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Imagi's Astro Boy Teaser Trailer Officially Unveiled

by Alex Billington
November 20, 2008
Source: AOL

Imagi has unveiled the first short teaser trailer for Astro Boy, the CGI cinematic version of the popular Japanese manga character. I really wasn't expecting a teaser trailer this early but wow, this looks pretty bad. I guess I should've known it was headed downhill when the original director (who we actually interviewed) unexpectedly left the project. Up until this point we'd only ever seen some early concept art and other rough photos from the film, but now I wish that is still all we'd ever seen. I'm really trying to find something good in this, but it's damn near impossible. Go ahead and watch this if you so dare.

Watch the teaser trailer for Astro Boy:

You can also watch the Astro Boy teaser trailer in High Definition on AOL

Set in futuristic Metro City, AstroBoy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving father's expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the man who had rejected him.

AstroBoy is directed by ex-Disney animator David Bowers, of Flushed Away previously, with a screenplay written by Timothy Harris, of Brewster's Millions, Kindergarten Cop, and Space Jam previously. Imagi Animation, the studio behind TMNT last year, is developing this animated film which is based on Osamu Tezuka's manga series. AstroBoy will arrive in theaters everywhere on October 23rd, 2009.

Filed under To Watch, Trailers

From around the web:

jesse

Sure it's not Pixar, blue sky, or dreamworks, but it looks fine to me. Mind pointing out what makes it look so bad?
mos

how do u not see anything good in this, alex? this looks like an awesome version of the classic astro boy. looking forward to it
dave

this looks way better than what i was expecting but i think it still needs something. i have to continue thinking about it
Craig

I don't understand your reasoning Alex. Your acting as if we received a full theatrical trailer but this is a mere teaser that doesn't show much yet you already state that it looks horrid. There just isn't enough footage shown for one to say if this is a complete pile of dog fecal matter or an entertaining film that honors the manga.
Breebaby

Uhm Yeah.. I enjoyed it as it is only 9 seconds long. I think I will save my actual pre-cog review until I see a full trailer. Alex is the reason you don't like it because it is being distributed by Summit (the all hated fledgling entertainment company releasing your 2008 hated movie of the year - Twilight) or because the director YOU interviewed is now not directing? Or do you know something more that we don't? Just curious.....
Carl Denham

Nothing here to merit an opinion, really, unless you're concerned about special effects. I've never seen the original show, but this looks fine to me.
http://www.theaterhopper.com Tom Brazelton

I don't understand what looks so bad about this? Basically they're announcing "Hey! We're making an Astroboy movie!" and giving fans of the character something to get excited about. There is literally nothing in this trailer to make a judgement call on good OR bad.
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

I think it has to do with the fact that the character looks so cheesy. I'm comment ON the teaser - not necessarily about the whole film yet. The way he runs (in the sky) and his looks is just CHEESY. I can't get around it - I think it just looks bad!
jesse

Well Astro boy is cheese. So that means they did it right. Maybe deep down you hate it beceacuse you have no soul, or maybe you just want to whine for the sake of it to get more people online to please those that buy ads.
Red Buttons

Well i am excited
BigTalker

I have watched the trailer 4 times now and it looks better then the teaser for TMNT did. The story is about a robot boy, it is a cheesy comic book, it will be a cheesy movie. Still looks like it has a ton of potential though.
Freddy

Of course this is just YOUR opinion.. It looks fine to me.
ERivas

I think it looks like fun so far...Can't wait to see something with more substance.
troy

i dont know about the movie as a whole, but it has an impressive voice cast. we'll wait and see.
http://www.indiegogo.com/judgemental Trystan

it looks exactly like the manga/anime, just in CG, what's not to like so far?
big r

Looks fine to me, from what i saw. Looks like any other Dreamworks, Pixar etc.
Jaf

I'm thinking the story's so compressed that showing us any other footage would spoil it But seriously, it's no so bad that you have to dare us to watch it
Chris W

oh no...not Astro Boy. please God!
BinYe East

What was bad about it? *puts on magnifying lenses to pinpoint any miniscule flaws* The way he punches through the earth's core is awesome. It has a ton of potential. What's up with the hateration?
THERBLIG

I loved Astro Boy growing up and with the music on this trailer and the colors I FEEL LIKE IM WATCHING FUCKING JIMMY NEUTRON! i really would of been happy with them if they had made this more anime with cgi. or even cgi that look a bit more edgy not so polished. I dotn know im gonna have to wait for a better trailer, as of now i wouldnt give this that much thought but it screams JIMMY NEUTRON! Gatchaman will still kill Astro boy and Mazinger Z will also kill astro boy!!!!!!!!!!
darrin

dude summit pictures is really coming up in the movie business. they haven't disappoint me yet. they have good films and decent films. Astroboy looks pretty decent too.
Drake

Astroboy will kick ironman's ass
dave13

looks cheesy? what logic is that? Astro Boy is drawn very cheesy in the manga and the show. The drilling he does is very true to the original movements drawn in both the manga and the show. that said, i'm not the biggest fan of Astro Boy, however I think it is a solid story worth being brought to life again, this time with CGI. Though on the CGI, it does remind me of Jimmy Neutron as well, which is a little unsettling... my two cents.
Conrad

I for one avidly watched this show when I was a little kid, along with Macross and Robotech and such. I LOVED it then and I think this reboot looks fairly faithful. Astroboy looks pretty much exactly the way he always did except he's computer generated rather than hand drawn. - Still don't really understand all the hatred for Astroboy teaser trailer, I think it looks all right!
http://www.graphic.it Flavio

