Robot Carnival
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| Robot Carnival | |
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| ロボット・カーニバル (Robotto Kãnibaru) |
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| Genre | |
| Movie | |
| Directed by | Various |
| Studio | Studio A.P.P.P. |
| Released | 1987 |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
Robot Carnival is an Japanese anime film released in 1987. It is very akin to Disney's Fantasia in feeling and setup, in that it is a collection of nine shorts by several different directors, put together, and containing only music (albeit a few exceptions). The difference, as the title suggests, is that this feature focuses on robots, though seemingly the title takes "robots" to mean anything mechanical which moves.
[edit] Segments
The shorts come in a variety of styles. Only two shorts ("Presence" and "A Tale of Two Robots") contain dialogue.
Opening: Directed by Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo. The opening takes place in a desert. A boy finds a small "coming soon" poster advertising the Robot Carnival, and becomes frightened and agitated. He warns the people in his village, most likely to escape, when a huge machine with many robots performing in niches on its exterior grinds its way right over the village. Once a magnificent traveling showcase, it is now a decayed, rusted, malfunctioning, engine of destruction.
Franken's Gears: Directed by Koji Morimoto. A crazy scientist tries to give life to his robot with lighting, just like Frankenstein. When it comes to life, the robot copies everything the scientist does. Overjoyed, the scientist dances with glee, trips, and falls. Seeing this, the robot dances, trips, and falls on the scientist, killing him.
Deprive: Directed by Hidetoshi Omori. This segment features a humanoid robot in the form of 8 Man and an invasion from space.
Presence: Directed by Yasuomi Umetsu. This one (featuring dialouge) tells the story of a man who builds a robot in the form of a girl, and how he is drawn apart from his relations with his wife and other people. The setting seems to be British and of the early twentieth century, but also suggests another planet or a future which has tried to bring back a former social structure. While he ages, his robot doesn't. When the robot begins to show actual emotions, he smashes her and leaves intending never to return. Twenty years later, he has a vision of his robot blowing up in front of him, he goes back to his shed to see the smashed robot still there. Twenty years later, the robot appears to him and he walks away with her and vanishes in front of his wife.
Star Light Angel: Directed by Hiroyuki Kitazume. A shōjo story, featuring teenage girls at a robot themed amusement park who are friends. One of the girls finds that her lover is now going out with her friend. Running away in tears she finds her way to a virtual-reality ride. Pleasant at first, her grief and sorrow cause the ride to create a robotic version of how she saw her former lover -- a monster. The visual style of this segment was heavily influenced by the classic music video for A-Ha's "Take on Me". [citation needed]
Cloud: Directed by Mao Lamdo. The simple and simply drawn tale of a robot (reminiscent of Astro Boy), walking through the segment without rest -- who travels through the years as various events pass by until he is noticed by a passing angel, who makes him human.
A Tale of Two Robots -- Chapter 3: Foreigner Invasion: Directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. This is set in the nineteenth century and features two "giant robots" directed from within by a human crew. In the style of a movie serial of the sound era, a Westerner in his giant robot attempts to take over Japan, but is stopped by some kids operating a "machine made for the parade" -- a Japanese giant robot. Despite the name, there is no known prequel or sequel. The voice acting of this peice are a mix of English and Japanese with the Westerner speaking English and the Japanese speaking their language.
Nightmare (a.k.a. Chicken Man and Red Neck in Tokyo): Directed by Takashi Nakamura. The city of Tokyo is overrun by its machines, as they all come alive for a night of revelry, with only a single, drunken human (Chicken Man) awake to witness it.
- This segment was inspired by the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment of Fantasia.
- This features the recent Japanese myth that machines can grow by connecting onto other machines, regardless of the purposes for which they were designed (as seen in Roujin Z).
Ending: Directed by Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo. The Robot Carnival is stoped by a little hill in the desert and ultimatly goes to pieces. Centuries later a man discovers an orb near the remains and brings it back to his children. It is a music box featuring a miniature robot ballerina. As it dances, the children applaud. The ballerina finishes its dance with a leap into the air and explodes, showing the word "END" after.
