"Song of Astro Boy" The lyrics
cross the vast sky and fly to the distant stars,
come on, Astro Boy, a good boy who loves science.
Kind and brave, la la la Astro Boy with iron arms,
100,000 horsepower, seven supernatural powers, selfless and fearless Astro Boy.
Through the vast fields, la la la dive into the deep ocean,
come on, Astro Boy, a good boy who loves peace,
kind and brave, la la la Astro Boy,
our good friend, the selfless and fearless Astro Boy Mu,
our good friend, the selfless and fearless Astro Boy.
After watching the movie version of "Astro Boy", on the way home, the melody of this song suddenly popped up in my mind. Although so many years have passed, I have become a middle-aged wretched uncle from the "good boy who loves science", but I can still sing this song completely. (However, there is no such theme song in the movie version. It may be because the copyright issue has not been discussed?)
I checked the information and found out that the black and white version of "Astro Boy" was broadcast on CCTV in 1980. (It is estimated that many local TV stations have done rebroadcasts afterwards, because I remember seeing "Astro Boy" on TV not so early). As the first overseas cartoon to enter China, "Astro Boy with Iron Arms" has always been black and white in my memory-because at that time, ordinary people only had black and white TV in their homes, and not everyone had them. Everyone has to squeeze in someone's house to watch together. The final scene of this theme song is still fresh in my memory-Astro Boy's feet sprayed flames and landed on the ground, because after this scene ended, the story officially began.
Along with Astro Boy's cartoons, there is also Astro Boy's "Little Man Book". This set of Astro Boy's "Little People's Books" should have been published by Science Popularization Publishing House in 1982. There should be 15 copies in the full set, but I didn't have any pocket money when I was young, so I read them all. As a traditional tragedy, when I have the money to buy this set of books, I will not be able to buy this set of books.
To say so much in bits and pieces, the main thing is to take the opportunity to sigh with emotion. It is a very happy thing to see Astro Boy in the cinema again. Although the 2009 movie version of "Astro Boy" released in theaters has little to do with the cartoon I saw when I was a child, it is still the 100,000-horsepower Astro Boy.
Gossip finished talking about business.
Although the movie "Astro Boy" completely inherits the character setting and story setting of the cartoon "Astro Boy", such as Dr. Tianma and Dr. Chashui, as a movie, it must be in the structure of the story and the specific characters. Only by making corresponding adaptations in the setting can it meet the needs of film narrative. Judging from the current movie version of "Astro Boy", I think it has succeeded in both inheritance and innovation, bringing a classic animation image with a history of more than 50 years to life on the big screen.
For those who are obsessed with the animated version of the past, if you are just for nostalgia, then this movie may disappoint you a bit. The movie version of "Astro Boy" basically restructured Astro Boy's story, except for the necessary key characters, almost all the movie characters are recreated. As a viewer who has been deeply influenced by the TV animation version, I actually understand this change in the current movie version of the story. Because film and TV are two completely different story carriers, the way and focus of storytelling are naturally not. same. A slight modification of a line in the movie version can illustrate this problem: "Don't be obsessed with the past, the past is just a legend."
The movie version of "Astro Boy" is a youth film with a very clear positioning. It actually tells a cross-cultural story theme: the loneliness and growth of adolescence. Although the character image of Astro Boy has an indelible Japanese animation culture gene, after being re-polished on the Hollywood creative pipeline, the current story has become a popular story that can pass the mainstream culture of all countries in the world. That is a talent. How a young man with a mission goes through many adventures, rediscovers himself, accepts the inescapable destiny that he is born with, and finally grows into a hero.
For those middle-aged audiences who are looking forward to satisfying nostalgia, they may think that such a story is too naive and simple; but for those young audiences, such a story can reflect their influence on the adult world on the screen. In a world full of wonderful fantasy, the last thing I see is the reflection of my heart in this wonderful world, and is connected with the life around me.
When the robot Astro Boy was created as a substitute for Dr. Tianma's son, Dr. Tianma painfully discovered that this robot was not his son. After Astro Boy found behind his robot, he began to face an eternal motif in a youth growth movie, that is, the crisis of self-identity: Who am I? Where am i from Where am I going? Of course, as a family animation film that strives to face the most audience groups, this story will not be too entangled in this esoteric ultimate philosophical theme. It just turns this unsolvable problem into a driving force for the story. And quickly turned this complicated human life question into a teenager topic: how can a child with a pure heart face an adult world full of hostility and fraud?