I think is cool, also this is just a small teaser impossible to judge. The clouds are very well done though.
dac_fan

Why did that trailer make me think of Megaman?
http://www.imagenfilms.com Marty Martin - IMAGEN Films

there is something about the FEEL of this, not the LOOK that feels rather unappealing and cheesy to me. It's just a teaser, so who knows. But it almost looks lifeless and dull.
Rolando

AWFUL! HAte it! this is NOT ASTROBOY! They could call him like that but it is not! As Ebert said it once: I HATED IT! I HATED IT ! I HATED IT!
SS

I join Alex in the "I am not impressed" group. But really Alex, please, work on your writing. You are supposed to be a journalist. Kindly work on placing real reasons you don't like something. For example, it took you one extra comment to point out that the reason you felt it was bad was because it was "cheesy". Why couldn't you type that in your original article? Instead, your article is downbeat seemingly without reason and sometimes it just looks like you are throwing toys out of the pram. But again, I agree with your opinion just not your writing style. You are too jubilant or too upset. Please try to improve exposition. Thanks.
nut-Meg

Ya-hoo!
matt

I've been a 3D animator/modeller/artist for the last 10 years working in film,tv and games and have developed an eye for quality....this is NOT one of those examples. So its really insulting to see such bad quality for a movie i had high hopes on! It looks like every other uber generic piece of 3d pixar wannabe shows out there, that dont quite "get it"! As a fan of the original series, the design is wayyyyy off(for its interpretation into 3D)...it lacks the charm and innocence of the original show. That was its appeal, the innocence of Astro in a world that doesnt quite get him. This one looks too "world savy"..which is really annoying!
angela de cristofaro

Sorry folks but this is not the Japanese Astro Boy--- the American Bob's Big Boy perhaps. It looks as though once again corporate studio protocol got in the way of artistic integrity, ei. let's just make it bright and goofy for the kiddies and sell more movie tickets. Kids don't just want eye candy; they want and deserve truth. Not to mention that they've just lost an huge adult following with this inauthentic and predictable style and soundtrack. This doesn't mean it has to look or sound like Batman, but within the endless possibilities in animation, including what the original comics have to offer, this film has still ended up like every other clean, over animated, roller-coaster-ride of a movie. What a shame. It carries none of the qualities that made this character so special. Why don't you just put him in cargo pants too and call it a day.
hiro

how can one make a jugement on a short trailer. crazy talk unless you are getting kickbacks.
Noemi

You know what's also cheese? Speed Racer. They should sell these movies together in a dual pack for 15 bucks when this is released. No, less than that.
K

I'll have to disagree with you Mr Alex. Nothing wrong with that teaser at all.
Richard

Looks fairly entertaining and I pretty much hate astroboy.
Chris C.

I have to admit, I am thoroughly unimpressed.
Chieze O.

I have no idea what you're basing this "I HATE IT!" thing on Alex. It looks fine to me for the 9 seconds we saw. The punch-drilling looks cool and the legs moving in the air seemed to be more like unsteadiness in his newfound flight ability or something. *shrug* Holding off additional judgment till there's a real trailer.
Dusty

Nothing wrong with that trailer... is exactly what i expected... this was always a bland cheesy character... so it matches the cartoon source... not my cup of tee, but exactly what I expected "a cleaned up version of an 80's cartoon.
Zerge

Meh.
http://www.escuelahogwarts.ief.st IJ

alex that what I see you like to criticize everything that goes wrong to Linked Summit Entertainment What the hell you got against this company? if the movie is not so bad the less I do not what it seems
Bry from Chi

It reminds me of Iron Giant..not the anime of course..but the retro feel to it. I just hope it's finished before SAG strikes...oey boy.
http://www.mygamemug.com Darren

I've been a new reader of the last year or so and I'm actually pretty impartial to Alex's negative comments on movies. In this case, I completely agree - This version of Astro Boy looks cheesy as hell. Comment 20 hit the mark - This shit looks like Jimmy Neutron.
OJ

this is so great i cant wait ..................
Alf

Boy! this AstroBoy has a funny look to it. Unlike the cartoon character at all! It lacks the cute factor. The picture they put up on this site is quite a dissappointing preview. They did a better job with the Turtles. I am a fan but the teaser did nothing to me....Iron Man has the best arial scenes so far! Astroboy should take a look at that.
monkeyboy

I agree - this looks like straight to video crap. The character design of Astro didn't bother me nearly as much as that of Prof. Ochanomizu. Lame. I hope i'm wrong, I would love for this to be good.
http://myspace.com/corycow CoryCow

Well, I'm an Astro Boy fan for sure and I think so far this looks pretty promising. We really need more of a trailer to know but I can see this is going in a decent direction so far. As for what Jesse(1) said I would have to agree. I love most of what Pixar has made. But, just because a movie isn't made by them or Dreamworks or Blue Sky doesn't mean anything. It's about time we got some more names in the 3D game and if Imagi has what it takes then I more than welcome what they have to offer.
http://myspace.com/corycow CoryCow

Ok, I just remembered who Imagi is just now. They are the same people who made TMNT. Now, I really have high hopes for this one. TMNT was a nice way to resurrect the Turles in my opinion(especially after the garbage that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3, ugh. -_-) .
13Wez13

All I know is that Awesome music better be on the soundtrack.....I hope