Speed Racer: The Next Generation

Speed Racer: The Next Generation
Created by	Larry Schwarz (based on the original series created by Tatsuo Yoshida)
Developed by	Nickelodeon Studios
Written by	Ben Gruber Allan Neuwirth Marv Wolfman Susan Kim Justin Gray Jimmy Palmiotti Aaron Bergeron
Directed by	Stephen Moverley John Holt
Starring	Kurt Csolak Sahra Mellesse Carter Jackson Peter Fernandez Michael Sinterniklaas Robbie Sublett David Zen Mansley
Opening theme	"Go Speed Racer Go!", rearranged by John Angier
Ending theme	"Go Speed Racer Go!" (w/o vocals)
Composer	John Angier
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Larry Schwarz James Rocknowski John Rocknowski
Producers	Larry Schwarz Ken Katsumoto James Rocknowski John Rocknowski Sergei Aniskov Sean Lahey Christopher Fauci Michael Gold Doug MacLennon
Running time	23 minutes (approx.)
Original release
Network	Nickelodeon (2008) Nicktoons Network (2008-present)
Release	April 27, 2008 – Present

Speed Racer: The Next Generation is an American animated children's television series based on the classic Speed Racer franchise, in which the internal events take place decades after those in the 1967 Japanese series. It is the third television adaptation of the franchise, and is executive produced by Lions Gate Entertainment, Larry Schwarz, and Ken Katsumoto. It is the first Nicktoon not to be based on an original property. Animation Collective produces the series. Lionsgate is marketing this show as a direct continuation of the Japanese 1967 show, but whether or not this is an accurate, canonical succeeder is debatable.

When the live-action film was in theatres, this series was partly made to promote it, and the pilot movie premiered on Nicktoons Network on May 2, a week before the feature film adaptation was released in theatres. However, both projects are produced independently from one another and feature different generations of "Speed Racers" (with the film featuring the original generation), though both feature a Mach 6.

Premise

This series takes place either in the present, or in the near future. Prior to the events of the series, the original Speed Racer has disappeared for unknown reasons, but the main characters know that he is alive. Only one of the original characters, Spritle, has a major role in this show. Speed Racer is seen briefly at the end of "The Note". The rest of the original cast are unseen, and their whereabouts are unknown.

The series follows the adventures of an orphan teenager named Speed who dreams of being a famed car racer like the one he is named after. He takes a bus to the elite Racing Academy, founded by the Racer family, and soon experiences the difficulties of fitting in and competing with X, the best racer/student in the school, and Speed Racer's son. Spritle himself is now the headmaster.

In the pilot movie, Speed discovers that he is the other son of Speed Racer, meaning that X is his brother. Through the rest of the series, Speed and his new allies set out on a quest to get through the courses, discover the mystery of Speed Racer's disappearance, and try and build the Mach Six, a car that captures the spirit and gadgets of the Mach 5 for new generations, and the first car to contain a gasless engine.

Main Characters

Speed Racer Jr.

Voiced by: Kurt Colak

The main character of the series, Speed Jr. is the second son of the original Speed Racer from the 1967 Japanese anime series. He was hidden from the public by both his father and Trixie, for unknown reasons. Speed grew up in an orphanage for the majority of his childhood. His parents had left him a special key and a red racing bandana, both of which he kept with him for sentimental reasons. He is often awkward and shy, but being behind the wheel brings out the best in him. Unlike his father, Speed doesn't get into any perilous trouble of fighting thugs and gang members, therefore instead of fighting, Speed uses his racing skill.

Speed's skills on the racetrack are on par with those of the top ranking students at the Racing Academy. His skills are somewhat inherited, with Speed knowing the right timing, and maneuvers during racing. Despite his amazing talent, he is generally quite modest about his abilities and claims that his maneuvers are a result of instinct rather than skill. He is not in it for money or fame - he just wants to be "the best in the world", and to have fun. He befriends two of the school's students, Conor and Lucy. Together, they work as a team both inside and outside school grounds.

