canflam

Welcome to the thread everyone! I will admit that I did not watch ''Speed Racer'' as a child. I have seen some of it as an adult & will catch hopefully all of its original Anime episodes on D.V.D. this year. The ''Speed Racer'' Live-Action film I have not watched as of this time. I think that it has gotten mixed reviews, but I do want to see it at some point. For those not familiar with ''Speed Racer'', it is about an 18-year-old guy named ''Speed'' that competes on the International racing circuit. There fights & explosions in ''Speed Racer'' & it is rated ''TV-Y7''. it originally ran from April 2nd, 1967-March 31st, 1968. I will post more gifs & images soon. Thank you all for visiting this thread to discuss this classic Anime!

canflam

Here is some news:

J.J. Abrams Is Rebooting Speed Racer for Apple TV+ - And the Timing Is Perfect

The Wachowski's already proved how well the Speed Racer anime can work as live-action film. But will J.J. Abrams manage to capture that same magic?

The long-running manga and anime series One Piece has been adapted into live-action and will stream on Netflix on Aug. 31, 2023. But given the streamer's past failures with their live-action adaptations of anime like the short-lived Cowboy Bebop series and the Death Note movie, many are now fearing One Piece will end up a similar failure. Live-action re-imaginings of anime don't exactly have the best track record of living up to fan expectations and paying respect to their source material. Ironically, Speed Racer (aka Mach GoGoGo in Japan) seems to be one of the very rare exceptions.

While the Wachowskis' film adaptation of the classic manga and anime franchise from 2008 was a box office disappointment, it has garnered an impressive cult following over the years. It is now considered by many fans to be the gold standard for live-action takes on anime. In the current age of live-action reboots of animated properties, Deadline reported in 2022 that another Speed Racer live-action adaptation from J.J. Abrams is in the works for Apple TV+, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. But when faced with the more recent failures of anime adaptations, does Speed Racer have what it takes to avoid a similar fate?

Speed Racer is considered to be one of the most groundbreaking anime series for its time. The original Mach GoGoGo manga by Tatsuo Yoshida and its subsequent anime adaptation in the 1960s carried all the dangerous action and excitement one would expect from a series about automobile racing. It also had highly entertaining and memorable characters, along with an equally captivating narrative that made the show worth keeping up with. While the anime is certainly dated by today's standards, it helped introduce an American audience to anime and played an important role as a stepping stone towards its popularization. It also provided Hollywood with the blueprint to create a bizarrely unique big-budget action film.

The Wachowskis' live-action Speed Racer adaptation managed to keep the cores of the characters, as well as the humor and drama between them. The Wachowskis successfully made the characters just as compelling as the anime first did. It was in the look and visuals of the film, however, where they truly pulled out all the stops. The film's overly stylized visuals and cinematography were not appreciated nearly as much at the time. Even more so with the attempt to modernize the anime's campiness while providing just enough heartfelt emotion to still be taken seriously.

The Wachowskis' film has gained overdue praise and cult status over the years. However, a return to television -- especially in live-action -- could mean trouble for Speed Racer's revival. Despite the controversy behind many of Netflix's live-action anime-based productions that have resulted in the cancelation of any planned continuations, there are lessons that Abrams and Apple TV+ can learn from them. Netflix's Cowboy Bebop, for example, faced heavy amounts of criticism for the changes it made to its characters and how it seemingly put style ahead of substance. Thus, it failed to find the proper balance between the two.

Unlike Cowboy Bebop, however, Speed Racer has already proven itself capable of translating well into live-action. Like most adaptations, it would need to make some necessary creative changes for it to properly function and stand out as its own thing. But much like the film, it would need to find a way to update the material enough for modern audiences while still keeping in touch with the charm and storytelling strengths of the anime.

Of course, the series would also need to avoid directly copying the Wachowkis film if it wants to succeed on its own. It would need to understand and capture the elements that made both the anime and live-action film work while also developing its own voice and identity. If it manages to impress viewers and carry the same amount of heart, humor, and over-the-top excitement as its predecessors, Abram's live-action Speed Racer series might just live to see another season.

https://www.cbr.com/jj-abrams-speed-...erfect-timing/

canflam

Speed Racer, the Perfect Anime Adaptation

The Wachowski sisters’ 2008 adaptation of Speed Racer is not a perfect film. It possesses its fair share of odd pacing issues, some distracting and weak effects shots in its daytime sequences, and at times dialogue of dubious quality. However, these blemishes are just one facet of what makes it the perfect adaptation of 1967’s Mach GoGoGo.

In adapting Speed Racer, the Wachowskis succeed by walking the tightrope of demonstrating reverence for the source material while never being afraid to push aesthetic boundaries and add greater depth to the narrative. Part of this is the use of intentional evocations of the original work via nods to existing characters and aesthetic elements, as well as new creations that neatly slot into that framework. Then, there are parallels drawn in the actual creation of both the original work and its adaptation, both created in a technical liminal space and emphasizing stylized effects work that render both texts highly distinct. Lastly, there are those decisions made for the adaptation that emphasize the story’s pre-existing family melodrama and critiques of capitalism, presented with utmost sincerity and an undeniable heart that adds a greater emotional coherence—and makes Speed Racer 2008 stand out and shine among Hollywood’s attempts to adapt anime to live action.

1967’s Mach GoGoGo was the brainchild of sibling duo and Tatsunoko co-founders Tatsuo and Toyoharu (better known as Ippei Kuri) Yoshida. The series was their first full-color show, made in the wake of their 1965 television debut Space Ace, and represented a massive leap forward. Taking inspiration from Elvis vehicles like Viva Las Vegas and James Bond adventures like Goldfinger, as well as the brothers’ own comics work in Yoshida’s Pilot Ace and Kuri’s Mach Sanshiro, Mach GoGoGo tells the story of Go Mifune (Speed Racer) as he confronts gangsters, rival racers, ninjas, and even mutant gorillas with the aid of the Mifune family, his girlfriend Michi, and the watchful eye of the mysterious Masked Racer.

The brothers’ aesthetic sensibilities, heavily influenced by American comic books, are far more pronounced in this work than in Space Ace, informing the more realistically proportioned, detailed designs of the series’ cast. This element, when combined with the need for mechanical animation, would push Tatsunoko to develop new production methods to compensate for a massively increased workload that also necessitated superior draftsmanship. Without a tracing machine to transfer line art directly to cels (a method that would prove essential for future anime titles emphasizing high detail), it was up to the art department and Tatsunoko’s newly assembled internal photography crew to pick up the slack, resulting in a highly distinct visual style that remains fairly unique to Mach GoGoGo.

This is a long article, so I will give you all the link to it.

https://www.animeherald.com/2023/10/...me-adaptation/