Remember Superbook and The Flying House? - Christian anime (and other Christian media)

[skykiii]

To younger kiwis it may be odd that there is such a thing as Christian Anime, but that's exactly what these two shows are. Superbook originally aired in 1981 and The Flying House in 1982, both were animated by Tatsunoko and were financed by religious organizations both in Japan and abroad.

If you've never heard of them, here's the basic rundown: Both shows have the premise of kids who end up time-travelling and experiencing events from the Bible. The basic difference is that Superbook is focused on the Old Testament, while Flying House is focused on the New Testament. I've been told a certain episode of Flying House was known to drive kids to tears.

Real reason I'm making this thread is I'm hoping someone knows whether or not either show ever had a physical release? I don't care if its dub-only.

I know both shows are on streaming services (Flying House is here), but I'd like to have a version I can watch offline.

Thanks in advance.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

glancing on ebay it looks like there's been some dvd releases of both in the USA
signs point to yes, no clue about quality, ease to obtain, etc

there might have been over in Japan? I think Superbook was bought entirely by TBN by the late 90s so it might have only gotten LD there

 

[Travoltron]

The Japanese RAWs are up on Nyaa.

 

[Sneed's Feed And Seed]

Tatsunoko? Then why couldn't I play as them in that Wii crossover game with Capcom?

 

[Testacles Maximus]

I thought I was the only person left alive who still remembered Superbook. To answer your question, they at least did release VHS tapes back then, my parents bought a few.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

I thought I was the only person left alive who still remembered Superbook. To answer your question, they at least did release VHS tapes back then, my parents bought a few.

iirc neither was particularly hokey or anything, one was Tatsunoko, the other was Mushi Pro (Tezuka's joint)

this is fun to shit on

Bill Melendez (the Peanuts specials guy) directs this attempt at the first Narnia book
animation looks jank af like some Eastern Europe crap and Aslan look looks like Snake Jailbird
if there are Christian shitposting forums this could easily be their CDI Zelda

 

[Day Walker]

My church had a few Superbook VHSs. There’s a new version that was on Prime for a while.

 

[Testacles Maximus]

There’s a new version that was on Prime for a while.

That surprises me. I wonder how that endeavor turned out.

 

[Mike Matei's Penis]

Tatsunoko? Then why couldn't I play as them in that Wii crossover game with Capcom?

Evangelion and Speed Racer not being in that game was a crime

 

[skykiii]

That surprises me. I wonder how that endeavor turned out.

Superbook 2011 is.... something.

I watched the first episode and the first thing the kids witness is... Lucifer launching an attack against Heaven, which plays out like something you'd see in a Lord of the Rings wannabe film. It was wild.

Also Superbook 2011 actually did get home media releases of the full series which are very easy to find.

......

Update to the original question BTW... I found out Tartube could download Flying House from CBN's website. As for Superbook 1981, it looks like that's on Youtube, but that confuses me as its also on Amazon but that wants you to subscribe to a streaming service, so is it free or isn't it?

I'll probably go with trying to rip it from Youtube unless its that annoying version with arabic letters all over the image.

Evangelion and Speed Racer not being in that game was a crime

Correct me if I'm wrong but I heard that Speed *was* actually in one of the Tatsunoko vs Capcom games (he may have been under his Japanese name, Go Mifune).

The real missed opportunity was the game didn't include the Samurai Pizza Cats (which they actually wanted to include, but by the time all the copyrights were cleared, the game was already going to print, so it was a case of "too late to add them.")

 

[Carnavoyeur]

There was a Spanish dub of Superbook on one of the Mexican channels one morning and my then-boyfriend and I lost our shit at the robot. He goes BIDDY BIDDY BIDDY like Twikis from Buck Rogers. That's the only time I've ever seen it.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

As for Superbook 1981, it looks like that's on Youtube, but that confuses me as its also on Amazon but that wants you to subscribe to a streaming service, so is it free or isn't it?

if it's on youtube that's free enough lol

 

[Education Lottery]

Evangelion and Speed Racer not being in that game was a crime

They said they wanted to put Speed in, but they couldn't think of a moveset worthy of him. I can respect that.

 

[crunchy bits are the best]

I remember watching The Flying House on Saturday mornings, specifically the episodes leading to Jesus' crucifixion. It's still a good way to educate today's Christian children about the New Testament at least.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

Anyone remember The Greatest Adventure: Stories From the Bible? It was by Hanna Barbara. Three archeologists (brown haired guy, blonde lady, and Mexican boy named monkee or something) fall down into a cave or whatever and they find a mysterious door and get transported to different Bible stories. They always had an all star guest cast in each one.

Ofc i remember superbook! The theme song was a banger especially when they shred the electric guitar

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Anyone remember The Greatest Adventure: Stories From the Bible? It was by Hanna Barbara. Three archeologists (brown haired guy, blonde lady, and Mexican boy named monkee or something) fall down into a cave or whatever and they find a mysterious door and get transported to different Bible stories. They always had an all star guest cast in each one.

iirc Tim Curry is Judas AND The Serpent!

 

[Starscream's Loyalty]

Both were the shit! I loved them! They were actually the first anime I ever watched.

And Greatest Stories? Peak Christian media. SO many good VAs there too--Curry, Paulsen, Cullen, Cummings, animated by Hanna Barbara--it's a show after my own heart.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Both were the shit! I loved them! They were actually the first anime I ever watched.

And Greatest Stories? Peak Christian media. SO many good VAs there too--Curry, Paulsen, Cullen, Cummings, animated by Hanna Barbara--it's a show after my own heart.

pretty sure it's got James Earl Jones and Vincent Price too
but yeah it's chock full of OH SHIT IT'S THAT DUDE

 

[skykiii]

Anyone remember The Greatest Adventure: Stories From the Bible?

Heck yes.

Last time I watched it, I kept noticing Blonde Lady looks a lot like Jonny Quest as an adult woman. Then you remember in the JQ canon Jonny's mom is implied to be dead or vanished under mysterious circumstances...

Apparently episodes of it sometimes play on MeTV Toons. I hope someone tapes them so that the show can have a modern high-quality recording and not just pixellated rips of ages-old VHS tapes.

Incidentally while doing research on this topic I found this other set of Bible anime on archive.org. Though when I did further research it became dubious whether these two were actually anime.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Heck yes.

Last time I watched it, I kept noticing Blonde Lady looks a lot like Jonny Quest as an adult woman. Then you remember in the JQ canon Jonny's mom is implied to be dead or vanished under mysterious circumstances...

Apparently episodes of it sometimes play on MeTV Toons. I hope someone tapes them so that the show can have a modern high-quality recording and not just pixellated rips of ages-old VHS tapes.

Incidentally while doing research on this topic I found this other set of Bible anime on archive.org. Though when I did further research it became dubious whether these two were actually anime.

The stuff that isn't creepy shadow people seems to be at least