"Astro Boy": Is this image outdated?

Mckenzie 2022-03-25 09:01:15

From the perspective of the life cycle of cartoon images, only those images that are considered to be outdated or about to be outdated, but still hopeless or the manufacturers are unwilling to let them outdated, will be used for remakes, in case they Losses caused by exhaustion. Although this sentence is a bit awkward, it is a rule. So my point of view is that Astro Boy was remade into a movie, not a sign that it has more and more market value, but a sign that it is gradually losing its market value. Note that I'm talking about market value here, not artistic value.

Please forgive me, who was born in 1983, for saying something that may have made many brothers and sisters nostalgic for Astro Boy heartache. This cartoon came to China in 1980, before I was born, and I hardly had any impression of the huge response it had at that time, nor did I have any special feelings for this image. But this sense of anachronism in the image of Astro that I displayed was precisely one reason why it had to be remade. Because Astro Boy needs new audiences in the new era, and needs new children to like and recognize and admire, not just some audiences who have grown up and are full of nostalgia for them. It is undeniable that the nostalgic group is one of the basic audience groups this film hopes to attract, but its larger target must be children, otherwise Astro Boy will have no future.

Astro Boy's image first appeared in the comics in 1952; it was adapted into a TV cartoon in 1963, and set a record with an average rating of more than 30%; in 1980, the color Astro Boy TV animation 2 came out - Although what Japan sold to China at that time was still the old black and white film from 1963; in 2003 Astro Boy TV animation was remade again using more modern technology; in 2009, Astro Boy animation film version came out. This is basically the history of the remake of the image of Astro, from which we can see that every 20 years or so it gets remade to great fanfare. why? Because every 20 years, the original small audience will grow up, and a new group of small audience will be born who have not seen Astro Boy.

Although I don't have the ratings data of Astro Boy's TV cartoon in 2003, I think it will not be very good, not only can't compare with the record set in that year, it may not even reach the average TV cartoon at that time. level. Because Astro Boy's subject matter, and even Astro Boy's image itself, have distinct colors of the 1950s and 1960s. When it first came out, it was trendy and sci-fi, but today it is a little behind - today , In the era of various intelligent, all-round and high-energy robots, what is 100,000 horsepower?

The first Astro Boy TV animation in 1963 defined the seven powers of this image as:
1. No matter how complex the calculation can be completed in 1 second
2. Can speak 60 languages
​​3. The hearing of ordinary people is 1000 times higher, Capable of capturing 20 million hertz of ultrasonic waves
4. The eyes can emit perspective light 5.
100,000 horsepower atomic power
6. There is jet power under the feet 7
.

The definition of the seven powers of this image is:
1. Equipped with electronic brain equipment in the chest, mastering 160 languages
​​2. 1000 times the hearing of ordinary people
3. The eyes can emit perspective light
4. 100,000 horsepower, heavy-hydrogen fuel Nuclear power
5. Arms and feet are equipped with jet power, which can fly in the air
. 6. There is a launch gun in the waist, 600 bursts per minute.
7. The hand can be turned into a laser gun

. The seven powers of the 2009 movie animation are:
1. Can understand robot language, equipped with an artificial brain transplanted with all of Toby's memory and DNA
2. Perspective eyes
3. Blue core heart, stronger and safer than atoms
4 , super strength
5. The feet are equipped with jet power, which can fly in the air
. 6. The buttocks can shoot
guns

. Although the film uses a large number of special effects and extremely tense shots, it seems to be better than the old films of the 1960s in terms of expression; but from these basic settings with sci-fi colors, today's Astro Boy is better than the original. There doesn't seem to be a revolutionary change. Although this is a last resort to continue the consistent setting of this image, it does bring some negative effects objectively, that is, the concepts and sci-fi settings that may have been very new in the 1960s seem to have been Not surprising, especially the core settings such as perspective eyes, foot jets, and arm cannons.

Therefore, the reasons why children like and worship Astro Boy are greatly weakened. This is the biggest problem facing this image. Astro Boy is not a funny Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, funny can be done anytime, but science fiction has a strong background of the times. This film attempts to use a visual feast to make up for the lack of some novelty that 60s sci-fi looks like today, but this can't hide the huge challenges this image will face in the future unless it dares to reset the seven majors. power, making them more contemporary sci-fi and advanced. Of course, as far as the depth of Astro Boy's text is concerned, some propositions of exploring mechanism are still very profound even today, but this is not enough to constitute the key reason for this image to attract children's attention.

We see three basic forms in the life cycle of cartoon images: one is like Detective Conan, which prolongs its life cycle through continuous shooting, which also makes its audience unbroken; the other is The image is positioned in a short life cycle; there is another image that extends the life cycle through remakes once in a few years - Astro Boy is the third type.

Remakes are always full of commercial premise, and their original intention is often not only to attract the consumption of nostalgic groups, but more importantly to establish a new generation of consumer groups, which is of great significance to the continued survival of an image. As far as Astro Boy is concerned, we cannot say that its textual value is outdated, but even this cartoon image, which has been in the annals of history forever, will still face an existential crisis, and at this time, remake is a necessary means. However, for Astro Boy, who is a sci-fi theme, the effect that can be achieved by its remake will not be very obvious when it does not solve the problem of the limitations of the times of sci-fi elements.

View more about Astro Boy reviews

Extended Reading
  • Christy 2022-03-18 09:01:05

    "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Astro Boy!"

  • Obie 2022-03-26 09:01:10

    Zhang Tielin I don't like you,,,,

Astro Boy quotes

  • The Little Stinker: [Last words] I got a boo-boo!

  • Cora: So, where are you from, non-robot?

    Astro Boy: I'm from Metro City.

    Cora: [sarcastically] Metro City? Can't you believe it, guys? He's from Metro City and he's actually talking to me.

    Astro Boy: Are you feeling okay?

    Cora: Oh, my Gosh! He talked to me twice! This is definitely going in my diary as the most exciting day of my life!