Astro Bus

Let's turn back the clock and go all the way back to the year 2009 for some pictures of a bus decorated to advertise the November 5th release of the Astro Boy movie in Singapore. Glad someone was able to capture these images, as I didn't see anything like it at the time. I guess you could call this a promotional vehicle!


Astro Boy Bus by ~tintinspartan on deviantART


Astroboy Flying Over Taxis by ~tintinspartan on deviantART


Astroboy Soaring To The Roads by ~tintinspartan on deviantART

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Astro Key Chains

Found these Astro Boy key chains awhile back, but I don't remember where. They seem to come from China. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether they are officially licensed merchandise or not.

Astro's face is... unique, to say the least. His eyes look kind of funny. But that makes these kind of interesting. The variety of available figures based on Astro's different appearances in the movie is pretty cool.

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Imagi Selling CGI Models

A collection of 3D digital objects made by Imagi for their animated works, including TMNT and Astro Boy, can now be purchased for use by other studios and animators. You can see Dr. Tenma's books, Toby's hat, and some futuristic buildings as part of the examples shown. These are just general items, things like props and buildings, not copyrighted characters.
From what I understand, this is not an unusual thing. It saves time and money to use 3D resources that have already been made over developing them from scratch. It would be quiet interesting to see if anything distinctive from the Astro Boy movie ever shows up in another film.

See the entire CG Model Library here.

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One Year Ago.

Hard to believe, but today, October 23rd, marks the 1 year anniversary of the release in the Astro Boy movie. Time flies, huh?

Clearly, the theatrical release of this movie didn't exactly set the box office on fire, but I know for a fact that the film has won people over and built up a respectable fanbase in the time since. It's a good film, and it's a shame that so many people missed out on it at first. But now, thanks in good part to the release of the Astro Boy movie, many more people have become familiar with the character and his story, and the works of Osamu Tezuka continue to flourish around the world. No matter what the numbers say, I count that as a win.

I think this movie holds up pretty well to repeat viewings. There are a lot of fun Easter-eggs and Tezuka-esque gags throughout the movie that you might have missed the first time. So, take some time out at some point this weekend and watch the Astro Boy movie again, then post a comment below and talk about your experience. Get your friends and family involved too. If you haven't seen it in awhile, I think you might like it even better now than you did when you first saw it. And if you've never seen it, there is no better time than right now to give it a chance and see what this future cult classic is all about.

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Astro Boy Movie in 3D

There have been some rumblings about this in the past, but now we know that it's true. The Astro Boy movie will be released in 3D!

If you have the special glasses, you can watch a trailer on YouTube. Notice the "Coming Soon in 3D" text that sets this trailer apart from previous ones.

You can read more about the 3D version of Astro Boy here and download the trailer for yourself (3D video player required). Informatuion about 3D Blu Ray home theaters can be found here. Big time thanks to Lisa Sapphire for sending me these links!

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Astro Movie now on DVD+Blu Ray in UK

The Astro Boy movie has been released on home video formats this week in the UK. Clearly, the UK release of the film has lagged behind the North American release by several months, both theatrically and at home, but for their patience it looks like the UK buyers get a special welcomed bonus. Unlike in North America, the UK release of the Astro Boy Blu Ray comes as a Blu Ray + DVD combo pack. Or Combi-Pack as they seem to say over there. Silly Brits.

The features seem to be exactly the same as the North American release, but I must say that I like the cover artwork much better. It's more based on the final movie poster and really has that great classic Astro Boy look to it with all the other characters and funny robots around him. The composition works suprisingly well and the critic's quote isn't nearly as obtrusive.

You can see a listing for it on Play.com UK.

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Scott Seeto - Art of Astro Boy - Vehicles

Here's some more concept artwork from the Astro Boy movie, this batch coming from artist Scott Seeto. This post will focus on the futuristic vehicle designs, some of which may not have made it into the film. Some of his sketches were done on Post-It notes.

Scott clearly did a lot of work for Astro and you can see more on his blog. I'll post further entires here later. Thanks again to Felix Ip!

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John Nevarez - Art of Astro Boy

Although there will unfortunately not be a "The Art of Astro Boy" book, former Imagi Creative Director Felix Ip has begun compiling concept artwork from artists who worked on the animated film, starting with the work of John Nevarez.

Some of this work is quite different than what the final film looked like, which goes to show just how much effort and artistry goes into this kind of film.

