History Anime / SpeedRacer

* ConvectionSchmonvection: The second part of "The Great Plan." And both parts of "The Fire Race."

** Also an Air Traffic Controller [[JustForPun dispatched]] with headphones that administer ''spikes to the brain,'' '''''through the ear.'''''

SRE intended to revive the whole title into a new franchise in time for the anime's 40th anniversary. [[Film/TheMatrix The Wachowskis]] wrote and directed a [[Film/SpeedRacer major motion picture]] based on ''Speed Racer'' in 2008, which was met enthusiastically by some fans, but failed to impress critics or do well in the box office. A week before the film's release, Creator/{{Nicktoons}} premiered yet another American television adaptation called ''WesternAnimation/SpeedRacerTheNextGeneration'' to play up the hype for the film. The second season premiered '''[[ScheduleSlip 3 years later]]'''.

* WeaponizedCar: A subversion since it's technically not "weaponized" per se. The Mach 5 sported pneumatic jump-jacks (button "A"; actually for easy access to the underside of the car for maintenance), a retractable bulletproof canopy (button "D"), rotary saw blades (button "C"; for cutting wooden obstacles), traversible infrared headlights (button "E"), deploy-able tire armor (button "B"; actually for climbing steeper roads), underwater operational capability (button "F"), and a remote-controlled robot homing pigeon (button "G"). (And, in "The Most Dangerous Race in the World", extendable mini-wings which increased its jumping distance.)

* SameContentDifferentRating: The series was always intended as a children's program regardless what changes were made in the American dub, as Cartoon Network rated it as TV-Y/TV-G and the DVDs released by Lionsgate were not rated. When Funimation remastered the series however, the rating on the DVD was changed to TV-PG, despite the fact there was no change in the content and there's no swearing in the English dub. It's most likely due to the violence such as the usage of guns and crashes (that's even if the dub just states that the victims are just hurt).

* ActionGirl: Michi/Trixie is far more Speed's equal than the helpless DamselInDistress [[ValuesDissonance that one would expect from a series at this time.]] She flies her own helicopter and on the occasions where she's kidnapped, she manages to be more trouble to her captors than she is worth.

''Speed Racer'' (Go Mifune) is the young driver of the Mach 5, an incredible supercar designed by his father "Pops" Racer (Daisuke Mifune). Speed would race dangerous routes against dangerous people and come out on top with his "girlfriend" Trixie (Michi Shimura) trailing him in a helicopter and his little brother Spritle (Kurio) and his pet chimp Chim-Chim (Sanpei) frequently stowing away in the trunk.

* LimitedAnimation: A big part that of what made the show memorable to most. And also the main point of parody outside of the fast-talking.

* ClearTheirName: Speed is framed in "Mach 5 vs. Mach 5" when a copy of the Mach 5 was used as a getaway vehicle in the theft of the Mizmo Beam. The father and daughter Speed was helping at the time claim they never met him before, which only made him look guilty. Trixie and Spritle were able to confirm Speed's alibi for the night of the crime.

* ConvectionSchmonvection: The second part of "The Great Plan." And both parts of "The Fire Race."

* ChickMagnet: Speed. Much to Trixie's consternation.

** In "The Fastest Car in the World," the GRX sent Speed Racer onto an acid trip due to its sheer awesomeness.

** Every car in the Car Acrobatic Team sprouts little wings that let it stay airborne longer when making a jump. This inspired Pops and Sparky to add similar wings to the Mach 5 to boost its ability to jump with the auto jacks (which were originally not for jumping but just for mid-race maintenance. They actually broke the first time Speed used them to jump and had to be re-inforced).
** In "Mach 5 vs. Mach 5," the Mach 5's EvilKnockoff had full-sized rocket-propelled wings that allowed it to fly under its own power, and a [[DeathRay Mismo Beam]].

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: One scene in the "Desperate Desert Race" arc featured the VillainOfTheWeek sneak scorpions into Speed and his rival of the week Kim's car before a race, intending to assassinate them. The scorpion is heavily implied to be very venomous, as Speed and Kim resort to doing a rolling jump out of their cars to shake it off before it could sting them. However, most scorpion stings in real life are not lethal to most healthy adults, the exception being the Indian red scorpion. However, those can't be found in Arabia, the country the episode takes place in.

* ActionGirl: Michi/Trixie is far more Speed's equal than the helpless DamselInDistress [[ValuesDissonance that one would expect from a series at this time.]] She flies her own helicopter and on the occasions where she was kidnapped she managed to be more trouble to her captors than she was worth.

* TheAbridgedSeries: [[https://www.youtube.com/user/TeamSRA/videos One exists.]] It's not too bad of an AffectionateParody, but it sadly has not been updated since late-2010.

There was a American-made Speed Racer cartoon in [[TheNineties the early '90s]] titled ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSpeedRacer'', which wasn't well-received. Four years later, there was ''Anime/SpeedRacerX'', a Japanese-made remake in 1997 with updated versions of the characters and vehicles, but numerous changes to its source material. Its English adaptation was produced by Creator/{{DIC}} and titled ''Speed Racer X'', but was short-lived thanks to a lawsuit between DIC and the American-based Speed Racer Enterprises.

There was a American-made Speed Racer cartoon in [[TheNineties the early '90s]] titled ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSpeedRacer'', which wasn't well-received. Four years later, there was [[Anime/SpeedRacerX a Japanese-made remake in 1997 with updated versions of the characters and vehicles, but numerous changes to its source material]]. Its English adaptation was produced by Creator/{{DIC}} and titled ''Speed Racer X'', but was short-lived thanks to a lawsuit between DIC and the American-based Speed Racer Enterprises.

* GrandFinale: The final three episodes. "The Trick Race" deals with the Car Arcobatic Team getting revenge on Speed, and [[spoiler: Speed finding out whom Racer X is]]. "The Race Around the World" deals with Speed and Sparky trying to win the race, with the narrator giving a foregone conclusion after Speed won the race.