With the recent release of the DVD “Astro Boy: Ultra Collector’s Edition, Vol. 1,” Geeks of Doom looks at the oh-so-cute robot in a three-part series.

I had originally bought the 2003 series thinking it was the 1980s one I now own and love. The impetuous and frantic childhood-retaining gene in my geek brain overpowered all reason when I slapped down my credit card for the magnificent big black box of DVDs. So you can imagine my disappointment when I first inserted the DVD and the all-too-familiar theme song I was expecting to sing along to was instead some spaced-out techno. Well, the music was more closely related to trance, but I digress as usual (it is a great trick of mine). In the 2003 series some of the characters I had known and loved from the 1980s episodes have different names, different voices, and some slightly different characteristics. While all of this initially threw me for a loop, I slowly adapted to the inconsistencies and braved watching the whole box set.

These episodes are totally tame by the 1980s standards and while I do not want to ruin it for anyone there is not nearly the same amount of robot bashing going on here (this is replaced by a lot of Astro Boy the diplomat, counsellor, friend, lightweight). It seems, where the 1980s series has more of the “Dr. Elefun teaching Astro how to be a good boy while pummeling his foes” vibe about it, the 2003 series is tied more closely to how Astro’s exiled creator and “father” secretly manages to educate Astro by giving him various “tests.” These tests usually include a crazed, reprogrammed robot trying to kill Astro or all human life or both. In all of these tests, Astro takes the high road and refuses to fight back. In the 2003 series the recurring theme of how robots and humans can and should be living together in peace gets a little weary after a while, but there is always a gem or two of animation brilliance or an entertaining plot to keep you soldiering on. The 2003 box set also features 10 episodes previously not aired in the U.S. I will not elaborate as to why they were never aired, you GOTTA watch it. These “lost” episodes clearly have to do with more of the original story of Astro Boy and some of that stuff is pretty dark — especially for our softened and impressionable children.

Oh, the swinging ’60s!

I am looking forward to the 1960s episodes. I have a “preview” episode redubbed into classic 1960s American on the special feature DVD included in the 1980s box set. It is an absolute riot to watch. The general aura is more dramatic and frenetic. The scene of Dr. Boynton’s son’s death is gut wrenching. Picture it, the heads of bystanders bow around the form of a dead boy in the arms of his hysterical father crying in what seems eerily like a pool of blood. Cut straight to Dr. Boynton in his office in his position as Head of the Ministry of Science, crying into his folded arms. He swears then and there, during a stirring Evil Genius monologue that rates with the best of them, to dedicate the entire resources of all he commands to creating a new son. This scene ends — of course — with a manic laughing fit that quickly becomes his calling card (much to the complete ignorance of all his minions and colleagues around him).

Viewing this episode from the 1960s, it is great to see what themes have carried over into the later versions and how the story lines have been altered. Seeing all three versions will offer a very interesting account of how animation and the use of sound and color have altered the dynamics of cartoons over the years. How the doctrine of economic and social thought acts on the story lines and what is deemed to be right or acceptable to the kids (that’s me) can also be compared. All three versions illuminate the advancement of animation and technology.

The boxed sets are all great. I enjoyed seeing all the episodes and have already begun searches into my next foray into my cartoonic past…G-Force. In the U.S. this cartoon was titled “Battle of the Planets.” Jason, Mark, Tiny, Princess, Keeyop, all fighting against the evil Zoltar and The Luminous Spirit that commanded him.

This week with the release of the DVD “Astro Boy: Ultra Collector’s Edition, Vol. 1,” Geeks of Doom looks at the oh-so-cute robot in a three-part series.

Let me set the scene (cue Theramin music — no wait, this is not supposed to be scary. Cue something more along the lines of Leftfield or perhaps some early Orb track). As is the case, some beret-wearing, bespectacled Japanese guy decided to draw some pictures and scribble some comic in a desperate bid to convince the world that robots are the way of the future. He mused that man and machine could co-exist in a wondrous, clean and fresh mega-tropolis of perfect functioning symmetry. This was in like…1952? The guy was Osamu Tezuka; quoted once as saying, “Father-san, being a doctor is friggin boring. Hai! I’m gunna draw pictures of robots and shit instead, and spawn a whole industry and genre. Hai!” Probably. Tezuka is the alleged god-king of Manga — and his mammoth contributions to the world of animation are largely available only in Japanese. To see his world, go to www.tezuka.co.jp, and trust me, it is a whole world. He has produced so much material that it?s mind blowing. Kimba the White Lion ring a bell? Metropolis?

But to the business at hand…Astro Boy, or if you want to be pedantic about it, “Tetsuwan Atomu,” which roughly translates to “Mighty Atom.” One of Osamu’s first comic strips, Astro Boy was a black-and-white TV series from 1963 to 1966 in Japan. It was the cartoon that first adopted the style that later became known as anime. Oh yeah, you heard it here (as if you didn’t know)! A full color version was produced in 1983, and this was translated into English. Then in 2003, a considerable amount of animators and producers and so on got together to “polish” Astro Boy for the 21st century. There is rumored to be a movie coming out in 2005 — wait, 2005 is over! Damn it, Google lied to me again.

The main theme in all three of the televised iterations of our beloved Astro Boy keep loosely to Osamu’s original story. Astro was created by the genius robot developer Dr. Tenma / Boyton / Balfus (the names change depending on which version you’re watching). The good doctor was so utterly lost by the death of his son, Tobio / Astor Boynton III / Toby, that he devoted his life to building a brilliant robot capable of human emotion — oh, and having shit loads of cool space gadgets and lasers and rockets and stuff, like most kids these days! His ever-failing experiments turned him into a maniac, and he was banished from the Ministry of Science after he destroyed everything to do with the experiment in a fit of rage — which might have had something to do with losing his son! That sort of stuff can mess a guy up. After this event, Professor Ochanomizu / Dr. Elefun / Dr. Oshay salvaged Astro from the wreckage (in one version) or saved him from the clutches of an evil robot circus overlord (in another version). Either way, Astro was blessed with being the most powerful robot ever. He was later presented with a sister robot and parent robots to help him integrate with humans. His irritating spoiled brat of a sister, Astro Girl / Uran / Zoran, played the odd pivotal role in some of the more morally laden episodes.

Imagine you are a huge, powerful world beater of a scary robot, with a name like Pluto or Atlas. Nothing could possibly be more demorilizing than being destroyed by an innocent, naive little boy with such vomitous manners, nicities and social graces. It’s enough to make you want to crush him to death at once. AAAAARGH! Despite Astro’s annoyingly childish and sweet facade, his ability to stop speeding trains, falling space stations, and science labs, and to annihilate massive robots — most of which were created with the express goal of pummeling Astro into pieces — is very endearing. His ability to save planets, creatures, humans, other robots, political figures, refugee robot engineers and so forth is very cute. Plus, he can shoot enormously powerful laser beams from his hips, hands, eyeballs, and fingers and illuminate huge cavernous wastes with powerful lights from his eyes. He has hearing that is enhanced a thousand times, a heart that can sense criminal activity within humans, and strength equivalent to 100,000 horsepower! That is 1,250,000 light bulbs in his chest!