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: Not Rated
: Live/Artisan
: Anime, Action Anime
: 300 min.
: English
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One of the first Japanese anime series to enjoy significant success in the United States, Speed Racer first drew life as Mach Go Go Go, a cartoon strip (manga) created by cartoonist Tatsuo Yoshida. Per its title, the star of Mach Go Go Go was a high-tech racing car, driven by fearless young Go Mifune on behalf of his father Daisuke's auto manufacturing firm. The supporting cast included Go's kid brother/mascot Kuo, his girlfriend Michi, his mechanic Sabu, and his pet monkey Senpei. Whenever Go and his amazing car were threatened by villains (who ranged from dishonest racers to international spies), our hero could count on the aid of the mysterious Masked Racer, who unbeknownst to everybody, was Go's fugitive older brother Kenichi. Using the enormous profits from the comic book version ofMach Go Go Go, Tatsuo Yoshida set up an animated cartoon firm, Tatsunoko, for the express purpose of producing cartoon shows for television -- including a series version of his most successful manga property. Debuting on Japanese television in 1967, Mach Go Go Go was soon thereafter picked up for American play under the title Speed Racer. In the inevitable English-dubbing process, all the characters' names were changed: Go Mifune became Speed Racer ("He's a demon on wheels!"), Michi became Trixie, Daisuke became Pops Racer, Kuo became Spridal, Sabu became Sparky, Senpei became Chim Chim, and even The Masked Racer was re-christened as Racer X.
The focal point of the series remained, as ever, Speed Racer's marvelous jet-propelled car, now known as the "Special Formula Mach 5," which, with the aid of the seven specially equipped buttons on its control panel, was able not only to go faster than any other racing car in existence, but also to cut through forests with retractable saws, deflect bullets and other missiles, travel underwater (with periscope!) and deliver vital messages via a tiny birdlike robot. The 52 half-hour episodes of Speed Racer have never stopped playing since their initial appearance on America TV in September 23, 1967. As a bonus, the property has spawned two "upgraded" versions, 1993's The New Adventures of Speed Racer and 1997's Speed Racer X. Alas, a long-promised live-action feature film version of the series has yet to materialize. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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| Mach Go Go Go! Highly recommended if you watched it as a kid
by hneline1
January 21, 2004 - 11:11 PM PST
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4 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer, he's a demon on wheels,
He's a demon and he's gonna be chasin' after someone...
Speed Racer has a special place in my heart as one of the first cartoons I loved in my early childhood. I remember watching Speed and Kimba every weekday afternoon with my older brother after he got back from kindergarten class. Then, when George of the Jungle came on, we would turn off the TV and race our Hot Wheels around the N-scale model train set, pretending to be Racer X to the rescue.
So I started watching this Limited Edition Speed Racer DVD with trepidation. As an adult, I've learned that it might be better to keep those warm and fuzzy childhood memories as memories. I mean, Gilligan's Island wasn't so bad, but watching Hogan's Heroes again was painful.
But you know what -- Speed Racer is not as bad as I feared. Yes, the animation is old. Yes, there are repeated action sequences. Yes, the slapstick humor is aged. Yes, there are spots on the film transfer, the English dubbing is for kids, and Speed's repeated gasps get almost annoying.
However, there is so much there that surprised me. For example, the racing scenes are unexpectedly thrilling, despite the ancient animation techniques. Trixie is a cool female role model -- she is a resourceful, smart, action oriented, go-getter sidekick. The theme song is catchy. There is plenty of admirable philosophy such as improvement comes with hard work and practice, past failings can be overcome, and first impressions don't tell the whole story. There are several references to real racing techniques that never registered on me as a child, such as heel and toe cornering and down shifting to engine brake. And how did they cram so much action into each 25 minute episode?
The 11 episodes on this disc cover five story arcs that introduce Pops Racer and his desire to build the ultimate racing machine, Speed Racer and his desire to become the greatest racer ever, and Racer X "who Speed does not know is his missing older brother" (no, that's not a spoiler when the announcer repeats variations of that phrase every time Racer X shows up). Guest appearances include the cranky Mr. Klepto who drives a Model T with a special engine, the Mammoth Car which moves like an enormous centipede on wheels, and the Car Acrobatic Team which flies across chasms in formation. All episodes are only in the U.S. broadcast English dubbing.
The DVD extras include some interesting history about how Tatsunoko Productions created Mach Go Go Go (as it's called in Japan) in 1967; how Peter Fernandez, Corrine Orr, Jack Grimes and Jack Curtis got involved with dubbing the episodes into English; and how the English theme song got written. I would ignore the silly merchandising segment.
In short, if you watched Speed Racer as a child and wondered if it's worth seeing again -- yes, I think so and I highly recommend it. If you haven't watched Speed Racer before, well, it's old and it just doesn't stand up to modern anime in terms of technique, plot, characterizations, dialog or music. A much better modern racing anime is Initial D, one of my current favorites. Yet, you may want to watch a few episodes as part of animation history -- Speed Racer was one of the first anime to be imported into the US after Astroboy and it was a mainstay for a certain generation of kids growing up in the US.
As for me, I'm glad I watched this DVD and I'll probably go buy myself a copy. Now, if only I could find some episodes of Mr. Ed...
He's off and flyin' as he guns the car around the track,
He's jamming down the pedal like he's never coming back,
Adventure's waitin' just ahead!
Go, Speed Racer! Go, Speed Racer! Go, Speed Racer, Go!
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.26)
19 Votes
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