Many years ago, when I first learned of the existence of anime, I saw a mention of the "Speed Racer" TV show. It was made in Japan by Tatsunoko Studios and adapted in the U.S. in the late 1960s. One of the very first anime imports ever. Now I've watched several episodes of it.

It's quite fun to watch. The budget must not have been any higher than it was for American cartoons of the time, but that didn't stop them from being ambitious. There's lots of action, and lots of efforts at effects animation--weather scenes, night scenes, silhouettes, even black-and-white flashbacks. The only 1960s American cartoons I know of that can compare with it are "Johnny Quest" and the original version of Scooby Doo.

It has "Johnny Quest" levels of violence. The bad guys brandish guns; the good guys beat up the bad guys. And the races! In Speed Racer's world it's apparently not unusual for a single race to have as many fiery crashes as a whole Grand Prix season in the old days. That's not even counting all the drivers who manage to go over cliffs. Though the crashes seem to be more survivable than they look, it's pretty clear that in some cases the drivers don't survive. In real life whole races and racing circuits were discontinued forever due to safety records like that....

Very watchable show, with a very high goofiness quotient.

Goofiness in Speed Racer?!?!?
No way!

I loved it as a kid. Loved the song, loved the aesthetic vibe of it, and loved the way the mysterious storyline unfolded.

I didn't know then I was watching what would be one of the original anime cartoons in a whole genre to follow. It really is a sort of "founding" member of anime. My other favorite is Astro Boy, which is older but would be right there with it.

Here's the opening for the uninitiated:

"Speed Racer's" cast consists mainly of the eponymous Speed Racer--that does appear to be all the name he has--and his family. His father, "Pop," is a genius car and engine designer who built Speed's Mach 5 super race car. His nameless mother seems far more okay with her son's choice of career than any real-life mother I know would be. His little brother, Spridle (And where did that name come from, anyway?), is a brat with a pet monkey. And Speed has an estranged older brother, who is secretly the mysterious Racer X who serves as Speed's guardian angel.

Already practically a member of the family is girlfriend Trixie. She's quite impressive for a 1960s cartoon heroine. When we first see her she's piloting a helicopter. She can also fly a light fixed-wing aircraft, seems to be a credible mechanic, and is quite adept at martial arts. She's good at maintaining a positive outlook--when her plane is shot down in one episode she comments on how she'd always wanted to see what parachuting was like!

The show has an extremely limited voice cast in its dubbed version. All female voices, plus Spridle's, are obviously done by the same person, Corinne Orr. She evidently did lots of voiceovers over the years. Her Spridle voice sounds exactly like the little bear in the old Snuggle fabric softener commercials, which she also voiced.

What's really neat is the original theme is almost the same tune (albeit with Japanese lyrics).



Mach Go, Go Go!
The pun being that Go has two meanings. Go! as in "on your marks, get set, GO!", and it's also the word for the number five in Japanese.
The Mach Five being the name of the car in both versions.

Unbeknownst to Doot, Racer X is really his older brother, Rex.

SPOILERS. Please.

Unbeknownst to Doot, Racer X is really his older brother...

I knew it!

Has everyone already blocked out memories of the seizure-inducing 2008 big-screen live-action adaptation, written and directed by The Wachowski brothers (or, currently, the brother and sister duo)?

Musical inspiration.

No way!
I love that movie. It's a cartoon come to life!

MTV use to show re-runs of the show. I liked it a great deal. The live action movie wasn't terrible but not that great either.

It would be great if it were like an hour shorter. Way too much unnecessary and poorly written dialogue. Same for the Matrix sequels IMHO. The Wachowskis really need an editor.

I liked it too!

I loved Speed Racer as kid. A cooler fictional car than the Mach 5 does not exist.

In college we watched it on Mtv and drank every time Speed killed someone while racing. Good times.

I have imagined a follow up show, where Spridle is a teenage racer. He would have the same physique as Pops Racer (big and burly) and drive a Hummer type race vehicle. Chim-chim would still be there. Speed and Trixie would be married and have children about the same age Spridle was in the original series. Speed would be a stand-in for Pops Racer, retired from racing, but running the family business. He would be constantly worried about Spridle. Racer X would make guest appearances.

But, I think a modern update is out there and I seem to recall it sucked.

I bought about two issues of the "Speed Racer" comic book that ran in the late 1980s. One had a detailed entry on the Mach 5 and its assorted features that almost made the whole thing look plausible. It also had a story about Speed getting into an emergency situation while driving with an airhead beauty queen. Suddenly she figured out how to get them out of the jam. She was actually very smart and had been hiding it because it was expected of her.

I remember as a kid, my buddies and I would ride our bikes around, trying to do jumps, and every time we'd make that "CHUN-CHUN-CHUN-CHUN-CHUN-CHUN" sound that the Mach 5's hydraulic jacks would make.
Fun times.

I guess there's a new Speed Racer show coming out helmed by JJ Abrams. So you know there'll be lens-flares and a piss poor ending.

My earliest memories of Japanese cartoons involve Marine Boy and Kimba the White Lion. I've never seen Speed Racer.