Akira - Premiere in Japan: July 16, 1988

Little memory jolt from Tom Sito on Facebook today: Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic film Akira premiered in Tokyo on July 16, 1988, 34 years ago. I picked up this handout that was floating around the east side when I was working in Beachwood, Ohio. Just a hasty, but still stylish paste-up that was reproduced on an old photocopier.

 (original copyright Katsuhiro Otomo. Original poster artist unknown.)

I think this was from 1989 or 1990? But Akira brought the house down, back at the good ol' Cleveland Cinematheque. Akira was a giant step away from the old Speed Racer and the original Transformers. This director meant business. No one under 13 admitted!

By now, most Anime' fans know of this grim, near future dystopian tale: Two friends in a motorcycle gang stumble upon a secret government plan that made nuclear weapons look like mere firecrackers. Akira helped develop an appetite in the U.S. for more serious work like the Animatrix, and the great films of Hayao Miyazaki.

https://www.facebook.com/ken.roskos/posts/1085670169022040:5 

 So, charge up your bikes, rile up the gang, and take the wild ride again!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(1988_film)

The Bad Guys

 Here we go: I finally caught Dreamworks' "The Bad Guys" on Blu-ray. While I didn't fall in love with it, The Bad Guys has some elements that I admire. Even with a healthy box office turnout, Comcast/Universal didn't waste much time putting the movie out online and out on disks. After the loosening of Covid lockdown guidelines, the movie has generated a good buzz. The end credits even mention that the film was made during "unprecedented times". After the disasters that started in 2020, "The Bad Guys" is a part of animation film history, now that I think about it. Without high speed internet, and Zoom meetings, effective animation production would have been on a much rougher road.

Mr. Wolf's driving puts Speed Racer to shame!

(copyright Dreamworks/Universal)

And it's far from being a dud: Bad Guys has likeable characters, homages to famous heist movies and yet, callbacks to classic Looney Tunes, and even some Anime'. I think my old supervisor on Ren and Stimpy would have called it "snapimation" in the way characters "pop" from pose to pose. Mr. Wolf stands up to some potentially lethal punishment with their crazy cartoon logic, and Bad Guys is also following the trend to work some traditional "2-D" elements added back into a 3D computer animated film. Animation director Pierre Perifel brings in smears, flat style designs with smoke and facial expressions. Some of the animation even reminds me of Osamu Tezuka , with the eyes, mouths and outrageous poses.The overall background design is based on a present day Los Angeles/So Cal environment, with a humorous, and even glowing, sort of romantic style.

 (copyright Dreamworks/Universal)

The Bad Guys universe is a world primarily populated by cartoon humans, with the stars being the only few "funny animal" characters. Mr. Wolf and his crew appear to be magical characters that have negative histories going back to mankind's earliest myths. Their ostracization seems to have contributed to their becoming bank robbers, and troublemakers in general, reveling in their revenge against decent society. The plot revolves around the characters' attempt to "go straight", and their own secret longings to be accepted by the outside world. Naturally, things go awry, in a fun, crazy way. And, of course, Mr. Wolf's life is complicated when his heart is touched by accidentally helping a little old lady, and then the attentions of a lovely young vixen, who also happens to be their state Governor.

(copyright Dreamworks/Universal)

On the downside, the film is very dialogue heavy. Feeling a bit jaded, I first watched BG with the directors' commentary on. Without the performance of the voice actors, the movie sort of just clicked and popped along. And being a tribute to Quentin Tarantino movies, the film depends quiet a bit on flashbacks, with healthy doses of exposition to explain events that occurred off camera.

(copyright Dreamworks/Universal)

But all in all, The Bad Guys is a nice break from our Covid, politics and war nightmares. Definitely worth checking out.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-25/bad-guys-los-angeles-animation-pierre-perifel

 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/806355508295247755/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8115900/

R.I.P. Fred Ladd - American Producer of Astro Boy

Well, time takes it's toll. Again.

