Astro Boy (1985 Canadian dub)

The Astro Boy Canadian dub was an English dub of the 1980 anime series that aired exclusively on Canadian television stations affiliated with Global TV. It was adapted from the edited Quebecois French version into Canadian English by Via La Monde Incorporated and Cinelume. This dub ran in syndication from 1985 to 1995. No episodes with this dub were ever given official home video releases, and as a result, it has become partially lost media.

Production
The Canadian English audio was recorded in early 1985, at the Cinélume post-production studio in Montreal. The international French version of Astro Boy 1980, retitled as Astro Le Petit Robot, was recorded in the same studio in 1982. This French version and the Canadian English version have the same content edits, removing violence and sometimes changing entire episode endings.

Most of the series voice actors are currently unknown. Canadian dubbed material of the 1980s did not require credits for its actors, and as a result, the only known actors have been either identified from previous roles or have come forward. Astro was played in the series by then 12-year-old Steven Bednarski. Walter Massey and Rick Jones have been identified as various characters, and Janice Chaikelson played Becky the Nurse Robot in "The Robots Nobody Wanted."

The Canadian dub uses the opening and ending theme of the American English dub, albeit trimmed for time. The Canadian version also has "The Birth of Atom" and "Atom vs. Atlas" merged into one episode much like the American English dub.

Dub edits
The Canadian dub is infamous for how drastically the Astro Boy episodes were edited down. One example is in the "The Light Ray Robot", where the ending was edited with spliced footage to make it seem as if Light Ray's bomb never went off. Other characters then declare it a Christmas miracle. The "Greatest Robots" episodes completely removed references to Pluto killing the other robots, with edits to make it seem like Pluto disabled or wounded them. As well, the Canadian dub presents Skunk Kusai as Atlas's creator, with Count Guiss changed to be an interloper who kidnaps Livian.

One of the more famous aspects of the Canadian dub was the "Geronimo segment" at the end of each episode. In order to obtain a wider range of broadcast and syndication, Canadian television of the 1980s required a certain amount of "original" material in order to be considered Canadian content. These Geronimo segments were episode recaps, where Astro would fly to the Ministry of Science and recount events in the episode. His recap would contain one error, which a female narrator would encourage the viewer to try and find. To further fulfill the content requirement, the intro to every episode began with a short recap of Astro's origin.

Characters
Most of the characters were renamed for the Canadian version. Astro, Atlas, and Kathy from the robot circus are the three known exceptions. These name changes were likely done to distinguish the Canadian dub from the American dub.

Found episodes
Because the dub aired before the digital age, episodes could only be recorded on VHS during the original broadcast period. The dub was exclusive to Canadian syndication packages, and as a result, no other station or country had access to the episodes. Broadcast-ready episodes were stored on 3/4" tapes at any Global-affiliated television studio. Unfortunately, these tapes were wiped after the Astro Boy syndication period ended, as per Global company policy. It is unknown if Cinelume or Via Le Monde still hold original copies of the dubbed episodes.

Resurfacing episodes is an ongoing fan-run endeavour. During 2008 to 2020, the only episodes to have been recovered are the following:
 * Episode 2: Robot Circus
 * Episode 4: Save the Classmate


 * Episode 5: Atlas Lives Again


 * Episode 15: Astro Fights Aliens


 * Episode 22: The Girl From Alsoar


 * Episode 26: The Time Machine


 * Episode 41: The Robots Nobody Wanted