It's no surprise that Speed Racer nostalgia is getting built up with the release of the big budget psychedelic big screen movie just a few weeks away. I would say "Speed Racer mania" except I don't get the sense that's quite catching on. Word I've read online is that the new SPEED RACER movie, regardless of whether or not it's actually any good, isn't tracking very well amongst the target kid demographic, doing better with people in my age demographic and older who fondly remember the original show from their youth. I'm one of those adults who can lay claim to having rushed home after school to watch Speed Racer. In my case, for a brief period of time, I'd get home just barely in time for the start of Speed Racer which was immediately followed on its channel by Ultraman. Great times!

I don't think I've watched an episode of Speed Racer since I was in the second grade though I still have a tremendous affection for the show's classic theme song. Too be honest, I'm still not totally sold on this new movie. With IRON MAN and the return of Indiana Jones all coming within a few week's time of one another and SPEED RACER's unique visual look possibly proving to be more of a turn-off for some, it wouldn't be at all surprising if the summer box office race proves to be the one race where Speed Racer gets left in the dust.

It's also no surprise that with a new movie based on an old cartoon coming out that a brand new animated version of that show would get trotted out. Speed Racer: The Next Generation debuts on May 2nd for the NickToons network, a channel I honestly had never even heard of until now. That's probably because I'm a guy in his thirties, and as one who likes to think he's still a kid at heart, this animated show is a bit out of my age range. It's kind of hard for me to watch a cartoon like this aimed at kids without looking at it with an adult mind that can't help but ask certain pertinent questions, such as why is there such a thing as a racing academy, why are teens barely old enough to get a drivers license racing cars, and just how the heck is that whole virtual racing aspect even remotely feasible?

SPEED RACER: THE NEXT GENERATION - THE BEGINNING is the DVD Lionsgate will be putting out on May 6th of what I assume will be the premiere episode of the new series. The DVD packaging describes it as a movie but in actuality it clocks in at barely 66-minutes. Despite the imagery you see on the box art, the animation is primarily of the tradition 2-D variety. The cars and the racing scenes, however, are done using 3-D computer animation. There'll be some additional digital environments used, but I can still safely say there's less CGI used in this than in the Wachowski's upcoming movie version.

It opens with a cover version of the Speed Racer theme song that I found to be a bit grating on the ears due to it being performed by a band from the Linkin Park music school of screaming lyrics into a microphone. I much prefer the more true-to-form yet still rockin' version performed by Sponge (Whatever became of them?) on that album that came out years ago with all those cover songs of cartoons of the Sixties and Seventies.

Picking up years later, we learn that Speed Racer went missing long ago, as did his famous car, the Mach 5, for reasons that won't entirely be explained in this introductory movie. He had a son named X who is now the top jock at the racing academy who has turned out to be quite an egotistical jerk unlike his famous father. A new student arrives named Speed, an orphan who never knew his true parents; his only two parental belongings being a red scarf just like the one Speed Racer used to wear and a car key on a chain he wears around his neck. I think you can already see where this is going.



Speed Racer's precocious kid brother, Spritle, who was always getting into mischief with his pet monkey in the original series, is now all grown up and the headmaster of the racing academy. Spritle is voiced by Peter Fernandez, the voice of the original Speed Racer and Racer X 40 years ago. The mischievous monkey Chim-Chim even returns in the form of a robotic monkey built by mechanical wiz Conor, which will come to serve the new Speed in an almost R2D2 capacity.

The guy responsible for the academy's existence is the villainous Zile Zazic, the uber rich head of a mega corporation - either fuel or car related, never specified - and an old-time nemesis of Speed Racer. His teenage racing daughter, Annalise, is a spoiled brat who'll assist her scheming father as things progress.

Now given all the images of Speed Racer (and Racer X) on the walls at this racing academy and the near god-like reverence with which the name Speed Racer is spoken by many a student, including newcomer Speed's roommate, Conor, a spastic and more obsessive Speed Racer fanatic, I'm kind of surprised this racing academy didn't have a giant gold statue in the likeness of Speed Racer somewhere on the grounds where daily prayer services were held. And then low and behold, we'd soon come to see that they do indeed have a giant Speed Racer statue on the grounds; it just wasn't gold and only Conor seemed to worship at its feet.

