Customer Reviews

Taro the Dragon Boy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was a movie I grew up watching.
I remembered the intense story so much and loved
the animation in comparison to cheesy cartoons that I had
to break down and look for this movie.

It is a animated movie from the early 80's derived from
an Oriental Fable. A young boy separated from his mother
at birth (she turned into a dragon) He looks to reunite with
his mother and learns to help people along his journey.

He makes many friends and each event somehow ties into the
next part of his journey. Its story is very touching.

Anyhow, the moral of the story is: You can help yourself by helping others. (A sound piece of business advice I might add)

Although this film was released on home video in the U.S. in 1984 as "Taro the Dragon Boy" (five years after it appeared in Japanese theaters in 1979), not many people seem to remember it, which is a shame, as it is one of the best anime films I've ever seen. I rented the English-dubbed version, helmed by the legendary Peter Fernandez (also worked on the English dubs of "Speed Racer" and "Superbook"), on video from my video store on several occasions as a child, and was awestruck. Taro is a remarkable young man - he possesses immense strength and an enormous appetite, but he also has a heart of gold, and the object of his quest is to find his mother, Katsu, who was changed into a dragon many years ago. (One scene which made a big impression on me is the scene in which Taro and the villagers are feasting after Taro defeated a demon who was threatening the village, and Taro - who has an appetite to rival Garfield's - can't enjoy the celebration because he keeps thinking of the folks back in his home village who have nothing to eat. That shows what a pure, good heart he has.) This film holds up very well even to this day. The animation is remarkably fluid given that the film is now over a quarter-century old, and the music is also very well-done. There are even vocal songs, which were dubbed into English for the U.S. release along with the dialogue, and they're also pretty good, even in English; the dialogue is also well-written and well-dubbed. The ending will absolutely have you in tears. If you can find a used copy of this film on VHS, by all means pick it up. It's a real classic. (Incidentally, despite the Japanese title, "Tatsu no ko Taro," this animation was NOT produced by Tatsunoko Production, but by Toei Animation, which later became internationally famous for "Dragonball," "Sailor Moon," and "One Piece.")

It's a beautifully drawn Japanese story about a boy who learns how not to be selfish and decides to find his long lost mother with the help of animals, people and magic creatures he meets along his journey. Selfishness and it's consequences are the main focus of this movie, but it is also a story of love between a mother and child so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes when I first saw it in the movie theater at age 9. Today I am 36 and was thrilled to find it on DVD for my 4-year-old girl. Now we enjoy it together and she loves to teach me the theme song which she knows by heart. I most definitely recommend this to anyone 3 years and older.

I purchased this on a whim and was so glad I did. Yes, the animation isn't up to today's standards, but do you hate a Cab Callaway recording because he didn't have today's technology? I think not. The story is delightful and was enjoyed by all members of my household, age 4 to 40. Even the teens watched it several times. Taro has all the classic elements of the folk tale with plenty of surprises, little jokes and side stories along the way. It is definitely quirky and for those with an odd sense of humor.

If you enjoy old school movies, tv shows, and animation in general you are doing yourself a disservice to not to give this movie a once over.

This is one of my favorite children's movies hands down. It's based on a few traditional Japanese folk stories that are woven together to make a beautiful whole. The animation is lush and gorgeous, and gives a wonderful sense of visiual depth, and the music compliments every scene. The main character, Taro, is a little boy who lives in a small village in Japan, who has extraordinary strength. As we get to know him, he battles a local forest demon, befriends a magical flute-playing girl, and then for the better part of the story he's on a search for his long lost mother, having many adventures along the way, which show what a tender heart he has. If you like folk and fairy tales, or simply beautiful and moving animation, I highly recommend this!

Great buy!! My niece and nephew loved this movie just as much as I did.

Wow - I cannot believe this stinker got five stars from anyone! The sound quality was really bad, with the "music" - if you could call it that - overpowering the poorly dubbed voices. The color was poor. The animation was barely there - I don't consider that zooming the camera around on a flat backdrop is animation, and there was a lot of that. The backgrounds were OK but not beautiful, although it might have been better if the original film had been restored.

We've seen such fabulous animation coming from Japan that it was kind of a shock to see something that a lot of college freshmen could surpass with just their laptops and some freeware. Then you get to the story! Ok, it's a different culture, but I would have gladly missed the nasty old witch (child molester) and her sagging boobs hanging out of her dress. And get the kid's mommy a kimono, OK? That nude scene was just icky! Then you have the hero doing handstands while he's not wearing underpants. That didn't add to the story line that I could see. While this is an education about the folkways of Japan, I don't think most American kids will deal well with the ick factors in this one.

The story was bad the nusic was worse the flashes of kids privates was unneeded and unwanted and the reason his mother is a dragon is because she ate 3 fish because she was starving and pregnant it was a bad story bad plot and not worth the price if it were free

The plot of the film was good and I very much enjoyed the beautiful old-style animation. My main disappointment with this film was that I was expecting a fun children's film. The displays of nudity (a few shots of women's breasts and a shot of Taro's reproductive organs in the opening credits) while not in sexual situations is appropriate for children and this ruined the film for me.