"jeffbert" wrote:It could be done if its writers were VERY familiar with the MIGHTY ATOM corpus. But since there are over 70 comic adventures & around 300 episodes spanning 1/2 a century, I doubt there are more than a few American screenwriters who have thorough knowledge of even 2 animated series, much less the whole corpus.
I say this knowledge is needed because we want something that is true to the legacy. Consider Urasawa's PLUTO, that work featured plot elements from all over the corpus, not just those in the versions of GREATEST ROBOT. These elements made it resonate with readers' memories of those other stories. In fact, the corpus itself uses plots & elements from Tezuka's other works. Readers of BLACK JACK recognize those from that series, while readers of other Tezuka stories likewise recognize elements from them. Tezuka borrows ideas, including his own & puts them in various series.
Suppose Ford made its own Corvette; it might even be better than Chevy's, but it would not likely be true to the legacy.
People who never owned a Vette might like the Ford version, but purests would not.
There's a problem with that scenario. While there are few who are familiar with the entire corpus of MIGHTY ATOM , it doesn't make them any better than let's say, a newbie to the franchise . Sometimes, to be detached from a franchise is the best thing imaginable, look at Bryan Singer's directed X-Men film series and more importantly look at Nolan's Batman.
Neither were fans ,but went in there and did what fans WOULD NEVER had done. They not only revitalized the stories ,but told it in their style with a blend of the aspects of the comics and their own. Then see Singer's Superman-- complete fanfic garbage. Look at Airbender---garbage too.
The latter failures are an example why fans are not the best decision makers when it comes to adapting the franchises they love. Look at today's mainstream Marvel and DC; mostly it is rehashed material suitable for an American soap opera or just crap.
I highly disagree that knowing the entire corpus is fundamental, but as Umberto Eco has said, "I'm a writer not a reader". What he further has said was essentially no one has the time to read everything, which I agree with. I believe as long as anyone gets the gist and the essence of Tezuka's creativeness and heart, they could be newcomers like me and I wouldn't mind it.
Why not retell the legacy and repaint it? Why stop where Tezuka put down his penned hand for the final time? If newer stories of Greek heroes can be done and redone why not put different spins on the character. According to Tezuka, they are actors ya know. And they've been dying for a new gig. Maybe one like this would take the off.
"AprilSeven" wrote:I agree with Jeffbert's comments, in fact, I think the 2009 movie is a perfect example of a "reboot" without enough attention to the things Tezuka put into the original manga and anime. Yes, they peppered the movie with
's here and there, and even used
's image as characters . . . but the whole idea of a disengaged, floating Metro City, an abandoned Earth below and a reunification of Astro with Tenma at the end is WAY off course.
One reason I love Urasawa's
Pluto (and Ghost's
Astro Boy 2085) is both stories KEPT important core elements of what had been established years ago. Ghost pushed the storyline with twists and turns, but actually used other pre-existing story arches to put a new spin on an existing story.
The 2009 movie seemed to be an effort to update the plot, characters, and try to somehow make it "current" (that whole Stone re-election thing was such a waste of precious film time). I think "they" thought that would be appealing somehow - and they worked with Tezuka's son, but that obviously didn't insure a certainly level of keeping things "authentic." I guess they were more focused on whether or not Astro had five spikey eyelashes instead of a more realistic look, or how often to have him appear "without clothing."
I'm banking on the Pluto movie doing much to be the "antidote" to 2009's Astro Boy. As for the anime, it appears if more are forthcoming, they will be in the art-deco-esque treatment of the 2003 series and Japanese movies.
I would love to see Astro's life brought forward in new manga/anime/movies, personally. I mean, plenty of fictional characters outlive their creators - why not Astro? The question remains . . .
who will determine plots, additional characters, etc. I'm sure, no matter what the outcome, some of us (purists) will be disappointed, but others will really enjoy new material to read/watch.
I actually kinda like the floating city and how the Earth was ravaged and forgotten below. Much like the sci-fi story where humanity divided into two species ,one intelligent but weak while the other resembled cavemen if not something Orwellian in nature or G Gundam/Wall-E.
The abandonment and scorn towards the earthers made the story real in the class distinctions of Late Roman society and today's and in a very strong sense something Tezuka himself would have done. The worse thing about he ending was Tenma and their reconciling which completed killed anything I felt for the film . This is why I like 2085 more and the original stories since Tenma was virtually the Joker to Astro's Batman ie insane.
It had to have been hard to choose what to do with the series and they almsot nailed it , but their was no heart or a soul to how it was played out and the whole shirt thing is probably from different cultural perspectives or something.
IF the PLUTO film does well, I hope it leads to more works being made live action, on TV and film. Black Jack would be the best replacement for Supernatural on the CW while Kimba's story could be retold as a live action feast or animated ,but live action I can see be pretty awesome how it plays in my head. There's also MW, Buddha, Adolf...Ode ot Kirihito... these stories are just PERFECT for Hollywood material. If they are done as-is and not whitewashed.
