Astro Boy Reboot (Future animated series)

[Umbral-Coltwings]

*flips around* I got so happy seeing that! The name Divercity sounds a little dorky, though, but it isn't all that bad.
And it does sound like that A.I. movie, with the human parents thing. (and siblings? hmy

[Dragonrider1227]

HA Yes. I understand the message of Astro Boy is to not discriminate and that people (and robots) who are different is a good thing but calling his city "Divercity" is a little... much. Makes me think of that gag in Nostalgia Critic's review of FernGully and he and Nostalgia Chick shouted; "TOO SUBTLE!!!"
But it gives me hope they may be attempted Tezuka's original message of the series.

Oh my god I only saw part of the tail end of that on TV once but that is exactly what this sounds like

Well, considering that this is an action/comedy genre kids' show, it probably will have a happier outcome. His apparent shortcomings are probably something that he himself imagines, when the reality could be that his family loves him anyway. His family could even be a recent adjustment.

That's not to say that this probably won't break any hearts anytime soon, given the trends in recent popular children's series these days. Or so I've gathered (as I'm a bit daunted by the idea of trying to catch up to Gravity Falls or Steven Universe, especially as I may or may not even like them; second-hand embarrassment, wherever and whenever present, is also a major factor, and I do not pretend that a kids' show wouldn't have anything like that in it, as for whatever reason it is perfectly acceptable to have such uncomfortable content in it).

I agree with what you say about Gravity Falls and Steven Universe as examples. As Gravity Falls has been known for darker elements and surprisingly good character development and Steven Universe while may look like an Adventure Time rip off on the surface has been known to be quite emotional and also be good for character development. So I hope this reboot is taking its lessons from them because then I think we could have a decent series here.

[Little Brown Fox]

The thing is, I'm not completely sure I'd even like those shows. But, to be fair, I have not tried them, either. However, from the way people go on about them, they seem to have some of those all-important design elements that would suck me in the same way Danny Phantom eventually did on Netflix a few years ago (especially season 2; great googly moogly that's some good cartoon right there- still fun and funny (or punny, ahaha), but with much darker and serious story elements- though it had more potential than what was ultimately used; still great, though).

Astro Boy has always seemed to have these elements, already. It's fun for all ages, but tries to get some serious messages across. The 2003 series (even the cut-up dub version, albeit to a much lesser extent), while milder, also had plenty of these sorts of ideas.

[Dragonrider1227]

I get what you mean. took me a while to finally sit down and watch Gravity Falls and Steven Universe myself. And to this day I watch I don't exactly watch them regularly (though I've seen more Gravity Falls than Steven Universe) but they are still a good example of how you can have a light, simple art style, lean towards the humorous side, and still have good character development, story arch, and even dark elements.
Danny Phantom was good for that too. Especially the second season. It was practically a Marvel comic by season 2 XD But then kinda turned into Superfriends by season 3 .__.
Astro Boy does have these elements. That element of a dramatic and sometimes serious story with a light fun looking art style wrapped around it. One of the things I liked so much about it. Although I admit like Steven Universe and Gravity Falls, it took me a while to get into it and was shocked by the serious undertones.

[Little Brown Fox]

Pfft, about Danny Phantom- I think the writer or writers that were responsible for the more serious turn of season two (though it already showed these signs in season one when this particular writer was not there; Spectra, anyone?) was either fired, or quit before work began on season three, I think because of Butch Hartman himself's own involvement. Basically, he didn't like where this was going- which is a shame, because it was a lot better this way and Phantom Planet couldn't have been handled more terribly if you tried. I mean sure, at least he got to end things on his own terms, but... And don't get me started on Vlad; granted I hadn't really noticed much until observing other fans and thinking back on it... but there was still a fairly obvious drop in quality...

At least, I THINK that's how it went down. One would have to actually look that up to get the full story on that, however. But it's a fine example of how Word Of God can potentially ruin a thing. Or is this more a case of, what was it called... Executive Meddling? Heaven knows how many shows got destroyed and/or cancelled because of powers outside the fanbase's control. Legion of Superheroes comes to mind... that was another wonderful one... (if you didn't mind the blatant disregard for the laws of physics and the lack of oxygen in outerspace...)

Of course, the biggest and best (which is to say, worst) example of them all is the 2003 dub... (The 2009 movie also ranks up there for me; the more I learn about early development, the saltier I get. >:T )

[Dragonrider1227]

Yes. From what I heard Butch Hartman fired most of his best writers and handled the rest himself because he's an idiot.

