Astro Boy (film)

Astro Boy is a 2009 American computer-animated superhero film loosely based on the manga series of the same name by the Japanese writer and illustrator Osamu Tezuka. It was produced by Imagi Animation Studios, and directed by David Bowers,[5] who co-wrote the screenplay with Timothy Harris. Freddie Highmore provides the voice of Astro Boy in the film[6] alongside the voices of Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Charlize Theron, and Donald Sutherland.

Astro Boy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Bowers
Produced by
  • Maryann Garger
  • Kuzuka Yayoki
Screenplay by
Story byDavid Bowers
Based onAstro Boy
by Osamu Tezuka
Starring
Music byJohn Ottman
CinematographyPepe Valencia
Edited byRobert Anich
Production
company
Distributed bySummit Entertainment
Release date
  • October 8, 2009 (2009-10-08) (Hong Kong)
  • October 23, 2009 (2009-10-23) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes
Country
  • United States
  • Hong Kong[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$65 million[3]
Box office$42 million[4]

The film was released by Summit Entertainment. This was the last film produced by Imagi Animation Studios before the company shut down on February 5, 2010. The film was first released in Hong Kong on October 8, 2009, and in the United States on October 23, 2009. It received mixed reviews from film critics and was a box office bomb, earning $42 million worldwide on a $65 million budget.

Plot

Toby Tenma is a teenager boy who lives in Metro City, a futuristic city-state that floats above the now-polluted surface of the earth. Toby's father, Dr. Tenma, is a famous roboticist and Minister of Science, but has a distant relationship with Toby. Dr. Tenma meets the city's obstructive and corrupt leader President Stone to demonstrate a new, advanced defensive robot called the Peacekeeper, to be powered by Dr. Tenma's best friend Dr. Elefun's newest creations, the Blue and Red Cores, two energy cores that emit respective opposing positive and negative energy. Against the scientists' warnings, Stone, desperate to win re-election, loads the Red Core into the Peacekeeper. This causes it to go berserk and Toby, who had snuck into the room, is accidentally disintegrated by the Peacekeeper before it can be shut down.

A distraught-driven Tenma secretly constructs an android replica of Toby, and programs him with all of Toby's memories, but also makes his body with built-in defenses to protect him. Powered by the Blue Core, the replica is activated and believes himself to be Toby, but although he has Toby's mind and a similar personality, it makes him become an unfortunate reminder to Tenma about Toby's death. The replica discovers his robot capabilities including the ability to understand non-talking robots and rocket-powered flight, but he flies away upon learning from Tenma of his origins and being rejected by him, much to Elefun's sadness. Stone has his forces pursue the replica, but the battle leads to him falling off the city edge to the surface when Stone's flagship blasts him with missiles. Tenma escapes arrest by agreeing to deactivate the replica and give up the blue core.

The replica awakens in an enormous junkyard, created from the redundant robots dumped by Metro City. He meets a group of children, illiterate but smart Zane, twins Sludge and Widget, and the oldest Cora who has a grudge against Metro City, that are accompanied by a dog-like waste disposal robot named Trashcan. The replica also meets the members of the Robot Revolutionary Front (RRF), Sparx the brains, Robotsky the muscle, and Mike the Fridge, who plan to free robots from mankind's control, but are very inept and bound by the Laws of Robotics. While attempting to recruit him for their cause, they rename the replica "Astro". After a brief standoff, Astro departs with the children and finds, contrary to the belief of the citizens of Metro City, that people still live on the surface. He is taken in by robot repairman Hamegg, who also runs a robot fighting ring and claims his love for robots. The next day, Astro comes across an old, offline construction robot, Zog, whom he revives by sharing some of the Blue Core's energy. Hamegg accidentally scans Astro, finding out he is really a robot and paralyzes him with his electrical blaster the next day to use him in the fighting ring.

