go speedracer, go away
May 12th, 2008
Its not often that I love something more than myself, but there are a few exceptions. Speed Racer is one major exception. When I was a little kid, they used to play it after Beavis and Butthead, and I instantly fell in love. But staying in love has been an incredibly hard task, because Speed Racer, though the best show ever, is the worst franchise of all time.
To be a Speed Racer fan, you have to have a good understanding of kitsch. This is why recreating the magic is so hard. Kitsch is something that you can’t try to create, it has to happen naturally. Every itteration of the show, besides the original, has been so heavy handed or completely aweful.
Around the time I got into Speed Racer, The New Adventures of Speed Racer debuted. It was the first American attempt to capture the magic. It was so stupid, it only lasted thirteen stupid episodes. A race car driver, and dimensional time traveler, Speed Racer and his Mach 5 battled against mutant aliens, for the safety of earth. Even as a 9 year old kid, I knew this was the worst cartoon I’d ever seen. Its angry jingle metal theme song, embarrassed me, yet didn’t stop me from watching the cartoon every sunday morning.
Along time passed, and I heard rumors of a reprisal. A Japaneses version of the show, and a new hope for Speed Racer bliss. This animation studio, took the Digimon approach,using computer drawn characters with really thin lines. The show had very little to do with racing, most storylines focusing on Speed’s high school life. The racing that did take place looked like it was lifted out of Tron. This series never made it to the states, and was incredibly hard to find when it came out. But that didn’t stop me, unfortunately.
Now in 2008, theres a new Speed Racer push. A new movie and a new cartoon series. And if you didn’t already know, they’re both art directed vomit. I’ve come to terms with the situation, and I’ve learned a few things. Speed Racer is deceptively simple. People that love speed racer, really love speed racer. But if you truely love Speed Racer, leave it alone. Please.
