Thursday, October 05, 2006

Mouse...Hashimoto Mouse

We have already documented my childhood affinity for one Speed Racer. But as I recall there were other not so glamorous cartoons that tickled my fancy.

Everybody sing!:
Who lives down in deepest part of Africa?
Who's the one that brought the jungle fame?
Who's the King of Animals in Africa?
Kimba the white lion is his name!



Yep, Kimba the white lion...now some argue that the Lion King was based loosely on Japan's export Kimba The White Lion. Hmmm Kimba and Simba, well at least Simba was an orphan and Kimba was n...what? He was?! Well, at least only Kimba had a mystical baboon friend. Simba did too? Did Kimba's uncle betray him as well?! Oh good, it was only a unscrupulous aunt...

Well, one thing I do know, from looking at him, Kimba probably has no problem discovering his sensitive side. And what's with those eyes?!!! They look kind of glassy to me! I think Kimba needs to submit to a urine test to get to the bottom of those eyes!

Marine Boy...distant cousin of Speed me thinks. This strapping young lad lived under the sea. Now I must congratulate the gang back at Japan Tele-Cartoons. This is definitely a wacky cartoon!














  • Marine Boy jets through the oceans via propellers in the heels of his shoes.
  • His main weapon is a sonic boomerang...er...have you ever tried to throw something under water?!
  • He has a mermaid friend whose hair stays just right to cover up stuff that would throw this show instantly to Cartoon Network's late night Adult Swim.
  • Marine Boy is able to stay under water for long periods of time because he chews oxygum. I sure hope it was sugar-free. We don't want our undersea representative with cavities.
Marine Boy made sure that our oceans were safe...uh...just take away the bottle of rum from the captain of a few oil tankers and that would probably suffice...

Now we come to one of my faves. Why? I don't know. I think it's because in some small way this cartoon comes closest to representing past Japanese life. Although some would argue that it stereotypes Japanese, hey, at least their eyes are not like saucers! I also like it because the main heroes are smart! I give you...Hashimoto-san!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...they have that slanty eye thing going on. However it was created by Japanese-born animator, Bob Kuwahara, so I gotta cut it some slack. Hashimoto-san was the first cartoon to cast a positive light on Japanese. Hashimoto, the rodent patriarch, although reserved, was a judo champion and a definite family man.

How come an American cartoon company, Terrytoons, seemed to have the most flattering picture of Japanese?

posted by LoneCactus @ 6:33 AM Comments: 0