THE HISTORY OF ASTRO BOY
Astro Boy was created by Osamu Tezuka in 1951. In Japan, Astro was called
“TETSUAN ATOM” – The Mighty Atom. Because of Astro Boy, Tezuka became
the most famous animator in Japan, and he is still admired and honored by Japanese
people and by people all over the world. (Tezuka Biography). Astro Boy started as a
manga series (comic book). It used new creative techniques that Tezuka had pioneered.
Tezuka loved movies -- he watched about one a day -- and he used cinematic techniques
in his comics, something that had never been done before. That meant varying close ups
and wide shots, and drawing characters and objects so they looked like they were in motion.
This was revolutionary and it electrified Japanese fans. Tezuka became the number one
comic artist in Japan, and Astro Boy soon became so popular that Tezuka developed a
mass production method for creating it. He did the creative drawings – creating the stories
and all the new characters, locations and special action drawings -- then his assistants
drew the other panels according to his instructions. This method was adopted by many
other popular Japanese manga artists and allowed the Manga industry to flourish. In total,
193 black & white Astro Boy episodes were produced. They ran on Japanese television
for 10 years.
In 1963 Astro Boy became the first Anime series ever on Japanese TV. Tezuka’s dream
was to make a super high-quality animated version of Astro Boy – but there wasn’t enough
money to do it, so he used a much simpler approach. (That’s why Tezuka would be very
happy to see the new Astro Boy series with its high-budget, super high-quality animation).
To get started, Tezuka told Fuji Network that he wanted to do Astro Boy as half hour
animated episodes. Fuji said it would cost too much, but Tezuka said he could do it for
500,000 yen per episode – a very small amount. The network said okay and the Astro Boy
TV series was born. Astro Boy was an instant hit and Tezuka went on to produce 193 black
and white episodes. He cut production costs by using “stock shots” – animation cells with
set poses for the Astro Boy characters that could be used over and over. He also used very
limited animation where, for example, a character would stand still and only his mouth would
move as he spoke or his arm would move as he gestured. These techniques made it
possible to do TV animation on the small budgets available in Japan. Other animators
quickly copied Tezuka’s techniques and “Anime” was born.
In 1963 Astro Boy came to America. Fred Ladd produced the series for NBC. It was the
first Anime show ever exported outside of Japan, and soon it was a hit in the US and around
the world. In most countries it was called “The Mighty Atom.” The Brazilians called it “Marte,
o Menino Biônico" which means Mars, the Bionic Boy.
Since then Astro Boy has been seen in hundreds of series and specials. He has been a
mascot for Toyota, Toshiba and many other major companies. Anyone landing at Narita/Tokyo
airport in 2003 saw images of Astro Boy right as they came off the planes. He’s also been
seen on the giant public screens in Ginza (Tokyo’s Beverly Hills) – and there’s a whole wall
of Astro Boy and his friends outside the Takadenobaba Subway station – famous because
it’s near the studios where Astro Boy is produced. Many of the characters in Astro Boy have
also appeared in other animated shows such as Kimba the White Lion and Metropolis, and
the American series “Big Boy and Rusty” was based on Astro Boy. In 1990, Japan’s National
Museum of Modern Art had a major exhibition featuring Astro Boy and the other works of
Osamu Tezuka.
According to the original 1951 Astro Boy Manga, Astro Boy was born in ---- guess what
year? ---- 2003! Of course back in 1951, 2003 was the distant future. Since this was
Astro Boy’s original birthday, parties were held last year all over Japan --- parades, fireworks,
and most importantly – the release of Astro Boy’s newest, most spectacular series ever.
Astro Boy was born – and reborn – in 2003.
The new Astro Boy series was a truly international production: along with the central
production in Japan, aspects of the series were produced in China, Korea, and the USA.
The series is airing in America, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan,
Singapore, and Canada where it is a top rated series.
Perhaps the most important influence of Astro Boy has been on the Japanese robotics
industry. As Tachibana Takashi put it in a recent article in Bungei Shunjû, (May 2003)
"Thanks to Astro Boy, Japan has become one of the most robot-friendly nations in the
world..." In fact Japan is the world leader in robot technology. Over half the world’s industrial
robots are currently in Japan. Hirohisa Hirukawa (Japanese National Institute of Science)
predicts that "Just as automobiles were the biggest product of the 20th century, people
might eventually look back and say that robots were the big product of the 21st century."
