Robot Carnival (1987) is an anime anthology film comprised of a collection of nine short films by a variety of directors, all featuring little or no dialogue. Many of the film's segments are directed by people who are primarily character designers or animators, not directors.
The bookend segments, "Opening" and "Ending", feature a huge machine, the titular Robot Carnival, chugging along over the landscape unheeding of any obstacles in its way. Once a magnificent showcase of mechanical prowess, the hulk is now a decayed, rusting, malfunctioning engine of destruction.
During the early 1990's, this anthology was shown frequently on the
Sci Fi Channel and later on the Turner Network, often paired with other feature-length anime films such as
Vampire Hunter D,
Demon City Shinjuku, and
Twilight Of The Cockroaches, making
Robot Carnival one of
the first tastes of anime to many American viewers.
This film contains examples of:
- Art Shift: Between each segment. Meta-justified by each segment having a different director.
- Adaptation Distillation: The segment "Deprive" takes your stereotypical Shonen-action series and boils it down to the barest essentials without missing a beat in the story or without a word of dialogue. It still works.
- Become A Real Boy: The segment "Cloud".
- Circus Of Fear: The titular carnival. It was once a normal circus, but years of disrepair have turned it into a mechanical nightmare that turns the people of the towns it encounters into new performers... or makes them explode.
- Costume Porn: The Robot Girl in the "Presence" segment.
- Deranged Animation: The "Presence" segment. The animation for the characters is so smooth that it makes it incredibly eerie.
- Gateway Series: Thanks to the Sci Fi Channel's Japanimation Week.
- Giant Mecha: The segment "A Tale of Two Robots — Chapter 3: Foreign Invasion" feature two giant robots battle over Japan, the Western invader in his giant robot opposed by some kids in a robot designed for a parade.
- The English dubbing of this particular piece drew some criticism because the voice actors put on thick Japanese accents when they delivered their lines.
- The piece itself is a parody of the Japanese propaganda films before the occupation era following World War II.
- Keep Circulating The Tapes
- No Export For You: The anthology won't be making a legitimate DVD release in the west anytime soon.
- Robot Girl: The segment "Presence".
- Scenery Porn: Mainly the "Presence" segment.
- Shoujo: The "Star Light Angel" segment.
- Shout Out: The "Nightmare" section makes obvious references to Disney's Fantasia, including the giant robot overlord towering the city.
- The male protagonist in "Deprive" seems to be based off 8Man.
- Silence Is Golden: Only "A Tale of Two Robots" and "Presence" have any spoken dialogue.
- Tomboy And Girly Girl: The segment "Star Light Angel" features such a duo enjoying a trip to a theme park.
- Because Katsuhiro Otomo worked on this be sure to watch out for the cameos of Tetsuo, Akira and the Colonel - a year before Akira was released in cinemas.
- What Do You Mean Its Not Awesome: The Opening sequence. The movie starts out with a bland black title card with "Robot Carnival" on it. Then the titular Robot Carnival shows up with grand music and on the front of the Base On Wheels spells out "ROBOT CARNIVAL."
