Gigantor (originally Tetsujin 28-go 鉄人28号, literally Iron Man #28) was a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama published in 1958 which was later made into several anime series, the first in 1963. It was the first "giant robot" series. It is now being made into a film in Japan based on the old comics as opposed to the newer version in "New Gigantor" which was translated into many languages including Arabic.
There are many indications that Gigantor is a predecessor to another "retro-style" anime, Giant Robo, including the main characters' design/personality similarities.
Cartoon Network's Adult Swim is currently airing the original English version at 5:30 AM (Eastern and Pacific) from Monday/Tuesday overnight to Thursday/Friday overnight, and Saturday/Sunday overnight. It is shown on this block perhaps due to its violent nature for a childrens cartoon, and often "comical" portrayals of villain deaths.
history
The series was shown on Melbourne TV in January 1968 through Translux, on channel 0 at 5:00pm. It was described by the tv week as "Animated science fiction series about the world's mightiest robot, and 12 year old Jimmy Sparks who controls the jet propelled giant." After the success of Astroboy on the international market, Gigantor became the most popular Japanese export during this time. The idea was simple- a boy named Jimmy Sparks fights crime around the world with the help of a huge remote controlled robot. Whoever has the remote control, controls Gigantor. The series is set in the year 2000. Gigantor was made of steel, complete with a rocket powered backpack for flight, a pointy nose, eyes that never moved, and incredible strength, but no intelligence. Jimmy is the nephew of Dr. Bob Brilliant and lives with him on a remote island. Jimmy usually wears shorts and a jacket, and even carries a gun.
Jimmy's voice was that of Billy Lou Watt (who was female, not male as many people are led to believe). She was also the voice of Astroboy and Kimba. The voice of Inspector Blooper was Cliff Owen, who also played Dr. Elefun from Astroboy and Dan'l Baboon from Kimba. Gilbert Mack was the voice of Dick Strong, who also played Mr. Pompus from Astroboy and Pauley Cracker from Kimba. Peter Fernandez was the voice for many characters as well. The names were all whimsical with characters such as Dick Strong who was a secret agent, and a funny policeman named Inspector Blooper who joined with Jimmy, Bob and Gigantor on their adventures against enemies such as the Spider, Ungablob, General Von Que Ball, Dubble Trubble, Dr. Katzmeow, and Prince Abdul Ben Hothead, and there were plenty of other robots that Gigantor had to defeat.
In the last episode titledkangaro "The Secret Valley", The Gigantor team decide to holiday in Australia. They end up in the bush on a sheep station. They call the natives "savages" and, instead of being Aborigines, are Indians with feathers on their heads riding horses. It goes to show what little the Japanese knew of Australia at that time. The dubbing team tried to imitate our accents, but didn't come close. A colored version was produced in 1980 in Japan named "New Gigantor", and another version in 1992, but neither has been seen on Melbourne TV. The following information is from E. Bernhard Warg
The 1980-81 "Iron Man #28" (Tetsujin Ni Juu Hachi Goh) series was broadcast on America's Sci-Fi Channel from 9 September, 1993 to 30 June, 1997 under the name "The New Adventures of Gigantor." There was also a sequel series, "Iron Man #28 FX" (Tetsujin Ni Juu Hachi Goh Effu Ekkusu), about the son of the original controller operating a new robot (with Daddy and the FX-less #28 appearing from time-to-time to help), but I don't have much info other than it ran in Japan in 1992.