Ugh, don't get me started on the 2003 dub X__X When the guy who can watch 4Kids dubs says a dub is bad. IT'S BAD! The part of the 2009 movie's early development that upset me the most was when I heard of of the first people they had originally to direct it was Geddy Tartovsky. We could've had the guy that gave us Samurai Jack! But we ended up with the director of Flushed Away. I don't think he did an absolute horrid job, but what could've been, right?

[Little Brown Fox]

Actually, at one point I think we had the guy that did the Smurf movies- or the first one, anyway. Clearly that man had his priorities straight. :T

I never watched Samurai Jack, save for the first episode that aired on Kids WB for some reason. I guess they were in some kind of cahoots with CN, idk. Anyways, the idea now doesn't really appeal to me. (Plus, one of the VIP voice talent died, right?) And the only other frame of reference I have, Dexter's Laboratory, I find to be kind of overrated with what little of it I've seen- kinda like the Power Puff Girls; I didn't even like them as a kid... Hotel Transylvania was alright, I guess. The animation is interesting, and surprisingly enough, apparently there is a sequel coming in the near future. But this was before that, I think. His take on 3D computer animation holds promise, but now it is far too little, and far too late. (Although, if it was true, I'd kinda like to see Genndy's work on it now, at least as far as the animation goes- I'm not sure I have that much faith in his directorial skills...)

[Dragonrider1227]

We did. I think he was the art director of Toy Story 2 as well so I was excited to see what he'd do. I haven't seen The Smurfs movie but I hear very mixed reactions to it so I'm unsure if we dodged a bullet or not XD All I know is that under him, I saw concept art and concept footage of what appeared to be a semi-dark film with what they boasted to be a "hard PG" rating but when it the Flushed Away guy came in and the movie came out, it felt like it attempts that at first but kind of chickens out half way through and tries to just another safe Dreamworks/Pixar style film. Not bad, but could've been more. But yeah, one of the first people I hear they considered was Geddy and I personally loved Samurai Jack so if he intended to bring a story style like that to it, I think it could've been really something.
I like Dexter's Lab as well but I do have some issues with it. Personally, when it comes to cartoons about boy geniauses, I tend to lean more towards Jimmy Neutron XD
I liked Hotel Transyvania and I look forward to the sequel. The plot could've been a bit better but I personally really liked the characters. It certainly had more of a Dexter's Lab vibe than a Samurai Jack one. But with more likeable characters XD

[Little Brown Fox]

I think you misunderstood; I do not actually like Dexter's Lab very much, if at all. Just another overrated and annoying 90's cartoon, to me. I think I might've liked a couple of episodes as a kid, but...

Hm. Is any of that concept art and concept footage still around? Like, I know you can see part of an early trailer in that one amateur video taken at some kind of convention... gosh, if only it had stayed that way... (I'm kind of wondering if that was the only scene they had completed before turning the project on its ear and pretty much starting over; it's the only one that I've seen anything of, like in that one sizzle reel or whatever of a guy that worked on it; and that one infamous screenshot; and even in the little fragments of images that came from that Imagi financial report or whatever the heck it was. I am increasingly upset about this, even though I know that nothing can be done. And a "hard PG"... that sounds kind of... odd. But, I certainly wouldn't object to it; I believe that I've already established that I like stuff that's serious and kind of dark, but without too much of the stuff that would get it a PG-13 rating. Plus, the source material is already kind of a boundary-pusher when it comes to dark content. And, not all Dreamworks stuff is cute and fluffy; I actually think that they set a pretty decent standard as for how dark and light elements should flow together in some of their more recent films.)

[Dragonrider1227]

No, I understood. You simply didn't like it and that's okay. There are a bunch of 90s cartoons I find overrated too. (90% of the Nicktoons line up for example) I spent most of my Saturday mornings of the 90s on Kids WB XD

Here we go
http://s19.postimg.org/z8ilt1mj7/concept_art.jpg
http://s19.postimg.org/p7drjq9g3/concept_art_2.png
http://s19.postimg.org/lp1rnc8k3/concept_art_3.png
http://s19.postimg.org/89eqxw02b/concept_art_4.png
Maybe it's just me but the color and tone of these concept art images gives me the impression they intended a darker film.
https://youtu.be/FM9Htfx_Dvs?t=184
As does this very brief animation sequence. there was a better version of it but I can't find it now ><