Astro Boy (film)
Encyclopedia
Astro Boy, also called in Japan, is a 2009 computer-animated
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....

 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 loosely based on the long-running Japanese series of the same name by Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

. It was produced by Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios is an animation studio that was established in 2000 by Imagi International Holdings Limited , a listed company on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.-Background:...

, the animation production company of TMNT. The studio announced the project in September 2006. It was directed by David Bowers
David Bowers (director)
David Bowers is an animator and film director originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester in the UK.- Early life :Bowers studied animation at West Surrey College of Art and Design in Farnham, but left during the first year to work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit as an inbetweener under director...

 and produced by Maryann Garger with Pilar Flynn as associate producer. Freddie Highmore
Freddie Highmore
Alfred Thomas "Freddie" Highmore is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Finding Neverland, Five Children and It, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, The Golden Compass, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Toast.-Early life:Highmore was...

 provides the voice of Astro Boy in the film. The film also features the voices of Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress. Although her first film role was an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

, Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...

, Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...

, Matt Lucas
Matt Lucas
Matthew Richard "Matt" Lucas is an English comedian, screenwriter and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and...

, Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...

, Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...

, Moises Arias, Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...

 and Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...

. A trailer of the film was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home is a virtual 3D social gaming network developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network . It is available directly from the PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar under PlayStation Network. Membership is free, and only requires a PSN...

 from December 28, 2008 to January 8, 2009. The film was released first in Hong Kong on October 8, 2009, Japan on October 10, 2009 and in the United States on October 23, 2009.

Plot

The film is set in the futuristic Metro City, a metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...

 which floats in the sky above the polluted "Surface". Metro City's population is aided by a multitude of different robots who are dumped on the Surface when broken or disused. Toby, son of Dr. Tenma
Doctor Tenma
, whose real name is and is also known as Dr. Nagamiya Tenma, Dr. Boynton, and Dr. Balthus, is the father/creator of Astro Boy in the anime and manga series of the same name created and animated by Osamu Tezuka....

, learns that his father is going to show President Stone, the militaristic leader of the city, the Peacekeeper, a guardian robot. Doctor Elefun
Professor Ochanomizu
is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Astro Boy, as well as all of its many adaptions, including the 1980s series, 2003 series, and the film. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character has since appeared in many of his other works. He serves as a guardian to Astro, and sometimes also a...

, one of Tenma's colleagues, introduces Stone to the Blue and Red Cores, two energy spheres mined from a comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...

, that produce energy which can power robots via positive and negative energy, respectively. Stone places the Red Core in the Peacekeeper, causing it to go out of control. The Peacekeeper tries to attack the humans, but Tenma puts a barrier between them. Meanwhile, Toby has skipped school in order to attend the Ministry of Science's demonstration of the Peacekeeper. Seeking to have a closer look at the Peacekeeper, Toby enters the same room as the robot, only for the Peacekeeper's first attempt to destroy the barrier to backfire with the result that Toby is totally annihilated. After the Peacekeeper is stopped by security forces, Dr. Tenma builds an identical robotic clone of Toby
Astro Boy (character)
is a fictional character, and the main protagonist of the Astro Boy franchise. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character was introduced in the 1951 Captain Atom manga...

, using DNA from a strand of his hair to obtain his memories, which will make the robot think he is Toby. The robot quickly comes to life, and Tenma brings him home.

Tenma quickly realizes that while the robot possesses Toby's memories, it is not exactly like his original son, as the robot's higher mental and physical powers frequently remind him. Tenma had initially included the robot's powers in order to prevent his "son" from being destroyed again. Unaware that he is a robot, Toby tries to figure out why he can understand the language of some robot cleaners and discovers he can fly via rocket-boosters hidden in his shoes. He discovers various other abilities and heads home to tell his father, only to find that Tenma and Elefun are discussing deactivating him. Tenma reveals to Toby that he is a robot. President Stone's men detect the Blue Core's energy signature and pursue Toby. Stone calls in the Spirit of Freedom: a massive, heavily-armed, flying battleship. Rendered unconscious, Toby falls off the floating city and lands in the junkyard below. He meets several children including Cora, a girl who left Metro City after her parents neglected her, and a robotic dog named Trashcan. Toby meets the Robot Revolution Front: Sparx, Robotsky and Mike the Fridge, who easily identify Toby as a robot and rename him "Astro
Astro Boy (character)
is a fictional character, and the main protagonist of the Astro Boy franchise. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character was introduced in the 1951 Captain Atom manga...