Astro reluctantly defeats Hamegg's fighters until Zog is deployed. He refuses to fight Zog and finds that Zog refuses to fight him. When Hamegg cruelly assaults them both, Zog, who predates the Laws of Robotics, fights back and attempts to kill him. However, Astro protects Hamegg, showing mercy to the former. Stone's forces arrive to take Astro back to Metro City, and he willingly surrenders himself and goes with them. Reuniting with Tenma and Elefun, Astro agrees to be deactivated, apologizing to his father for not being a satisfying way to replace Toby. Realizing even though Astro wasn't Toby, he's still his son, Dr. Tenma reactivates him and lets him escape. Furious, Stone reloads the Red Core into the Peacekeeper to send it after Astro, only for it to absorb him and take on his personality. The Peacekeeper then absorbs weapons and buildings, causing it to become as big as skyscrapers and terrorizes Metro City, prompting Astro to battle it. During the fight, as Astro's surface friends try to help him, Metro City's power station is destroyed, causing it to fall to the ground. Astro uses his superhuman strength to help it land safely.

The Peacekeeper tries absorbing Astro to obtain his core, but the connection of their cores causes them both pain before separating them. Dr. Tenma finds Astro and informs him if the two cores unite, they will be destroyed. When the children are captured, Astro selflessly flies into the Red Core, destroying the Peacekeeper. Stone survives but is arrested for his actions. Elefun and the children find Astro's body, slightly damaged but lifeless. Zog however, revives Astro by sharing back the Blue Core energy that revived him. As Astro reunites with all his friends and his father, the city is suddenly attacked by a monstrous cycloptic extraterrestrial, and Astro immediately leaps into action.

Cast
  • Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy and Toby Tenma, Astro is a robot duplicate of Toby, Dr. Tenma's son.
  • Nicolas Cage as Dr. Tenma, Toby's dad, Astro's creator, and the Minister of Science of Metro City.
  • Kristen Bell as Cora,[7] a teenager girl who lives on the surface and befriends Astro.
  • Samuel L. Jackson as ZOG, a 100-year-old construction robot brought back to life by Astro's blue-core energy.
  • Matt Lucas as Sparx, the leader of the Robot Revolutionary Front.
  • Eugene Levy as Orrin, Tenma's cowardly robot household servant.
  • Bill Nighy as Dr. Elefun, Dr. Tenma's best friend & associate; and as Robotsky, the muscle of the Robot Revolutionary Front.
  • Donald Sutherland as President Stone, the ruthless and highly ambitious corrupt President of Metro City who is running for re-election.
  • Nathan Lane as Hamegg, a surface-dweller who repairs machines and then uses them in his fighting tournament.
  • Charlize Theron as the voice of "Our Friends" Narrator, of an educational video seen at the film's beginning.
  • David Bowers as Mike the Fridge, a talking refrigerator and third member of the Robot Revolutionary Front.
  • Moisés Arias as Zane, a surface-dwelling child.
  • Alan Tudyk as Mr. Squeegee, a cleaning robotic
  • David Alan Grier as Mr. Squirt, a cleaning robot.
  • Madeline Carroll as Widget, Sludge's twin.
  • Sterling Beaumon as Sludge, Widget's twin.
  • Dee Bradley Baker as Trashcan, a dog-like robot that eats the rubbish.
  • Elle Fanning as Grace, a girl from Hamegg's house who kicks President Stone's leg.
  • Ryan Stiles as Mr. Mustachio, Toby's teacher.
  • Newell Alexander as General Heckler, President Stone's second in-command.
  • Victor Bonavida as Sam, a teenager boy from Hamegg's house.
  • Tony Matthews as Cora's dad.
  • Bob Logan as Stinger One, President Stone's pilot henchman who leads a group of aircraft with suction tubes and is dispatched to capture Astro.
  • Ryan Ochoa as Rick, another teenager boy from Hamegg's house.

Production

Development

In 1997, Sony Pictures Entertainment purchased the film rights to Astro Boy from Tezuka Productions, intending to produce a live-action feature film. Todd Alcott was set to write the screenplay, but the film halted in 2000 when Steven Spielberg began A.I., another film with a robot boy who replaces a dead child.[8] In December 2001, Sony hired Eric Leighton to direct an all-CGI film, with Angry Films and Jim Henson Productions producing it for a 2004 release.[9] A screenplay draft was written, but the film did not go into production, and Leighton left in early 2003 to pursue other film projects. In June 2004, animator Genndy Tartakovsky was hired to direct a live-action/animatronics/CGI feature film.[8] After writing the script, the film didn't go into the production, and Tartakovsky left next year to direct 3-D-animated feature films at a new studio, Orphanage Animation Studios.[10] Few months later it was revealed, that he was set to direct The Dark Crystal sequel, The Power of the Dark Crystal, another co-production with Jim Henson Productions.[11] In September 2006, it was announced that Hong Kong-based animation firm Imagi Animation Studios would produce a CGI animated Astro Boy film,[12] with Colin Brady directing it.[13] A year later, the studio made a three-picture distribution deal with Warner Bros. and The Weinstein Company, which also included TMNT and Gatchaman.[14] In 2008, Summit Entertainment took over the film's distribution rights.[15] The same year, Brady was replaced with David Bowers, who previously directed Flushed Away.[16]

