Speed Racer – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

“Here he comes, here he comes; Speed Racer. He’s a demon on wheels…” that will always stick with me.

I first saw this in the 70s at some point and it was different. I had said that Jonny Quest was different and it was but this one…was completely different than anything I had seen. It was my first viewing of Japanese Anime. Speed Racer was one of the first Japanese anime cartoons to make it stateside back in the 1960s. The show originally called Mach Go Go Go reached millions of kids around the world while in syndication. My first thought while watching it while I was older…this was NOT Hanna-Barbera.

I discovered Speed Racer and Jonny Quest at the same time. I would watch it at my cousin’s house and was blown away by the different animation.

Speed Racer (Go Mifune) is the young driver of the Mach 5, an incredible supercar designed by his father “Pops” Racer (Daisuke Mifune). Speed would race dangerous routes against dangerous people and come out on top with his “girlfriend” Trixie (Michi Shimura) trailing him in a helicopter and his little brother Spritle (Kurio) and his pet chimp Chim-Chim (Sanpei) frequently stowing away in the trunk.

Through the years there have been remakes of the show in the 90s and a movie in 2008 which was not received well. It was a groundbreaking show in the US and opened the door for Japanese Anime afterward.

I still catch the show when I can.