1967’s Speed Racer was one of the first Anime shows that grabbed the attention of many young viewers in the U.S., and while it does not hold up well to the test of time, many people have fond memories of the series.
What Is It?
This Japanese animated television series follows the adventures of Speed, a talented young race car driver, as he competes in high-stakes races around the world in his cutting-edge Mach 5 vehicle. With the help of his family and friends, Speed faces dangerous rivals, thrilling challenges, and the pursuit of victory. And during some of his adventures, he also gets drawn into espionage plots involving the secret agent who doubles as a race car driver known as Racer X.
Aired: 1967-68, Syndicated, 1 Season Totaling 52 Episodes
Starring: Peter Fernandez, Nelly Valverde, Jack Curtis, Corinne Orr
Developed By: Jinzō Toriumi, Peter Fernandez
Legacy:
This early Anime series helped to introduce the genre to the U.S., and it also appealed to young sci fi fans with its high-tech vehicles and action-oriented stories.
A Closer Look:
If you were a kid growing up in the late-60s through the ’70s (and even into the ’80s), then Speed Racer was likely among your first exposures to Anime, and also a pretty fun series if you were a young sci fi fan. A few other Anime entries had made it over to the States earlier in the ’60s like the original Astro Boy and Gigantor, but neither proved as popular nor had the same staying power as Speed Racer. The adventures of Speed and the Mach 5 were marketed in syndication and became a staple for kids television for years after it debuted. It was much more of an action-adventure show than a sci fi entry, but it still worked in plenty of genre elements with its high-tech vehicles and espionage stories.
The show did go through some editing for the American market (it was titled Mach GoGoGo in Japan), but it was not “kidified” nearly as much as later Anime imports such as Battle of the Planets and Voltron. It had plenty of violence and explosions and non-regular characters meeting an untimely death (heck, Speed sends another racer to his demise when he bumps him off the road in the opening credits!), but not too much more than what was found on other action cartoons or the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation shows at that time. And the editing did not change the basic storylines in the show.
But while Speed Racer acted as a gateway show for an entire generation of young cartoon and sci fi fans, it does not hold up that well today as the animation was rather crude and the stories have much more appeal to kids than adults. And the overly melodramatic voice acting, especially when Speed gets himself in trouble on the road, push the show into the height of camp at times. Still, this is one that many have fond memories of watching when they were younger and they likely can find much in the way of nostalgic joy when revisiting the original episodes today, counting it very much as a cult classic. (And if you watch the intro from the YouTube video above you are going to have the theme song stuck in your head the rest of the day.)
Cancelled Too Soon?
No. This one did not reach the 65+ episode threshold that the syndication market has come to prefer for an animated series targeted at younger viewers, but that is because the Japanese market works differently (especially back then) and 52 episodes was considered enough for the show at the time. And that successfully carried it through years of encore runs.
The Story Continues:
In 1993, the American-made The New Adventures of Speed Racer debuted in syndication and reimagined the story of Speed Racer and his family, modernizing the characters, vehicles, and setting for a new generation of viewers. It retained many of core elements from the original, but the animation style and tone was different, and the show was not well-received. It lasted only thirteen episodes, and a planned animated movie never went forward, nor did the revival have much of a life in syndication (the toy line that came out at the same time was rather successful, though). Another modernized reworking of the original was produced in Japan in 1997, but it was not well-received either and was cancelled after 34 (of a planned 52) episodes were produced. Eleven of those eps aired in the U.S. on Nickelodeon, but not the full series due to a rights dispute. In 2008, the American animated Speed Racer: The Next Generation premiered on Nickelodeon and acts as a continuation of the original series. That one follows a young orphan named Speed who joins the Racing Academy established by the Racer family and who competes with X, the best student in the school and Speed Racer’s son. That show lasted for two seasons totaling 52 episodes. Also in 2008, the notorious live-action revival of the franchise by The Wachowskis was attempted on the big screen but turned out to be a Box Office flop. That one was panned by critics at the time, but has since turned into somewhat of a cult classic.
The adventures of Speed Racer also continued in comics, starting with the short-lived Gold Key run that came out in 1967 and produced five issues. Now Comics would later pick up the franchise with new adventures starting in 1987 based on the original series and that would run for 38 issues and also produce a Racer X spin-off. In 1999, Wildstorm comics would produce a three-issue a mini-series that offered a modern reboot of the character. And in 2008, IDW published a four-issue mini-series that was based on the movie but which also drew inspiration from the the original series. That company also put out a four-issue mini-series based on Nickelodeon’s Speed Racer: The Next Generation starting in 2008.
Should It Be Rebooted?
In 2022, it was announced that a live-action reboot was in the works at Apple TV+ with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions attached, but there have been no recent updates on that. The better way to go would be an animated revival that continues from the original and perhaps even reworks some of the episodes from the 1967 series. Since the early animation was pretty crude, a better rendition of the best stories from that show along with new adventures might be the best way to continue the franchise. But that all depends on who holds the rights and how much money they want to make on the property. And while I expect a reboot to show up at some point, there is no telling which direction it will take.
Interesting Facts:
The “M” on Speed Racer’s car and helmet is usually assumed to stand for Mach 5, the car’s designation, but it actually stands for Mifune, the name of Speed’s family in the Japanese version.
The often parodied fast pace of the dialogue in the U.S. version was due to the necessity of cramming the complicated plots into the show’s run-time as well as the short time they had to record the English dub.
Where Can You Watch It?
The entire original series has been collected on DVD and Blu-ray, and it is also available to purchase VOD. It is currently streaming on Prime Video if you have a subscription to that service, and it is available for free (with ads) on The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, SHOUT! Factory TV, and Plex.
Stream or Purchase VOD
