Spy Vibe goes back to the days of Saturday morning cartoons, when we camped out in living rooms with bowls of cereal for hours of animated pop adventures. If your vibe is vintage superheroes, there are a number of DVD sets available that collect 1960s Filmation, Hanna-Barbera, and Marvel series like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Mighty Thor, Aquaman, The Flash and Hawkman, and later series like the New Adventures of Batman and Super Friends: Legendary Super Powers starring Adam West. You can see documentary featurettes about many of these cartoons on YouTube.
My earliest memories of Saturday morning cartoons are the first wave of Japanese anime: Marine Boy, Gigantor, Astro Boy, and Speed Racer. Although limited by today's standards, I loved the Japanese imports for their use of dynamic depth-staging, James Bond-style gadgets, sense of danger, and exciting action. These stories were often rooted in Space-Age technology and Cold War intrigue. My favorite was Marine Boy (1968-1969), one of the first color cartoons to be dubbed for the US market. Like many of its contemporaries, the cartoon tapped a then-current fascination with undersea exploration.
Marine science and scuba diving captured popular imagination in the late 1950s and 1960s with shows like Sea Hunt (1958-1961), Flipper (1964-1967), Jacques Cousteau (1968-1976), and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968). Just as fans were thrilled by James Bond's mini-breather in Thunderball (1965), and by Gerry Anderson's Stingray (1964-1965), kids tuning into Marine Boy on Saturday mornings got their own hi-tech wish fulfillment for deep sea adventure.
Below is a model kit of the Submarine P1-0 from Marine Boy. The design was reminiscent of the "Flying Sub" in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the "Spindrift" ship in Allen's Land of the Giants (1968-1970). The general form was inspired by real breakthroughs in undersea exploration (see National Geographic April 1964 and Time Magazine March 1960 below).
Marine Boy centered around a young hero who aided the Ocean Patrol in its fight against a weekly rogue's gallery of diabolical masterminds and mechanized terrors. Marine Boy was outfitted for adventure by his father, Dr. Mariner. His arsenal of gadgetry included an indestructible suit, propulsion boots, electric boomerang, radio helmet, retractable flippers, dolphin whistle, and "oxy-gum" to enable the boy to breath under water. The show was unique in that it was produced in Japan, but apparently for first-release run in North America. Canadian actress Corinne Orr provided Marin Boy's voice, as well as voices for other programs like Ultraman and Speed Racer. Marine Boy was out of print for years, but was finally resurrected by Warner Archives. Season One came out in June 2013 and the second season just appeared on the Warner site here.
Season One description from Amazon: "It's Marine Boy! The original "American anime"
classic is here, at last! Produced in Japan but intended for first run in the
US, Marine Boy was one of the first color cartoons to come from Japan, soon to
be sharing syndicated screen space with the likes of Kimba the White Lion and
Speed Racer (with whom it shares a number of voice actors). Teenage Marine Boy
battles evil on and under the seas on behalf of the Ocean Patrol, aided by the
amazing inventions of his father, Dr. Mariner and the brilliant Professor
Fumble. Joining Marine Boy in his mission are his white dolphin, Splasher,
young mermaid Neptina, and fellow Ocean Patrol agents Bullton and Piper. Adding
complication to the mission are the effort of to CliCli prove himself a
miniature Marine Boy. So break out your Oxy-Gum and get ready to dive into the
amazing aquatic animated adventures found on this 3-Disc, 26-Episode
Collection."
Recent Spy Vibe posts: Mary Quant, Patrick Macnee, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Jon Gilbert talks Fleming, Barbarella TV series, Meet the Beatles 50th, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Batman Strips, David Bowie at 67, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Sherlock Exhibit, Fu Manchu history panel, Andy Warhol box set, Six-Million Dollar Man, Striped Light Nude, Buckminster Fuller, Dylan at Newport, Jane and Serge, The Goldfinger Variations, Mod Tales Interview, Pete Seeger, Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, Shane Glines Batman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, new Hercule Poirot novel, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.
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Fans of Japanese tokusatsu and kaiju will be excited to hear that the 1960s classic, Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, will finally see a DVD release. Shout! Factory has put together the complete series on four discs, which will hit the streets as a box set on March 26th. From Shout!: "'Robot, attack! Robot, destroy!' These commands
launched a thousand sci-fi fantasies for budding fans of the genre, just as
they brought Johnny Sokko’s Giant Robot into imminent battle action! Under the
voice control of young Johnny Sokko, the massive, flying metal behemoth would
bring his fiery breath, laser eyes, finger-launched missiles and, above all,
his physical strength into battle with countless menacing monsters bent on
destroying the Earth! This epic fantasy series from Toei Studios aired
from 1967 – 1968 and garnered even more fans in after-school reruns throughout
the 70s. Collected here for the first time on DVD are all 26 episodes of
explosive kaiju battles, nefarious alien takeover plots and mind-blowing
heroics from jet-packed Johnny Sokko and his equally airborne friend and
protector: Giant Robot!"
SPY VIBE FLASHBACK 2009: SPIES, ROBOTS, and MONSTERS!
I led a fun week-long class last week that explored monsters and robots in Japanese culture and in contemporary design. They saw the original Godzilla film, the Japanese version that was censored by the US and remained unreleased here for 50 years due to its anti-nuclear sentiment and references to WWII. We looked at many films, cartoons, Tokusatsu (live-action/special effects shows), and had a special visit with manga scholar/translator, Frederik Schodt (Astro Boy). Two programs we watched had special interest for spy fans, and today I want to highlight the first episode of Giant Robot, known in the US as Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (1967-1968 Toei Production).
