was a children's TV series created by

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...

that combined

marionette A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or reveale ...

s with

traditional animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proce ...

. It ran for two seasons from April 7, 1963 to April 1, 1965, for a total of 92 episodes. The series also aired in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as ''Le Commando De La Voie Lactée''. The characters were represented by marionettes from the Takeda Puppet Troupe, while scenes of rocket flight were represented with animation. Occasionally, the producers incorporated live-action film of characters' lips moving superimposed on the puppets, in an effect similar to the little-used American

Syncro-Vox Syncro-Vox (sometimes spelled Synchro-Vox) is a filming method that combines static images with moving images, the most common use of which is to superimpose talking lips on a photograph of a celebrity or a cartoon drawing. It is one of the most ex ...

technique. In the first season, the eponymous Galaxy Boy Troop, headed by a boy named Rob, travels across the galaxy to find a material that can restart Earth's dying Sun. In the second season, the Troop fights off an alien invasion of Earth. Along the way, they meet and interact with the elegant Amia people of Venus, and the oafish Poipoi people of Mars.

Characters

Although the show is primarily puppetry, it still manages to include many characters from

Osamu Tezuka's Star System is the name given to the recurring characters in manga created by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Throughout his career, Tezuka frequently re-used the same characters in different roles across series; for example, the character Shunsaku Ban appears as ...

in marionette form. * Rob, the leader of the Galaxy Boy Troop *Myria *

Shunsaku Ban is the name given to the recurring characters in manga created by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Throughout his career, Tezuka frequently re-used the same characters in different roles across series; for example, the character Shunsaku Ban appears as ...

*Mister 6, Rob's intelligent robot hovercar *Pedro *Dar, a small, big-eyed alien *Tex, a reformed criminal *Rubber Band *Death, the villain

References

External links

Official site at Tezuka Osamu @ WorldClip on YouTube
Osamu Tezuka 1963 Japanese television series debuts 1965 Japanese television series endings Japanese television shows featuring puppetry NHK original programming {{child-tv-prog-stub

Characters

See also

References

External links