Underplayed Gems

The New Adventures of Speed Racer (1993)

The New Adventures of Speed Racer poster
Genre
animation, action & adventure
Country
United States, Japan
Length
1 season, 13 episodes
Rated
0+
Rating
8.5 of 10 from 2 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This is a 1990s update of the classic Speed Racer show. It follows a young race car driver and his high-tech car, the Mach 5, as they take on challenges and rivals in a series of races.

action-packednostalgicfast-pacedlightheartedretrozanyupbeat

What happens

The New Adventures of Speed Racer is a 1993 update of the Speed Racer animated series. This new Americanized version was designed as a single 13-episode season (the first episode was entitled "The Mach 5's First Trial"), with the intent of launching a feature film adaptation. Issues with Warner Bros. having the live action rights (which resulted in the 2008 release) forestalled negotiations and investments for the film and the series ended accordingly, though it did provide a massive merchandising reboot for the intellectual property, which found a resurgence thanks to a major toy line. The series concept was born out of a pitch from Pangea to then property-owners, John and James Rocknowski of Speed Racer Enterprises, Inc. Fred Wolf of Fred Wolf Films, had also pitched the notion of rebooting the franchise. PANGEA, having worked developmentally with Playmates Toys in association with Fred Wolf Films on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, worked with Speed Racer Enterprises on the series development, including the merchandising, which included a toy line from Ace Novelty Toys, comic books by NOW Comics, and novelties by NJ Croce. The series also proved to be popular with the Russian audience. A new theme song was written. The "New Adventures" part of the title comes from official documents used for TV listings. The show itself is referred to onscreen as simply "Speed Racer". Coincidentally, Speed Racer X is known in Brazil as "As Novas Aventuras de Speed Racer", which literally translates into "The New Adventures of Speed Racer". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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