Roy del Espacio (lost Mexican animated film; 1983)

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Roy del espacio.jpg

Promotional poster containing a still from the movie.

Status: Lost

Roy Del Espacio (aka Roy From Space) was a Mexican animated movie directed by Hector Lopez Carmona, Rafael Angel Gil and Ulises P. Aguirre that was in production from 1979 to 1982, being released in theaters in Mexico City on March 3, 1983[1]. However, the end result was apparently of really poor quality, so much that the movie was pulled from theaters only two days after its premiere. The movie was never broadcast on TV nor released on home video, and information about it or its creators is almost nonexistent. The plot is about three characters: Roy, the psychologist Elena and Dr. Faz who are sent to a distant planet to stop the plans of its evil emperor to conquer the Earth.

While the online information available is quite scarce, the movie has mentioned or reviewed in a handful of books throughout these years. The first mention is made in Anuario Cinematográfico 84 (Cinematographic Yearbook 84), edited by the National Autonomous University of Mexico Film Archive (Filmoteca UNAM) and published in 1984. Here "Roy" only has a synopsis, which, judging by the preview in Google Books, is considerably detailed. The second reference can be found in the book El Episodio Perdido: Historia del cine mexicano de animación (The Lost Episode: History of Mexican Animated Cinema), written by comic book scholar Juan Manuel Aurrecoechea and published by Cineteca Nacional in 2004. Aurrecoechea quotes third-party accounts that describe the film as "an extravagance, a daring experiment and (…) an unmitigated disaster". The third reference is part of El Futuro más Acá: Cine mexicano de Ciencia Ficción, written by by Itala Schmelz and published by CONACULTA in 2006, in which a brief synopsis is made along with a critical comment.

Alternative poster found

In December 2020, an alternative poster from the movie was listed on Ebay, and it is currently for sale. This poster does not have any movie still as the other one shown on this page. Regarding the origin of the item, the seller claims it comes from a "regional film archive in Mexico that had serviced 20 theaters for 50 years from the 1930s to the 1980s". It also shows on the left top corner the logo of the distribution company, Aguirre Valdez Productores y Distribuidores de Películas S.A., along with the contact information, but there is no certainty if the company is still operating as there is no information online about it.

This new poster, along with the one containing both original art and a black and white still, are the only visual information of any kind available about the movie.

Gallery