Gatchaman

Imagi Animation Studios Shut Down; Is the Adaptation of GATCHAMAN Dead?

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 9th, 2010 at 3:33 pm

It’s not easy being the outsider among giants, and now, according to Twitch, the independent Imagi Animation Studios is closing down after being forced to lay off 300 of its employees due to financial woes.  The studio launched in 2000 and after doing animation work for TV and in a supporting capacity with DreamWorks Animation’s Father of the Pride (2004), the studio had a moderate success in 2007 with TMNT.  Unfortunately, their next film, last year’s Astro Boy opened to disappointing numbers, raking in only $23 million worldwide, which was less than a third of its budget.

Unfortunately, Imagi was in the middle of working on an adaptation of the 1970s anime TV series Gatchaman.  The series [as related by Wikipedia] centered on five teenage superhero ninjas who opposed a group of technologically advanced villains from taking control of the Earth’s natural resources.  While their adaptation, set for 2011, is most likely dead, it’s also likely that someone will pick it up in the future and shoot it back to the big screen.  You just can’t keep a group of teenage superhero ninjas who dress like birds down.  But if you want to feel wistful and long for things that will not be, click here to see a teaser poster, a clip, and images from the film and click here to see a teaser trailer.

ASTRO BOY will be at Comic-Con Thursday – Read a Preview Here

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 21st, 2009 at 7:45 am

If you’re a fan of “Astro Boy” and have been waiting for this year’s Comic-Con to finally watch a few complete scenes from the animated movie, you’ll want to be in room 6BCF at 10:15 Thursday morning. That’s because Summit Entertainment is going to premiere some footage and have stars Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, director David Bowers and producer Maryann Garger answer questions and talk about making the movie. I actually went to Imagi Studios headquarters in Los Angeles a few weeks ago and saw some of the film. My thoughts are after the jump:

GATCHAMAN Teaser from Anime Expo 2009

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 6th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

At this weekend’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles, a very short teaser for the “Gatchaman” movie was recorded with a video camera and put online. Since the clip is short and the quality of the image isn’t great, it’s really not fair to judge the footage. Also, with Paul Dini as one of the writers on the project, I’m holding out hope that “Gatchaman” is going to surprise American audiences.

After the jump is the footage so take a look:

GATCHAMAN Movie – Photos of the Display at Los Angeles Anime Expo 2009 – Plus a Gatchaman Watch

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 2nd, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Starting today at the Los Angeles Convention Center is Anime Expo 2009. Billed as the nation’s largest anime and manga convention, I went to see if their claim was true. And I have to say, it was pretty impressive. In a little while I’ll be posting tons of pictures of people in costumes and a more detailed write-up of what I thought. But for now, let’s talk “Gatchaman”.

At the convention today, Imagi Studios had a booth where they were showing clips from their upcoming “Astro Boy” movie and they also had some early signage for their next feature “Gatchaman”. After the jump, you can see the images as well as a “Gatchaman” watch which they were giving away to people at certain times of the day.

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