Gigantor

Gigantor is the American adaptation of the Japanese anime Tetsujin 28-go (鉄人28号 Tetsujin Nijūhachi-gō), based on the manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It originally aired from October 20, 1963 to May 25, 1966 on Fuji TV in Japan.

Synopsis

Set in the year 2000, the show follows the exploits of Little Jimmy Sparks, a 12-year-old boy who controls Gigantor, a huge flying robot, with a remote control. The robot is made of steel and has a rocket-powered backpack for flight, a pointy nose, eyes that never move, and incredible strength, but no intelligence. Whoever has the remote control controls Gigantor.

Originally developed as a weapon by Jimmy's father, Gigantor was later reprogrammed to act as a guardian of peace. Jimmy Sparks lives with his uncle Dr. Bob Brilliant on a remote island. Jimmy usually wears shorts and a jacket, carries a firearm and occasionally drives a car. Together, Jimmy and Gigantor battle crime around the world and clash with the many villains who are always trying to steal or undermine the giant robot.

Dubbing History[]

In 1963, Fred Ladd, while working on the animated feature Pinocchio in Outer Space and the animated TV series The Big World of Little Adam, saw artwork of Mitsuteru Yokoyama presenting a giant robot remote-controlled by a young boy. Ladd, who had produced the successful international, English-language adaptation of Astro Boy, and Al Singer, formed a corporation called Delphi Associates, Inc. in order to produce and distribute an English-language version of Tetsujin 28-go. They took only 52 episodes of the Japanese series for the American market, and renamed the series Gigantor. Peter Fernandez wrote much of the English script, and participated in the dubbing. As with Speed Racer, the characters' original names were altered and the original series' violence was toned down for American viewers. The series debuted on U.S. television in 1964 and became an immediate hit with young audiences.

Cast[]

Character	Original Name	Seiyū	Dub Actor
Jimmy Sparks	Shotaro Kaneda	Kazue Takahashi	Billie Lou Watt
Inspector Blooper	Chief Ōtsuka	Kōsei Tomita	Ray Owens
Dr. Bob Brilliant	Dr. Shikishima	Minoru Yada	Gilbert Mack
Dick Strong	Kenji Murasame	Toshio Andō	Peter Fernandez
Narrator		Yuzuru Fujimoto	Gilbert Mack

Additional Voices[]

Notes[]

Although the Latin Spanish dub is based on the English dub, it uses the original title of Iron-Man 28 as "El Hombre de Acero" (The Man of Steel).

Transmission[]

Date(s)	Channel	Country
1964-1966	Syndication	United States
1968	ATV	Australia
1968	TEN-10
1968-1969	SAS-10
2003	Cartoon Network (Toonami)	United States
2005-2007	Cartoon Network (Adult Swim)	United States

Video Releases[]

Distributor	Year	Contents	Region	Country
Rhino Entertainment	2002	The Complete Series	1 NTSC	United States
Rhino Entertainment	2002	2 Volumes
E1 Entertainment	2009	The Complete Series
E1 Entertainment	2009	2 Volumes
Madman Entertainment	2010	The Complete Series	4 PAL	Australia
Madman Entertainment	2010	2 Volumes	4 PAL	Australia

External Links[]

Gigantor (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Gigantor at the Internet Movie Database