Editing Gigantor (section)

==History==
In 1963, [[Fred Ladd]], while working on the animated feature ''[[Pinocchio in Outer Space]]'' and on the animated TV series ''[[The Big World of Little Adam]]'' had seen artwork of Mitsuteru Yokoyama presenting a giant robot remote-controlled by a young boy. The Tokyo-based artist had designed the robot for a Japanese shōnen [[manga]] series ''[[Tetsujin-28]]'' and later a black-and-white animated TV series called ''[[Tetsujin 28-go]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |pages=377–378}}</ref>

Ladd, who had produced the successful international, English-language adaptation of ''[[Astro Boy (1963 TV series)|Astro Boy]]'', and [[Al Singer]] formed a corporation called Delphi Associates, Inc. to produce and distribute an English-language version of ''Tetsujin 28-gō''. They took only 52 episodes of the black-and-white Japanese series for the American market and renamed the series ''Gigantor''. [[Peter Fernandez]] wrote much of the English script and participated in the dubbing. Delphi then sub-licensed worldwide distribution rights to [[Trans-Lux|Trans-Lux Television]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Gigantor on Television Age|magazine=[[Television/Radio Age (magazine)|Television Age]]|volume=13|issue=5|publisher=Mark Shaw Associates|date=1965-09-27|page=38}}</ref> The series became an immediate hit with juvenile audiences, though adult reactions were sometimes hostile.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}

Despite the fact that the ''Tetsujin 28-go'' manga (which debuted in 1956) predates the [[Marvel Comics]] character [[Iron Man]] (who debuted in 1963), ''Tetsujin 28-go'' (which literally means "Iron Man No. 28") could not be released as ''Iron Man'' in North America due to the Marvel character Iron Man appearing in that market before ''Tetsujin'' debuted there, so the series was renamed ''Gigantor'' for the American version.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television cartoon shows: an illustrated encyclopedia, 1949 through 1993 |date=1995 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786400294 |pages=232 & 324 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACLuAAAAMAAJ |quote=The character names were then "westernized": Dr. Kaneda became Dr. Sparks; his son Shotaro became Jimmy; and finally, since there already was an "Iron Man" on the market (see Marvel Superheroes), Tetsujin 28GO was not translated as Iron Man No. 28 but completely rechristened as Gigantor.}}</ref>

''Gigantor'' premiered in the United States in syndication in January 1966.<ref>{{cite news|date=1966-01-17|title=TV and Radio Program Guide (5:30)|work=[[Toledo Blade]]}}</ref> It was playing at 7:00&nbsp;p.m. on New York's [[WPIX|WPIX-TV]] when ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' gave it a particularly scathing review, calling it a "loud, violent, tasteless and cheerless cartoon" which was "strictly in the retarded babysitter class". The reviewer added that ''Gigantor'' was popular; he said, "Ratings so far are reportedly good, but strictly pity the tikes and their misguided folks."<ref>''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]],'' January 26, 1966</ref>

''Gigantor'' became a popular Japanese export during this time. The series was shown in Australia on [[Melbourne]] television in January 1968 through [[Trans-Lux]], on [[ATV-0]] at 5:00&nbsp;pm. It was described by the ''[[TV Week]]'' as an "animated science fiction series about the world's mightiest robot, and 12-year-old Jimmy Sparks who controls the [[Jet engine|jet]]-propelled giant". The series aired in other markets around Australia, including Sydney on [[TEN (TV station)|TEN-10]], and in [[Adelaide, South Australia]] on [[SAS-10]], (its debut on Monday October 28, 1968, at 5.55&nbsp;pm).<ref>Lannan, Kelly Patrick. (1977{{ndash}}current) ''Base Koala TX Data Archives''.</ref> It was also screened in New Zealand around the same time.

''Gigantor'' was one of a number of Japanese TV series that enjoyed strong popularity with young viewers in Australia during the 1960s. The first and undoubtedly the most successful of these was the hugely successful live-action historical adventure series ''[[The Samurai (TV series)|The Samurai]]'', the first Japanese TV series ever screened in Australia, which premiered in late 1964. It was followed by a contemporary [[ninja]]-based live action espionage series, ''[[Phantom Agents]]'', and a number of popular Japanese animated series including ''[[Astro Boy]]'', ''Ken The Wolf Boy'', ''[[Prince Planet]]'' and ''[[Marine Boy]]''.

In July 1994, [[Fox Family Films]], a division of [[20th Century Fox]], acquired the rights to "Gigantor" for a live-action motion picture.<ref name="reinvents">Parker, Donna. (July 19, 1994) [[The Hollywood Reporter]] ''Fox reinvents "Gigantor" robot.'' Page 3.</ref> Anticipating that ''Gigantor'' would become a franchise for the studio, Fox tapped screenwriters [[Steve Meerson]] and [[Peter Krikes]] to prepare the script and budgeted between $35&nbsp;million and $50&nbsp;million for the film.<ref name="reinvents"/> Executive producers [[Fred Ladd]] and Aeiji Katayama indicated that [[Mitsuteru Yokoyama]] would get an executive producer credit and that the 50-foot robot would be updated and modernized for the 1990s with a 12-foot height and morphed and [[Computer-generated imagery|computer-generated features]].<ref name="reinvents"/> However, the project has yet to come to fruition and Mitsuteru Yokoyama has since died.