New Featurette for 'Astro Boy' Found

A brand new featurette for "Astro Boy" has made its way out via Sina. Clocking in at more than three minutes, the featurette first presents the Astro Boy character as The Icon comparing it to Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse while giving background facts of the character which has been inducted into The Robot Hall of Fame.

Halfway through the video, the in-development movie is introduced by showing the filming process of the CGI animation. The footage then continues by displaying the characters side-by-side with the actors hired to voice them. Nearing the end of the featurette, actor Nicolas Cage who is set to lend his voice to Dr. Tenma shares a few words about the movie.

Set in futuristic Metro City, "Astro Boy" tells the story of a young robot with incredible powers. He is created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost, but when the scientist finds out the robot couldn't mend his grieving heart, he sends Astro Boy away. Alone and rejected, the young robot embarks on a journey in search of acceptance where he experiences betrayal and gets into a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he finally returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the scientist.

An adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic manga, the animation movie comes from "Flushed Away" helmer David Bowers. Penned by Timothy Harris, it features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Donald Sutherland and Freddie Highmore among many others. Summit Entertainment will distribute this movie in U.S. theaters on October 23.