{"id":19714,"date":"2012-06-29T06:49:58","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T11:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=19714"},"modified":"2012-09-10T21:50:40","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T01:50:40","slug":"history-of-the-comic-book-film-off-to-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/29\/history-of-the-comic-book-film-off-to-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"HISTORY OF THE COMIC BOOK FILM: Off To Japan!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a multi-part series, Comic Book Film Editor William Gatevackes will be tracing the history of comic book movies from the earliest days of the film serials to today\u2019s big blockbusters and beyond. Along with the history lesson, Bill will be covering some of the most prominent comic book films over the years and why they were so special. This time, we continue our four week \u201cvacation\u201d overseas with the most notable one-off comic films Japan has to offer.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

If Europe is to be commended for so easily accepting comic books as art, then Japan should be given the gold star for the way it totally embraced the art form. Manga is read by all-ages in Japan, and by all social classes and has reached a level of cultural status unseen in the country. <\/span><\/p>\n

Over the last quarter century, manga\u2019s influence has grown into the United States, to such a point that if you were to walk into any bookstore (if any bookstores still exist when this post is published), you\u2019d find the shelves dedicated to manga out numbering the shelves devoted to American comics by four to one. While Magna\u2019s dominance of the American market is a relatively recent occurrence, American audiences were exposed to one of manga\u2019s greatest characters decades before. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Osamu Tezuka has been called the Japanese Walt Disney for a variety of reasons. Both have had an indelible effect on the fields of animation and comic books in their respective countries. Both have inspired generations of fans and influenced generations of artists. And both have created characters that have touched the hearts of millions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tezuka created many characters in his lifetime, but perhaps the most popular in the United States was Astro Boy. Created by Tezuka in 1951, the character was a little robot boy who was created by a scientist named Dr. Tenma as a replacement for his dead son, Tobio. When Tenma realizes that the robot could never take the place of his dead \"\"<\/a>son, he sells the robot boy to the circus. While at the circus, he catches the eye of another scientist who works at the same Science Ministry as the robot\u2019s creator. The scientist, Professor Ochanomizu, adopts the robot, and becomes its legal guardian. The robot, now known as Astro Boy, would go on to have many adventures, striving to keep Japan safe. <\/span><\/p>\n

American audiences were first exposed to the character when the Japanese anime adapted from the manga was redubbed and run in syndication on U.S. television. The U.S. cartoon originally ran from 1963 to 1965, although it has been rebroadcast at various times since then.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2009, the robot boy got computer animated with the film Astro Boy<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n