Product Details

• Actors: Kiyoshi Komiyama, Noriko Shindô, Hideo Kinoshita, Setsuo Shinoda, Nobuaki Sekine
• Directors: Daisaku Shirakawa, Osamu Tezuka, Taiji Yabushita
• Writers: Ch'eng-En Wu, Goro Kontaibo, Hideyuki Takahashi, Keinosuke Uekusa, Lee Kresel
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• VHS Release Date: February 13, 1996
• Run Time: 84 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303935877
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,956 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One of the very earliest Japanese animated feature films, July 14, 2002

By 

Brian Camp (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alakazam the Great [VHS] (VHS Tape)

ALAKAZAM THE GREAT (1961) was the English-dubbed version of the Japanese animated feature, SAIYUKI (1960), an adaptation of "Journey to the West," the Chinese literary work devoted to the famous legend of the Monkey King. It was distributed in the U.S. by American International Pictures and featured a whole new music score, four new songs and a host of celebrity voices, including Jonathan Winters, Arnold Stang, Sterling Holloway and, as the singing voice of the Monkey King, Frankie Avalon.

The English dub goes a long way towards divorcing the material from its cultural context, reducing the original mission of its characters, bringing Buddhist scriptures to China from India, to simply a "pilgrimage." It also gives ridiculous new names to all of the characters, including Buddha himself (called King Amo here) and the Emperor of Heaven (renamed Merlin the Magician!). Goku, the Monkey King, is called Alakazam, and Pigsy, the shape-shifting pig, is dubbed Sir Quigley Brokenbottom. The new songs have little to do with the original story and tend to slow things down considerably.

Still, it's a beautifully animated piece with rich color and at least a semblance of the original legend. Most importantly for today's young audiences, it depicts the cultural antecedents of the popular "Dragon Ball" cartoon TV series, which is shown on the Cartoon Network and available on home video. Identical points of reference include the flying nimbus cloud and power pole employed by Alakazam/Goku, the same tools possessed by the hero of "Dragon Ball," also named Goku. Oolong, the cowardly, lecherous pig seen in "Dragon Ball," is clearly modeled on Pigsy/Sir Quigley, who also has the power to transform and an eye for the ladies. Also significant is the fact that pioneering animator Osamu Tezuka was a co-writer/co-director of this film (three years before "Astro Boy"), which was adapted from his own manga (comic book) version of the legend. There were many other films and TV series based on "Journey to the West," both animated and live-action, made in China, Hong Kong and Japan, but few are easily available in the U.S.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars childhood memories, July 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Alakazam the Great [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this movie when I was 5 and remember it vividly. I recently bought a copy, and enjoyed seeing it again and showing it to my daughter. As an adult I can view it more critically, but I still love it, and I'm glad it has such a large following.

SG

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sun Wu Kung (Aware of Vacuity -- Alakazam' Real Name), September 8, 2008

By 

Peter Parker Jones (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alakazam The Great! (DVD)

This 1961 liberal remake of the Journey to the West is a good film for our children. Although Monkey starts off as a sympathic character, children will quickly condemn him for his selfishness and arrogance. Children will learn -- as they learned in Spider-Man -- that with great power comes great responsibility. At the end, we applaud Monkey as he truly learns the concepts of love, humility and virtue. Our youths need more films like Alakazam.

This is a animation of one of the most well-known stories in Asia is "Journey to the West" by Ch'eng En Wu, excellently translated by Arthur Waley. The fictional story revolves around three characters: a monk, who is full of reason and compassion; a mischievous monkey, who has an almost human physique, an uncanny ability to discern good from evil, and who could converse with humans; and Piggy, who is loud, boisterous, greedy, and has an enormous appetite. By the Chinese Emperor's decree, the monk had undertaken a twenty-year journey to India, to bring back Buddha's scriptures. Along the way, the monk's compassion, coupled with his naiveté of the depravity of man, often placed him in danger. To protect the monk, Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, arranged for the monkey to protect him, and for Piggy to carry his load.
Now, the monkey was a real rogue! Buddha himself had imprisoned him in rock so tightly that he could only move one arm. He had vast magical powers, which he had used to cause great havoc in heaven and which, of course, resulted in his imprisonment of 500 years. Freed from his confinement, the monkey received instruction from the monk, and also served as a teacher to the monk. Along the way, despite many setbacks, the monkey learned that great power must be exercised with great humility.

Journey to the West is available on Amazon.com. I would recommend Out of Chaos, China 2026 CE where the Monkey King makes a modern appearance.

All of the above are HIGHLY recommended.