". Astro goes along with his new name and lives with the children and their fatherly figure, Hamegg, who appears to care for broken robots, but secretly treats robots just as callously as Stone, and also runs the Robot Games: destructive gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...

ial matches in which robots are forced to fight to the death.

Astro and company find an offline construction robot named ZOG, and Astro secretly revives ZOG. Hamegg pits Astro against other robots in the Robot Games. Unable to simply leave, Astro reluctantly destroys all the robots. Hamegg releases ZOG for Astro to fight, but both refuse to fight one another. Stone and his men arrive then and arrest Astro. They take him back to the Ministry of Science, where Tenma is asked to remove the Blue Core; however, at the last moment, he has a change of heart, accepting that even if Astro isn't Toby, he's still his son, and allows Astro to escape. Stone places the Red Core into the Peacekeeper again, only for it to absorb him and take on his consciousness. Astro and Stone fight across the city, demolishing most of the buildings and causing the city to begin crashing to Earth. Astro is able to slow Metro City's decent by flying underneath and pushing upwards with his leg-rockets. Cora, the other children, and the Robot Revolution try to help to bring down the Peacekeeper/Stone fusion. Stone catches Astro and is about to absorb him, but when the Blue and Red Cores clash, he lets Astro out due to the close proximity of the two Cores causing him great pain.

Astro lands in a building, where he reunites with Tenma. Tenma tells him that if the Blue Core and Red Core come together, Astro and the Peacekeeper will both die. Astro decides that this was the reason he was made, and flies straight toward Stone, crashing into him and merging the Cores which destroys the Peacekeeper and frees Stone. However, with both Cores drained of energy, Astro is deactivated. Cora, Dr. Elefun and others find Astro's body. ZOG transfers some of his energy to Astro; with the catalyst restarted, the Blue Core once more becomes a limitless source of energy, so Astro is easily revived and his wounds automatically heal. Astro is reunited with Dr. Tenma, and Cora makes up with her parents. Stone awakes, only to be arrested by his own troops. When an alien life-form appears over the city, the movie ends with Astro flying up to battle it.

Cast

  • Freddie Highmore
    Freddie Highmore
    Alfred Thomas "Freddie" Highmore is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Finding Neverland, Five Children and It, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, The Golden Compass, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Toast.-Early life:Highmore was...

     as Toby Tenma/Astro
    Astro Boy (character)
    is a fictional character, and the main protagonist of the Astro Boy franchise. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character was introduced in the 1951 Captain Atom manga...

    . Toby Tenma is Dr. Tenma's son who is tragically killed in the introduction. Astro is a robotic replica of Toby built in his image and with his memories. Astro is rejected by his father and tries to find his place in the world. While in the manga, he is run by a technology called "kokoro" (Japanese for "heart"), Astro runs on Blue Core energy in the film.
  • Nicolas Cage
    Nicolas Cage
    Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...

     as Dr. Bill Tenma
    Doctor Tenma
    , whose real name is and is also known as Dr. Nagamiya Tenma, Dr. Boynton, and Dr. Balthus, is the father/creator of Astro Boy in the anime and manga series of the same name created and animated by Osamu Tezuka....

    , Astro/Toby's father of Toby, creator of Astro, and head of Metro City's Ministry of Science.
  • Kristen Bell
    Kristen Bell
    Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress. Although her first film role was an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

     as Cora, a tomboy who lives on the Surface.
  • Bill Nighy
    Bill Nighy
    William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...

     as Professor Simon Elefun
    Professor Ochanomizu
    is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Astro Boy, as well as all of its many adaptions, including the 1980s series, 2003 series, and the film. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character has since appeared in many of his other works. He serves as a guardian to Astro, and sometimes also a...

