Anime Weekend Atlanta 5 - Peter Fernandez
|
 When Peter
Fernandez started acting, Ethel Barrymore was one of the nation's leading
thespians, Broadway was still king and vaudeville tours crossed the land.
Fernandez started as a child actor, was a radio performer when people still
sat down to listen to plays in their living rooms, then turned to writing
and directing for television. In the 1960's, after working on Astro Boy,
he got the call to work on Mach Go Go Go, which was renamed Speed Racer
for the U.S. Market. |
 Fernandez sat
down with AWA co-chair Joe Vecchio (left) to talk about the days when he
worked on Speed Racer. With only sparse translations to work with, Fernandez
had to create most of the stories and character names ("Inspector Detector"
and "Curly Cranium" were among his favorites). He hired three other actors
- Jack Grimes, Jack Curtis and Corrine Orr - to handle most of the voice
parts. For the lead, "I always thought I could do Speed so I cast myself,"
said Fernandez. |
 One of the
character names Fernandez invented was "Racer X" for the mysterious driver
who wears an "X" on his helmet. "It wasn't until later that I found he
was Speed's brother," Fernandez recalled. "It's a good thing I didn't give
him a last name." Fernandez said he doesn't recall the details of every
Speed Racer episode because he's worked on so many shows - from the dubbed
Ultraman to Marine Boy - but he stays close to the character. He planned
to head to Las Vegas in November to attend the unveiling of a custom built,
full size Mach 5 racer. |
 Fernandez received
a remarkable amount of respect from the other voice actors at AWA. All
of them insisted on attending his panel and listening to his insights (Tiffany
Grant asked several questions from the audience). And after the discussions
were over and the actors went into the hall to sign autographs, Jessica
Calvello (left) sat next to Fernandez and asked how she could make it as
an actor in New York - just as Fernandez had taken the same path, decades
earlier. |