Casually, Speed wears a blue long sleeve shirt with red stars embroidered on both sleeves. When racing, he dons a white and blue racing helmet with a large, stylized red "M" (which stands for Mifune Motors) atop the visor and a racing jacket that contains several references to the original anime and manga series. The jacket's collar is red, an homage to the red racing bandana the original Speed Racer had worn. The jacket's color scheme is mostly blue with white accents, an homage to the color scheme of the original Speed's outfit. Lastly, the jacket features several patches which contain references to the Japanese show, including the names such as "Go" and "Daisuke", the Japanese names of Speed and Pops, respectively.

X Racer

Voiced by: Robbie Sublett

Unknown whether "X" is his real or nickname, he oldest son of the original Speed Racer, X is the number one racer at the Racing Academy. Known for his skills and abilities on the track, he is slick, handsome, and popular among the girls at school. While X appears to be a tough guy on the outside, he has a more kind-hearted personality than he leads other people to believe. He is initially shocked to find out that Speed is his younger brother, but X becomes more accepting of the fact and develops a tough, brotherly bond with him and is always there to give advice. But just because Speed's his brother, doesn't mean X is willing to go easy on him. They are constantly each others' rivals on the track. He usually hangs out with Jared, Jesse, and his girlfriend, Annalise.

His car's name is the Shooting Star, an homage to X's uncle's (Rex Racer, known as Racer X) racing vehicle. Though the car retains none of the original Shooting Star's original color scheme, the vehicle dons the number 9 on both sides. It is unknown whether the original Speed Racer named him after Racer X, or if the Racing Academy had given that name to him.

Spritle Racer

Voiced by: Peter Fernandez

He and Speed Racer are the only members of the original cast from the Japanese series in a major role. Spritle was once the brother of the original Speed Racer who traveled with him in his trunk, and now runs the Academy founded by the Racer Family as the headmaster. While he is Speed and X's uncle and provides fatherly wisdom from time to time, he never bends the school rules for his nephews' sake. He is shown as a matured person in contrast to his childlike attitude in the original series, therefore, Spritle doesn't seem to be suspicious of anybody around him. Spritle remains clueless about Zile Zazic's evil scheme and usually sits behind the scenes during the climax of a given episode.

Lucy

Voiced by: Sahra Mellesse

A good friend of Speed and Conor, Lucy is the sensible one of the group. Strict, open-minded, and studious, she often assists Conor with his work, but is known to be a little bit bossy at times. While she is generally a friendly and calm individual, Lucy will occasionally insult Conor and bombard Speed with criticism. She always makes up for it by helping her friends. There are some implications of Lucy forming a crush on Speed, shown in one of the series' episodes, where she shows jealousy when another character makes a move on him. It is not known yet if Speed knows about, or shares these feelings.

Conor

Voiced by: Carter Jackson

A poor racer, but a great mechanic (an homage to Sparky of the original series), Conor is good friends with Speed and Lucy. One of his most defining characteristics is that he is a huge fan of the original Speed Racer to the point where his interest borders on obsession. He often cosplays in his Speed Racer outfit, has tons of memorabilia and merchandise in his dorm room, and knows everything there is to know about him and the Mach 5. His nerdish, hyperactive behavior and interests prevent him from making many friends- when Speed accepts him as one, he is eternally grateful and proves to be a reliable companion. Conor clearly has a crush on Annalise, despite of her being completely out of his league, and despite never having the feeling returned.

Chim-Chim

Conor built this robot based on the original pet chimpanzee the headmaster used to own, but added countless gadgets and professional engineering skills. He is entirely loyal to Conor, and by extention, Speed and Lucy. Chim-Chim has a seemingly unlimited amount of uses, from transforming into a scooter, to storing anything inside the compartment in his stomach, to repairing the Mach Six while it's moving. However, that doesn't stop him from eating necessary car parts, or creating the usual kind of mischief all monkeys make. As a pantomime character, like R2-D2, he talks in electronic beeps.

Annalise Zazic

Voiced by: Michal Friedman

Annalise is X's girlfriend, and the second best racer in the school. A spoiled, selfish, whiny material girl, Annalise gets whatever she wants from her father, Zile Zazic, since they come from a rich family. She immediately dislikes Speed upon meeting him, since he's the new kid who gets picked upon in every school, and calls him "Newb" and "Speed Bump". Her discovery of him being X's brother only heightens her animosity for him, as he could be a possible competition for her own boyfriend, and becomes one of Speed's top enemies. But it seems that she has taken a liking to Speed making her boyfriend, X jealous whenever she came to Speed for help. Despite this, she denies it.