As a cartoon that can be watched by the whole family, on this classic topic, "Astro Boy" also cleverly gives an answer in the sense of traditional values, which is to believe in love, believe in family, and grow up bravely. , And bravely assume their responsibilities. As a comparison, Matilda also asked the killer Leon this question in "This Killer Is Not So Cold."
Matilda: Has life been so painful all the time? Or only in childhood?
Leon: It has always been like this.
From the answer to this question, we can see the basic values of the movie version of "Astro Boy" story. However, as an animated film, this difference in values can almost be regarded as an advantage: in domestic cartoons and even movies, how many movies can give such a positive judgment of values? A tangled childhood and a carefree childhood let you choose, which one would you choose?
As a film co-produced by China, Japan and the United States, the division of labor in the movie "Astro Boy" is very clear. Japan publishes the copyright, the United States produces creativity, Hong Kong provides labor, and the Mainland provides funds (it seems to be the same as our "World Factory". The positioning fits well). After the current "Astro Boy" has undergone such a complicated pedigree mix, it is difficult to locate which country's movie it is. Perhaps it is because of this consideration that this story will be transformed into the current mode of "harmony without difference": striving to cater to the values of various cultural backgrounds and finding the basic common ground. So we can see environmental protection, the relationship between humans and machines, the simple binary opposition between good and evil (I also used a piggyback hand to ridicule former US President George W. Bush), humorous and funny, ethical affection, and various popular commercial film elements. Being organically combined, and also being unified under the theme of youth growth, this way of composing stories is worth learning from Chinese films.
Although Astro Boy has the cultural genes of Japanese animation, in the movie version, Astro Boy is already a typical "American screen hero" image. As an American hero on the screen, Astro Boy has several notable characteristics: loneliness, courage, leadership and evil enemies, as well as female compatriots who need heroes to protect.
In the movie "Astro Boy", the courage of Astro Boy, a screen hero, does not come from one hundred thousand horsepower and seven supernatural powers, but from his inner morality and conscience, which guides him to fulfill the destiny of his natural mission, and with Sacrifice yourself to save the metropolis and its people. This is even more common to American-style screen heroes.
In order to make the hero's image more perfect, an evil, persistent, and powerful enemy is indispensable. As an indispensable stepping stone in the growth of Astro Boy, the Metropolitan Governor in the movie is an indispensable villain in this type of commercial film. This low IQ and evil governor belongs to a typical villain image. This stubborn bad guy contributes a lot of funny points in the film. Every time Astro Boy needs bad guys to come out and let him get points. At that time, the Governor appeared without losing the opportunity, which really made people feel that I would be sorry if I didn't hit him for a while. (Many of his lines can clearly be seen as insinuating the former US President George W. Bush. The screenwriter of this film is also an American. It is estimated that using Bush Jr. to kick-start has become the most popular "Pac" game in Hollywood).
However, as a family animation film, although there are many very intense fighting scenes in "Astro Boy", there is actually only one person who died in this movie, that is Dr. Tianma's son Toby, and it is because of the plot. Must have to let him die (otherwise it won't matter to Astro Boy). All the other bad guys in the film, including the last ultimate villain, are not dead. It can be said that they take care of the younger audience.
As a film that completely inherits Hollywood descent in story style, there are several wonderful supporting characters in "Astro Boy", which are classic images that often appear in the narrative rules of Hollywood commercial films. Such as "Robot Three Musketeers", "Trash Can", "Window Washing Duo", etc., although they have no direct connection with the narrative advancement of the main story line, their appearance still adds a lot of comedy atmosphere to the film. As far as I am concerned, although the "Window Washing Duo" has only appeared in two cameo scenes, their wonderful performance is comparable to that of the hapless welding robot that was kept outside the spaceship in "Robots".
When the film was released in China, there was only a dubbed version. As a cartoon, this dubbed version is definitely a "highlight". There are many lines in it that have been circulated on the Internet, such as "Don't be obsessed with brother, brother is just a legend", the effect is quite ridiculous. It may be due to the need for distribution in the mainland. There are also many Chinese elements in the film, especially some of the dubbing lines. I suspect that it was later modified for the needs of the mainland market-the heroine said with big blue eyes. After "I am Chinese", the audience laughed.
This film is a traditional 3D animation (it is not what it used to be, 3D animation has become "traditional"). Today, when 3D animation is fully stereoscopic, "Astro Boy" has not become a stereoscopic movie. I feel a bit regretful. Due to the production characteristics of 3D animation, as long as the investment can be increased by 20%-30%, 3D animation can be transformed into a three-dimensional movie. Under the current domestic market environment of rapid development of three-dimensional cinema, the market for a 3D animation The share should be valued.
View more about Astro Boy reviews
