After ten years, four directors, and three studios, the U.S. movie version of the television series Astro Boy is finally in theaters.
The original 1960s television series, created in Japan and aired in the U.S. with an English-language voiceover, is said to have spawned the popular anime style. The series was wildly popular in Japan (where it is called “Mighty Atom”); it was shown on national network television. At the height of the show’s popularity, 40% of Japanese people with televisions watched it. The U.S. version, which played in syndication, was never so popular.
The basic story: In a future where humanoid robots are helpful and ubiquitous, a scientist accidentally kills his son in a experiment designed to create soldier robots. To assuage his pain, the scientist attempts to recreate his son as a robot, using aspects of the failed experiment. The result — Astro Boy, who at first glance cannot be distinguished from a human boy. However, the robot boy’s personality is different from that of the original, and the disappointed scientist drives Astro Boy away. Ostracized, Astro Boy finds acceptance among human kids and uses his powers to protect the human population.
The U.S. movie version stars Nicolas Cage, who watched the series as a child, as the scientist/father. “The sadness of the story is exactly what drew me to Astro Boy,” Cage told the Los Angeles Times. “I can’t help but feel for him especially when his father rejects him.”
British actor Freddie Highmore, who played Charlie in the 2005 remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, voices Astro Boy.
Forty years after the show aired, humanoid robots such as Astro Boy (though without features like machine gun arms) are far more prevalent in Japan than in the United States. Japanese people who watched the show in their youth will be cared for by robot nurses in their old age. On visits to hospitals, they are guided by robot porters and receptionists. Their grandkids could be taught by robot substitute teachers.
This presents an interesting “chicken/egg” conundrum. Are humanoid robots more accepted in Japanese culture because of the popularity of Astro Boy? Or was Astro Boy more popular in Japan because the culture is naturally more accepting of humanoid robots?
As we wrote in this space in March: “Robert Geraci, a scholar specializing on the interrelationship between religion and science, argues in one article that Japanese Buddhist and Shinto traditions are informed by a highly favorable view of the human being and an intrinsic connection between mind and body, which makes the idea of a humanoid robot very appealing. Alternatively, the United States is heavily influenced by a Christian pattern of eschatological salvation, accompanied by a transcendence of the corporeal sphere, which leads to a more unsettled view of humanoid robotics.”
If early box office returns are any indication, Americans remain “unsettled” by humanoid robotics. The $65 million Astro Boy production debuted at #5 at the box office this weekend, grossing $7 million. It made only half as much as Where the Wild Things Are, now in its second week, and only barely outgrossed the animated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which has been in theaters for a month and a half.
It’s probably unwise to assess cultural standards based on the box office performance of a single movie. But the U.S. does continue to lag behind Japan in robotics research. 70 percent of the world’s industrial robots are manufactured in Japan. The nation’s trade ministry expects robotics to be a $63.5 billion industry in 15 years. If the U.S. is to meet the worldwide demand for robotics, perhaps we need to work toward a cultural shift. Astro Boy may be part of that process.
Tags: Astro Boy, Freddie Highmore, humanoid robot, humanoid robotics, Japanese culture, Japanese robotics, movies, movies about robots, Nicolas Cage, Robert Geraci, U.S. culture, U.S. robotics
