The late Peter Fernandez told me that the worst kept secret about this movie was that he did the voice of Alakazam, not Frankie Avalon, who just sang the songs. I thought that was unfair, but Peter didn't seem to mind. I believe he adapted the script as well, but I need to check my old article I did about the movie for G-fan all those years ago and see what I wrote. The dialog sure sounds like his writing, with his puns and clever asides. Of course, as a kid seeing this on television several times growing up, we never knew it was Japanese, just that it was a fun cartoon movie with some good music and great animation. That's where our knowledge about it ended.
We didn't know it was part of a long Asian tradition of movies about the Monkey King, since the adaption completely negated that.
It's too bad, since it would have been a bit educational if they had chosen to leave it in, but being in the early 60s it's not surprising that it was altered completely for US audiences. The fact that it was done so well really helps, as does all the great voice acting in it.
I am going to dig out that old review I wrote for G-Fan, I think it was one of my better columns. Sure wish I had saved more to the hard drive than I did.
1 comment:
"It's too bad, since it would have been a bit educational if they had chosen to leave it in, but being in the early 60s it's not surprising that it was altered completely for US audiences. The fact that it was done so well really helps, as does all the great voice acting in it."
Still, it wouldn't have been too bad had "Journey To The West" found it's way into the bedtime stories of America (even if you have to space that one out by a few months or more).
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