So why is Speed Racer still around 30 years after its U.S. debut?

Because, his fans say, everybody loves a winner.

Speed Racer's storied career actualy began in a simple comic book, then evolved into an anime cartoon (anime is the Japanese word for "animation," which defines a whole genre of Asian art?, and today he has reemerged as a champion of the cartoon-classic circuit and pop culture, gaining recent recognition via Volkswagen and ESPN cable-network ad campaigns.

In the early 1960s, American animated cartoons such as Mickey Mouse and Popeye were at the height of their popularity in Japan. Japanese animes, often lower in qualithy than their American animated counterparts, could be produced on a shoe-string budget. Animes had their own look, feel, and distinctive style, often choppier and less sophisticated than American animation. But they rolled quickly off production lines, and their popularity spread rapidly throughout Asia.

Companies like Tatsuo Yoshida's Tatsunoko Productions in Tokyo began producing animated features like Space Age in 1965, then the adaptation of a comic book called Mach Go, Go, Go.

Mach Go, Go, Go promptly pulled away from the pack. Lead character Go Mifune traveled around the world to exotic races, often battling spies and villains. His powerful car was always unbeatable.

The popularity of Mach Go, Go, Go eventually led to an arrangement to translate the Japanese anime into English for release in the U.S. in 1967. Lead character Go Mifune was renamed Speed Racer. (Interestingly, his Japanese name, Mifune, explains the "M" that's still on Speed's helmet today.)

Speed's vehicle is the Mach Five, an astoundling versatile machine capable of breakneck speeds, precise handling, and the helpful ability to travel across almost any terrain, cutting down trees if necessary. It's operational under water, and it's capable of vertical jumps to avoid obstacles.

Speed is aided by devoted girlfriend Trixie; Pops Racer, a master mechanic and engineer; Sparky, Speed's best friend; and Spridle, Speed's younger brother who is usually accompanied by troublemaking chimp Chim-Chim. And there's Racer X, seeminly an adversary but secretly Speed's brother who ran away from home at 18 and remains mysteriously hidden begind his mask. Guest characters, mostly villains, have picturesque names like Cruncher Block, Lightfingers Klepto, Skull Duggery, Inspector Detector, and Calcia Bones.

"We had such a fun time doing Speed Racer," recalls Corrine Orr, the original voice of Trixie and Spridle. Orr worked with Peter Fernandez, who was the voice of Speed and Racer X, and was responsible for the English scripts, directing, and production. Fernandez penned the Speed Racer theme song.

Orr said dubbing a Japanese produciton was a challenge. "Because of the language differences we had to take deep breaths and talk in long sentences with lots of ohs and ahs."

Production closed after 52 episodes, with syndication continuing through 1986. In 1991, speed Racer Enterprises was formed by John Rocknoswski to oversee Speed's continued success and longevity. Today Speed Racer Enterprises is run by executive vice-president James Rocknowski (John's son) out of Santa Monica, California.

"We believed there was a large fan base for Speed Racer, and we wanted to preserve it and continue to make it available to fans," says Rocknowski. The resugence bgan in November 1992, when MTV picked up the show and began broadcasting it to its mostly younger audience. Speed raced across MTV until February 1994. In March 1996, Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network (a 24-hour-a-day cartoon channel) picked up the series and has been running episodes Monday through Friday.

"The past two years things have really heated up for Speed," says Rocknowski. speed Racer Enterprises deals with more than 40 companies that are marketing merchandise with the Speed Racer name.

Widely seen commercials featuring Speed haven't hurt visibility, either. In 1996, Volkswagen produced Speed Racer commercials touting the Golf GTI. "As part of the 'Driver Wanted' campaign, we though Speed Racer was indicative of our product and our customer," says VW's Tony Fouladpour. "And that persona is unique, different, and hip." corrine Orr even reprised her roles as the voices of Trixie and Spridle. It was a successful campaign, earning a nod from the New York Times as one of the 10-best ads of 1996.

Sports network ESPN jumped on the Speed Racer bandwagon last year, procucing a dozen 30-second spots that had Speed promoting NASCAR racing.

Speed Racer has at least a dozen unofficial fan clubs worldwide, and multiple computer Web sites dedicated to the race. Speed Racer Enterprises has created an "official" Speed Racer fan club and developed a Web site (www.speedracer.com) with a buttetin board and other Speed Racer--related announcements.

And it doesn't end there. The Cartoon Network ran a seven-hour Speed Racer marathon one Saturday last May; Snap-on tools just entered into a marketing plan with Speed Racer Enterprises; an in-depth book on Speed Racer should be on the stands by fall; and there has even been talk of a feature film, possibly starring Johnny Depp as Speed Racer.

Go, Speed Racer, go.

P.S. I was one of those fanatics who watched and recorded the first "Super Chunk" (name for the four-hour marathon slot on the weekends), which also happens to be the first time Speed Racer is shown on the Cartoon Network in southern California area. ^_^