    , Dr. Tenma's close friend and associate.
    • Nighy also voices Robotsky, the "muscle" of the Robot Revolutionary Front.
  • Donald Sutherland
    Donald Sutherland
    Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...

     as President Stone, the antagonistic president of Metro City who is willing to do anything to win the next election.
  • Samuel L. Jackson
    Samuel L. Jackson
    Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...

     as ZOG, a 100-year old construction robot brought back to life by Astro's blue core energy.
  • Nathan Lane
    Nathan Lane
    Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...

     as Hamegg, a surface-dweller who repairs machines and then uses them in his fighting tournament.
  • Matt Lucas
    Matt Lucas
    Matthew Richard "Matt" Lucas is an English comedian, screenwriter and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and...

     as Sparx, the leader of the Robot Revolutionary Front.
  • David Bowers
    David Bowers (director)
    David Bowers is an animator and film director originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester in the UK.- Early life :Bowers studied animation at West Surrey College of Art and Design in Farnham, but left during the first year to work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit as an inbetweener under director...

     as Mike the Fridge, a literal talking fridge and third member of the Robot Revolutionary Front.
  • Charlize Theron
    Charlize Theron
    Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...

     as "Our Friends" Narrator, of an educational video seen at the film's beginning.
  • Eugene Levy
    Eugene Levy
    Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...

     as Orrin, the robotic servant of the Tenma household.
  • Moisés Arias as Zane, one of the surface dwelling kids.
  • Alan Tudyk
    Alan Tudyk
    Alan Wray Tudyk is an American actor known for his roles as Simon in the British comedy Death at a Funeral, as Steve the Pirate in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, as Sonny in the science fiction drama I, Robot, as Doc Potter in 3:10 to Yuma, as Tucker in the Tucker & Dale vs Evil and as Hoban...

     as Mr. Squeegee, a cleaning robot.
  • David Allen Grier as Mr. Squirt, a cleaning robot.
  • Madeline Carroll
    Madeline Carroll
    Madeline Carroll is an American actress who was first noticed for her role as Molly Johnson in 2008's Swing Vote. Carroll had many supporting roles in various films Comedy and Drama...

     as Widget, one of two twin kids.
  • Sterling Beaumon
    Sterling Beaumon
    Sterling Martin Beaumon, born June 2, 1995, is an American teen actor and singer. He is best known for his lead roles as Max Doyle in the 2008 film Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? and as young Benjamin Linus in the ABC television series, Lost...

     as Sludge, the second of the twins.
  • Dee Bradley Baker
    Dee Bradley Baker
    Dee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance...

     as Trashcan, a dog-like robot who serves as a literal bin.
  • Elle Fanning
    Elle Fanning
    Mary Elle Fanning , credited as Elle Fanning, is an American actress. She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning and mainly known for her starring roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo which will receive a theatrical release on December 23,...

     as Grace (cameo
    Cameo appearance
    A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

     only) a girl from Hamegg's house, later on she kicks President Stone due to destroying the city
  • Ryan Stiles
    Ryan Stiles
    Ryan Lee Stiles is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his improv and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew...

     as Mr. Mustachio, Toby's teacher.
  • Newell Alexander as General Heckler, President Stone's head of military.
  • Victor Bonavida as Sam, a teen from Hameggs house
  • Tony Matthews
    Tony Matthews
    Dr Tony Matthews is an Australian author and historian.Born in Swansea, South Wales, United Kingdom he emigrated to Australia in 1972. He worked for television for several years working for both the Seven Network and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

     as Cora's father
  • Bob Logan
    Bob Logan
    Robert Logan may refer to:* Robert Logan of Restalrig, Scottish conspirator* Robert K. Logan, Canadian academic and writer* Robert Logan, American actor* Bob Logan , American film director and writer...

     as Stinger One, President Stone's minion pilot who wants to capture Astro
  • Ryan Ochoa
    Ryan Ochoa
    Ryan Ochoa is an American teen actor. He is most famous for his role of Lanny on the Disney XD series Pair of Kings and his recurring role as Chuck Chambers on the Nickelodeon series iCarly.-Early life:...

     as Rick, another boy from Hamegg's house

Production

In 1997, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...

 purchased the film rights to Astro Boy from Tezuka Productions
Tezuka Productions
Tezuka Productions is a company created by Osamu Tezuka. His son, Makoto Tezuka has the goal to extend Tezuka's manga series with new issues and publish posthumous works...