Zile Zazic

Voiced by: Dave Skigen

The academy would be nothing without Zile Zazic- he paid for, designed, and had the Academy's racing track "built for him". He also donated many buildings and additions to the school, and is on great terms with the headmaster and views X as the star student of the school. However, he has a vague, mysterious vendetta against Speed Racer from long ago, and once he discovers "Little Speed Jr." has built the Mach 6 from the Mach 5, he becomes his enemy in secret, carrying out undercover hits on him from his lair. This makes sense, since he is a rich oil tycoon, and the Mach 6's eco-friendly design could ruin him. He now not only want's to destroy the Mach 6, but Speed too.

Minor Characters

Speed Racer

Voiced By: Peter Fernandez

Speed Racer is the father of Speed and X, which makes him the second known cast member from the 1967 Japanese show to appear here. He first appeared for a brief moment in the episode, "The Note". He states that he is not able to see Speed and X now, but he hopes to see them soon. They currently know that Speed Racer is not dead or missing, but is waiting for the right time to meet them face-to-face, when the time comes.

Jared and Jesse

Voiced by: Michael Sinterniklaas

Two twins who are part of X's student entourage, Jared and Jesse act as a team, and share the rank as the third best racers in the school. Normally rude and unpleasant, they often act as Annalise's bullish lackies. While they do their best to get the job done, both twins are equally incompetent. On the track, Jared and Jesse are a fearsome team. Although they race together in a single vehicle, the actual car has the ability to split into two pieces which both of them can operate separately for periods of time. They use this technique to surround a single opponent from both sides on the race track.

Stan

Voiced by: David "Zen" Mansley

Stan is Zile's personal assistant and second-in-command, despite being clumsy and dimwitted most of the time. His large, monstrous size and gentle composure almost makes him look like a jolly giant, often getting in the way of the evil plans he is supposed to carry out. He is overly polite to everyone, and is deeply apologetic whenever he disobeys his boss. However, Stan is still serious about the job, and his mind is always on Zile's side.

Armand Aniskov

Voiced by: David "Zen" Mansley

Professor Aniskov is an instructor at the Racing Academy who teaches the class on offensive driving techniques. Stern and aloof, he rarely shows any signs of favoritism, and treats all of his students with the same air of indifference. He is probably one of the more critical instructors that the academy has to offer, and is not particularly well-liked by any of his students because of this. His behavior also appears to spread beyond the student body, as he once made a snide remark towards Headmaster Spritle after Speed's first qualifying race. The students often describe him as a mean professor, particularly Conor.

Susan Winn

Voiced by: Mami Kimura

Susan Winn is an intelligent and level-headed woman who teaches the class on defensive driving techniques at the Racing Academy. She is handicapped, and travels around in a sleek, motorized wheel-chair. Professor Winn is generally much kinder and more accepting of her students than Professor Aniskov, and is respected because of this. While displaying a sense of strict guidelines and acceptable conduct in her classes, she is a very fair individual.

Mach Five and Mach Six

The second episode features the rebuilt Mach 5 designed as it appeared in the original anime, only animated in CGI, like all of the other cars in the show's racing sequences. Minor changes have occurred in the Mach Five in this series. Although the function for the homing robot is present, it is redesigned to resemble more of a metal peacock than a sleek, futuristic robot dove. The Deflector is used as the roof of the Mach Five. Also revealed in this show is an ejector's seat underneath the driver's seat in case of emergencies. A parachute was made, but was forgotten to be installed at the time.

Its return is brief, as one of the antagonists destroys it successfully. However, plans for a new car are discovered and soon the protagonists retool the Mach Five to form the Mach 6. The Mach 6's engine is not designed to run on gas, which is a crucial story point, even though gas is still used for it through most of the series. It has all the features of the Mach Five, but redesigned or changed in some form or another. For example, the rotary saws are kept, but they're turned into laser saws. The new car features a transparent, holographic screen over the dashboard that the driver can use to interact live with his crew, and with other racers.

The Mach 6 succeeds the Mach 5 for the rest of the series, and more of the original gadgets will be gradually revealed (such as the sludge slick) and used in future episodes.

