# WTF kind of drugs were the producers of the old Speed Racer cartoons on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982 "2010-12-31T20:40:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/41 "2011-01-03T18:35:24Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > However, because Japanese is syllable-time (and English is stress-timed), I wonder if maybe they’re just trying to make the lips match the pace. In any case, the English I’ve heard in these cartoons so far is bizarrely denatured: > > “Re-mem-ber-Speed-Ra-cer-when-you-de-feat-ed-us-at-that-race-in-the-Ba-var-i-an-Alps-well-we-will-re-turn-to-make-you-pay-for-that-just-you-wait-Speed-Ra-cer!” You mean the Japanese talk like Daleks?? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/42 "2011-01-03T18:40:54Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > In the early 70’s, Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion, 8th Man, and Prince Planet were all available for viewing on TV stations servicing the Pittsburgh market… I may have been a little too young for Speed Racer, or maybe we just weren’t interested. We watched G-Force with rabid devotion, and it seems to have been lost in obscurity. I think it was a step up in quality, if perhaps a very short step! ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/43 "2011-01-03T18:50:30Z")
Speed Racer’s freaky dream sequence in “The Most Dangerous Race” gave me childhood nightmares for years. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/44 "2011-01-03T18:50:54Z")
Ah! How could I forget! Channel 53 also ran [Marine Boy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Boy)which was certainly one of the most stupid-ass shows produced in any country. Oxy-gum…a folding electrical boomerang…Bullton & Piper. Cripes, that show made Speed Racer look like it had been penned by the bastard offspring of Joss Whedon and William Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/45 "2011-01-03T18:59:46Z")
I forgot all about Marine Boy! I just watched the first one: _The Green Monster_. Too funny! An Atomic Ship is sunk and the new Atomic Drill goes missing. Even as a kid I wondered how we were supposed to buy that oxy gum would keep him alive under water. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/46 "2011-01-03T19:36:36Z")
I grew up watching, and loving _Speed racer_. also: _Marine Boy Kimba Ultraman Johnny Sokko and his Giant Robot Prince Planet_ and thats just the Japanese super-heroes I can remember. Tha Cleveland market was good to us geeks. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/47 "2011-01-03T19:37:32Z")
Oxy-gum was cool. Admittedly, the lame pink-ass theme song hasn’t helped _Marine Boy_ stay in the public consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/48 "2011-01-03T20:16:00Z")
Ma Ha Go Go Go! As a kid, I lived in Japan for a few years in the late 60s, and remember watching this show in all its original Japanese glory. My brother loved it. I was more of an Ultraman fan. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/49 "2011-01-03T21:04:36Z")
I was more of a [Gigantor](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlWaTAZUxUQ) fan, myself. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/50 "2011-01-03T21:07:31Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > What kind of acid trip were these people on when they made this stuff? The kind that gives you a deep spiritual insight (see [entheogens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entheogen)) – in this, case, the insight that a **realistic** kiddie cartoon about auto racing just ain’t gonna fly. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/51 "2011-01-03T21:28:33Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > Ma Ha Go Go Go! As a kid, I lived in Japan for a few years in the late 60s, and remember watching this show in all its original Japanese glory. My brother loved it. I was more of an Ultraman fan. heh. i LOVED ultraman as a kid. i did love speed racer too, altho even at the tender age of seven the grunting was hilarious to me. in other shows of the period such as ‘voyage to the bottom of the sea’ (which did the spy thing the first year, then after that irwin allen and his crazy monster of the week concept trashed what had been a good show), a lot of the tv programming of the time was influenced by the spy craze of the middle-late 60s, which also gave us ‘the man from uncle,’ which is still one of my favorite shows. david mccallum turning up on ncis was the only reason i started watching that show in the first place. he’s still just as yummy as he ever was, even at his and my advanced ages! 😃 i’m sure there were a lot of others, now lost to the mists of time that followed the same formula. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/52 "2011-01-03T21:37:30Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Speed Racer is hardly the most bizarre thing to come out of Japan. Don’t forget fish served live and sliced. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/53 "2011-01-06T04:37:45Z")
There is a cartoon in Japan now called something like `Bra and Panties` where the protagonists fight evil-doers with their magical underwear. The weirdness over here is Grade A and neverending. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/54 "2011-01-06T05:03:09Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > There is a cartoon in Japan now called something like `Bra and Panties` where the protagonists fight evil-doers with their magical underwear. The weirdness over here is Grade A and neverending. It’s called “Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.” The title alone is fuel for the “See, I told you the Japanese are nothing but pervs” crowd. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/55 "2011-01-06T05:08:32Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Here’s a clip from “The Trick Race”. Go to 5:55 to see the Car Acrobatic team. Funny and trippy as hell! > > [Link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbYdDAm4Brk&feature=related) If you’re like me and hate wasting time, this link will take you right to 5:55. [Click here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbYdDAm4Brk&t=5m54s). ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/56 "2011-01-06T06:01:33Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKWPyChn2Is&feature=player_detailpage#t=706s) is the best thing ever done in the history of everything. Spritle and Chim-chim go on a midnight drive in a car they made themselves to spy on the car acrobatic team while wearing ridiculous disguises. Chim-chim even has a little Hitler moustache 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/57 "2011-01-06T23:13:45Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > The thing is, you don’t need drugs. Just access to a male kid’s imagination. Just hire a 10 year old boy and say, “What would you think would be cool?” “A car! With sawblades! That can JUMP!” Etc… [Axe Cop](http://www.axecop.com). Written by a 5 year old, drawn by his dad. Though, some have been known to retain imagination even post-puberty. Sometimes even GIRLS! By comic-book/anime/geek standards, Speed Racer isn’t that wierd. It is pretty hyper, aided by the most intrusive narrator in cinematic history.. I mean, try explaining most any old Nintendo era game out loud. “You’re a plumber, see, and you’re trapped in a dream world with your brother, girlfriend, and some creepy mushroom guy. There are all these little masked dudes spitting rocks at you, and little star ninjas, and all kinds of guys trying to kill you, and you have to fight them by pulling veggies and keys out of the ground and throwing them at them. And you can ride around on them, and pick them up and throw them at each other! Did I mention you can jump like 30’? Your brother can jump higher, but moves so slow he’s annoying. Your girlfriend can float. And sometimes when you pull up a veggie, it’s actually a potion, which takes you to a shadow world.” And so. And so. ## I seem to remember hearing an interview with some old-school anime translator (Carl Macek, maybe) who mentioned a big step towards de-silly-ing the whole process was when they realized that just because a character’s mouth was open, they didn’t HAVE to add a grunt. On an unrelated note, most rabbits neither answer mail, nor crossdress on a regular basis. And assuming they will all have Bronx/Brooklyn-ish accents is just plain racist. Or species-ist. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982/58 "2011-01-08T04:23:24Z")
> [@Ura-Maru](#): > > [Axe Cop](http://www.axecop.com). Written by a 5 year old, drawn by his dad. I believe they are brothers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-kind-of-drugs-were-the-producers-of-the-old-speed-racer-cartoons-on/565982.md?page=2)