Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Looney Tunes It's an Ill Wind directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton
Both Dizzy Duck and Porky's pet dog bear a passing resemblance to animated characters from rival studio Disney.
Hey bunkies, the staff atThe ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour want to share with you another fantastic mash-up from Bill McClintock -
This one really is amazing! Who would think of Sade and Ratt (and Santana) in the same universe as well as the same song.
We’ve selected another entry from the excellent reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s film is the 1988 seminal dystopian anime Akira, directed by J Katsuhiro Otomo. A landmark in Japanese animation, Akira is widely cited as an influential work in the development of anime, adult animation, and Japanese cyberpunk. The film is widely credited with breaking anime into mainstream Western audiences. Akira's final budget was $10 million (¥1.1 billion), making it the most expensive Japanese animated film before Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away released in 2001.
Set in a neon-soaked, post-apocalyptic Tokyo in 2019, the story centers on the volatile friendship between Tetsuo Shima and his longtime friend Shotaro Kaneda - a rivalry that escalates from teenage rebellion to psychic catastrophe. While much of the character design and world-building comes directly from Ôtomo’s sprawling 2,182-page manga, the film’s narrative was radically streamlined. Entire arcs were condensed. Characters vanished. The result is leaner, faster, and charged with kinetic intensity.
Katsuhiro Ôtomo initially had no intention of adapting his manga for the screen. But when the opportunity arose, he became “very intrigued.” He agreed - on one non-negotiable condition: complete creative control. (A lesson learned from his earlier work on Harmagedon.) Legend has it he filled roughly 2,000 pages of notebooks with ideas and designs. The final storyboard alone ran 738 pages.
So find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we dive headlong into one of the most influential animated films ever made: Akira.
The iconic shot of Kaneda’s red bike sliding to a stop, sparks flying, framed from behind during the opening chase. It may be the most imitated shot in animation history. Homages have appeared in Teen Titans, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack, Batman: The Animated Series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Adventure Time, The Simpsons, and even Pokémon.
Demand Euphoria!