The Earth is invaded by a terrorist group called Big Fire (Gargoyle in the US), led by Emperor Guillotine, who commands his minions of henchman and captured scientists (who make monsters- naturally) from his ship beneath the ocean. Enter Johnny Sokko (Daisuke Kusama in Japan), who meets up with a dashing young man, Jerry Mano (Juro Minami in Japan), on a cruise ship. Johnny discovers that Jerry is, in fact, Agent U3 for a top-secret peacekeeping organization called Unicorn. Jerry’s cover is blown when his pen starts ringing! Jerry extends an antenna and contacts his boss at HQ- a rather colorful version of U.N.C.L.E. headquarters.
The ship is attacked by a giant sea monster, and our two heroes find themselves castaways on a beach and quickly captured by the alien terrorists. The baddies in Johnny Sokko are designed with a wonderful mix of evil elements- black berets, sunglasses, Nazi salutes, and sci-fi makeup. Jerry and Johnny break free and an intense gunfight ensues that would never been seen in a US-produced kid’s show. Jerry uses a guard as a shield. The poor henchman doesn’t stand a chance and his pals riddle him with bullets. Even Johnny is armed with a pistol and looks super heroic despite his mini-shorts.
The action and camera work are fast-paced and fun. Jerry and Johnny race through corridors and down an elevator where they discover the Giant Robot and a scientist who has been held prisoner to do Guillotine’s bidding. The man gives Johnny the robot’s control-watch. In James Bond fashion, the heroes blow up the secret lair and shoot it out on the beach. When things get tough, Jerry reminds Johnny that he now possesses the watch that controls the robot. The boy flips open the top, makes his first commands, and a franchise is born! Johnny is brought into Unicorn as Agent U7, and joins the secret fight against the alien terrorists.
It was interesting to talk with Fred Schodt about the violence that we see in Japanese pop culture. There is an edge to the storytelling, seen even in live-action and animated shows from the early 1960s, which remains compelling for American viewers. Johnny Quest was pretty cool and dangerous for its time. But imagine if Johnny Quest, like Sokko, had been allowed to carry a pistol and command a giant robot! In Japan there is generally a greater distinction between fantasy and reality, which is one reason that creators in Japan have explained the graphic tone of their content. They didn’t have a Dr. Wertham, for example, leading a Congressional charge that comics were inciting youth to violence. Fred Schodt agreed, and added that Japan’s low crime rate, gun control, and overall group-sensitivity in the culture would help maintain a boundary between fantasy and what can be expected to happen in real life. But as Japan experiences more of the kind of violence that happens in the US, he added, maybe those lines will blur and the graphic tone will become an issue.
Now, back to that giant robot! While the secret agents are talking into their pen communicators and shooting it out with baddies, Johnny’s robot has quite an arsenal at his disposal: Finger Missiles, Back Missile, Bazooka Cannon (which fires out of the top of the robot's head), Eye Ray/Beams, Flamethrower (from his mouth) and Electrocution Wires. If you are a fan of Japanese monsters, heroes, and toys (and love spies!), Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (Giant Robot) is a campy and fun adventure!
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SPIES, ROBOTS, AND MONSTERS II
Gigantor (1964)
Japanese monsters and robots conclude their attack on Spy Vibe, as I highlight the second show from my course last week, Gigantor! Based on the Japanese comic and animation, Tetsujin 28, Gigantor was developed for western viewers by Fred Ladd. Ladd was inspired by an image he saw from Testsujin 28 of an empowered boy controlling a giant robot. Working on the Astro Boy cartoons at the time, Ladd formed his own production company in 1963, Delphi Associates, for the purpose of adapting and distributing Testujin 28, now dubbed "Gigantor," for American television.
Much like the character dynamics seen years later in Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, Gigantor featured a heroic boy thrust in the middle of international intrigue. With the help of his radio-controlled robot, Gigantor, young Jimmy Sparks helps secret agent, Richard “Dick” Strong, and his uncle, Dr. Bob Brilliant, to battle global terrorists. In the first episode, we learn that the various stations set up by countries from around the world on Antarctica have been destroyed. Jimmy joins a team to investigate. They are ambushed by the machine gun-toting henchmen (who first appear disguised as penguins!) of the evil Dr. Katzmeow. As Dick infiltrates the terrorist organization to cripple it from within, Jimmy and Gigantor help to destroy the enemy troops on the battlefield and to crush the evil lair of Katzmeow. And so the formula goes for the show’s run of 52 excellent episodes.
Gigantor has a terrific blend of fast-paced spy and robot action with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. The episodes were made in black and white, which gives the thin-black-tie fashion of the show a cool Spy Vibe. A long-time favorite on Adult Swim in the US, Volume One of the Gigantor DVDs (I believe remastered) will be back in print on May 5th! The DVDs are available for pre-order on vendor sites. You can see a brief interview with Fred Ladd on the Amazon website. iTunes has both original DVD volumes of Gigantor available for download and Netflix has them for rent.
BONUS ANIME
Speed Racer (1967-1968)
The heroic Jimmy Sparks and Johnny Sokko have a slightly older incarnation in the Japanese comic and animation, Mach Go Go (Speed Racer). Here's another lad who gets to drive fast and pack a pistol! Speed Racer starts as a series about industrial espionage. With secret plans written in invisible ink on his windshield, Speed helps his inventor/father in a high-octane battle against enemy spies. If you think the monkey is too sily, just remember that Speed Racer drives a gadget-filled race car that would make 007 drool. The costumes are racing-stripe cool, and the machine gun-toting baddies on motorcycles give the show extra Spy Vibe points. This is another first-wave adventure show from Japan that is worth re-visiting. See the SpyVibe.com website for related video.
