The deleted scenes in set #2

[jeffbert]

I really appreciate not only the side-by-side, or one after the other format, but that they included subtitles as well.

I hope this does not violate the rules, but as I do not discuss pro or con, this should be fine:
Yet, I wonder why the sign of the cross was cut from no fewer than three episodes? It was often featured in films, as were Catholics, Catholic customs, etc. Almost any depiction of Christianity was specifically Catholic in those old films, from Pat O' Brien as the preist in Angels with Dirty faces, to you name it, that was the standard. In Westerns, gangster films, war movies, etc, the religious figures were Catholic. I do not understand why the cuts.

[DrFrag]

Maybe to remove The Eyes of Christ episode they implemented a blanket "no religion" policy.

*shrug*

[Eileen sobora]

That is just wrong.

[DrFrag]

It was 40 years ago. People had different views on things then.

Although that doesn't explain Jeffbert's mention of similar references in films. Maybe because Astro Boy was considered a child's show in the USA?

[jeffbert]

I have Since read Fred Ladd's book ASTRO BOY AND ANIME COME TO THE AMERICAS, & have been watching the KTWL ULTRA SET; thus, I have a new perspective on this. Ladd states that they cut content that was insensitive toward religion (p. 15, para. 1), I assume this means making the sign of the cross.

Tezuka Osamu websites's Jungle Emperor Leo synopsis for episode # 27, "The sad chameleon" (KTWL #12, The chameleon who cried wolf)

The chameleon Bero is a liar and he makes everybody angry by his lies. A pigmy hippopotamus Kabu is after him. So Leo tries to put an end to Bero's lying habit, only to get himself angry when he is deceived by Bero's lying. Leo expels Bero from the jungle, but finding that Bero is trying to commit suicide out of despair, he follows Bero hurriedly.

MY OWN NOTES ON THIS EPISODE, RELEVANT TO THIS TOPIC:

Bero makes the sign of the cross (0:33:40)! Fred Ladd must have goofed, to let this slip past!

I have emailed Craig Anderson of kimbawlion.com, and asked him about this. I have asked him to respond in this thread.

[CraigA]

Ladd states that they cut content that was insensitive toward religion (p. 15, para. 1), I assume this means making the sign of the cross.
...
Bero makes the sign of the cross (0:33:40)! Fred Ladd must have goofed, to let this slip past!
...
My question is, did they use the Japanese masters combined with the American soundtracks to make the ULTRA SET, and thus this clip was included, or did Ladd actually allow this to slip past the censors?

(Hello, Folks!)

The answers to the questions are yes, yes, and yes. The sign of the cross is in the original American Kimba films.

While the Japanese DVD masters were used and combined with the American soundtracks for the Ultra DVD set, as far as I know the set compilers were very careful to duplicate the American edits. They'd have to, or else the sound would go out of sync. (If anyone knows of any discrepancies between the original American version and the re-created version on the DVDs, I'd love to know about it. I do not expect that there are any great blunders, however. [If you want to find a huge editing blunder, look at episode 15 of the 1993 re-dub. But I digress.])

Now, was including the sign of the cross a mistake, an attempt to get one over on the censors, or neither? You say that Mr. Ladd was looking for insensitivity toward religion. This scene was not insensitive, unless you want to contend that in a world of anthropomorphic animals a chameleon can't have religion. The chameleon was about to make a dangerous jump, and in that context making the sign was appropriate. Would a censor have blocked it? I don't think so, not at that point in time. Political correctness was still in the deep dark future, so a reference to one religion, particularly the most popular religion, would not have raised eyebrows. At least, that's how I see it.

It's an interesting point, though. OTTOMH I can only think of one other religious reference in "Kimba", and that was in the second season ("Leo the Lion"), episode 17, when Leo (Kimba) imagines himself being barred from heaven because he thinks he killed Mandy (Dan'l Baboon).

[jeffbert]

Thank you for joining & responding, Craig!
In the context of this thread, there were 3-4 instances of making the sign of the cross that were cut from the English version. I could cite the episodes, but I do not believe I actually made note of them. There are a few animated GIFs in one thread; & all these clips were omitted by Ladd & co.

The only episode that comes to mind is ANGEL IN THE ALPS, where the girl Carla is about to leave the house and take her lambs out to the field. Her papa reminds her to make the sign or, perhaps in the context of a brief prayer make it.

[QUOTE=DrFrag]"Alright class...

...as you can see, the vectors from neck to forehead to shoulder form a right angle triangle..."

I wondered why the "sign of the Cross" was triangular in both this & the Bandar Book.


One Million-year Trip: Bander Book (page 2
[/QUOTE]
http://www.astroboy-online.com/forums/showthread.php?p=42022&highlight=wondered+%22sign+Cross%22+triangular+Bandar+Book#post42022
Of these, only the top one is from THE TETSUWN ATOM b&w ( OBVIOUSLY)

[CraigA]

I don't have an answer in regard to why it was cut. I have a guess: since it was done incorrectly in this case, does that make it "insensitive"?

[jeffbert]

Ok, I have a list of them:

1. 15, Plant People (ELV 6, Grass Boy) Tamao (Specs) crosses.
2. 28, Mad Machine (ELV: Wacky machine) Chiief Nakamura (Mc Claw) crosses.
3. 94, Angel in the Alps (ELV: 85, Angel of the Alps) Clara (Angelica) crosses.

All of these instances were cut from ASTRO BOY (THE ENGLISH VERSION). Yet, there were other things, such as Catholic Priests that were not cut; though I suspect that dialogue may have been rewritten to avoid any references to specific religions).

Anyway, as Jungle Emperor features very few humans, the opportunity for overt religious content would be minimized. Yet, here is the chameleon in an act of either religious piety or, perhaps, this was done as a joke, as was the dog in the 1980s Tetsuwan Atom.


At least, I thought this was a joke.

[jeffbert]

[QUOTE=jeffbert;104315]

I don't have an answer in regard to why it was cut. I have a guess: since it was done incorrectly in this case, does that make it "insensitive"?[/QUOTE]
I do not know whether it was correct or not; I do know that there is a difference in the ways the Eastern Church & Western Church make the cross; I believe it involves the starting point of the act. Anyway, I realize that my response above occurred after you had posted your 2nd one, so I will give you time to catch up.