Interest

Hollywood Reporter: Conservatives Say CG Astro Boy Has Agenda

The Hollywood Reporter entertainment trade magazine listed 11 children's films on Thursday that conservatives or liberals have asserted as having a political agenda. The list included IMAGI's computer-animated adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy manga.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that the Astro Boy film featured posters of Russian Marxists Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky on office walls at the protagonists' headquarters. The website wrote that conservatives have said that "Astro Boy and his friends in the Robot Revolution Front are promoting a left-wing fantasy of a classless society where equality of outcome is guaranteed and American notions of freedom and personal responsibility are downplayed."

Scriptwriter Timothy Harris (Trading Places, Kindergarten Cop) adapted Tezuka's manga about a young robot hero who comes to grips with his identity and saves Earth. The film opened in theaters in North America in October 2009.

Other children's films The Hollywood Reporter listed that conservatives and some liberals asserted had a political agenda include: The Iron Giant, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Happy Feet, Wall-E, Battle for Terra, Cars 2, Happy Feet Two, and The Muppets.

Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip.

Image © IMAGI Crystal Limited
Original Manga © Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.