The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic book series (and later 2003 film adaptation) by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill popularized the steampunk genre. [76] Katsuhiro Otomo directed and co-wrote the 2004 Japanese animated action film Steamboy (Akira). It's a steampunk Victorian England-set retro science-fiction epic. It depicts innovators, steamboats, railways, and airships. The costumery and vehicle interiors in the 2004 film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events have Steampunk-esque motifs. Tin Man, a 2007 Syfy miniseries, mixes several steampunk-inspired motifs into a reimagining of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Despite its gothic influences, the "parallel reality" of Meanwhile, City in the 2009 film Franklyn has many steampunk themes, such as costumery, architecture, little use of electricity (with a preference for gaslight), and the absence of modern technology (such as there being no motorised vehicles or advanced weaponry, and the manual management of information with no use of computers).
Steamboy is a raucous'steampunk' piece of entertainment, replete with a crazed ruler plotting to take over the globe. Although it's odd to watch a film set in London with all of the (Anglo) characters speaking Japanese, it's wise not to take Steamboy too seriously. Miss Scarlett and Rai's grandpa, Loyd Steam, offer comic relief (Katsuo Nakamura). Loyd Steam also represents natural order, which is prevalent in Japanese animation and was influenced by both the animist previous national religion, Shinto, and the WWII atomic blasts. However, unlike Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, it is rarely mentioned here. Steamboy succeeds because of the incredible creativity that went into the animation, not because of its ideology. ****12/***** stars
