He's Comin' At You So You Better Look Alive

Back in the 1960's, the Japanese animated racing series MACHGOGOGO was brought to the US. The Japanese title was a multi-layered pun: "Go" in Japanese is "Five"; the car the lead character drove was called the "Mach 5"; and in English, "go" meant to, well, go, and "gogo" was a style of dancing. Once the American distributors got their hands on it, producer, head writer and lead voice actor Peter Fernandez threw out all of the original writing for the series, and made up new stories to match the animation for each episode. So was born one of the seminal anime experiences for my generation, the TV series SPEED RACER.

Now, with ideas in Hollywood at a premium, the Wachowski Brothers (of "Matrix" fame) are bringing SPEED RACER to the big screen -- an adaptation of an adaptation. The producers have put up a Website featuring photos and statements from the Berlin press conference for the movie, along with other goodies. The movie is being shot in Berlin.

The photos that most impressed me were of John Goodman, who was perfectly made up as Pops Racer; and the updated Mach 5. I want one. I suspect there will be lots of males (and quite a few females) who will too.

By coincidence, my cousin Lee Goldberg is producing a racing-based TV movie, FAST TRACK, which is also currently shooting in Berlin . Lee has run into crew members from the Wachowski production. No word on whether any chimps or rotund little boys have stowed away in his trunk.