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• Series: Astro Boy

Mumbling Kitsune: The Astro Boy Movie Trailer: What Would Tezuka Do?

Astro Boy
© Imagi

Judging a movie by its trailer may be as ill-advised as judging a book by its cover, but trailers specifically exist to give movie-goers a reason to go to the theatre. In this era of high definition television and home theatre systems, movie studios have to strive towards getting audiences excited about being the first to see a big-name title. Unfortunately, if the reactions to the first trailer are any indication, anime and manga fans aren't too excited about the upcoming Astro Boy movie.

Scheduled for an October 2009 release, the computer animated Astro Boy film is being put together by Imagi Animation Studios, which combines tech and labour from America and Hong Kong. Imagi created 2007's TMNT, a computer animated movie starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. TMNT wasn't loved by critics (33% on Rottentomatoes.com), but fans were moderately pleased with the effort. If Astro Boy similarly turns out to be an enjoyable popcorn flick, we'll be able to live with that, right?

Super Robot Should Be Flat

Sure, but we can all agree that an Astro Boy film deserves much better than, “Well, it was okay.” Astro Boy is the most iconic character of the man who invented manga as we know it today: Osamu Tezuka. The trailer for Astro Boy runs a mere 48 seconds, so we can't draw any final conclusions on the finished product yet. Even so, if Tezuka saw the trailer starring his famous robot boy, how would he react? Would he be pleased with the product so far? Or would he be horrified at what appears to be a one-way trip to mediocrity?

Tezuka passed on before computer animation hit its stride as a medium for children's cartoons. He was a progressive, open-minded man, so it's interesting to imagine how he would react to Astro Boy as a computer generated image—especially considering Astro Boy was a pioneer anime, one of the earliest examples of an animated television series. Most fans can agree (as Tezuka well might have) that Astro's roots are two-dimensional and it would be a pleasure to see him lovingly hand-drawn on the big screen. Alas, the heydey of cel animation is far behind us and we must accept new technology.

Second-Rate Animation

But it's hard to be a good sport about 3D animation when the medium is over-saturated with lifeless plastic models. Even the small bit of footage provided in the Astro Boy trailer looks dull and lifeless, lacking interesting colours or textures. Tezuka's character designs tend towards the simple side, but his characters' facial expressions reveal everything about their personalities. Imagi hasn't yet shown that Tezuka's charm will transfer intact. Even if 3D was an inevitable choice for an Astro Boy movie, it would have been exciting to see the rights end up with a studio like Pixar, or Dreamworks on its best behaviour.

An Ageless Story For All Ages

So is it time for total despair? Not quite yet. There is hope for Astro Boy 2009, namely its story. Dull aesthetics can be forgiven (barely) if the writers can capture Astro's bright spirit and optimism in the face of adversary. The movie's Wikipedia page indicates that the plot is based on the World's Strongest Robot story arc, arguably one of the series' best and most beloved. Astro will have the same tragic origin, which is important. Sanitising the darker moments of Astro's past for the sake of the kids is the one alteration that would truly be a slap to Tezuka's face. He believed strongly that children's entertainment should never be obligated to constantly tell kids that everything is okay.

It seems as if, in the end, Astro Boy is capable of going either way. Right now, the odds seem to be lying on competent writing and less-than-spectacular animation. It's not a heartening scenario, but it's still preferable to the reverse.