# Speed Racer: Film Industry keeps getting weirder **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181 "2007-05-31T13:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/21 "2007-05-31T18:47:27Z")
[QUOTE=zweisamkeit] _UnbenknownsttoSpeed, RacerXisreallyRexRacer, SpeedRacer’solderbrotherwhoranawayfrom homeyearsagoafteranargumentwithPops._ [/QUOTE] You’re shitting me! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/22 "2007-05-31T19:29:25Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] I thought the reason Speed Racer is popular is due to the fact that it is so bad that it is funny [/QUOTE] A ha it’s because the voice-overs were so poorly done uh when they couldn’t match the number of syllables in the English translation hah they just inserted random noises mmmm… Also, Japanese animation uses fewer frames per second than American animation, so that’s why the action looks so stilted. Christina Ricci as Trixie? That just seems wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/23 "2007-05-31T19:39:22Z")
Speeeeeeed! QuitmessingaroundwithSpridleandChimChimandgetbacktoworkontheMach5!!!Don’tyouknowthebigraceistomorrowandtheWachowskiBrothersaremakingamovieaboutus??? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/24 "2007-05-31T19:40:32Z")
[QUOTE=Carl Corey] This is a funny coincidence because of my post in this [thread=422975]thread[/thread]. I can’t say I’m surprised about this movie. [/QUOTE] psst You mention that you want the theme song? Google Speed Racer and the first link has a place to download it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/25 "2007-05-31T20:03:45Z")
Be funny if they CGI’d Pops Racer instead of getting a live actor… ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/26 "2007-05-31T20:08:06Z")
I’m boycotting this movie unless someone reads my Ultraman script! \ ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/27 "2007-05-31T21:03:03Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] I don’t think so. In its heyday, it was actually pretty sophisticated in comparison to the other cartoons on US airwaves. That was part of its appeal. Speed Racer showed that you can incorporate drama and pathos into a cartoon in a manner that children would appreciate. [/QUOTE] _Sophisticated?_ I watched the show in the mid/late-'60s as a young child and even then I could see it was complete crap and that, for example, the old Warner Brothers cartoons are terrific. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/28 "2007-05-31T21:49:30Z")
Comparing Speed Racer to the old Warner Brothers cartoons is a bit unfair. Remember, we’re talking about how Speed holds up against most of the Saturday morning fare of the time, not against the best. And compared to the old Hanna-Barbera and Filmation stuff, Speed was a heckuva lot better. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/29 "2007-05-31T21:57:20Z")
And _still_ we have np live-action _GI Joe_. Why? WHY?!? GREEN GODS OF YAG-KOSHA! WWHHHHYYYYY!?!? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/30 "2007-05-31T22:05:51Z")
Ahh, memories…Stowaways Spridle and Chim-Chim in their matching outfits, popping out of the trunk at a crucial moment…Speed buzz-sawing his way thru a grove of trees (why the stumps never bothered the Mach 5 I’ll never know)…the perpetually sullen Sparky trying to appease the explosive (but good-hearted) Pops…Trixie the helicopter pilot “calling Mach 5, calling Mach 5”…the Car Acrobatic Team and the despicable Snake…the A-Z push-buttons on the steering column (a submarine and a homing pigeon? What fantastic and plot-convenient engineering!)…the theme song. It’s been close to 40 years, but I’ll be taking my son when it comes out. A few years ago the Cartoon Network was rerunning these in prime time. They must have edited them terribly or something, because they just weren’t as good as when I was a kid. Still, I agree with the OP in that they were somewhat sophisticated for their time (it really is unfair to compare them to the old WB cartoons, which were made specifically for adults). ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/31 "2007-05-31T22:09:02Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] And _still_ we have np live-action _GI Joe_. Why? WHY?!? GREEN GODS OF YAG-KOSHA! WWHHHHYYYYY!?!? ☹ [/QUOTE] It’s in preproduction, but the producer wants to call it Action Man (the European equivalent of G.I. Joe) to do more international business. Apparently other countries aren’t too fond of America and its military right now… ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/32 "2007-05-31T22:35:34Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] Ahh, memories…Stowaways Spridle and Chim-Chim in their matching outfits, popping out of the trunk at a crucial moment…Speed buzz-sawing his way thru a grove of trees (why the stumps never bothered the Mach 5 I’ll never know)…the perpetually sullen Sparky trying to appease the explosive (but good-hearted) Pops…Trixie the helicopter pilot “calling Mach 5, calling Mach 5”…the Car Acrobatic Team and the despicable Snake…the A-Z push-buttons on the steering column (a submarine and a homing pigeon? What fantastic and plot-convenient engineering!)…the theme song. It’s been close to 40 years, but I’ll be taking my son when it comes out. \ [/QUOTE] I was terribly sad when I became old enough to realize that reality would not allow any of those engineering feats! ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/33 "2007-05-31T22:42:32Z")
I’m not sure about how I feel about Chim-Chim being played by a real chimpanzee. The first thing I thought when I read that was “Hmm. How Quaint”. I just ASSUMED it would be a CGI Gollum/Jar-Jar character. Do the Wachowski’s have the patience to deal with a real Chimp? I suppose it goes to show how disillusioned I am to movies these days that I just assume everything is gonna be CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/34 "2007-06-01T00:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=Flutterby] psst You mention that you want the theme song? Google Speed Racer and the first link has a place to download it. [/QUOTE] I’m waiting for my Alpha Team remix CD to come in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/35 "2007-06-01T01:43:16Z")
[QUOTE=Flutterby] You mention that you want the theme song? Google Speed Racer and the first link has a place to download it. [/QUOTE] When I was 15 a Japanese exchange student sang the theme song to me in Japanese, very softly. It was hot in an extremely peculiar way. I’d develop a fetish around that if I had any kind of fetish gumption. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/36 "2007-06-02T04:09:26Z")
I just appreciate this last comment: > [@](#): > > One real effect, though: Chim Chim. > > “They’re using a real monkey,” Hirsch says. “Just don’t call him that. He’s a chimpanzee. He gets upset if you call him a monkey.” Also, I thought I saw something about Korean popstar Rain being in the movie. Is this true? ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2007, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181/37 "2007-06-02T11:32:10Z")
Will the voices be a half second behind the lip movements? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-film-industry-keeps-getting-weirder/406181.md?page=1)