Astroboy...HUGE box office BOMB!!!

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I'm not surprised. WB Kids showed the new tv series a few years back and it didn't go over at all. (Same in Japan, actually.)

>Don't expect a Battle of the Planets movie any time soon.

I think they said 2011. It's been in the works for a year or so.

>I'm perplexed as to why not Astro Boy.

I think the problem is Astro is one of them prototype cartoons, and so much of the original has been appropriated by other comics over the decades that the original now seems like a rip. What I saw in the ad looked like a watered down Pixar film; all the Astro-ness had been downplayed. In the preceeding versions (and there have been MANY) the robot's situation was an allegory for human racism (including a few incidents of violence); Dr Boynton (Astro's father) was a BAD GUY! Astro's classmates were different too: they seemed to have more of a role in the new film than in earlier versions.

>This leads me to believe the show (the original) is/was not as popular in the United States as some believe.

....? The 60's one was super-popular. Weird that you never saw it. 'Course, like a lot of B&W tv it disappeared by the 80's. I know the 80's one was popular too; but it disappeared at a certain point.

Don C.

[fallensaviour]

The biggest mistake was not getting [adult swim] involved. If they had run a marathon,there might have been a bigger buzz.

I would have to agree here.
I think even if they would have sunk money into a revival of the old series run on even teletoon retro or something they would have gotten a better turn out.
They should have started doing it about 2 years ago to wrangle in the younger generation and banged out a video game to cap it off.

[kryptosmaster]

Astroboy was no where near as promienent as Speed racer was in the 70's

Funny you say that because I fondly remember Astro Boy from the early 70's reruns but I had NEVER seen Speed Racer until recently.
I actually really hate anime type cartoons/art but as a kid I didn't notice as much. My favorite Japanese imports were Prince Planet and Ultraman (and Godzilla of course).
Rich

[toys2cool]

Funny you say that because I fondly remember Astro Boy from the early 70's reruns but I had NEVER seen Speed Racer until recently.
I actually really hate anime type cartoons/art but as a kid I didn't notice as much. My favorite Japanese imports were Prince Planet and Ultraman (and Godzilla of course).
Rich

I wasn't around in the 70's but I started watching Speed racer after beavis and Butthead on MTV during the early 90's

[jquest]

Saw It today, Wasn't a bad movie, I actually liked it and thought it did have a slight anime feel to it. I never saw any of the original version, so, I don't know how true it was to the original. When I saw it, only four other people where watching it, mind you I saw the 11:30 am show. but I still wonder what makes or breaks a movie! sorry to hear that it didn't do well.

[BlackKnight]

lol! dam, but who the hell spends $65 mil on that? I'm sorry but that was stupid

lol. Agreed.

[Hector]

Again...Astro Boy's budget was half of the current average Pixar or Dreamworks animated films.

[BlackKnight]

Again...Astro Boy's budget was half of the current average Pixar or Dreamworks animated films.

Again,.. It doesn't matter, I don't think you get the "Jist" of the Comment. 65 Million Whatever,.. is a Complete Waste of Coin to invest in a Property like AstroBoy to Begin with..., Obviously so far the Statement is proven correct.

[Megospidey]

Took my 5 year old and 10 year old to see it and they LOVED it...it was a fun, fast-paced movie that taught a lot of good lessons: friendship, loyalty, self-sacrifice, etc.

[ctc]

>They should have started doing it about 2 years ago to wrangle in the younger generation and banged out a video game to cap it off.

Y'know.... I'm thinkin' maybe that's why they brought the last series over a few years back.

>is a Complete Waste of Coin to invest in a Property like AstroBoy to Begin with

I dunno.... Astro's one of them things that's come back every few years and usually does pretty good. Funny that the new series did poorly in Japan, too. (Astro in Japan is like Mickey Mouse here.)

Don C.

[Hector]

Again,.. It doesn't matter, I don't think you get the "Jist" of the Comment. 65 Million Whatever,.. is a Complete Waste of Coin to invest in a Property like AstroBoy to Begin with..., Obviously so far the Statement is proven correct.

Again...had either Pixar or Dreamworks done Astro Boy...with twice that budget...it would have been a hit.

[jds1911a1]

Funny you say that because I fondly remember Astro Boy from the early 70's reruns but I had NEVER seen Speed Racer until recently.
I actually really hate anime type cartoons/art but as a kid I didn't notice as much. My favorite Japanese imports were Prince Planet and Ultraman (and Godzilla of course).
Rich

I fondly remember Astro boy (and 8th Man ) too but many more people know speed racer. hence why it was on MTV in the late 80's and cartoon network in the 90's, and has been a marketing icon for over a decade. I am sure the theme is a major part of Speed's fanbase. as a rule any show in black and white will have less younger following than a color one.

[Meule]

Again...had either Pixar or Dreamworks done Astro Boy...with twice that budget...it would have been a hit.

I dunno Hec. Does it really matter who made this? If it's not a hit now, why would it be if someone else made this? Simply because it was a Pixar or Dreamworks movie? I doubt it. If it stinks, it stinks, no matter who made it.

[ctc]

>If it's not a hit now, why would it be if someone else made this? Simply because it was a Pixar or Dreamworks movie?

Name recognition. I know folks who lose fluids HUGE over ANY Pixar movie, 'cos it's Pixar. Same reason they recycle stories in the first place.

Don C.