[Astro Boy: weirdest body ever]Written by GL
I guess you've all heard that Voltron is coming to the big screen. That's just one of many Japanese productions being re-vamped by Hollywood - on top of Transformers even. The newest news on the front, right on the heels of Speed Racer, is the upcoming adaptation of a totally retro Japanese anime that many of you may remember; namely Astro Boy.
I best remember Astro Boy as one of the many cartoons recorded onto videotape by my Mom. There are even several episodes that I recall quite vividly. Unfortunately, I'm not too sure what to think now that they're making a big screen version of it.
The set release for Astro Boy is 2009 (so Classic Articulation may be jumping the gun a little, but you can't say we don't keep you informed). Based on the creation of anime-godfather, Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy will be CG and put together by Imagi Studios (the very same studio that brought us the awesome animated TMNT movie - that did surprisingly well for such a soft release).
Colin Brady, famous for his work on A Bug's Life and Toy Story, will be the director for the adaptation, which is currently in the script development stage. As it stands, the movie won't be a superhero-type show, but one more about the robot with the desire to be more human (a theme that is followed in the original anime).
And, in case there are new-comers out there: Astro Boy was first released in the 1963, so it's a big surprise if that many Bruneians recall this show. The fact that some still remember it now is a true testament to the longevity of the series, the impact of the character and the culture it inspired (read: manga and anime).
Is Hollywood beginning to retell old stories because they've run out of ideas?
