usty (Segall) is the next generation of robotic artificial
intelligence: a powerful three-and-a-half-foot-tall flying machine with the emotions and mind
of a young boy. To guide his development, the military of the near future
pairs Rusty with B.G.Y.-11 (Cook), nicknamed "Big Guy," a 15-foot-tall
walking demolition robot.
Or so he seems. Unknown to all but a handful of keepers on an offshore
aircraft carrier, the S.S. Dark Horse, Big Guy is actually a high-tech
weapons suit worn by human pilot Dwayne Hunter (Hanks). Rusty's handlers at
Quark Industries, including his creator, Dr. Erika Slate (Carteris), feel
that to reveal Big Guy's true nature would traumatize the young Rusty.
At the beginning of the second episode, entitled "Out of Whack" and
screened to an audience at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, Calif., Rusty
is warming to his role as sidekick to the much larger robot. But the young machine
inadvertently witnesses the destruction of a malfunctioning
acquaintance. "He was very bad, right?" Rusty asks Dr. Slate. No, she says.
"He was just a little out of whack."
Meanwhile, a new robot menace, ARG 12 (or "Argo"), has appeared at a
military base seeking the whereabouts of Big Guy. Big Guy enlists Rusty's
aid to combat the fearsome new enemy, who is hoping to get Big Guy to join
the League Ex Machina, a group devoted to the destruction of
humankind.
In the ensuing battle, Big Guy is nearly destroyed, and Rusty is badly
damaged. But before Dr. Slate and Hunter can solve the problem, Rusty runs
away, fearing that he will be the next machine scheduled for disposal
because he is now "out of whack." Can Big Guy find him and bring him back
in time to be repaired? And will Rusty be able to help Big Guy when Argo returns?
Gigantor, meet Astro Boy
Based on the Dark Horse comic series by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow, Big Guy
and Rusty is one of the centerpieces of the new Fox Kids fall lineup,
with 26 half-hour episodes slated to begin airing Sept. 18.
Aside from a few complaints, it seems like a promising anchor for the cable
net, at least based on this half-hour episode. Like much
new animation, Big Guy boasts colorful retro-flavored design work and an ironic
sensibility that should play well with modern children and their older
siblings.
Miller and Darrow also clearly acknowledge their debts to animated series of
the past. The over-the-top look of the Transformer-like hardware contrasts
nicely with the anime-influenced characterization of Rusty.
The story in the second episode was also pleasantly complicated, going beyond
a simple-minded good-robot-versus-bad-robot plot into some deeper
psychological issues that promise to make the show more interesting than
a typical Saturday morning serial.
Key among these issues are the true identity of Big Guy and his relationship with
the trusting Rusty. When Rusty shows up for the mission, he announces: "One
sidekick reporting for duty, Big Guy!" To which Hunter mutters, "Lucky
me." There's also lots of loopy humor, some of it delivered by Jenny, the
talking monkey mascot of Quark Industries' chief "greedy capitalist," Dr.
Axel Donovan, and, some suspect, the real power behind Quark's success.
The casts boasts some surprising members as well, including
Beverly Hills 90210's Carteris and News Radio's Stephen
Root.
Make no mistake, though: this is no Futurama or The
Simpsons. It's mainly kid stuff. Which raises one big concern: the
level of violence, euphemistically called "action." Though most of it is of
the bloodless machine-on-machine kind, it was nevertheless central to this
episode's storyline, and somewhat disturbing.
