Astro Boy

[GeorgeC]

They decide to go with a classic Tezuka Astro Boy design after all?

One of the images I saw depicted Astro with nipples on his chest!

I kid you not...

It'll be tough enough to recapture the spirit of Astro Boy without gumming up the works with a bad redesign. C'mon, the Sixties or Eighties Astro Boy design is the way to go!

[Randall]

That "nipple" picture was just early concept art, nothing near final. I wouldn't worry.

[Wolf]

Check out the teaser poster here:

http://felixip.blogspot.com/2008/07/ast ... ed-at.html

[Wolf]

Hey Randall, great article on the past Astro Boy TV series. Did you see or find anything new on the Astro Boy movie while your at Comic-con? Was there any artwork, stills, footage, trailer etc? Please spill any news and share any picture you have taken on it if possible.

[Wolf]

via http://astroboyworld.blogspot.com/

[Randall]

That bag pictured above was about all I saw of Astro Boy at the Con.

[Doodles™]

This doesn't look half bad from what we've seen.

[Wolf]

I adjust the brightness and rescale the image on Photoshop:






via: http://www.astroboy-online.com/forums/s ... 07&page=27

[Meg]

Nice!

[GeorgeC]

This film now has a release date --

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... er-23-2009


October 23, 2009.

Opening WIDE in North America. 3,000 theaters.

Pray it doesn't bomb. It could signal a resurgence of interest in Tezuka productions as well as anime in general.

(Assuming it isn't a bad film... If it's bad, then bomb away! I have so little time for mediocrity that I general don't waste time going to movie theaters.)

As bad as the general animation market (outside of CGI features) has gotten, the anime market in North America is even shakier. No big hits and interest creators since Dragon Ball Z hit it big on Cartoon Network close to 10 years ago, and dwindling free cable access for show viewings outside of the mass-market Sci-Fi Channel..



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EDITED to add comments and save webspace --

Yes, I admit I have selfish reasons for hoping the CGI Astro Boy is a good film and does well.

I'd like to see more classic anime released. I'd especially like to see more anime from the Golden Age of the 1980s. I'm not so much interested in anything before then since much of what I'm interested in and like is from that era.

Regardless, it would be nice to see more world animation.

It just happens to be that a lot of the Japanese media is in line with my sensibilities. Weird, huh?

[Wolf]

Here is a standee of Astro Boy from the AFM. A trailer is expected to be shown in theaters within this month.




Source: http://felixip.blogspot.com/2008/11/ast ... party.html

[Ben]

"Built For Adventure"...me likey.

"October 23, 2009"...me no likey.


Seriously, that sounds like a "nothing" release date, hoping to clean up a modest amount between the bigger marketed summer blocks and before the bigger Christmas hits start rolling out. I was a fan of what Imagi was trying to achieve in the TMNT movie, and remember thinking at the time that: A) their second film would be better technically for what they had learned on TMNT, and B) if they could go with something slightly more stylised it might disguise the "realism" issues they had.

This looks to be just what they need to do...and I do hope it's not sucky and the date doesn't kill it.

[surfnspy]

problems with TMNT, more like story problems. It didn't really broaden the fanbase. So that is my concern for AB. Some of the teaser art has him shirtless (borderline creepy) and this last standee he has a blue polo shirt (boring.) Anyone have any final character art? Just curious.

[Wolf]

As planned, the teaser trailer has arrive online. You can check it out over here:

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/astro-boy/30167/main

[Wolf]

Concept Art and Character Stills for Astro Boy:
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/concept ... astro-boy/