28-go manga (which debuted in 1956) predates the Marvel Comics character Iron Man (who debuted in 1963), Tetsujin 28-go (which literally means "Iron Man No. 28") could not be released as Iron Man in North America due to the Marvel character Iron Man appearing in that market before Tetsujin debuted there, so the series was renamed Gigantor for the American version. Gigantor premiered in the United States in syndication in January 1966. It was playing at 7:00 p.m. on New York's WPIX-TV when Variety gave it a particularly scathing review, calling it a "loud, violent, tasteless and cheerless cartoon" which was "strictly in the retarded babysitter class". The reviewer added that Gigantor was popular; he said, "Ratings so far are reportedly good, but strictly pity the tikes and their misguided folks." Gigantor became a popular Japanese export during this time. The series was shown in Australia on Melbourne television in January 1968 through Trans-Lux, on ATV-0 at 5:00 pm. It was described by the TV Week as an "animated science fiction series about the world's mightiest robot, and 12-year-old Jimmy Sparks who controls the jet-propelled giant". The series aired in other markets around Australia, including Sydney on TEN-10, and in Adelaide, South Australia on SAS-10, (its debut on Monday October 28, 1968, at 5.55 pm). It was also screened in New Zealand around the same time. Gigantor was one of a number of Japanese TV series that enjoyed strong popularity with young viewers in Australia during the 1960s. The first and undoubtedly the most successful of these was the hugely successful live-action historical adventure series The Samurai, the first Japanese TV series ever screened in Australia, which premiered in late 1964. It was followed by a contemporary ninja-based live action espionage series, Phantom Agents, and a number of popular Japanese animated series including Astro Boy, Ken The Wolf Boy, Prince Planet and Marine Boy. In July 1994, Fox Family Films, a division of 20th Century Fox, acquired the rights to "Gigantor" for a live-action motion picture. Anticipating that Gigantor would become a franchise for the studio, Fox tapped screenwriters Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes to prepare the script and budgeted between $35 million and $50 million for the film. Executive producers Fred Ladd and Aeiji Katayama indicated that Mitsuteru Yokoyama would get an executive producer credit and that the 50-foot robot would be updated and modernized for the 1990s with