You can see this amazing collection of images here on Felix's Blog or by clicking the link below.

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Astro Boy Movie Storyboards

Artist James Fuji has posted some development storyboard artwork from the Astro Boy movie.

There's a sequence involving a giant robot (Peacekeeper?) uses Astro as a power source and attacking the floating city, and another featuring Zog and Astro's friends going inside the robot and trying to rescue him. Seems like this must be a different story element that was cut or changed from what finally got animated into the film.

Very cool to see this process!

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Ministry Of Science ID Badges

With thanks again to Felix Ip, the creative and art director of the Astro Boy Movie, here is a look at the Ministry of Science ID cards made for the film. You can see that Dr. Tenma's full name in the movie is William Umataro Tenma, but please, just call him Bill.

Felix's own name appears as a character too, a member of the Elite Special Forces. It's quite amusing that his ID has a picture of him with his helmet on.

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Astro Boy Movie's International Rollout Still Going

This is quite interesting. I had recently found a number of reviews for the Astro Boy Movie coming from newspapers and websites originating in India. It turns out that this film has only just now, as of this past weekend, been released in theaters there. I don't know about the box office but the reviews seem generally positive overall. It appears that the Indian release of the film is in its original English Language.

I didn't realize there were still major markets that had not even gotten a theatrical release of the film yet. It was released in the UK back in the winter, and that seemed like a long wait compared to the Asian and North American releases, but other countries only saw the film's release in recent months. Others still, like Spain, are still having to wait until next month for the film, and there even now some counties have the release of the movie still listed as TBA.

So, clearly, it's not that great if you live somewhere that hasn't gotten to see the film yet while we're here in North America watching it at home on DVD and Blu Ray, but this does mean that there is still money being made on the movie and that can only be a good thing for a film that had a tough time finding an audience in its initial release. So, since this is AstroBoyWorld after all, I invite everyone from any country who has seen the movie to please share your thoughts and let everyone know what you think!

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It's Astro's Birthday!

It's that time of year again! Time to celebrate the birth of our favorite Superstar Anime Robo-Kid! Yes, Astro Boy was born on April 7th in the futuristic year of 2003, making him 7 years old today! You remember 2003, don't you? We were still using flying cars and we all had robot butlers. But we listened to our music on audio cassettes, no fancy iPods here!

All kidding aside, obviously the year 2003 seemed to be in the far-flung future back when Osamu Tezuka was first creating The Mighty Atom as a manga. Subsequent versions of the story moved the year up further as, clearly, technology still hasn't been able to catch up with the awesome imagination of Dr. Tezuka. But even the recent Astro Boy animated movie pays homage to the original birthday, as seen when Astro jets around Metro City the day Dr. Tenma brings him home.

There it is, April 7th!

I wasn't able to look for any more Astro Birthday cakes this year (let me know if you find any) but if you haven't seen them yet, you can read my posts for Astro's 2009 and 2008 birthday's and find lots of cakes.

Everyone go celebrate now! The fact that he's a fictional character shouldn't stop you from celebrating the birth of the coolest 7-year old robot kid on the planet. Happy birthday Astro!

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New Q&A with Freddie

The Ampersand @ The National Post Network has posted a brief question and answer session with Freddie Highmore, the voice of Astro Boy in the movie. There's not much new ground covered here but it's still pretty interesting to read even now that the film is out on video. Here's a sample:

Q: How did you research the role?
A: David Bowers, the director, was very helpful. I took a look at the original comics and met with the film's artists. As the visuals were pretty much in place before I got to add the vocals my job was to bring life to what was already on the screen. If I can make the character real even the action sequences become so much more involving for the audience. At heart, Astro Boy is a robot with amazing super powers who dreams of the human emotions that we all take for granted.

You can read the whole thing here.

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Astro Boy Astro, Apparently.

Wow, this place has lit up ever since the Astro Boy movie was released on DVD and Blu Ray earlier this week. At one point the Visitor Map was glowing with traffic coming from every corner of the globe. I'm glad to see so many people interested in Astro and I hope that the film gets its proper dues now that it has hit the home video market.

Watching it again on Blu Ray has actually surpassed my experience watching it in theaters. I enjoyed it even more seeing it again all these months later. I'll talk about that another time.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to take screen shots from a Blu Ray, and I'd really like to do that so I can make use new images for the site. Can anyone help with a workaround? The only thing I can do right now is actually take a picture of my monitor.

