Sony Pictures Television International is preparing a new 52-episode version of the classic Astro Boy anime series by Osamu Tezuka.  The studio plans to keep the same classic anime character design that made the original Astro Boy series so influential in the development of Japanese animation.  Produced in 1963, the original black-and-white Astro Boy anime series (Tetsuwan Atom in Japanese) introduced themes and robot characters that have echoed throughout anime history as has the 'big eyes, small mouth' character design of Tezuka's classic character.  Many Tezuka fans actually prefer the 1980 color remake of the original series, upon which Mr. Tezuka was able to lavish additional resources unavailable in 1963.  Unfortunately the 1980 color series will not be available in the U.S. on DVD until after the Astro Boy feature film is released (see 'Astro Boy DVDs On Hold').

Sony is also producing the computer animated Astro Boy feature film, which is now slated for a 2005 release.  It is likely that the new Astro Boy TV series will also be largely computer-generated.  So far Sony has not released a timetable for the production of the new series, but the company is planning on presenting the new series at the MIP-TV trade show later this year.