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Astro Boy, Meet Kirobo

 

When I saw the story about Kirobo, the new robot astronaut from Japan (see the bottom clip below), it instantly called to mind Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム), the Japanese manga series that debuted in 1952 and was adapted into the first popular animated Japanese television series in the late 50s and early 60s which I saw as a kid on TV two decades later in Mexico. Astro Boy was one of the early creations of legendary Japanese animator and cartoonist Osamu Tezuka, the so-called “father of anime.” Surely the folks at Toyota were inspired by Astro Boy, the super-powered, space-age Pinocchio who lived in a world where robots coexisted with humans.

We don’t need a super-hero robot, but we’d love to coexist with a one or two who could help out with some household chores!

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Band and dancers

Band and DancersOne in a series of original illustrations inspired by Mid-Century Modern music and entertainment, this particular scene was loosely inspired by a clip from the 1961 B-movie “Twist All Night” starring Louis Prima. A twisting Prima sings his song “Continental Twist,” which is one of several twist-related songs he recorded on the album “Doin’ the Twist.” While these songs come across as more gimmicky (and underutilize his songwriting and performing talents better showcased in his swing and jazz tunes), he was enthusiastic about the dance craze that swept the world in the early 1960s.

Here’s the scene from the movie:

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Simply Marvelous: Phoenix’s Mid-Century Commercial Architecture

Published by the Phoenix Historic Preservation Office in January 2011 (and now in its second printing), the coffee table book “Midcentury Marvels: Commercial Architecture of Phoenix, 1945 – 1975” is features a great collection of photographs and details about the history of mid-century commercial architecture in Phoenix. It also profiles the architects who shaped modern Phoenix — Frank Lloyd Wright, Ralph Haver, Al Beadle, and Bennie Gonzales among them. In some cases, photographs (and the memory of long-time locals) are all that’s left of these architectural desert jewels. But despite some lamentable tear-downs, the Phoenix area still boasts some fine examples of high-style Modern and Googie architecture in everything from banks and offices to restaurants and hotels. This book covers just commercial structures, so we’re hoping a companion book on Phoenix’s residential mid-century marvels will come out some day. Meanwhile, this book is a must-have for anyone fascinated by the Valley of the Sun’s mid-century modern architecture like we are.

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A whimsical example of Modern cartooning: Destination Earth


Petroleum industry and anti-communist propaganda aside, the 1956 industrial cartoon Destination Earth produced by John Sutherland is a whimsical example of Mid-Century Modern cartooning and space age illustrative stylings. Directed by Carl Urbano and designed by Tom Oreb and Victor Haboush, this 13-minute clip is a fascinating view of the future from the past, gushing with irony and humor like oil from a Texas drill rig.

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Modern Phoenix Week 2013

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Above are advertisements for new homes from an old Arizona Republic newspaper dated Nov. 9, 1969. The yellowed newspaper was stuffed behind an old medicine cabinet we were replacing at home. What a find!

For more cool Mid-Century modern finds in Phoenix, the place to turn is the Modern Phoenix website — the go-to source for Mid-Century Modern architecture in the Valley of the Sun, and the group’s annual Modern Phoenix Week is happening right now. Check out this lineup of events for the big Modern Phoenix Expo taking place Saturday, April 21, at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts:

  • A Bus Tour of Scottsdale’s ‘Most Western’ Mid Century Gems
  • A Private Tour of Paolo Soleri’s Cosanti Foundation
  • An Ultimate Tour of the Hotel Valley Ho
  • Research your Midcentury Modern Home Using Primary Sources
  • Phoenix’s Street of Dreams: The Visual Extravaganza That Was Van Buren
  • A Modern Castle in the Sky: The David & Gladys Wright Residence
  • Creating Places of Peace in Modern Environments
  • Door Prize Drawings (+ a chance to win the last 2 tickets for Sunday’s Home Tour!)
  • Paolo Soleri: Beyond Form