And one reason that Japan is leading the world in robotics is Astro Boy. Half a century ago,
Japanese kids grew up fascinated by tales of the boy robot. They believed it was possible
to really create amazing robots. And when they grew up, they did it! Japan has developed
robots that can disarm bombs, search for survivors after disasters, and do hundreds of
tasks too dangerous or difficult for humans. These robots are shaping a new future for the
21st century. And Astro Boy is part of it.
Osamu Tezuka’s comics were not just entertainment. They explored important personal
and social themes. Tezuka had lived through World War II. He was a teenager when the
war ended. Japan had surrendered. The old Japan was gone. But what would the new
Japan be like? What did it mean to be Japanese in this new country that was just being
born out of the ashes of the old? These were the questions that young people all over
Japan wrestled with. One way to think about these things was through the unlikely medium
of comics – they were cheap and readily available – and of course young artists like
Osamu Tezuka were thinking about the same issues as others like themselves all over
Japan. Years later Tezuka commented to his friend, Takayuki Matsutani, that comics
had been used to whip up popular support for the Japanese army in its wars throughout
Asia, now he wanted to use comics as a tool for peace. Tezuka was a deep thinker. In
a war-torn world, he dreamed of lasting peace, and his stories wrestled with the pressing
issues of Japanese identity, and culture. This is why they had such a powerful influence
on the young people of Japan.
The most important of Tezuka’s series was Tetsuan Atom – ASTRO BOY. Astro Boy
confronted the theme of prejudice. In the US, Japanese people were sometimes the
victims of prejudice. But they were also sometimes the perpetrators of prejudice -- in
Korea, China and other places. The Astro Boy character was a robot in a human world,
so he suffered prejudice from humans who blamed him and used him as a scape-goat.
This served as a metaphor for all prejudice. The Astro Boy series showed how prejudice
occurred and Tezuka encouraged people to overcome old prejudices and to become
part of a new world where all people are accepted as equals.
The Astro Boy series also explored themes of technology. Advanced military technology
had brought on the deaths of 60 million people during World War II, the greatest cataclysm
in human history. Yet technology was also bringing industry and prosperity to Japan. So
was technology good or bad? The atom bomb had killed so many people in Nagasaki
and Hiroshima. Yet the power of the atom could also be used to produce life giving energy.
Enter Tezuka’s new character: Tetsuan Atom – The Mighty Atom. -- As a robot, Astro Boy
was a technological creation --- he represented technology itself – and he showed how
technology could work to help humankind. However the many renegade robots and
technological disasters in the Astro Boy series also serve as a warning for the ways that
humans can abuse technology and let it get out of control.
Most important, Astro Boy was small and seemingly unimportant. He was rejected by his
father (creator) Tenma. Many Japanese children had felt rejected by their parents as their
fathers went off to war, and they were sent in large numers to live with distant relatives in
he countryside. So young Japanese readers could relate to Astro Boy, feeling small and
marginalized. As Japan iteself as a nation seemed suddenly weak and marginalized.
Yet Astro Boy rose up, displaying amazing powers. He took to the skies, saved humanity,
and proved that he was a star. That was the destiny the people of Japan wanted for
themselves and their nation. Astro Boy gave them hope and a path to a new, brighter future.
That is why Astro Boy meant far more to the people of Japan than just an entertaining story
about a super-hero. Astro Boy became part of the Japanese character: everyone had a
little bit of “Atom” inside of them. That is why Astro Boy has been such a deeply beloved
part of Japanese culture for over half a centure.
The new Astro Boy series once again wrestles with issues of technology and identity. While
retaining a Japanese perspective, the new Astro Boy series is an international project
exploring these themes with a global scope. Once again Astro Boy is leading the way as
young people in Japan and America move toward a new international identity in a future
that is just now being born.
Every episode in Japan ends with Astro Boy calling out:
“Catch The Future! “
Astro Boy came to the US in 1963. Fred Ladd produced the show for NBC. It was the
first Anime show ever exported outside of Japan, and was an immediate hit in the US.
104 black and white episodes were syndicated to 50 stations around the country. NBC
changed the name of Atom to Astro Boy, Doctor Ochanomizu to Doctor Elephun, and
Doctor Tenma to Doctor Boynton. The leading actors were Billie Lou Watt who did the
voice of Astroboy and Uran, and Jimmy Sparks who played Dr Elefun. Scripts were
written by Peter Fernandez and Fredd Ladd who also directed the voices.