Speed's first qualifying race will see him driving a junker that looks like the BACK TO THE FUTURE DeLorean if it had been buried under a mudslide for a few decades; it'll literally fall apart on him. Lucky for him, that key around his neck is practically magical; a late night trip to a nearby car graveyard in search of parts will lead to him uncovering the remains of the Mach 5. Fortunately for Speed, Conor rebuilds it. Unfortunately for Speed, he wrecks it in the very next race with a jealous X. Fortunately for Speed again, that key contains blueprints for the Mach 6, which will also play into the semi-explanation as to what became of his father. Unfortunely for Speed, Mr. Zizac is not happy about any of this.

It didn't take me too long before I came to realize the direction the makers of Speed Racer: The Next Generation were shooting for owed as much to Harry Potter as it did the cartoon on which its based. The racing academy is more or less Hogwarts. This new Speed is essentially a race car version of Harry Potter. Best friend Conor is like a more hyperactive Ron Weasely, even down to being a clumsy redhead. New female friend Lucy has a proactive, somewhat bossy attitude, much like Hermione. Annalise and her father are Draco and Lucious Malfoy. Annalise is even flanked by a pair of bumbling dimwitted lackeys much like the younger Malfoy. Spritle is Dumbledore. The only "x" factor in the mix is X, who'll undergo a personality shift for the better once it's revealed that he and Speed are long lost brothers.

Another twist is the addition of virtual racing, in which a Stargate-like structure arises from the track for racers to drive thru at full speed and be transported to a virtual race track - more like an entire virtual racing world - that initially looks like something straight out of TRON. Later virtual races will recreate a variety of race track environments, such as mountainside roads and glacial terrain. Cars can still be wrecked and drivers potentially injured before they come out the other side and cross the finish line. As I said earlier, my adult mind couldn't help but ponder the sheer implausibility of this very concept. And if you ask me, the first race that didn't involve the virtual race track was the most exciting.

Also complicating races at the academy is the inclusion of combat cars described as "computer driven monsters with the artificial intelligence programming of great white sharks - and just as dangerous." Looking like something more befitting Jayce & the Wheeled Warriors than Speed Racer, the combat cars are like monster trucks with robot shark faces complete with snapping metallic jaws and a variety of weaponry.



Though SPEED RACER: THE NEXT GENERATION - THE BEGINNING is lively and good-natured and will most likely satisfy kids who've never seen nor heard of the original series, my biggest problem was the complete lack of any sense of adventure. The original Speed Racer had international intrigue going for it like Johnny Quest. If it had just been racing for the sake of racing the show wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. This intro movie is confined to solely the racing school so it lacks any real sense of adventure. Virtual racing environments don't cut it for me; that'd be like an X-Men cartoon where everything is confined to Professor X's school and the Danger Room. I was very mildly entertained (I again state I'm way too old for this sort of thing) and younger kids will probably be entertained too as long as they're already racing fans or into cars in general. But as an ongoing series, if it doesn't broaden its scope and soon this Speed Racer is going to run out of gas real fast.

Extras on the DVD include a very nice "making of..." segment that's really more about the conceptualization of the news series than the animation process and even then it actually spent more time waxing nostalgic for the original series than it did talking up this new version. Also included are character breakdowns of every single character so detailed that they all but spell out the whole story of the movie on the DVD without even having to watch it.

And lastly, included on the DVD is a virtual racing game that simply calls for one to click arrows on their DVD remote (and not many too boost) to maneuver the Mach 6 in a race against X. I think even preschoolers will be a bit disappointed when they realize it'll have taken them longer to go through the two very brief instruction challenges than it will to play the ridiculously short race which has no repeat value since there's no variation. I'll stick with Mad Dog McCree, thank you very much.