As a child growing up in DC, I became a huge fan of the newly arriving Japanese anime series; Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Gigantor and of course, Speed Racer. The adventures of Speed, his gal Trixie, his pal Sparky, his constant stowaway little brother Spritle and his chimp, Chim Chim, were a must see TV event for me and my siblings. Speed's mysterious brother, "Racer X", his parents, the evil "Snake Oiler" and the equally dangerous "Car Acrobatic Team" were riveting fare, but the true star of the show was Speed's car... "The Mach 5". Like 007's Aston Martin, the Mach 5 could not only slice tires, it could jump, drive under water, defying gravity like no vehicle ever could. Now comes the Wachowski Brothers latest effort, the blue screen heavy "Speed Racer". Once again, Hollywood has tried to make another film from the animated archives of the past and by most accounts, they've come up short.

This version of Speed Racer finds our hero played by Emile Hirsch, a young man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer (Scott Porter). Speed is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops (John Goodman) and Mom (Susan Sarandon). Pops designed Speed's car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries, played by Roger Allam, makes Speed a lucrative offer, but Speed rejects the offer, angering the owner. Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing races and cheating to gain profit. With the offer to Speed denied, Royalton wants to ensure that Speed will not win races. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie, played by Christina Ricci, and enters The Crucible in a partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X, played by the "Lost" star, Matthew Fox, "seeking to rescue his family's business and the racing sport itself..."

There is no way they could have captured the charm of the original series and later incarnations, so the Wachowski Brothers went for the CGI world of special effects and blue screen technology. Not a bad plan, but like a few other TV remake films; Speed just doesn't translate to 2008. Perhaps because I know the original series, or perhaps we live in an era of "Grand Theft Auto IV", it's difficult, unless you are below the age of eight, to really enjoy this corny, effect driven film. It's not the actors, Goodman, Sarandon and Ricci are top shelf; Fox has proven he's no slouch and even the relatively new Hirsch is okay, but like the "Fantastic Four" films, updating a dated show is extremely difficult. By contrast, the new "Iron Man" film succeeds because it's anti-war, corporate greed message still rings true today.

Nevertheless, the star is the Mach 5. Known as "Mach Go! Go! Go!" in Japan, the Mach 5 was designed, built, and created by Pops Racer, Speed Racer's father. It features a set of special devices which Speed Racer uses throughout the series and film. In the original 1966 series, the Mach Five is a white racing car with an 'M' written on its hood. It's name probably derives from the fact that speeds above Mach 5 are known as hypersonic. However, the Mach 5 cannot reach Mach speeds. The name is also a pun in two languages: the word for "five" in Japanese is "go". However, the "go" used for the car's name is a suffix attached to the names of ships, etc. Thus, the car is known in the Japanese version as simply the "Mach".

The Mach 5 was a real technological marvel, containing useful pieces of equipment. Speed Racer easily deployed these gadgets by pressing buttons marked "A" through "G" on the steering wheel hub. There was another button, marked "H," mounted in the console which controlled a homing robot. An actual race car that most closely resembles the Mach 5 was the Chaparral 2A, 2B and 2C, which had a similar cockpit and fender flares, and designed by Jim Hall around 1963 through 1965. The car was designed to compete in a type of "open formula" racing, where cars are usually built with the maximum power and minimum of weight.

In the 1960's, Speed Racer was considered one of the first truly successful anime franchises in the United States. The pivotal episode in which Racer X reveals his identity to Speed ("The Trick Race") was selected by TV Guide as one of the most memorable moments in TV history. The characters of Speed Racer also appeared in an animated television commercial for the Volkswagen GTI in 1996. In the ad, titled "Sabotage", Speed drives a GTI to victory after the Mach Five is disabled. The ad also incorporated the rotating freeze frame shot from the cartoon's opening sequence, with the GTI replacing the Mach Five in the shot. Speed Racer was also featured in a 30-second advertisement for GEICO Insurance in 2004. In the ad, Speed is advised that the bridge is out ahead. That's bad news for Speed Racer, but Trixie, who transmitted the news to him that she saw in her helicopter, is more concerned with her good news about the GEICO savings. The next shot of Speed shows him dumb struck in bewildered astonishment.

There was also a little controversy surrounding the making of this film with PETA and the chimp playing Chim Chim; an actor was bitten amid charges of animal cruelty, all denied by the filmmakers. That being said, I am reminded of the band "Fishbone" and their fifth album, "Chim Chim's Bad Ass Revenge". It was their first studio album in three years, following the departure of founding members Kendall Jones and Chris Dowd. After being dropped from Sony Records, Fishbone returned angrier than ever on this album, taking swipes at record companies, racists, and the general climate of popular music in the 1990s. The album included some of the band's heaviest moments, such as the hardcore punk romp "Riot," the frantic title track, and the thumping "Psychologically Overcast," the latter of which features guest vocals by then up-and-coming hip hop star Busta Rhymes. The album's cover also featured a cartoon story about Chim Chim, Spritle's chimp. Sick and tired of being exploited, and constantly hiding out in the trunk of the Mach 5, Chim Chim finally escapes and seeks his revenge on the society that has wronged him.

No doubt more toys, Wii video games will sprout up if they haven't already, and it's just as likely Hollywood will attempt to revive even more of these classic TV shows, cartoons and comic books. I have a feeling I know what Chim Chim would say, if he could, about this film and I don't think it's "Go Speed Racer, Go!"

E. "Doc" Smith is a musician, recording engineer and the creator of 1980's comic book, "Tony Squak, Intergalactic Sleuth". He is also the inventor of the musical instrument, the Drummstick. He can be reached at http://myspace.com/edoctorsmith