But now, time for a rant.

One thing I'm really not fond of though is the Canadian releases' insistence of adding French text to the box. Not only is the packaging cramped and ugly, but there's a separate menu where the user picks what language to watch the film in. This menu appears BEFORE the main menu! Why? Well, because Astro Boy isn't called Astro Boy in French. No, the movie has an entirely different name all together.

Yes, that's right. Astro Boy in French is called Astro. And so there has to be a separate menu with its own logo. This logo also appears on the cover and spine of the case. Because, obviously, the titles of this movie are just so totally different when you compare the two languages. Ugh.

Don't mean to offend anybody who speaks French (or who enjoys the sight of cramped text on their movie packaging). It's just a pet peeve of mine. The name of the movie is Astro Boy, not "Astro Boy Astro". The new menu is redundant but it doesn't bother me too much. However, I like collecting movies and I care about these things, so I feel that this should have no permanent place on the packaging artwork if I so decide. And that's not the worst example I've ever seen. Did you know that "Hulk" in French is "Hulk (Version français de The Hulk)"?

US buyers should count themselves lucky that they don't have to deal with this. Other than that, it's a good release.

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Astro Boy DVD and Blu Ray TODAY!

The animated Astro Boy movie from Imagi should now be available for purchase in North America at most major retailers and online stores today. If you liked the movie as I did, then make sure you go buy it! There is no better way to show your support for the home video release for a movie than to purchase it during the first week of release.

You can help AstroBoy World by purchasing your copy on DVD or Blu Ray through the AstroBoy World Store. If you insist on visiting your local brick-and-mortar, there are some instant savings coupons available on Red Plum.

There are lots of big DVD and Blu Ray releases this week, but let's make sure Astro gets his due and isn't lost in the shuffle. Check back right here on ABW in the near future for a chance to leave your thoughts on the home video release.

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Astro Boy Landing This Month

The animated Astro Boy movie will be coming home very soon as the film will be released on DVD and Blu Ray in North America on March 16th.

IGN has a more detailed listing of the deleted scenes and featurettes included as bonus features. They are:

-- "Astro vs. The Junkyard Pirates" Animated Sequence
-- "The RRF In: The New Recruit" Animated Sequence
-- "Designing A Hero" featurette
-- "Building Metro City" featurette
-- "Getting The Astro Boy Look" featurette
-- "Inside the Recording Booth" featurette with the all-star cast
-- Astro Boy Image Gallery: Creating a Global Icon

That actually seems pretty good! Still disappointed over the lack of director's commentary, but all things considered it looks like a solid release.

Remember you can order the DVD or Blu Ray from Amazon.com and help support AstroBoyWorld in the process.

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Kid Trapped in Cup Holder. Panic Ensues.

Tragedy struck a screening of the Astro Boy movie in the UK as a young boy gets his arm stuck in a theater seat's cup holder. Kent Online has the story.

A boy had to be freed by firefighters after getting his arm stuck in his cinema seat.

The seven-year-old, who has not been named, was watching Astro Boy at the Cineworld cinema in Medway Valley Park, on Saturday, when he got his arm wedged in the cup holder attached to his seat.

He was watching the film with his neighbour and their children and got stuck around halfway through the film - but didn't tell anyone about his predicament until the credits started to roll.

A member of cinema staff found some baby oil and greased the boy's arm to try to ease it out, but firefighters had to be called in to cut him free.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "It was an unusual job. While we were talking to him he revealed that he'd got it stuck halfway through the film, but didn't tell anyone as he thought he'd be able to get his arm out by the end of the movie and didn't want to get into any trouble.

"His arm was stuck right in the holder up to his bicep."

Concerned director David Bowers had this to say on his Twitter page regarding the unfortunate incident.

"Was it really worth reporting?"

It is now, buddy!

I hope the kid liked the movie anyway. Looks to me that he didn't realize it had happened as he was so engrossed in watching the film. Bet he wishes he had an arm cannon like Astro does.

AstroBoyWorld will continue to deliver all the hard hitting news that matters! Thanks to Robert for the tip!

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What's going on at Imagi?

It's unfortunate, but it's my duty to post the facts as I come to know them, and so I must acknowledge the turmoil happening at Imagi, the animation studio responsible for the Astro Boy movie.