Episodes

Season 1: 2008-present

#	Title	Director	Writer	Original Release Date	Production code
1	"The Beginning, Part 1"	Stephen Moverley	Justin Gray, James Palmiotti	April 27, 2008	101
Speed arrives at the Racing Academy and meets all of the main cast. With no race car of his own, Conor lets him use a junky, spare one for the Qualifying Race. Having destroyed it, his key, which was left to him by his msterious father, glows and leads him to find the Mach Five's hood disassembled from the other pieces of the car.
2	"The Beginning, Part 2"	Stephen Moverley	Justin Gray, James Palmiotti	May 2, 2008	102
Having discovered the remains of the Mach Five in the nearby junkyard, Speed and his friends rebuild it and test it out. However, Annalise, under Zile's orders, destroys it in a match against X. Spritle reveals to Speed that he is Speed Racer's son.
3	"The Beginning, Part 3"	Stephen Moverley	Justin Gray, James Palmiotti	May 2, 2008	103
Speed and his friends discover the secret plans to build the Mach 6 and its unique engine from the remains of the Mach 5. Speed uses the new car to race once again against Annalise, and wins.
4	"Low Price of Fame"	John Holt	Gerry Duggan	May 9, 2008	104
Speed takes advice from X on how to deal with the fame of being Speed Racer's son from his classmates. A crazy stalker student named Mitch spreads a rumor that Speed will have a rivalry race with his brother, X, which spirals into a real race. When Annalise sees X not taking this seriously, she stands up and sabotages Speed's car so X can win.
5	"Be Cruel To Your School"	John Holt	Marv Wolfman	May 16, 2008	105
Speed and X must work together as a team in order to win a multi-school racing tournament. Meanwhile, Zile plans to ruin Speed and X's teamwork during the tournament to also destroy the Mach 6.
6	"The Note"	John Holt	Aaron Bergeron	May 23, 2008	106
Speed gradually receives mysterious notes signed by his father, but he suspects that they could be false. When he receives another letter asking for Speed to come meet him, Speed goes to figure out who the imposter is. Meanwhile, Zile plans to have his birthday party. At the end of the episode, Speed receives what he and X believe is a real note from their father.
7	"The Fast Track, Part 1"	John Holt	Ben Gruber	June 27, 2008	107
Thanks to Joel the lab technician, Zile takes over the virtual track to mess up Speed's race at the Redwood Rally so he doesn't survive. After Speed suspects whats going on, he decides to investigate, but in the process, Speed, Annalise and the Mach 6 all get sucked into the virtual track.
8	"The Fast Track Part, 2"	John Holt	Ben Gruber	July 4, 2008	108
While Speed and Annalise are still stuck in the virtual track, they must put their differences aside to survive. Meanwhile, Conor, Lucy, and X must find a way to get them out before the track eats itself up due to the virus, or they'll be stuck there forever. Two vehicles from the original show- the Mammoth Car (from episodes 7 and 8) and the X3- make cameos in this episode.
9	"The Fast Track, Part 3"	John Holt	Ben Gruber	July 11, 2008	109
Speed and Annalise make it out of the track. Delighted, Zile finds out Joel installed the virus, and decides to promote him to make the track more deadly for Speed and the Mach 6. One thing Zile is not aware of is that the Mammoth Car, the X3, and Jungle Conor invade the real world to wreck more havoc.
10	"Honor Code"	John Holt	Rob Klein	July 25, 2008	110
Speed is faced with expulsion when it appears he cheated in a race. Knowing full well he was framed, Speed sets out to find the real culprit. Meanwhile, Chim-Chim has mysterious glitches.

DVD Releases

Season 1

The first DVD of the new series was released on May 6, 2008 by Lionsgate. It contains the first movie of the new series. The DVD was released on May 6, 2008 in NTSC ares. The PAL release date is unknown so far.

Volume Name	Release Date	Contains
Speed Racer: The Next Generation: The Beginning	NTSC: May 6, 2008 PAL: TBA	"The Beginning, Part 1" "The Beginning, Part 2" "The Beginning, Part 3" Interactive Racing Game Creating the Next Speed Racer Featurette Bloopers and Stills

External links

• Official Speed Racer site
• Speed Racer: The Next Generation at IMDb
• Speed Racer Deals Cross Finish Line
• NYCC 08: Speed Racer's Next Generation Revealed
• TV Guide's Speed Racer: The Next Generation episodes