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.[1]
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.
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.
| Original Name | Canadian Name | Voice Actor (if known) |
|---|---|---|
| Atom | Astro | Steven Bednarski[2] |
| Uran | Sarah | |
| Jump | Blip | |
| Dr. Tenma | Professor Balfus | |
| Dr. Ochanomizu | Dr. Cole Green,
later Professor Peabody |
|
| Tobio Tenma | Tommy Balfus | |
| Livian | Selena | |
| Skunk | Slippery | |
| Count Walpur Guiss | Orsini | Walter Massey |
| Chief Nakamura | Chief McClaw | Rick Jones |
| Hamegg | Roberto | |
| Pluto | Commonturk | |
| Higeoyaji | Max McNugget | Walter Massey |
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-led endeavour. In 2024 over 20 new episodes were added. To date the only episodes to have been recovered are the following:
- Episode 1-2: The Birth Of Astro Boy
- Episode 3: Robot Circus
- Episode 4: Save the Classmate
- Episode 5: Atlas Lives Again (aired as episode 10)
- Episode 8: The Crystal Of The Desert (aired as episode 11)
- Episode 9: The White Planet (aired as episode 8)
- Episode 10: A Robot President (aired as
- Episode 11: Goliath's Head (aired as episode 35)
- Episode 15: Astro Fights Aliens (aired as episode 7)
- Episode 17: Save The Carolina 3 (aired as episode 5)
- Episode 18: The Death Balloon (aired as episode 42)
- Episode 19: The Transformation Robot (aired as episode 9)
- Episode 21: The Liar Robot (aired as episode 48)
- Episode 22: The Girl From Alsoar (aired as episode 20)
- Episode 23: The Greatest Robot In The World (part 1) (aired as episode 49)
- Episode 24: The Greatest Robot In The World (part 2) (aired as episode 50)
- Episode 26: The Time Machine (aired as episode 38)
- Episode 33: The Baby Elephant Pook (aired as episode 6)
- Episode 34: The Secret of Bee City (aired as episode 47)
- Episode 37: The Anti-Proton Gun (aired as episode 45)
- Episode 38: The Man-Made Solar Sphere (aired as episode 40)
- Episode 40: The Genie From Outer Space (aired as episode 18)
- Episode 41: The Robots Nobody Wanted (aired as episode 19)
- Episode 42: Atlas Forever (aired as episode 51)
- Episode 46: Outer Spaceport R45 (aired as episode 28)
- Episode 50: The Secret Of The Mayas (aired as episode 44)
- Episode 51: Astro's First Love (aired as episode 4)
All of the above episodes are freely available to watch or borrow on the Internet Archive or on Dailymotion.