In 1996, Speed Racer changed the world – by endorsing a Volkswagen. With a commercial running where the titular driver gave his iconic thumbs-up to the German automaker’s newest GTI model, Speed Racer was the first animated action figure to hawk a vehicle, making way for later icons such as the Kia Soul hamsters. Such a trailblazer was young Speed, whose anime was the medium’s first big stomp onto American soil with its simultaneous airing in Japan and the U.S. during the late Sixties. Then his series changed the game again when the Wachowski Sisters and producer Joel Silver took over the long-gestating film adaptation and created a candy-colored portent of blockbusters to come. It’s incredible sincerity and heart, however, has yet to be replicated. – James Scott
Jan. 5 & 6
