Roger Corman was responsible for an infamously terrible anime movie

Roger Corman, the iconic cult filmmaker behind Little Shop of Horrors, the Raven, and dozens more, has died. More than just a director and producer, he oversaw numerous other releases through his studios, including a particularly notorious anime dub from the ’80s.

Corman started his own production company, New World Pictures, in 1970. Besides releasing his own movies, New World Pictures would also distribute pictures from other up-and-comers. The likes of Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, and Joe Dante are among those whose first projects were picked up.

Alongside American genre films, Corman had an eye for movies from further afield, especially from Europe and Japan. Among those he imported was the anime movie Galaxy Express 999, an extremely popular picture in Japan that didn’t exactly find its audience stateside.

The dub and re-edit of Galaxy Express 999 swiftly became infamous within sci-fi circles and nascent anime communities. The film is a spin-off from the Galaxy Express anime show. In 1980, dubbing and broadcasting of properties like this was still very limited in English-speaking territories, so there was no way of guaranteeing the audience would know or understand the franchise.

Thus, Galaxy Express 999 was trimmed down, from over two hours to a little over 90 minutes, removing chunks of plot and exposition. Beyond that, the script and character names were altered to a bizarre degree.

Tetsuro Hoshino, the protagonist, became Joey Hanakanabobakananda Smith; Antares was turned into Olaf; and Captain Harlock became Captain Warlock. Sloppy edits make the whole thing difficult to follow at times, and the voice-acting left something to be desired (though was likely recorded in harsh time restraints, like a lot of dubbing through the ’80s and ’90s).

Another version was put together in 1996, and Corman’s dub has become fodder for cult film aficionados. Although the New World Pictures cut of Galaxy Express 999 isn’t good, it’s commendable that Corman at least understood the appeal and potential of anime at a time when few others did. Sadly, the 1980 dub is difficult to find in its entirety these days, though clips permeate the internet.

He was an innovator, and his other discoveries, such as Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, have aged much better. Check out our upcoming anime guide for more rising stars.