EPISODE 17

THE HAUNTED SHIP

Here's another synopsis from Jeff Major in Oklahoma:
"I remember an episode in which the beginning shows Astro Boy and two of his friends at an amusement park. I can't for the life of me remember the two boys' names, but one always wore a ball cap and pop-bottle glasses. He was fairly intellectual but a physical weakling. The other boy was made to look purposefully goofy; he had small, rat-like eyes, big lips and ears. The most comical feature about him was that with all of his looks, he appeared vaguely Japanese! He was a little simple but wanted to be like Astro Boy because of his strength. Anyway, all three of them go into a "Haunted House" at the amusement park. There are ghosts, spooky noises and bats flying around and the two human boys are scared pretty badly, but Astro Boy uses his searchlights in his eyes to show the boys that the ghost they see is only a projection. As one of the bats flies by, he jabs at it, knocking it to the ground. It's electronic, and its parts come out of it as it hits the ground. The boys are relieved and kind of disappointed at the same time as they all leave, telling Astro Boy something about emotions (I don't remember what). Astro Boy becomes very upset and runs away from them. They shout after him to stop, and in his mind he is thinking, "I wish I had a real heart!" Dr. Elefun hears about this and brings Astro Boy into the laboratory. He installs a new "Experimental Heart," evidently a prototype. To test it, Dr. Elefun opens a door in the lab and out jumps a Gorilla. Astro Boy yells, leaps across the room and plasters himself against Dr. Elefun, shaking and shivering. Dr. Elefun is amused that it works so well. There comes a report of a "Ghost Ship" out on the ocean, to which Astro Boy is assigned to find out what happened to it. He gets to it and finds that it is inhabited by a radioactive slime that scares him to pieces. No matter what he does, it still comes after him. He totally forgets to use all of his abilities because he is so overcome with fear. He climbs the mainmast and shouts "I wish I never had a heart!" Suddenly, there is a muffled metallic =Clang!!= He says calmly, "I'm not afraid anymore!" He defeats the slime (I forget how; maybe he burns it with his jets or something) and returns to Dr. Elefun, satisfied that he's had enough emotional involvement. I don't remember how it ends and I thought it was kind of strange to have an episode like that, especially since Astro Boy exhibited plenty of range of emotion before and after the heart installment episode. He could blush when he was complimented, he could laugh appropriately, he could be sad and he could display happiness. I guess the real message of that one was to not let fear control you. Food for thought." Wow, what a memory, and thanks again Jeff!!