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As someone who was part of the Voltes V generation, I was always puzzled by the popularity of the Transformers.

Don’t mean to poo-poo on anyone’s Cybertron party but the Transformers, when it first appeared on tv in the mid-80s, was to me a lame attempt by an American toy company to capitalize on the giant robot craze that first swept Asia in the 1970s. The ‘kua-kua-kua-kua-kua’ sound that I recall the Transformers making when they morphed into cars or planes (oooh, how imaginative) still grates on me to this day. The biggest thing that bothered me about the series though was the anthropomorphization of the mecha robots. The depiction of the robots as sentient, mechanoid beings with personalities was so unappealing to me. And, come on, moving lips on a robot? Does its face have, like, special metal alloy that’s pliable enough for mouth motor movement? I know with cartoons we’re supposed to suspend our disbelief but I didn’t think we’d have to do it to this extent.

What I liked about the Japanese robot shows that preceded the Transformers was that the robots were controlled by humans. There was a clear human/robot dichotomy. Humans directed the giant robots from within a cockpit usually inside the robot’s head. The appeal behind shows like Voltes V and Daimos (or even Voltron) was that they gave us a glimpse of a believable future wherein we are the masters of hulking masses of metal created to help us fight evil. That’s what captured children’s imaginations then, I believe.

Having said that, I think I’ll give Michael Bay’s film version a chance – a chance, perhaps, to undo the ridiculousness of the earlier versions – and to entertain us at the same time.

(I couldn’t believe I cared enough to write about, and get bent out of shape over, cartoon robots. Yay, I’m, like, twelve again!)

I’ve all but forgotten about this section of my blog. I’ve taken a few pictures with the T616 over the past six months or so however, and here are some of them:

  
Left: SFMOMA from the Metreon; Right: Son no. 2 mimicking Harold and the Purple Crayon

  
Left: Gundam head and the boys; Right: Easter bunny with the baby

  
These Star Wars action figures suspiciously look too much like this guy. Well, the one on the right looks more like Oscar Goldman, the Bionic Man’s boss.

  
Left: Came across this clever theft deterrent (it’s fake, guys); Right: Receiving respiratory therapy after an asthma attack.

Just saw the Animatrix on DVD. All I can say is “whoa!” Keanu-style. It’s some of the most amazing animation I’ve seen since, well, hmmm…Spirited Away. It contains 9 anime shorts by various directors done in varied styles, all centering around the Matrix mythos.

Animatrix opens with Final Flight of the Osiris by the folks who did Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within. Because it’s done in realistic 3D style, it could have easily been incorporated into the Matrix movies (but come to think of it, the 3D generated people incorporated into Matrix Reloaded lent it an unbelievable, wooden feel. Bah.).

The Wachowskis have a penchant of taking not entirely new themes and using them in their films. The Second Renaissance (parts I & II), the second set of shorts, is no different. It tells of the pre-history of the Matrix movies. Seeing how the Matrix came to be gives you the familiar feeling you’ve seen all this before. The way the machines take over the world is so derivative that movies like Terminator and A.I could fit nicely into the Matrix universe. In all fairness, all these movies are, to a certain degree, probably based on Asimov’s Laws of Robotics (or what goes wrong when these laws are broken).

Kid’s Story and Detective Story are wildly experimental shorts done by Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe. The high school building in Kid’s Story is modeled after local Alameda High School. The kinetic, hand-drawn style is the most un-anime technique I’ve seen from a Japanese animator. Detective Story is a nice black and white noir piece that only further extends parallelisms between the magnificent Dark City and the Matrix. This time, we’ve also got investigators going crazy after finding out “the truth.”

Program is the most traditional anime short of the bunch. It’s beautifully drawn by the animator behind cutting-edge Neo Tokyo and Wicked City. It’s like watching Samurai Jack meets the Matrix.

The young animator behind World Record is clearly influenced by Peter Chung, director of Matriculation and the now-classic Aeon Flux. But he definitely brings something new and raw to the world of anime. Expect him to do the next Nike commercial or a future KRS-One video.

Beyond is perhaps the first anime where “rotoscoping” is used, a traditional Disney or Bakshi technique where live actors are used as reference or directly drawn over to give characters life-like movements.

Finally, Matriculation by American-born Peter Chung, who gave us Aeon Flux, weaves an “anti-Matrix” tale - inviting robots into the human mind. I’m glad to see Chung further honing his skills and improving his craft. This story is like a Heavy Metal strip come to life. It reminds me of parts of “The Incal” by Moebius and Jodorowski on which “The Fifth Element” is loosely based.

Chung probably needed a break from animating the Rugrats.

“The Matrix” has come full circle. When it first came out it was said to be an homage to the craft of fine Japanese animation. Now the Wachowski brothers have given the masters of anime an opportunity to tell the Matrix story with their own paintbrush.

What started out as a poll at PhilMUG to find out members’ ages turned into a full-on nostalgic trip-down-memory-lane for the mostly thirty-something folk. Stuff like what Japanese robot show was shown on what day and which pilot controlled which robot were discussed (my favorite was Daimos). People reminisced about ’60s and ’70s American shows that were broadcasted in the Philippines like:

• Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
• Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl
• Mightor
• Herculoids
• Gigantor
• Sealab 2020
• The Funny Company
• Bugaloos
• Gulliver’s Travels (the cartoon)
• Moby Dick (the cartoon)
• Wacky Races
• Land of the Lost
• Alakazam
• Starsky and Hutch
• Six Million Dollar Man
• Night Gallery (w/Rod Serling)
• Space:1999
• Sixth Sense
• Time Tunnel
• Combat!
• Wild Wild West

Saw Spirited Away on DVD last night. It opened with Pixar’s John Lasseter introducing the movie to viewers. Although distributed by Disney, this Japanese production doesn’t fit the typical Disney mold (no song and dance numbers by cute furry creatures). There were creatures but they were other-worldly creatures too frightening for children to watch. At least in the beginning I thought. I saw this movie with my two sons, ages 6 and 2 1/2, and I expected them to watch certain scenes from behind the couch but they just took it in stride. They seemed to fully grasp that this was pure fantasy, enjoying every minute of this delightful albeit unusual movie. It reminded me of the time I watched as a kid the animated adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (of which Spirited Away shares some similarities). Although frightened at times, I was riveted to the screen, swept by the exhilarating finale as Aslan defeats the evil Snow Queen and reclaims Narnia as his kingdom.