Whilst browsing for a VHS I came across this old Anime I guess. Space Firebird. The name has a sort of Gerry Anderson ring to it b
Does anyone know this film or series?
Whilst browsing for a VHS I came across this old Anime I guess. Space Firebird. The name has a sort of Gerry Anderson ring to it b
Does anyone know this film or series?
This is Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix 2772. It has several movies based off his 12 volume manga Phoenix opus. It has several edits available as different countries removed different “objectionable” content. It is quite a wonderful film other than the comedy bits of the three animals playing music. They feel out of place to me.
ReplyDeleteWow ,boy do you know about this stuff Lance. I've never heard of it. How did you get to see it in the first place?
DeleteWell, tbh it all started as a child. I recall watching Kimba, Wonder 3, Speed Racer, Astro Boy and finding them more interesting than most of the US made stuff at that time. Then while I was discovering BJ & Dirty Dragon, I also discovered TransLux's Felix the Cat, and the weirdness of Space Giants, Spectreman and Giant Robo which I only got to see when visiting y grandparents as the channel was not available in Kalamazoo.
DeleteFrom their my appetite grew and I devoured anything I could come across. After moving to Texas, I came across Star Blazers, Corman's Galaxy Express and Dr Who and UFO. We had a mom & pop video store within walking distance of the apartment and several others including Federated Superstore for video rentals. A drive across town gave us access to Nippon Daido and tapes of Japanese TV shows, movies and books. During this time I became head of Houston's EDC, a anime fan club like CFO but more friendly. So many years and tape trades passed, a change of jobs put me in Little Tokyo in Houston and the world of VCD and LD which got a lot of my free money. That's when I found Phoenix 2772 on a VCD and my roommate at the time found it in a VHS trade. Our copies did not match up100% but both were enjoyable. In the mid 2000s is when I walked away from the fan club and most trading as it was growing toxic. But Houston is a good place to be for anime.
Tezuka's works that I loved are Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Wonder 3, Phoenix, Princess Knight, Unico, and Don Dracula.
I remember renting this back in the early 80s - when tapes were too expensive to buy. It was one of the first anime films I recall watching. Agree that the animals are very Disney and out of place in an otherwise very good film IMHO. What sticks on my mind is that it's quite emotional, particularly at the end.
ReplyDeleteReally, amazing Yorkie. That's at the very start of VHS video renting. I didn't know they stocked stuff like this. My older brother had the machine and rented horror films for us to watch!
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