seriously hoping that the battle would've lasted at least 5-10 minutes, but g-d, it was SO short. It was just so dissapointing. But in the end, that one little minute was a fanboy's dream; seeing classic Godzilla take out 'Hollywood' Godzilla. <3

Post by **Daniel** » January 24th, 2008, 11:28 pm

Variety wrote:Bowers "Flushed Away" helmer David Bowers has been tapped to direct CG-animated pic "Astro Boy." He replaces Colin Brady, who was previously announced as helmer of the $50 million project.

Interesting...

Post by **Wolf** » July 8th, 2008, 1:28 am

Interview with director David Bowers and producer Maryann Garger for Imagi's upcoming animated film Astro Boy via Collider.com:

http://www.collider.com/entertainment/i ... 416/tcid/1

Post by **Wolf** » July 9th, 2008, 11:27 pm

Interview with director David Bowers from IGN.com:

http://movies.ign.com/articles/887/887058p1.html

Post by **Randall** » July 9th, 2008, 11:57 pm

Nice to see some buzz on Astro Boy. I wonder if we'll hear more at Comic-Con later this month.

BTW, here's a tip: Anyone wanting to read more on Astro Boy should toon in to Animated Views next week...!

Astro Boy

Astro Boy motion picture teaser boy up on the Web

Astro Boy