Doraemon

A few years ago, Michael & Jack got introduced to Doraemon, a robotic cat loved by millions of Japanese children.

I paired the cat with Astro Boy, created by the grandfather of anime, Osamu Tezuka, as two Japanese cartoons to color their animated world, while linking to my childhood; although due to marketing and DVD archival work,

M & J know far more about the flying do-gooder than I ever did.

Robots figure in the Japanese cultural psyche in a sometimes charming, sometimes disturbing, manner; exploring the line between man & machine, nature & science, in its constant obsession with technology, gadgets, the phantasmal overcoming of limits via transformative power. Perhaps medical technology has forced these issues; when a person ceases to be human.

The only nation to have experienced atomic warfare - allegorized by Gozilla's Cold War, enemy-turn-friend, about-face status (of course, compounded now by Fukushima) - trauma and the harnessing of power dominates the imagination:

Gigantor

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However, the comic figure of the day is a rediscovery of the beloved Belgian series, Tintin,

the second most beloved European strip, next to Asterix. Spielberg is premiering his trilogy in a joint-showing in Brussels and Paris, flying to both capitals for competing premiers October 26th - almost 2 months before opening State-side December 23rd.

Tintin at The Grand Rex, Paris, Oct 26th!

Hopefully, this trilogy will introduce the original comic series and lovely animated cartoon to American audiences.

Tintin was carefully researched with historical and geographical details by Herge, whose centennial birth was celebrated in 2007.

An inspiration for Indiana Jones, Tintin & dog, Milou (Snowy) traveled around the world as a reporter, in the jet-setty style of James Bond; a wonderful chronicle of 20th century Cold War and cultural politics.

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The nearby city of Nyon, where one of the adventures is set, has created a Tintin trail with large staging scenes that mirror the story.

Exact spots

Vintage 1953 auto