Previously I reported on the closure of Imagi's US office based in Los Angeles, but the cuts don't stop there. Last week, over 300 employees from their Hong Kong base of operations were laid off. There wasn't much information out there at the time, so I held off on reporting it until I could find out more. From what I have gathered, the lay offs were intended to be temporary while the company sought new investments, but the company faced a critical decision at that time whether to keep operations going or to liquidate.

Now it is confirmed that liquidation is exactly what will be going on. Imagi's in-house animation production (known as Imagi Production Limited) is shutting down and their equipment will be sold off.

To clarify, a lot of headlines reporting this news are saying that Imagi is shutting down, but this is not entirely the case. It's is Imagi's animation production that is shutting down, not the entire company. Imagi is still in business and their current plan is to outsource their film production to other animation houses in China.

I will be trying to make sense out of all of this, and what it means to the fans, in a future post here on ABW. In the meantime, a much more detailed official announcement can be found here (.pdf file), and I recommend that everyone read that if you want to know what is really going on. You can also read coverage from Anime News Network, as well as the story from The Associated Press, an archived copy of which I have saved for posterity and can be accessed by clicking the link below.

HK studio behind 'TMNT,' 'Astro Boy' shuts down

By MIN LEE (AP)

HONG KONG — The Hong Kong studio behind "TMNT" and "Astro Boy" has shut down as its parent company tries to recover from losses.

Imagi International Holdings Ltd. said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it stopped funding its computer animation studio on Feb. 5 "to further preserve its limited liquidity and shareholder value." The studio will ask a Hong Kong court to name liquidators, the statement issued Monday said.

But Imagi said it will continue to develop movie ideas and outsource the actual animation work to mainland China and other countries, where costs are lower.

Starting out as a Christmas tree manufacturer, the Hong Kong company went into computer animation in 2000 and was touted as a successful transition to a high-tech economy. In 2007, Imagi released its first feature movie, "TMNT." The English-language production based on the characters from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon series in the 1980s earned a solid $95.6 million worldwide, according to the box office tracking Web site Box Office Mojo.

But Imagi's second release, "Astro Boy," fared poorly last year. Despite hiring an all-star cast including Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson to voice the characters from the Japanese comic book series by the same name, the film only made $23 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

In its latest financial results, Imagi said it recorded a net loss of 726 million Hong Kong dollars ($93.4 million) for the six months that ended on Sept. 30, 2009 — just before "Astro Boy" was released in October.

Imagi also owes some HK$36 million ($4.6 million) in back pay to the 350 employees it laid off, Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing labor organizers working with the former employees.

A woman handling press calls for Imagi said the company had no comment pending a further statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. She declined to give her name.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Astro Movie Finally hits the UK

That's right, the Astro Boy movie has finally arrived on movie screens in the United Kingdom. I have no idea what took so long, but at least now all you poor, deprived Brits can enjoy this fine film. Show your support for this anime icon as well as Greater Manchester's favorite son, director David Bowers.

Just a reminder to both newcomers and to folks who have already seen the film to share your movie reviews!

So stop reading and go see the movie already! Then come back here and tell everyone what you thought!

In addition to the UK release, Astro Boy has also found its way to other countries, including Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Surprisingly, there are still more countries that will be getting the film into the next month, and others that have yet to get a set release date at all at this time. So there is still some money to be made internationally before it's all said and done.

So come on now, rest of the world! It is up to you, now! You've all seen Avatar already, so go give the Astro Boy movie some of the love it deserves!

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Imagi Closes LA Office

Some unfortunate news coming out of Imagi, the Hong Kong based animation studio responsible for the Astro Boy movie. HotStocked.com has the full story. Here's a quote.

"Imagi International Holdings Ltd (OTCBB: IINHY, IINHY message board) has announced large scale review of operations which has mostly negative effect towards the staff.

The company has cut off their US subsidiaries from any funding, the working contracts for 30 employees were terminated and the Los Angeles based office closed. The company was left with only a few important staff members being utilized as consultants and has transferred the functions of the closed office to other contractors."

Very sad to hear that the US office is closed, and my best wishes go out to those who are effected. That said, Imagi has had some tough times and is still resolved to staying active and completing their Gatchaman movie, so perhaps this will wind up being the best solution for now. By the looks of things they will still retain some sort of presence in LA.

Imagi has updated their website recently, with a new logo and a very sharp new design. Let's all hope for an equally revitalized company this new year!

More information can be found thanks to Anime News Network.

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