Profile of Peter J. Fernandez on Famous Like Me

Speed Racer is the title character of an English language version of an animated series which combined the Western love of heroes and heroism with the Japanese ethic of exalting the value of group cohesion. The groundbreaking animated series is widely credited with bringing anime to the worldwide audience and launching a media franchise.

Background

The characters and storylines originally started in Japan as the manga and anime series Mach Go Go Go (マッハGoGoGo) from the legendary anime studio Tatsunoko Productions.

First created by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida (1933–1977) as a manga series in the 1960s, Mach Go Go Go made the jump to TV as an anime series in 1967. The central character in the anime and manga was a young race car driver named Gō Mifune (三船剛 Mifune Gō). Yoshida selected the names and symbolisms in his creation very carefully. The M logo on the hood of his race car and the front of his helmet stood for his family name Mifune, and his given name Go is also a Japanese homonym for the number 5 (the number on his race car). This is also represented by the letter G embroidered on his shirt. Though somewhat Western for Japanese tastes at the time, the 52-episode series achieved modest success, but it would soon find blockbuster status in the United States.

The English language rights to Mach Go Go Go were immediately acquired by American syndicator Trans-Lux. The main character Go Mifune was given the name "Speed Racer" in the English version. A major editing and dubbing effort was undertaken by producer Peter Fernandez, who also voiced many of the characters, including Speed Racer himself. Fernandez was also responsible for a retooling of the theme song's melody and its subsequent English lyrics. When the series emerged before U.S. TV audiences as Speed Racer, fans were quickly drawn to its sophisticated plots involving fiendish conspiracies, violent action, hard-driving racing, and soulful characters with sparkling eyes. In an effort to squeeze the complicated plotlines into existing lip movements, the frenetic pace of the dubbing made Speed Racer famous for its quirky "fast" dialogue.

The car

The Mach Five, the car Speed Racer drove in the series, is a technological marvel containing useful equipment such as (among other things) jacks that can be used to jump over obstacles, buzz saws for negotiating jungles, a canopy that is both watertight and bullet resistant, batteries and oxygen systems that allow the car to be operated underwater, and tire enhancers that allow it to go into four-wheel-drive mode. A robotic homing pigeon could also be launched from the vehicle to send and retrieve messages and items. All of these gadgets were easily deployed by pressing a button marked 'A' through 'G' on the steering wheel hub. The "chyock chyock" sound effect played whenever the car jumped through the air is instantly recognizable to the show's fans.

The characters

Speed Racer had a younger brother named Spritle (Kurio Mifune, 三船くりお Mifune Kurio) who along with his pet chimpanzee Chim-Chim (Senpei) constantly got into mischief and hid together in the trunk of the car.

Other regular characters included Sparky (Sabu サブ), the company mechanic; Speed's father, Pops (Daisuke Mifune, 三船大介 Mifune Daisuke); and his mother, Mom (Aya Mifune, 三船アヤ Mifune Aya); and also Speed's girlfriend Trixie (Michi Shimura, 志村ミチ Shimura Michi). Trixie has legs that seem to be about 6 feet long and frequently wears pink. She flies around in a helicopter during each race and advises Speed Racer via a radio link to the Mach Five.

A frequent recurring character, driving car number nine (the "Shooting Star"), is the enigmatic "Racer X" (覆面レーサー Fukumen (Masked) Racer), a mysterious soldier of fortune whose secret identity is that of Rex Racer (Ken'ichi Mifune), Speed's older brother, who years earlier had a falling out with the family and exiled himself.

The legacy

Speed Racer was the first truly successful anime franchise in the United States. The pivotal episode in which Racer X reveals his identity to Speed was selected by TV Guide as one of the most memorable moments in TV history.

Many real-life race car drivers became fans of the show.

The title character was "interviewed" in a humorous series of promotional ads for auto racing that ran on ESPN. The Speed Racer characters even appeared into an animated commercial for the for the Volkswagen GTI. In the ad, entitled "Sabotage", Speed drives a GTI to victory after the Mach Five is disabled. The ad also incorporated the Matrix-style rotating freeze frame shot from the cartoon's ending credits, with the GTI replacing the Mach Five in the shot.

Speed, Trixie, Spritle and Chim-Chim presently appear in a North American TV commercial for car insurance company Geico. The commercial makes use of the show's original footage.

New series

• The New Adventures of Speed Racer was produced in 1994 with more new episodes presenting a more contemporary style.
• Speed Racer X, was released in 2002 by DiC on Nickelodeon's Slam. This new series showed enormous promise as it was actually based on a new 1997 Mach Go Go Go anime series created by original Japanese studio Tatsunoko Productions. However, it was discontinued the following year with Slam's demise and its future is uncertain as DiC and Santa Monica-based Speed Racer Enterprises became embroiled in a bitter lawsuit for control of the series.

The comics

• Mach Go Go - selected chapters of Tatsuo Yoshida's original Mach Go Go manga series have been reprinted by Now Comics as Speed Racer Classics and by DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions as Speed Racer: The Original Manga (ISBN 1563896869).

• Now Comics launched an American Speed Racer comic series in 1985. The series became an instant hit with the high production values of superstar airbrush artist Ken Steacy. The comics continued for nearly 40 issues and included a spin-off Racer X series and crossovers. A mini-series adapting The New Adventures of Speed Racer was also released.

• Wildstorm Productions released a new Speed Racer comic series in 1999 to widespread acclaim, becoming the #1 pick of industry publication Wizard magazine. The manga style of writer/artist Tommy Yune recaptured the striking look of the original anime which was soon followed an industry-wide revival of comic adaptations of other classic animated series. The prequel comic storylines were also released as the graphic novel Speed Racer: Born to Race (ISBN 1563896494) and a Racer X miniseries featuring the artwork of Chinese manga star Jo Chen.

The toys

• Hot Wheels produced miniature replicas of the Mach Five called the West Wind and later the Second Wind.

• Johnny Lightning released a wide range of the Speed Racer miniatures, including replicas of the villains' cars and "mini-dioramas." A limited-edition release of the Mach Four from the Wildstorm comic series remains of the hardest-to-find collectibles to this day.

• Toynami is currently releasing a large-scale version of the Speed Racer vehicles, including a Mach Five playset complete with all of its gadgets.

• Model kit manufacturer Polar Lights is currently producing two 1/25-scale versions in standard "glue" and snap-together variations. These can be built with or without the waterproof bubble canopy at the modeler's discretion. The kits feature a homing robot and separate jacks; since they are "curbside" kits, there is no engine compartment.

Other

Frequently referenced and parodied, including in an episode of a Cartoon Network cartoon series Dexter's Laboratory, in a TV Funhouse cartoon in which George Clooney is seen dodging paparazzi, more recently in Geico TV commercials, and a cartoonist who used to be part of MTV's Cartoon Sushi staff name Nick Gibbons worked on a cartoon short called Fast Driver, it was first shown on Cartoon Sushi's Ultra City 6060, which is a fad about dubbing random animes with comedic speeches. A parody of the Mach Five also appears in Excel Saga as Nabeshin's "Flying Mitsubishi". Also it was parodied in Channel Chasers (the movie of The Fairly Oddparents mocking contemporary and past TV shows).

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Peter J. Fernandez