STEAM BOY
Japan, 2004, 126 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo.
Steam Boy shows how Japanese animation has developed at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Director Katsuhiro Otomo had previously done a lot of work with comic strips as well as animated features. He is best known for his 1988 feature, Akira.
Steam Boy is an extraordinarily ambitious project. The animation is vivid and detailed. The characters are well drawn, well developed psychologically. There are extraordinary action sequences including a runaway train and an abduction via a balloon. There is a huge battle between armed forces, ships and tanks, robotic soldiers at the London Exhibition of 1866.
The director was interested in the scientific background of the film, he and his team visiting England to study the science museums as well as the history of the development of steam engines in Britain. This is acknowledged in the inclusion of Robert Stevenson and his steam trains as part of the action. The film opens with a huge experimental plant in Alaska and a devastating accident. The action moves to England, with glimpses of Manchester (again in great detail of houses, streets and mills) and then moves to London itself and the Great Exhibition. The director was also interested in the scientific background, the possibilities of experiment both for serving people as well as for warfare and arms development. Instead of doing a science fiction feature set in the future, he decided that audiences would understand the development of science by his going back into this historical period. There are evil characters, mad scientists as well as good scientists – but the focus is on a young boy, Ray Steam, who does experiments on his own but wants to vindicate his father and grandfather. There are also sinister American interests in the background, especially in selling international arms.
The film was made in 2004 and released at the same time as another extraordinary Japanese animation feature, The Mysterious Castle of Howl.
1.An interesting and entertaining story? Japanese animation: quality, vigour, design, characters, action, content?
2.The visual style: the characters and the universal look, the Alaskan settings, English settings, the detail of Manchester, London? Costumes and design? Period? Landscapes and cityscapes? Action sequences?
3.The drama and pace of the action sequences: Alaska and the disaster, the train ride, the tractor, the rolling circle, the balloon, the Steam Tower? The battles, the robots? Planes and ships?
4.The cumulative effect of the animation, its impact and style? The musical score?
5.The 19th century, the industrial revolution? Steam engines, the mills? The assembly lines? Energy, vehicles? The development of weapons? The imagination, physics, the inventions? The exhilaration of the Age of Progress?
6.19th century England, Manchester and its development, the mills? London, the Great Exhibition? World interest, Queen Victoria, the expansion of the British Empire? The international weapons buyers? The role of the Americans? The final credits and the vision of the future?
7.The exploration of scientific themes by going back into the past rather than science fiction and futuristic films?
8.The audience: adults, children? Interest in science, history? Action? War and peace? Empire?
9.The Alaskan sequences, the vast plant, the explosions? Eddie and Lloyd Steam and their role, inventions, the disaster, Eddie’s disappearance, Lloyd’s grief? The return to England?
10.The role of Manchester in the industrial revolution, its look, 1866, the Steam family, Ray, his mother?
11.Ray as a boy, his skill in inventions, at play, school, the bullying, the violence, the punch, his punishment at home?
12.The ball, its significance, energy and the future? The O’Hara? Foundation, Eddie and his working with them? The grandfather, wanting to get the ball to Robert Stevenson? The investigators, the search of the house? The tractor crashing into the house, Ray’s escape? The ball and his rolling? The tractor pursuit? The balloon, the attack on the train, the net, the abduction of Ray?
13.Stevenson, his place in the empire, his inventions, the defence of the empire – empire above all? David and his mildness, working with Stevenson? The grandfather wanting them to have the ball?
14.Eddie, alive, with the O’Hara? Foundation? Ray and his finding him? Shocked at what was happening? The Americans, Scarlet and her wilfulness, age? The Steam Tower? The exhibition, the deadline? The weapons buyers? The tower itself as a weapon?
15.Lloyd, a prisoner, Ray and his information from his grandfather, the escape?
16.The Great Exhibition, pomp and circumstance, the queen, the military? The demonstrations, the ships in the Thames? The attack?
17.The robots, the military, the planes? The battles?
18.Ray, torn between Lloyd and Eddie? His dependence on Scarlet – and the romantic interlude when they went out into the city, the dance?
19.Scarlet, American background, the butler and his taking over? His selling the arms, the continued demonstration during the attack and the battle?
20.Simon, the buyers, the international range, the money bids – their wanting to escape but the continued demonstration?
21.Eddie, his power, the confrontation with Lloyd?
22.The tower, the outer case going off, the tower itself as a weapon, moving and threatening?
23.The final confrontation, Ray and his ingenuity, steering the tower so that it would fall in the Thames and not harm people?
24.The film as a fable, history and science, weapons and war, inventors, and the ingenuity of the Steam Boy?
