Long thought lost, Mexican-produced animated feature Roy del espacio (1983) begins as only it… and Flash Gordon… could.
Evil space emperor Alome (Rubén Moya) gets a wild hair up his space-ass to put a threat upon the Earth. To counter this, Roy (Salvador Nájar), Dr. Faz (Esteban Siller), and comely psychologist Helena (Rommy Mendoza) launch themselves into the cosmos to battle the threat!
While that synopsis won’t exactly start a blaze based on it’s red-hot originality, Rafael Angel Gil and Hector Lopez Carmona’s Roy del espacio (which the duo co-wrote with Ulises Pérez Aguirre) instead offers a ton of heart… if not technical razzle-dazzle.
Boasting an animation style that could best be described as a lil’ bit Sport Billy with a dash of Chargeman Ken and all of the jank and animation-whoopsies those pieces contained (including limited movement, costume inaccuracies, and uses of perspective that’ll have you think you snorted a fistful of premium Moon Dust)… but here the amateur nature of the film actually works to it’s advantage!
Comprised of a creative team with zero to very little experience in animation, these fearless flks went right ahead and made a feature-length (give or take) cartoon that is loaded with earnestness, the joy of creating, and of course a ton of pulpy space opera goodness… with all of the monsters, robots, and interstellar action that goes hand-in-hand with such cinematic good times… hell, we even get a horned-up space princess to cap the whole thing off!
Light on story, heavy on ideas, and packed with irresistible charm, Roy del espacio never fails to bring a smile (whether intentionally or not varies from scene to scene) and is pure gold for lovers of nostalgic space opera fare!
To experience Roy del espacio (and the amazing restoration job courtesy of Deaf Crocodile) for yourself, you can order a copy right here!
For more info on how Roy del espacio came to be, head here and here!
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