I was watching "Viva Las Vegas" on a plane trip recently and when I watched the end race, including Elvis' girlfriend getting in a helicopter to follow the race, and the crazy wrecks and car explosions, as well as the design of the cars and Elvis' helmet and goggles, I was like "Wait a second, this is literally speed racer." Then I did some research and saw that this was a huge inspiration for Speed Racer, as was the gadgets in James Bond's cars of films of that time period.
bboyneko OP t1_je5y0sb wrote
Reply to comment by Fleegle1834 in TIL Speed Racer was based off the 1964 Elvis film "Viva Las Vegas". Tatsuo Yoshida, creator of Mach GoGoGo, stated that this movie was his primary inspiration. by bboyneko
I was watching "Viva Las Vegas" on a plane trip recently and when I watched the end race, including Elvis' girlfriend getting in a helicopter to follow the race, and the crazy wrecks and car explosions, as well as the design of the cars and Elvis' helmet and goggles, I was like "Wait a second, this is literally speed racer." Then I did some research and saw that this was a huge inspiration for Speed Racer, as was the gadgets in James Bond's cars of films of that time period.