Space Travelers: The Animation

Space Travelers: The Animation (スペース・トラベラーズ The Animation, Supesutoraberaz The Animation) is a 2000 science fiction and action Japanese straight to video full-length animated film produced by Fuji Television Network and Robot Films. The anime ties back to 2000's live action comedy film Space Travelers directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro, also produced by Fuji Television Network and Robot Films.

Space Travelers: The Animation
Space Travelers: The Animation promo poster
スペース・トラベラーズ The Animation
Directed byTakashi Ui
Written byKatsuhiko Koide
Story byKatsuyuki Motohiro
Based onSpace Travelers, 2000 film
Produced byMasayuki Miyashita
Shuji Abe
Yutaro Kawamura
StarringShinichiro Miki
Banjou Ginga
Hideki Ogihara
Kotono Mitsuishi
Shigeru Chiba
Shinobu Adachi
Takaco Kato
Yutaka Aoyama
Edited byKeiichiro Mochizuki
Music byToshiyuki Watanabe
Production
companies
Distributed byMedia Blasters
Release date
  • June 23, 2000 (2000-06-23)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot edit

In the New Cosmic Century 038, humanity is suddenly attacked by a mysterious alien civilization known as the Orbital Ring System. Soon, the entire Earth Civilization Sphere has been cut off from the space colonies, and is under the control of the ORS. Only Hayabusa Jetter, along with his band of misfit space pirates and smugglers, can break through ORS lines.

Aiding an underground resistance movement, the Space Travellers risk their lives to transport vital supplies to and from Earth. One day, however, a mysterious gentleman hires them to deliver an unmarked spherical container. Hayabusa accepts the mission, with no idea that this simple package may hold the key to mankind's destiny![1]

Cast edit

Original Japanese cast edit

English dub cast edit

Production edit

Space Travelers: The Animation began as a throwaway gag in Katsuyuki Motohiro's popular 2000 live-action movie Space Travelers, in which a Tokyo bank robbery goes disastrously wrong. As the police surround the building, the staff and hostages volunteer to help the robbers bluff their way out; each is given a code name based on a character from the robbers favorite cartoon, a nonexistent show called Space Travelers-hence the large cast of anime archetypes. Scraps of animation were made as inserts for the original movie and are reused here-hence the strange pacing of the overlong opening credits that were not originally intended to be shown in this manner. An afterthought following the movie's success, Space Travelers was reputedly inspired by Motohiro's love of Star Blazers, Gundam, and Evangelion.[2]

Japanese staff edit

  • Character Design: Mitsuru Bakuto
  • Animation Director: Noboru Takahashi, Takao Shizuno, Toshi Shishikura, Toyoaki Nakajima, Yoshihiro Matsumoto
  • Producer: Hirotsugu Usui, Kenichiro Zaizen, Toru Horibe
  • Animation producer: Keiichiro Mochizuki
  • Assistant Director: Takayuki Inagaki
  • Orchestra Conductor: Sakae Sakakibara
  • Production Design: Yoshihiro Kamikubo
  • Visual Design: Takashi Okazaki

Distribution edit

Space Travelers: The Animation English version was distributed by Media Blasters for the North American release of the anime. Both DVD and VHS copies of the English dubbed version was released on September 25, 2001.

English staff edit

  • ADR Director: Crispin Freeman
  • Translation: Julia Rose
  • Executive producer: John Sirabella
  • ADR Engineer: Gary Solomon
  • Editing: Beth Salem
  • Graphic Design: Merideth Mulroney
  • Mixing: Joe Digiorgi
  • Production Assistant: Anna Yamamoto
  • Production manager: Scott Marchfeld
  • Production Supervision: Joe Digiorgi, Sean Molyneaux
  • Script Adaptation: Crispin Freeman

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Cammila Collar (2016). "New York Times Review". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. ^ [1] development origins

External links edit