FILM · 2008 · USA
Speed Racer
32 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (32)
- #001
Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr, the original English voices of Speed Racer/Racer X and Trixie/Spritle in Speed Racer (1967), appear in the film as race announcers.
- #002
After winning a race, Speed Racer jumps out of his still-moving car and strikes a pose. The scene copies Speed Racer's signature pose from the opening title sequence of Speed Racer (1967).
- #003
Ten years after the film's premiere, on 14 May 2018, Emile Hirsch tried to drum up support on social media for a sequel that he claimed the Wachowskis had already written.
- #004
This was the Wachowskis' first time shooting a film in high definition (HD). With this format, they were able to use a layering approach that gave the foreground and background of every shot equal clarity, creating a real-life anime look.
- #005
A working Mach 5 was built for the film, along with several other full-size cars, including Racer X's Shooting Star. All driving scenes were shot with the actors sitting in a gimbal, a race car cockpit with a computer-programmed hydraulic system.
- #006
Keanu Reeves turned down the role of Racer X.
- #007
Christina Ricci admitted that she had not watched a single episode of the original anime before taking on the role of Trixie.
- #008
According to producer Joel Silver, a large part of the film was shot on green screen in 60 days.
- #009
To prepare for his role, Emile Hirsch watched every episode of the Speed Racer (1967) series and visited Lowe's Motor Speedway, where he met race car driver Jimmie Johnson and got advice from him.
- #010
Christina Ricci had hinted at a possible sequel: "As we (the cast) were leaving, we said, 'Write the sequel! We want to come back!' And they (the Wachowskis) said, 'I know. I know. We're going to, don't worry.'".
- #011
The film was a first in many technical areas, but two features stand out: it was the first film to use the Sony F23 digital cinema camera while also recording in parallel to Sony HDCAM SR for archive managers; and it was the first company to use Codex digital data recorders on set for uncompressed HD playback, digital dailies and file creation for editing and VFX.
- #012
Although the race cars are entirely fictional, most of the pedestrian cars are actually based on real-life futuristic concept cars (you can easily spot an orange Rinspeed E-GO Rocket parked closest to the screen when Rex chooses Speed over school). At one point two Peugeot concept cars are also visible (the award-winning Peugeot 4002 Lion design and the unusual Moonster).
- #013
Emile Hirsch was a big fan of the Speed Racer (1967) show and watched it on Cartoon Network.
- #014
A Spanish sports commentator (famous for his "Gooaaallll!" scream during football matches) appears as a commentator at the Grand Prix.
- #015
Japanese voice actors Katsuji Mori, Kiyoshi Kobayashi and Kenji Utsumi voiced Ben Burns, Mr Togokahn and Pops Racer in the film's Japanese dub. All three worked on the original Speed Racer (1967) series: Mori in particular voiced the title character.
- #016
Although both the Mach 5 and the Mach 6 are white, the Mach 4 is traditionally shown as a red vehicle.
- #017
This is the last film in which the Wachowski siblings were credited as the Wachowski Brothers.
- #018
The steering wheel of the Mach 5 in Speed Racer (1967) had buttons that produced different devices to help with racing, but these differed in some ways from the devices in the film, and those in the film were generally associated with different buttons. In the anime, the buttons were associated with the following devices: A: Automatic jacks - to lift the car for maintenance and to jump over obstacles. B: Belted tires - special plates were placed around the tires to provide extra traction. With these tires, the Mach 5 could drive on vertical surfaces and even upside down in tunnels. C: Cutting blades - two circular saw blades were placed at the front of the vehicle to cut through obstacles. They could cut through trees fast enough for the car to pass by. D: Dome - a bulletproof and airtight dome closed over the driver and passenger compartment. This dome was also part of the system used by Button F. E: Enhanced Headlights - the normal headlight beam was augmented with a powerful beam at wavelengths that appeared red only to the human eye, but when viewed through the visor of Speed's helmet it could illuminate several times farther and brighter than normal headlights. This feature was also activated by Button F: Underwater System - this allowed the Mach 5 to be driven underwater. It automatically activated the bulletproof dome and the enhanced headlights, as well as oxygen tanks that also supplied a limited amount of air to the driver and passenger compartment, and a periscope system that extended a camera on a telescopic pole to the surface and fed the video from the camera to a television screen mounted on the front panel. G: Homing Robot - this launched a small bird-shaped robot that could be controlled remotely with a joystick beside the driver's seat or programmed to fly autonomously to a specific location. The robot could record sound and images and had a compartment for written messages. Pressing the H button next to the control stick sent it directly to Racer's home. During an encounter with the Car Acrobatic Team, glider wings such as the CAT's were temporarily attached to the Mach 5, but they were never assigned a button on the steering column.
- #019
In some scenes "bokeh" (circular/oval out-of-focus points of light) appears in different shapes: * At Royalton's club they are diamond-shaped * In some race scenes they are square or rectangular. * And when young Speed first sees young Trixie, and when they kiss at the end of the film, they become hearts.
- #020
At 1:04:15, the memorial plaque reads: In Memory of Those Who Gave Everything for Their Love of This Sport Slim Silverton Rocky Rubington Virus Cyrus O'Mann Rex Racer Clevon Delta Velocity DeWitt Chuckie Do… A… o Tori.
- #021
Wilhelm scream: when Spritle and Chim-Chim wreak havoc at Royalton Industries.
- #022
The Racer family built six different race cars: the Mach 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Only the 4, 5 and 6 appear in the film.
- #023
Scott Porter and Matthew Fox, who play the same character at different ages (Rex Racer and Racer X respectively), share the same birthday, 14 July.
- #024
Michael Giacchino used musical cues from Speed Racer (1967) when composing the film's score.
- #025
In December 1997, Alfonso Cuaron was briefly hired to direct the film.
- #026
In the first race, during the sequence where Speed crosses paths with Rex Racer's "ghost car," his maneuvers resemble a fighter-plane attack maneuver called the "Thach Weave," invented during World War II by U.S. Navy pilot John S. Thach.
- #027
Race car driver Danica Patrick was reportedly offered a cameo, but had to turn it down because of her racing commitments with Andretti Green Racing and the Indy Racing League.
- #028
In the film, "Racer X" wears a black suit with a black mask, but in Speed Racer (1967) he wore a white suit with a black mask.
- #029
Mr. Royalton says his drivers must be able to handle speeds of up to 4G. Theoretically, a carousel could produce that.
- #030
In June 2004, Vince Vaughn was set to produce the film and play the role of Racer X. He left the project because the production never fully got off the ground.
- #031
J. J. Abrams wrote a draft of the screenplay. He will now prepare a live-action series for Apple.
- #032
Despite playing the main villain, Roger Allam does not appear anywhere in the poster's cast list.
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