Alakazam the Great

Alakazam the Great (西遊記, Saiyūki, lit. "Journey to the West") is a 1960 Japanese musical anime film, based on the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West, and was one of the earliest anime films to be released in the United States.[1] Osamu Tezuka was named as a director of the film by Toei Company. However, Tezuka later stated that the only time he was in the studio was to pose for publicity photos.[2] His involvement in promoting the film, however, led to his interest in animation.[3]

Alakazam the Great
1961 US release lobby card
Directed byTaiji Yabushita
Daisaku Shirakawa
Produced byHiroshi Okawa
Written byKeinosuke Uekusa
Based onJourney to the West
by Wu Cheng'en
Boku no Son Gokū
by Osamu Tezuka
StarringKiyoshi Komiyama
Noriko Shindō
Hideo Kinoshita
Setsuo Shinoda
Peter Fernandez
Frankie Avalon
Narrated bySterling Holloway
Music byRyoichi Hattori (Japanese Version)
Les Baxter (American Version)
CinematographyHarusato Otsuka
Komei Ishikawa
Kenji Sugiyama
Edited byShintaro Miyamoto
Kanjiro Igusa
Salvatore Billitteri
Laurette Odney
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • August 14, 1960 (1960-08-14) (Japan)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

Alakazam is a young and brave monkey (a macaque) who has been encouraged by all the other monkeys to become their king. After attaining the throne, he becomes rude and dictatorial, and does not believe that human beings are greater than he is. Then he deceives/forces Merlin the magician to teach him magic (reluctantly on Merlin's part, who warns Alakazam that the powers he acquires now will bring him much unhappiness later).

Alakazam becomes so arrogant that he abuses his magic powers, and chooses to go up to Majutsu Land (the Heavens), to challenge King Amo. He is defeated by King Amo. For his punishment, he is sentenced to serve as the bodyguard of Prince Amat on a pilgrimage; in order to learn humility. Ultimately, he learns his lesson and becomes a true hero.

Characters
Japanese name Japanese voice actor English name English voice actor
Sun WukongKiyoshi KomiyamaAlakazamPeter Fernandez
Frankie Avalon
Lin-LinNoriko ShindōDeeDeeDodie Stevens
Zhu BajieHideo KinoshitaSir Quigley Broken BottomJonathan Winters
Sha WujingSetsuo ShinodaMax LulipopoArnold Stang
Tang SanzangNobuaki SekinePrince Amat
ShakyamuniKunihisa TakedaKing Amo
GuanyinKatsuko OzakiQueen Amas
ShōryūMichiko ShirasakaFilo Fester
Bull Demon KingKinshiro IwaoKing Gruesome
Princess Iron FanTamae KatoQueen Gruesome
Golden Horned KingKiyoshi KawakuboHerman McSnarles
Silver Horned KingShuichi KazamatsuriVermin McSnarles
SubhutiMerlin
Taibai Jinxing
Erlang ShenHercules

U.S. release

The film was released in the United States by American International on July 26, 1961. For the American release, a few scenes were heavily edited and rearranged and bandleader Les Baxter was hired to compose a new soundtrack. Teen idol Frankie Avalon supplied the singing voice of Alakazam (the speaking voice was done by Peter Fernandez), and Sterling Holloway provided English-language narration. Other famous voices included Jonathan Winters, Arnold Stang, Dodie Stevens, & E.G. Marshall.

Reception

Despite a large marketing budget and heavy promotion, the film was unsuccessful in America. The Los Angeles Times called it "warm, amusing and exciting... the art work is really excellent."[4] It was included as one of the choices in The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, and is the only animated film featured in the book,[5] something that later became ironic with the popularity of anime in the United States.

Home media release

The AIP version of the film was first released on VHS in the 1980s by HBO/Cannon Video (under licensed from then-owner Orion Pictures). Orion Home Video re-released the film in both pan-and-scan and widescreen letterbox VHS editions and on a widescreen laserdisc in 1995. Although MGM hasn't released the film on DVD, the AIP version has been made available for streaming on Netflix and Amazon Video.

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See also

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. Beck, Jerry (2005). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
  3. Patten, Fred (1996). "A Capsule History of Anime". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
  4. Warren, Geoffrey (23 September 1961). "'Alakazam' Delightful New Cartoon Movie". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif. p. A6.
  5. http://www.listchallenges.com/the-fifty-worst-films-of-all-time
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