 (photo copyright Anime' News Network)

Sorry to report on geeky stuff, but Ohio native Fred Ladd - American producer of the classic, foundational anime' Astro Boy, has passed away August 3rd. at 94.

I was able to see Ladd speak at an ASIFA-Hollywood presentation years ago in Burbank. While he was known for bringing Astro Boy to the states, here's another show he brought to the U.S. When the other networks saw what a hit NBC had with Astroboy, they tried to make another one with "Space Ace". (Not the video game.) For the U.S., I think they called him "Ringo" at the ASIFA screening. Ironically, it never took off. I guess one Astro Boy is enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgNPPHlcLcc

But here's to the pure enjoyment, and the pathways laid down for practically all the anime' that followed Fred Ladd's lead into the North American TV market. Astro Boy wrote the book on how to present great storytelling, and beloved characters. Developed from manga (comics) the animation was done on a dime, but Osamu Tezuka's classic designs and screen direction still kept us captivated, even with black and white TV.

 Thank you Mr. Ladd!

 https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-08-10/american-anime-pioneer-astro-boy-anime-producer-fred-ladd-passes-away-at-94/.176123

https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2021/08/10-1/astro-boy-american-anime-producer-fred-ladd-passes-away-at-94

 

Kyoto Animation arson attack

Trying to read more into the arson attack on Kyoto Animation in Japan, and it's wearing me down. Most of the victims were women. 

(copyright Kyoto Animation)

A comment I saw on reddit speculated that the suspect claimed the studio was stealing his ideas. Maybe this is why we fixate on having superheroes around. That way we don't feel like sitting ducks waiting for the next wacko with a chip on his shoulder to attack.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-fire/japan-officials-hunt-for-reasons-behind-fire-that-killed-34-idUSKCN1UH08I

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/kyoto-animation-suspect-arrest-1203275096/ 

http://www.kyotoanimation.co.jp/en/

Christopher Lee in the Last Unicorn

Almost forgot, Christopher Lee as King Haggard in the Last Unicorn. If someone else had done the voice for this character, King Haggard would have been just another anime' villain. But with other stars such as Mia Farrow and Jeff Bridges (the DUDE!) lending their voices to this movie, Lee helped make Peter S. Beagle's story the rare gem it is. I understand that Mr. Lee was a big fan of the book.

The Last Unicorn came on cable at a time when I was finding out how things don't work out the way we planned. It's painful for me to watch it now. I had to pass it up when it came to Los Angeles this winter.

http://lastunicorntour.com/

(original copyright 1982 Rankin/Bass)

But here's to the charisma, and the dignity that Christopher Lee brought to all his film roles.

Godzilla and Ultraman - The Amazing World of Japanese Special Effects

(copyright NHK and Tsuburaya Productions)

Godzilla and Ultraman - The Amazing World of Japanese Special Effects

It's fun sneaking around "backstage". I missed the beginning, but in Godzilla and Ultraman - The Amazing World of Japanese Special Effects  they displayed their techniques for making miniatures that went back to traditional Japanese gardens. And just good old forced perspective. The host was a westerner who seemed to love Tsuburaya, and even was allowed on a miniature set to pose with Ultraman Victory(?) The special effects people added the classic energy beams coming out of his hands to blast a monster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-vdH86F6ZQ

They also talked to the pyrotechnics guy about his wiring set ups. He had something like the western studios have, sort of an electric xylophone. He could "play" the device so the squibs would go off with the proper timing. They also talked about Manga, and a car commercial using Tsuburaya's techniques where the car has to outrun giant monsters on a twisting canyon road.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/special/201408.html

I don't know if they will run this again, hopefully it will appear on the net somewhere. It's always great to see "old friends"!

http://www.kcet.org/shows/nhk_special/godzilla-and-ultraman---the-amazing-world-of-japanese-special-effects.html

http://io9.com/5939043/behind-the-scenes-godzilla-photos-were-charming-absolutely-ridiculous