, intending to produce a live-action feature film. Todd Alcott
Todd Alcott
Todd Alcott is an American screenwriter, playwright, actor, and director.- Writer :* 1996 : Just Your Luck* 1998 : Antz* 1999 : Curtain Call* 2000 : CyberWorld...

 was set to write the screenplay, but the film halted in 2000 when Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

 began A.I., another film with a robot boy who replaces a dead child. In December 2001, Sony hired Eric Leighton to direct all-CGI film, with Angry Films and Jim Henson Productions producing it for a 2004 release.

In June 2004, Leighton was replaced with animator Genndy Tartakovsky
Genndy Tartakovsky
Genndy Borisovich Tartakovsky is a Russian-American television animator, director and producer. His best-known creations are Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, and Sym-Bionic Titan...

 to direct a live-action/animatronics/CGI feature film. After writing the script, the film didn't go into the production, and Tartakovsky left next year to direct CG-animated feature films at a new studio, Orphanage Animation Studios
Orphanage Animation Studios
Orphanage Animation Studios was an American production company launched by The Orphanage that was headed up by Genndy Tartakovsky to produce his show Sym-Bionic Titan. As the show was canceled, the company was shut down in April 2011....

. Few months later it was revealed, that he was set to direct The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the...

sequel, The Power of the Dark Crystal, another co-production with Jim Henson Productions.

In September 2006, it was announced that Hong Kong-based animation firm Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios is an animation studio that was established in 2000 by Imagi International Holdings Limited , a listed company on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.-Background:...

 would produce a CGI animated Astro Boy film, with Colin Brady
Colin Brady
Colin Brady is an American animator and film director. He graduate of the California Institute of the Arts , has worked as lead animator, animation director, supervising animator and co-director with animated film powerhouses Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic...

 directing it. A year later, the studio made a three-picture distribution deal with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 and The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...

, which also included TMNT and Gatchaman. In 2008, Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment LLC is an independent film studio headquartered in Santa Monica, California with international offices in London.-History:...

 took over the film's distribution rights. The same year, Brady was replaced with David Bowers
David Bowers (director)
David Bowers is an animator and film director originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester in the UK.- Early life :Bowers studied animation at West Surrey College of Art and Design in Farnham, but left during the first year to work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit as an inbetweener under director...

.

Imagi also planned to make Astro Boy sequel if the first one would go well.

Design

When adapting film for a western audience and making the leap from 2D to 3D, some changes to Astro had to be made. The more challenging was his kawaii portrayal, part of which were his large eyes and curly eyelashes, which made him too feminine. Imagi had several discussions on how round and curvy Astro's body proportions should be and in the end they were made to be more lean. Also there were issues on Astro's rear end being too small, and that too was altered after talks with Tezuka.
The by-product of these changes was Astro's Caucasian look.

In early development Astro's design was younger, resembling his iconic design of a 6-year old boy. The design team changed that and made him look like a 12 year old to appeal to a larger audience. They also gave him a shirt, and a jacket since they thought it would be strange to have a normal boy running around without one. They also replaced his heart-shaped energy core with a glowing blue one.

Music

The score to Astro Boy was composed by John Ottman
John Ottman
John Ottman is an American film editor, composer and director.He is best known for his collaborations with film director Bryan Singer, acting as film editor and composing the scores for The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns and most recently...

, who recorded his score with a 95-piece orchestra and choir at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

.  A soundtrack album was released on October 20, 2009 by Varese Sarabande Records.

