Speed Racer’s Mach 5 racing car is familiar to television watchers of a certain age.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

NEW YORK Here comes Speed Racer!

Those words will ring a bell with a generation that watched the dubbed Japanese cartoon series Speed Racer on TV from the late 1960s through the mid-1980s.

On May 9, a new generation will be introduced to the action with the release of the live-action/computerized film version of Speed Racer by brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski, of The Matrix fame.

“It’s a high-tech movie with real people,” said Dennis Wiggins, vice president of publicity at Warner Bros. But while he said there were no computer-generated characters, the scenery is computer-generated, including the loop-the-loop track and the palace gardens, based on the grounds of a castle in Potsdam, Germany.

Filming was forbidden at the castle, Wiggins said, but crew members took 360-degree photographs of the location and digitally created “a 360-degree environment on the computer.”

“They were therefore able to go to places that they would not have been able to with a film crew. But they could with a still camera,” he said.

Other locations created through CGI, or computer-generated imagery, include scenes in Italy, Morocco, Austria, Turkey and California’s Death Valley.

A full-sized mockup version of Speed Racer’s Mach 5 racing car was on display at the recent New York International Auto Show. A promotional prop, it did not have full seats, but its distinctive shape attracted a crowd, especially of men in their 30s and 40s, according to Dave Reagan, a transportation captain with Warner Bros.

“We’ve had huge crowds, especially 35-  and 45-year-olds,” Reagan said. “It seems that’s the group that got into it. Those folks were really into Speed Racer. Younger folks haven’t seen it.”

Speed Racer was the translation of the Japanese anime, or cartoon series, Mach GoGoGo. The cartoons were in turn based on a manga, or Japanese comic strip, developed in the 1960s by artist Tatsuo Yoshida, who was obsessed with American popular culture. They were among the first Japanese cartoons to be shown in the United States.

The Mach 5 car was influenced by two popular movies from 1964: Viva Las Vegas, starring Elvis Presley as a race car driver — Speed Racer sports a neckerchief and black Elvis-like pompadour — and the James Bond classic Goldfinger, starring Sean Connery as 007.

In terms of looks, it reflects the the BAT (Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica, or sporty coupes with aerodynamic technology) cars produced by the Italian car designing firm Bertone in the 1950s, especially the BAT 5 of 1953, with its pointed nose and pointed front fenders.

But when it comes to performance and gadgetry, the white Mach 5, with a bold red M on its hood, leaves Bond’s 1965 Aston Martin DB5 in the dust.

The Mach 5 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive car with 1,000 horsepower, making it capable of 300 mph. Buttons on its steering wheel access the gadgetry, including auto jacks to allow it to leap over obstacles, a bullet-  and crash-proof transparent cover that encloses the cockpit and allows it to go under water, zircon-tipped blades that saw down trees and bushes that are in the way, and infrared-enhanced lights.

In addition, Button B causes special grips to encase the tires for such tricky terrains as vertical mountainsides, while auxiliary engines distribute an amazing 5,000 horsepower to each wheel. And Button G releases a bird-shaped flying homing robot from a compartment in the hood.

For all its features, however, one of the stars of the upcoming film is the next-generation Mach 6 car, which is even more streamlined.

In 1967, the 52 episodes of the series were dubbed into English and syndicated nationally on television, complete with the surreal music by composer Nobuyoshi Koshibe that combines elements of Bonanza and Leave it to Beaver theme music with Fellini film scores by Italian composer Nino Rota.

The story line follows the adventures of Speed Racer (played by Emile Hirsch in the film) as he attempts to raise money by racing against various bad guys. He is supported by his family, including his irascible father, Pops (John Goodman), who designed the car, mother (Susan Sarandon), rich girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) and Racer X (Matthew Fox), who is his older brother in disguise. His small, excitable brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and his pet chimpanzee Chim Chim add comic relief.

“It’s a terrific family film based on characters that a generation of [TV] viewers grew up on,” Higgins said, adding that the film should attract another generation to the race car champion. “Not a lot of young kids know Speed Racer.”

In addition, he said The Matrix fans will be interested in a new film — indeed, Speed Racer is reported to include about 2,000 special effects — by the Wachowski brothers. “There’s a real audience anxious for the next movie,” he said.

As the catchy theme song to the TV series goes:

“Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer!

He’s a demon on wheels.

He’s a demon and he’s gonna be chasing after someone!

Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer!

Go Speed Racer, GO!”

For more information, go to www.speedracer.com

pelsworth@projo.com