Design
Image of Astro Boy in an early prerelease footage

When adapting the film for a western audience and making the leap from 2D to 3D, some changes to Astro had to be made. The more challenging was his kawaii portrayal, part of which were his large eyes and curly eyelashes, features that the filmmakers thought made him too feminine. Imagi had several discussions on how round and curvy Astro's body proportions should be and in the end they were made slimmer. The by-product of these changes was Astro's Caucasian look.[17] In early development Astro's design was younger, resembling his iconic design of a 6-year-old boy. The design team changed that and made him look like a 13-year-old to appeal to a larger audience.[17] They also gave him a white shirt, and a blue jacket since they thought it would be strange to have a normal boy running around without one.[18] They also replaced his heart-shaped energy core with a glowing blue one.[19]

Music

The score to Astro Boy was composed by John Ottman, who recorded his score with a 95-piece orchestra and choir at Abbey Road Studios.[20] A soundtrack album was released on October 20, 2009, by Varèse Sarabande Records. Songs in Astro Boy not composed by John Ottman are as follows: Breezy Day, composed by Roger-Roger. All Right, written by Daniel Goffey, Gaz Coombes and Michael Quinn and performed by Supergrass. Marching Down the Field, composed by Harry Edwards.[21]

Release

Marketing

Beginning in May 2009 and continuing through September 2009, IDW Publishing published a "prequel" and comic book adaptation of the film as both mini-series and in graphic novel format to coincide with the North American release of the film in October 2009. A model of a motionless Astro Boy waiting to be powered up was set up at Peak Tower, Hong Kong, outside Madame Tussauds Hong Kong in September 2009. A panel of the film was held at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 23, 2009.[22]

Home media

Astro Boy was released in the US on DVD and Blu-ray March 16, 2010, by Summit Entertainment. Both releases include two new animated sequences; a featurette with the voice cast including Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Freddie Highmore and Donald Sutherland, among others; three other featurettes about drawing Astro Boy, making an animated movie and getting the Astro Boy look; and an image gallery.[23] In Japan a special Limited Edition Astro Boy Premium Box Set was released. It featured the same content from the US release with the exception of it spanning on two DVDs (One the film, the other special features with two bonus features exclusive to Japanese) and has both English and Japanese dub (along with English and Japanese subtitles.) The box set also comes with a DVD (containing a single story on Astro's first flight and an image gallery), Dr Tenma's Project Notes (featuring 80 pages of 3-D-CGI models, character art and set designs from the film), a Micro SD (featuring the motion manga Atomu Tanjo (Birth of Astro Boy) originally written by Osamu Tezuka), a postcard of 1980 Astro Boy flying, a small bookmark (that is actually a reel from the film inside a plastic cover) and Astro's blueprints from the film.[24][25]

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 50% of 137 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.6 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that "While it isn't terribly original, and it seems to have a political agenda that may rankle some viewers, Astro Boy boasts enough visual thrills to please its target demographic."[26] On Metacritic, which assigns an average rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 53 based on 22 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[27]

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B and wrote of the film having "little too much lost-boys-and-girls mopiness", but "Astro Boy is a marvelously designed piece of cartoon kinetics..."[28] Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Times gave the mixed review claiming "The kids won't get it but will enjoy the big, climactic robot rumpuses, which owe a heavy debt to Brad Bird's The Iron Giant".[29]

Box office

The film was a flop in Japan, appearing at the bottom of the opening week's Top 10 rankings and earning only $328,457. Conversely, the film was very successful in China, breaking a box-office record for a CGI animated film. This follows the same pattern as Dragonball Evolution and Speed Racer, other American-produced films based on Japanese sources that were not big hits in the land of their origin but were very successful in China.[30] The film also was a box office bomb in the U.S., opening at #6, grossing $6.7 million,[31] losing out to the similarly retro Where the Wild Things Are. It remained in the Top 10 for three weeks. When it closed in January 2010, it had a total gross of $20 million.[32] Due to these factors, the film would only produce a worldwide gross of $44.6 million against a $65 million budget.

