Speed Racer

Nobody in my group of friends watched it but I loved it. It was on UHF so it was obscure for sure. Kimba the white lion, the three stooges were all on Channel 52 on California.

One of the most complex early anime series to be dubbed for American audiences. Speed Racer is the teenaged son of a car designer, whose Mach 5 can jump, go underwater, clear a path of trees and do other tricks. Besides winning various races, Speed and his family (girlfriend Trixie, kid brother Spritle and pet monkey Chim-Chim) run into spies, saboteurs, criminals and other bad-guy types.

What raises the show above simple adventure is the family background. Speed's brother Rex, suffering dishonor and shame, adopts the identity of Racer X, secretly aiding his brother and goading him into becoming the world's best racer. The series has its dark moments, and the use of gunfire and explosives kept it off American TV for years ("too violent for kids").

The show is far better than the 1994 version, a simple licensing of the character for a "kid-friendly" racing show. However, a new anime version (under the Japanese title "Mach A Go Go") has been made; it may surface in a well-dubbed English version in a few years.

The role of economics in the industrialized North American market must have always been theorized in the homelands of the engines creation. Persons and industrialist such as Mercedes Benz and the Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) surely realized the opportunity of the North Ameircan market with the purchase of fuel and number of automobiles purchased per household. This type of economic phenomena sparked the concept of Speed Racer.

After the new constitution of Japan the industrialization of the isolated island nation of Japan must seek opportunity once again via economic partnerships with its global neighbors. This also helped spark the economic opportunities in the European and North American market if not the global market.

Speed is a young avid driver who without knowing any better is driven by his demanding father Pops Racer who has challenged himself his whole life to make a better machine better at winning races. It was in fact Pops Racer who drove his first son Rex Racer to the brink of destruction with his strategy of how to best use the technology he developed. As a mature Racer, Rex, finally realizes his own inherent values and becomes independent but still feels obligated to his younger bother Speed.

The exact relationship of Rex Racer to persons such as the Inspector are never really clear, but put into dramatization. Rex is eventually accused of being a type of agent for a country or organization due to his ability to be in places at times when there is no other explanation to how he would have known Speed was in trouble. Or the fact that the situations involved some types of illegal activity were his secretive knowledge is leveraged against an evil plot. This brings a level of cloak and dagger romance to Speed Racer.

The mixture of Speeds innocence with Trixy, Sprital, and Chim Chim brings a level of comic human nature. This concept is a good form of rhetoric to balance the themes and plots as they are played out from episode to episode. So, instead of a dry detective story the thrill of international race car driving, romance of cloak and dagger, and comedy of human nature is put into one story, Speed Racer.

I watched this cartoon as a kid and it was one of my favorites. It was aired right after Johnny Sokko & his Flying Robot 4:00pm after school on channel 41 in 1969-79(Kansas City local tv market). Great opening credits and great show A to Z. I like the Alpine Race and the Challenge race with the skull head driver. Snake Oiler is my favorite bad driver & racer X is the coolest of the bunch, even over Speed to a degree, Enjoy....

Speed Racer aka "Mahha go go go" has been a well known anime since the Vietnam War era.

It's about the adventures and life of a young man named Speed Racer, who's always dreamed in becoming a well known racer someday. He's knowledgeable about history & is a simple minded kind of guy who only uses violence for the last resort. Speed is also a good fighter.

His father Pops Racer has built and designed a custom made race car, called the Mach 5. The most unique racing vehicle of it's kind. Equipped with power jacks, cutting blades, emulating lights, bullet proof glass, underwater travel, and a BM radio. With this car, Speed can be able to accomplish the races and grand pixes that he competes in. The Mach 5 also makes a perfect getaway vehicle and a greater advantage in escaping dangers.

Throughout the series, Speed will be going through many challenging races and adventures. As well as making enemies with Conspiracies, Mafias, Assassins, Thieves, Burglars, Rivals, & Terriosts. With the Mach 5 to drive in, and a group of reliable friends, Speed will be able to get through many hardships.

Despite it being made 40 years ago. This Japanese animated cartoon really shows it's age. And it has one of the oldest dubs to date. Cool thing about the Dub is, it manages to be the first successful Anime franchise to hit the U.S. shores and all the characters are done by 4 voice actors. Which is less than the average number in today's management of voice choices.

The voice acting is good, but very dated for it's era of time. Since this aired back when Anime wasn't highly known as it is today. But since then it has been admired and inspired by many people. I never seen the original version, but hopefully one day I will to see what it was like unedited.

It's not for everyone, but I think it's a classic for a foreign made, American distributed anime. Due to it's sophisticated scenes, cartoon violence, and car crashes. I recommend it for 6 and up.