Speed Racer Thoughts
At the anime convention in New York last December, I got to meet Peter Fernandez, the voice behind the legendary Speed Racer cartoon of the 1960s (he also directed and wrote every episode). As a child, I was a card-carrying member of the generation that thrilled to the ongoing adventures of Speed and his Mach 5, the car that could jump chasms, zoom at full speed through a thick forest thanks to retractable buzz cutters, and even drive along the bottom of the ocean. The show was originally broadcast as Mach Go Go Go! in Japan, the story of young race car driver Go Mifune -- a multi-level name which represents both the English word "go!" and the number 5, which is go in Japanese -- along with his former pro wrestler father Daisuke (Pops), his girlfriend Michi (Trixie), his michivious younger brother Kurio (Spridle), chimpanzee Senpei (Chim Chim), and who could forget the mysterious Mr. X (Racer X)? Speed Racer was unique in that it was more popular outside of Japan than at home, becoming a cult favorite in English and more or less enjoying a revival in Japan because of its international popularity. Although there are plenty of of snarky cultural references to Speed Racer in our culture, it's far more common for Japanese fans of the era to profess a love of Chiki Chiki Machine Super Race, the Japanese version of the Hanna-Barbara classic Wacky Race, or show you their impression of that cute dog Ken-Ken (Muttley) laughing. As if to mark the occasion of the new Speed Racer film, our cat Su-chan just gave birth to a cute baby kitten that has an "M" on his forhead. I think I'll name him "Mach."
Oh, this is the ONLY cultural reference to Mach GoGoGo! I was able to find, after 17 years of living in Japan, a commercial featuring Aya Ueto, It is pretty awesome ^_^
posted by Peter in Japan at 8:37 PM
6 Comments:
My parents got cable in 1972 (at $2.95/mo) so we could get Chicago stations and Dad could watch his beloved White Sox. The unexpected side benefit for my brother and I was that Channel 44 showed Speed Racer. None of our friends had cable, so we felt like the only kids in Indiana who knew about this show! It wasn't until I was in my 30s before I met someone else who had ever watched it!
10:35 PM
Indiana, that would be an interesting place to be. We do get a lot of orders from places like that where there's not a lot of Japan culture right there, like Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma. My son is really cool because he lets me show him all this old stuff, like Yamato or Speed Racer or the classic sci fi movies of the 80s that you wouldn't normally see. It's quite a lot of fun.
11:35 PM
Usually I go straight to the items, then I read the blog posts, but this time I did the opposite ^___________^
It's not really like me, but: "Kawaiiiiiiiii..."
Isn't it an Egyptian Mau? That M is amazing. (Cats love from Italy xD)
Speed Racer is one of the few anime that I can't recall, badly...
1:12 AM
Japan is leaking more and more into states like Indiana. You can buy Pocky at Wal-Mart, for crying out loud! :-)
9:51 PM
Heh, yes, although (from our point of view) since it's only the basic types, it leaves a lot of window for us to sell the exotic stuff, like Coconut Pocky and Matcha Pocky and what not. I was amazed to see a video game for Initial D in Wal-Mart. I drive up the mountain that show is based on regularly ^_^
11:41 AM
Read your post about Speed Racer, and remembered watching a few episodes. Love the cat picture. 4 days earlier, I was watching NASCAR qualifying on TV.
To help promote the movie was a stock car painted to match the Mach 5. The announcers usually comment on each car and driver as they run 2 qualifying laps. To my amazement they mentioned the paint scheme and talked about the "M" on the hood. From what they said, the "M" comes from Peter Fernandez next door neighbor at the time who's name was Toshiro Mifune. I'm learning a lot about the cartoon lately even though I was born in 1971.
I Enjoy reading your blog too, I learn something each time. Thanks for the post. To complement what jim said, my parents got cable in 1985, in York Pennsylvania. That's when I remember watching a few episodes.
5:50 AM
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