Monday, 09-Nov-2009 17:41:43 CST
History
of Anime in the U.S.
Gigantor, Speed, Kimba & Simba
So here we are, the mid Sixties, and we've
got this Astro Boy thing. Very shortly afterward, a giant robot
show called Gigantor (Tetsujin 28) shows up. Then, a robotic crimefighter
called Tobor (The Eighth Man) appears. Then, a show about a boy
who is as at home underwater as above (Marine Boy). We're not talking
about something that showed in maybe two markets way outside the
mainstream here ... we're talking nationwide syndication and people
were eating it up. As we came to the end of the sixties, Speed Racer
popped up, and little boys went nuts. Here's a show with fast cars
and a daring driver, who happens to have a little brother and his
pet monkey who frequently stows away in the trunk. While it was
tamed for the US market, we've got certainly fatal car crashes and
some painful looking stunts going on.
While there was a capable female in the series who isn't spending
all of her time in the kitchen cooking for the boys, it didn't have
all that much going for the girls. There was, however, a show that
did ... it was called Kimba. No, it didn't have sailor suited highschool
students battling crime or things like that. It starred a little
boy lion, destined to become the leader of the jungle, his female
counterpart, and a series of bizarre supporting animal characters.
His distinctive black tipped ears and white coat became almost as
recognizable as Astro Boy's asymmetrical head, and influenced the
way that stories would be told in the future.
Why did girls like this? Simple, here was a powerful character driven
storyline that sometimes went over the top but even slow episodes
had enough emotional impact to affect almost anyone. For most of
these girls who are women now, only isolated images of the show
remain ... half forgotten fragments and scenes. The reason? The
show is not available on videotape in the original form. This is
due primarily to a series of legal problems both in Japan and the
US. One day, we desperately hope that these will be resolved to
everyone's satisfaction and the show will surface to inspire a whole
new generation of people.
 There
is, of course, a new Jungle Emperor feature film that Tezuka Pro
just finished for the Japanese market (which is rumored to tell
the last part of the story ... which didn't make it into any of
the previous versions), and that'll probably show people a thing
or two. If you can't wait, of course, I'd say that you should track
down a copy of the manga and find what what REALLY happens (it's
surprising ... and perfect). Of course, one can't mention Kimba
the White Lion anymore without also touching on a certain Disney
film from a little while back which "officially" has no similarity
to the Osamu Tezuka tale of Africa.
The similarities are striking to say the least, both on the surface
and deep in the stories. The Disney lawyers have repeatedly and
with emphasis stated that neither their film nor their animators
were influenced by Kimba ... a position that is interesting when
the Kimba series is viewed and entire scenes are present. Sure,
it's possible that it's all one huge coincidence ... it's just about
as likely as the Van Allen belt catching fire, buxom furry female
aliens landing in Central Park (not that anyone would notice), and
Jesse Helms discovering that God really DID speak through Donna
Summer records played backwards all in the next five minutes. Maybe
slightly less so. In case you're counting, it's 5:04:25 AM EDT.
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