Astro Boy: Battle Among the Stars

Astro Boy: Battle Among the Stars, known in Japan as Tetsuwan Atomu: Daiuchū no Bōken (鉄腕アトム 大宇宙の冒険 Mighty Atom: Adventure of the Universe), is a 1965 Japanese animated sci-fi adventure film directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, it is the second film based on the Astro Boy anime series from 1963, the other being Astro Boy: Hero of Space (1964) however, in contrast to the other film which was basically a 3 episode compilation, this one is completely new footage, made completely in Color and was made Solely for the US market, the film was released in Japanese cinemas by Shochiku in Christmas 1965, it however wasn't released in the US until November of 1966 by United Artists, who picked up the film for the US months prior,

Japanese

 * Mari Shimizu (Atom)
 * Hisashi Katsua (Professor Ochanomizu)

English Dub

 * Billy Lou Watt (Astro)
 * Ray Owens (Dr. Elefun)
 * Peter Fernandez (Dr. Warhol)

Home Video releases

 * 1981 Magnetic Video VHS (under lisence from UA)
 * 1986 MGM/UA VHS
 * 1996 MGM Family Treasures VHS
 * 2005 MGM DVD (Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
 * 2015 Shout! Factory Blu-Ray (Under license from MGM)

Trivia

 * Originally, Mushi Productions wanted Elmer Bernstein to compose the music, but he declined.
 * The original Japanese version was accidentally destroyed in a fire after the US release, it has since been considered lost. However, a 35mm print of the original version was found in an private film collection in Hokkaido, Japan on February 1, 2017.
 * the reason why this was Solely made for US Audiences was that they want Astro Boy to be a movie franchise in the James Bond fashion, coincidentally also a UA property, the film however, was ignored upon release and those plans were cancelled as UA completely moved on to focused on future productions, including The Graduate (1967, released by UA internationally) and others.
 * the film was showcased on Turner Classic Movies twice, first during Friday Night Spotlight on Space Travel movies, the second during TCM's 100th Birthday Salute to Osamu Tezuka in 2028.