Marketing

On November 5, 2008, D3Publisher of America
D3 Publisher
D3Publisher is a Japanese video game publisher founded on February 5, 1992. Current CEO and president is Yuji Ito, and It is known for its Simple series of low-priced console games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2,...

 announced it would publish a video game based on the film.  The games were released on October 20, 2009 to coincide with the film's theatrical release. Astro Boy: The Video Game
Astro Boy: The Video Game
Astro Boy: The Video Game is an action video game based on the 2009 CG animated film of the same name. The game was released in worldwide on October 20, 2009 to coincide with the theatrical release of the film on October 23, 2009. It features the voices of Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell,...

for Wii, PlayStation 2 system and PSP system was developed by High Voltage Software
High Voltage Software
High Voltage Software is an independent game development company located at Illinois' Hoffman Estates. Established in 1993, it now employs approximately 95 staff members. Red Eye Studios, a motion capture facility, is a wholly owned subsidiary of HVS...

 and Nintendo DS by Art Co., Ltd
Art Co., Ltd
is a Japanese video game developer.-Games developed:* Rugrats: Totally Angelica * Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase * Britney's Dance Beat * Disney Princess -...

.

Beginning in May 2009 and continuing through September 2009, IDW Publishing published a "prequel" and comic book adaptation of the film as both mini-series and in graphic novel format to coincide with the North American release of the film in October 2009.

On May 29, 2009, a trailer for the film was released with the Disney-Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...

 film Up
Up (2009 film)
Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...

.

A model of a motionless Astro Boy waiting to be powered up was set up at Peak Tower
Peak Tower
The Peak Tower is a leisure and shopping complex located at Victoria Gap, near the summit of Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It also houses the upper terminal of the Peak Tram. Both the Peak Tower and the Peak Tram are owned by the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels group, the owner of...

, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, outside Madame Tussauds Hong Kong
Madame Tussauds Hong Kong
Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, part of the renowned chain of wax museums founded by Marie Tussaud of France, is located at the Peak Tower on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is the first and one of the only two permanent Madame Tussauds museums in Asia, the other being the Shanghai branch, which...

 in September 2009.

A panel of the film was held at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 23, 2009.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 reports that 50% of 127 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...

 of 5.6 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that "While it isn't terribly original, and it seems to have a political agenda that may rankle some viewers, Astro Boy boasts enough visual thrills to please its target demographic." Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 42%, based on a sample of 26 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, which assigns an average rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 53 based on 22 reviews. 

Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....

 of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

gave the film a B and wrote of the film having "little too much lost-boys-and-girls mopiness," but "Astro Boy is a marvelously designed piece of cartoon kinetics..." Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

gave the mixed review claiming "The kids won't get it but will enjoy the big, climactic robot rumpuses, which owe a heavy debt to Brad Bird
Brad Bird
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an Academy Award-winning American director, voice actor, animator and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille . He also adapted and directed the critically acclaimed 2D animated 1999 Warner Brothers...

's The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated film produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Brad Bird directed the film, which stars a voice cast of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald and John Mahoney...

.

The film was not a big hit in Japan, appearing at the bottom of the opening week's top 10 rankings and making only $328,457. Conversely, the film was very successful in China, breaking a box-office record for a CG animated film. This follows the same pattern as Dragonball Evolution and Speed Racer
Speed Racer (film)
Speed Racer is a 2008 American live action film adaptation of Tatsuo Yoshida's 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The film is written and directed by the Wachowskis...

, other American-produced films based on Japanese sources which failed to garner success in their land of origin, but sold well in China. The film also was not a box office success in the US, opening at #6, grossing $6.7 million, where it remained in the Top 10 for three weeks. When it closed in January 2010, it had a total gross of $20 million.

Home media

Astro Boy was released in the US on DVD and Blu-ray March 16, 2010, by Summit Entertainment. Both releases include two new animated sequences; a featurette with the voice cast including Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Freddie Highmore and Donald Sutherland, among others; three other featurettes about drawing Astro Boy, making an animated movie and getting the Astro Boy look; and an image gallery.

In Japan a special Limited Edition Astro Boy Premium Box Set was released. It featured the same content from the US release with the exception of it spanning on two DVDs (One the film, the other special features with two bonus features exclusive to Japanese) and has both English and Japanese dub (along with English and Japanese subtitles.) The box set also comes with a DVD (containing a single story on Astro's first flight and an image gallery), Dr Tenma's Project Notes (featuring 80 pages of CGI models, character art and set designs from the film), a Micro SD (featuring the motion manga "Atomu Tanjo" originally written by Osamu Tezuka), a postcard of 1980 Astro Boy flying, a small bookmark (that is actually a reel from the film inside a plastic cover) and Astro's blueprints from the film.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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