Gigantor/Episodes

Gigantor is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime adaptation of Tetsujin 28-go, a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama released in 1956. In 1963, Fred Ladd, while working on the animated feature Pinocchio in Outer Space and on the animated TV series The Big World of Little Adam saw artwork of Mitsuteru Yokoyama presenting a giant robot remote-controlled by a young boy. Ladd, who had produced the successful international, English-language adaptation of Astro Boy, and Al Singer formed a corporation called Delphi Associates, Inc. in order to produce and distribute an English-language version of Tetsujin 28-go. They took only 52 episodes of the Japanese series for the American market, and renamed the series Gigantor. Peter Fernandez wrote much of the English script, and participated in the dubbing.

The series debuted on U.S. television in 1964 and became an immediate hit with juvenile audiences, though adult reactions were sometimes hostile. As with Speed Racer, the characters' original names were altered and the original series' violence was toned down for American viewers. The series was resurrected, in color, as The New Adventures of Gigantor, by the Sci Fi Channel in 1993.

In 2003 Gigantor aired as part of Toonami's Giant Robot Week. In 2005 the series aired on Adult Swim. Also on April 1, 2012 Gigantor aired as part of Adult Swim's Toonami April Fools stunt.