Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot

Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ, Jaianto Robo), marketed in the US as either Giant Robot or the more famously as Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, is a 1967 Tokusatsu series produced by Toei Company, whom are most famous for their Super Sentai, and ran from October 11, 1967 to April 1, 1968. It was created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who is most famous for creating the similarly themed series Gigantor.

Dubbing History
In 1968, American International Pictures bought up the rights to Toei's Giant Robo series for dubbing and syndicated release on American television. This decision was in response to the unexpected success that United Artist had with the English release of Tsuburaya Production's Ultraman and the sudden demand for imported Japanese TV programming.

The task for dubbing and re-scripting the series into Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot was given to three AIP regulars, Rueben Guberman, Manuel San Fernando and Salvatore Billitteri who did a remarkably faithful adaptation of the original dialogue and limited the censorship of the show which resulted in a show that was surprisingly violent for American Children's Television at the time.

American International Pictures was so enthusiastic for the series that they compiled episodes 1, 2, 17, 10 and 26 (in that order) into a film under the title Voyage into Space for airing on Television movie blocks. Since the show had a real conclusion to its story, it made a movie length edit possible.

It's highly possible that due to the success this show received in America and abroad that it convinced Toei to distribute more of their shows overseas.

Additional Voices

 * Paul Brown
 * Rueben Guberman
 * Kurt Nagel
 * Neil Patrick