Video game
Main article: Astro Boy: The Video Game

A video game based on the film was released on October 20, 2009, by D3 Publisher to coincide with the film's theatrical release.[33] The Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP versions were developed by High Voltage Software, and the Nintendo DS version by Art Co., Ltd.[34]

See also

References
  1. Barker, Andrew (October 14, 2009). "Review: 'Astro Boy'". Variety. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  2. "Astro Boy (2009)". British Film Institute. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  3. Frater, Patrick (October 10, 2009). "Imagi hitches rocket to 'Astro Boy'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  4. "Astro Boy (2009) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  5. "Pilar Flynn Joins Imagi's 'Astro Boy' as Associate Producer" (Press release). Anime News Network. August 21, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  6. "Freddie Highmore Signed for Imagi Studios' Astro Boy" (Press release). Anime News Network. February 28, 2008. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  7. Topel, Fred (July 1, 2009). "Astro Boy's Kristen Bell ready to win more fanboy hearts as an anime urchin". Blastr. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  8. Brodesser, Claude (June 2, 2004). "'Astroboy' takes off". Variety. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  9. Brodesser, Claude (December 9, 2011). "Sony finds Rx for its f/x". Variety. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  10. Fritz, Ben (October 10, 2005). "Fine-tooning moves". Variety. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  11. Fleming, Michael (January 31, 2006). "Henson taps 'Dark' lord". Variety. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  12. "Imagi to give new life to mighty Atom via "Astro Boy" CG animation feature film" (PDF). Imagi. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 26, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  13. Billington, Alex (November 12, 2007). "Exclusive: AstroBoy Concept Art and Director Interview". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  14. "Imagi Animation Studios enters into global distribution agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures and the Weinstein Company" (PDF). Imagi. September 27, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  15. "Summit Entertainment and Imagi Studios announce partnership on Astro Boy" (PDF). Imagi. June 17, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  16. Frater, Patrick (January 24, 2008). "David Bowers takes on 'Astro Boy'". Variety. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  17. Loh, Sherwin (January 4, 2009). "Astro Boy's makeover". The Star. Archived from the original on December 15, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  18. Neuman, Clayton (October 19, 2009). "Astro Boy Director David Bowers on the Challenge of Animating Spiky Hair". FilmCritic.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  19. Guiting, Lizerne (July 21, 2009). "Astro Boy Studio Visit: Get Ready for the Butt Guns!". Fandango. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  20. Dan Goldwasser (October 13, 2009). "John Ottman scores Astro Boy". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  21. IMDb (2009). "Astro Boy (2009)". www.imdb.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  22. "SDCC 09: Astro Boy Takes on Comic-Con". IGN. July 23, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  23. "Summit Entertainment to Release "Astro Boy" on DVD and Blu-Ray March 16, 2010". Anime News Network. February 19, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  24. "Astro Boy (2009) Premium Box (DVD) (First Press Limited Edition) (Japan Version)". YesAsia.com. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  25. "Atom/Astro boy Premium DVD box available in English!". CD Japan. January 12, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  26. "Astro Boy (AstroBoy) (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  27. "Astro Boy". Metacritic. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  28. Gleiberman, Owen (October 23, 2009). "Astro Boy (2009)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  29. Whipp, Glenn (October 23, 2009). "'Astroboy'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  30. J. Blair, Gavin (October 27, 2009). "'Astro Boy' bombs in Japan, takes off in China". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  31. "Weekend Box Office Results for October 23-25, 2009". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  32. "Astro Boy (2009) - Daily Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  33. "Imagi Studios & D3Publisher Ink Exclusive Worldwide Videogame Publishing Agreement for Astro Boy". D3Publisher. November 5, 2008. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  34. "D3Publisher to Bring Summit Entertainment and Imagi Studios' ASTRO BOY to Wii™, Nintendo DS™, PlayStation®2 System, and PSP® System This Fall". Business Wire. May 7, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
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