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Sunday, 22-Nov-2009 00:47:43 CST
History
of Anime in the U.S.
Astroboy in 1964
When Astro Boy showed up on US television
in 1964, nothing like it had ever been seen in the US. This is only
fair ... nothing like it had ever been seen in Japan, either. What
Osamu Tezuka created was something unique ... and people all over
the world knew it immediately.
Of course, we need to thank more than Dr. Tezuka for Astro Boy ...
we need to thank an American named Fred Ladd as well. Someone who
knew the US syndication market very well in the 1960's, Fred saw
Tetsuwan Atomu for what it was and with a little help from NBC turned
it into something huge. Before almost all current fans were born,
the US was being turned upside down by this little robot boy. His
computer mind was powerful and his atomic heart showed none of the
horror which had been visited on Hiroshima and Nagasaki a few decades
earlier. He was an unstoppable force for good, though he was sorely
tested many times through his adventures.
What might also be surprising to many US fans is that even in the
1960's there was a sizable outcry over television shows that made
people think and treated cartoon characters like they might be human.
Vocal displeasure from some pressure groups increased slowly, and
it became apparent that when the (rather dramatic) end of Astroboy
appeared in Japan it would never be shown in the US. That's a story
in itself though, and one that will have to wait for another time.
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