Thread by @KevDGrussing

Fred Ladd, aka Fred Laderman, whose dubs of “Tetsuwan Atom” (Astro Boy), “Tetsujin 28-go” (Gigantor), and “Jungle Emperor” (Kimba the White Lion) first introduced anime to America in the 1960s died last Tuesday.
He was 91.

Ladd first got into the job of production while working at a company called Cayton, Inc where he was tasked to put nature short into a feature length film.

That film would be traded in Europe exchange for local European productions that Ladd would later re-edit and dub for the American market.
The main one being what became 1959’s “The Space Explorers” which was re-edited and dubbed as a TV serial.

But it was in 1963 where Ladd made his name.
See, NBC had just acquired the rights to a Japanese cartoon called Tetsuwan Atom and…well…needed assistance in “Westernizing” it so they called up Ladd for help.

Ladd then went and created a pilot taking out some of the violent and less child-friendly elements to create a pilot which eventually began airing on June 22nd, 1964.
Tetsuwan Atom thus became…

“Astro Boy” wasn’t the only Anime he adapted for NBC, a few years later the network asked Ladd to help dub another anime they had in their ownership, “Jungle Emperor”.
So, in 1966, Fred “brought to you in living color”….

And then, Fred formed a new company called Delphi Associates to help dub for Trans-Lux an anime adaptation of a manga Fred had seen artwork of years earlier.
It needed to have a name change b/c it couldn’t be “Iron Man 28” thus it became…

Fred worked deep into the 90s, mostly on writing but also when a certain Canadian company got the rights to a certain Magical Girl anime in the mid 90s, guess who they rang up?

It’s not a stretch to say that w/o Fred Ladd, the foundation for anime’s eventual foothold in America would not have been laid.
So, in that spirit, rest well, Fred…