Here’s a two-fer for the last Christmas Showcase of the year, though I will have a few more Christmas specials during the week so I can focus on Captain Yuletide, which is going to probably be late again. Though at least it will be up before the New Year.
Superbook was 1980 cartoon that aired on the Christian Broadcasting Network back when it was just a television station ministry. The show, produced with famed Japanese animation studio Tatsunoko, followed Chris Peeper and his friend Joy as a magic book transported them to Biblical events. It also brought Chris’ wind-up robot toy, Gizmo, to life to help them in their travels. The show would have a sequel in which Superbook get transferred to a computer. Uri, Chris’ cousin (his brother in the Japanese version) is forced to travel through the same stories with Gizmo, chasing Chris’ dog throughout time. Unlike the others, he never got to go home until finally catching up with Ruffles the dog.
In 2011, the series got a futuristic CG re-imagining, now made by Korean studios if memory serves. Now it’s Chris Quantum and Joy Pepper (this one got a last name), and the regular robot Gizmo are brought to events via a virtual version of Superbook. Like the previous show, the idea is that Chris or Joy is having some kind of problem or needs to learn a moral lesson, and Superbook takes them to those events that not only teaches about God and the Bible but helps the kids through whatever their personal issue is. I don’t know if they’re actually time-travelling, like the other CBN/Tatsunoko co-production The Flying House, or if they’re some kind of magical holodeck recreation (depending on the magical or technological version) but it doesn’t really matter.
Tonight I get to bring you both versions. You can watch your preference or compare the two. A Merry Christmas to you all, and enjoy.
The Original 1981 series
The 2011 re-imagine
BW Media Spotlight 