Osamu Tezuka reshaped Japanese pop culture with his manga "Astro Boy." In a future world, Japanese science minister Dr. Tenma loses his son Tobio in a car accident. He recreates Tobio as an android, Astro (known as Atom in the original Japanese). The manga is a futuristic reimagining of "Pinocchio" that becomes a superhero story.
You can trace Japan's love affair with robots to "Astro Boy" -- modern mecha and shonen manga/anime wouldn't exist without it. Despite being foundational in Japan, Astro Boy isn't much of an icon in the United States. One attempt to import him, a 2009 CGI animated "Astro Boy" picture from Imagi Animation Studios, failed and left Imagi underwater.
Imagi was founded in Hong Kong in 2000, first producing the 2002 CGI cartoon series "Zentrix." In 2007, they secured a three-picture distribution deal with Warner Bros -- the first fruit of that deal was the 2007 animated "TMNT" film. "TMNT" was a success, so Imagi moved onto picture no. 2: "Astro Boy."
The movie was directed by David Bowers, the co-director of Dreamworks claymation film "Flushed Away," already not one of that studio's best films. (Since "Astro Boy" failed, Bowers has only directed live-action "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" films.) The overqualified voice cast includes Freddie Highmore, Bill Nighy, the late Donald Sutherland, and Nicolas Cage as Dr. Tenma.
"Astro Boy" is reported to have cost $65 million, but only took in $42 million at the box office when it premiered in October 2009. By February 2010, Imagi had filed for bankruptcy. Does "Astro Boy" deserve a second chance? Is it a forgotten masterpiece awaiting reappraisal? Nope, audiences had it right on the first call with this one.