The migration of Astro in US animes towards Japanese original

[Androids101]

Yes, but remember that ever since the original 1960s series 'Atom' was known as 'Astro', so pretty much everyone thinks of Atom and Astro (to the point where 'Astro Boy' is sometimes even used in Japan). By changing the name (lets face it, Astro Boy is MUCH more widely known than Pluto) of one of the major characters in a franchise, it makes it difficult, unless the producers don't want this in the franchise in the first place and want it to be independent, and MOST (not all) of the time creating a film from an existing franchise is better than starting off from scratch, especially if you want the existing fans to watch it in the first place (which can be one of the targets of a franchise). I wont even be suprised if they say 'from the creators of AstroBoy' or something similar to that in their promotional trailers or teasers. And when a character is as well known as Astro Boy, to be honest in my opinion changing it just doesn't work.

Also lets just hope they make a series in 2013, as unlikely as it may be.

[jeffbert]

[QUOTE=F-Man;116191]
But really though... Just one movie based on Pluto? It would take 3 very long movies to do the series justice, and instead we'll probably get one 1h40 movie that will resolve the major conflict by the end, except leave a little opening for a possible sequel if it's warranted. In all that short time, I can only imagine the movie being astonishingly different from the source material, to the point of having entirely different characters.

As much as I would love PLUTO to bring us these things that we all want, I'd still say that it's very unlikely. Sure, the director's movies were marketed better, but I just don't see PLUTO doing well.

Especially after what you said that it would need three movies for the least. One film, meaning a lot would have to be cut to make it short, wouldn't be very beneficial. [/QUOTE]
I agree with you both. But what is the essence of Pluto? Gesicht is, or was the main character until his demise, & his life was full of interesting elements, so many, that any single film could not do justice. Many other characters, each with his own story were intertwined in Gesicht's life. I really doubt tahat any film version could do justice to a story of this nature because there are so many characters.

[AprilSeven]

While I completely agree that ANY film adaptation of Urasawa's Pluto will certainly fall short of the manga in impact and quality, I also feel that WHAT EVER is created (one film or more) can be of sufficient quality as to direct viewers to the original manga and/or anime.

Nothing is going to be "perfect" -- but the impact it can have is worth cheering on. Look how many people have joined this forum and are now huge Tezuka fans because of the highly flawed 2009 movie?

My point is that I believe eventually people will choose to refer to Astro Boy as Atom, because it's his real name. The "Americanized" 1960's anime happened before the wonder of the Internet and a sense of a "global community." And with each anime, a singular story and profile is coming together, and I think that is what Dr. Tezuka's creation deserves.