Racer family

Speed Racer / Gō Mifune (三船剛, Mifune Gō?)

* Voiced by: Katsuji Mori (Japanese), Peter Fernandez (English)

The focus character of both the anime and the manga is Speed Racer, originally Gō Mifune.[8] He is known for his love of racing and values his family. He drives the Mach 5 (as well as other cars, such as the Mach 6 in the movie) and always manages to wind up in extreme danger (such as encountering thugs, race fixers, gangs, etc.) with his younger brother or his girlfriend Trixie. Speed is shown to miss his older brother, Rex (secretly disguised as the Racer X) in both versions.

Casually, he wears a blue shirt with a yellow "G" (standing for his Japanese first name, Gō) that sports a white collar, a red racing bandanna around his neck, white pants, red socks, brown loafers and yellow gloves. He has a brown Elvis pompadour hairstyle. In racing, he sports a white open-face helmet with an M (representing Mifune Motors) flashed on top. On special occasions, Speed wears a red blazer with a yellow "G" embroidered on. This only happens in the anime. In the manga, he wears his standard outfit on special occasions. In the live action film, he wears a white leather racing jacket unzipped and over his classic outfit, and white pants. He wears his classic outfit (without the embroidered "G") in the first half of the Casa Cristo 5000. To strengthen character backstory between Speed and his older brother Rex, Speed's red socks were considered "lucky socks".

According to Peter Fernandez's introduction in the American release of the Mach GoGoGo manga, he wanted a name that everyone could remember. So he came up with Speed Racer, a name for both the main character and the actual series itself. In the 2008 film, he is portrayed by Emile Hirsch as an adult and Nicholas Elia as a child.

The American NOW comics adaptation states that Speed is only a nickname, and his actual forename was "Gregory", hence the prevalence of "G"'s on his clothing.

Spritle / Kurio Mifune (三船くりお, Mifune Kurio?) and Chim-Chim (三平, Sanpei?)

* Voiced by: Junko Hori, Hiroshi Ohtake (Japanese), Corinne Orr, Jack Grimes (English)

Speed Racer has a younger brother named Spritle, originally Kurio Mifune (三船くりお, Mifune Kurio?) and Chispita in the Latin American version who, along with his pet chimpanzee, who responded to the name of Chim-Chim in the American version,Sanpei (三平?) in the Japanese original, constantly got into mischief by hiding in the trunks of cars.[8]
Despite being children, they are delinquents. Their rebellious attitudes often lead them to trouble. Although they are this way, their mischief somehow often aids Speed away from danger. Oddly, Spritle and Chim-Chim dress in identical jumpsuits and striped hats and often perform identical physical actions. They both have an extreme appetite for candy and they are usually bribed with dessert or other presents by other characters, sometimes even by baddies. This occurs when Spritle and Chim-Chim refuse to do a favor at first. Spritle and Chim-Chim often use a slingshot to combat any threats that come to both themselves and/or Speed.

According to the Peter Fernandez's introduction in the American release of the Mach GoGoGo manga, Spritle got his name for him being an energetic "sprite". Chim-Chim got his name because he was considered a chimpanzee. In the live action film, they are portrayed faithfully like they were in both the anime and the manga. Spritle was portrayed by Paulie Litt in the film.

In the original Japanese release of the anime, Sanpei's sounds were realistic, sounding more like a monkey. In the American airing, when Jack Grimes provided the voice of Chim-Chim, Sanpei's sound-effects were also heard behind Grimes' re-recording, which explains why Chim-Chim has two "voices" in the American adaptation.

Pops Racer / Daisuke Mifune (三船大介, Mifune Daisuke?)

* Voiced by: Teiji Ōmiya (Japanese), Jack Curtis (English)

Speed's father, Pops, originally Daisuke Mifune (三船大介, Mifune Daisuke?) is a former wrestler-turned race car owner and builder.[8] Reluctantly quitting his job after feuding with a member of a corporate car manufacturing company who disapproved of the construction of a new engine for the Mach 5, he founded his own company, Mifune Motors (In the series' Americanization, the company was changed to Racer Motors). He is portrayed as a hothead who is overprotective of his family. His care for his family caused his eldest son, Rex (who would return as Racer X) to run away. In addition to Spritle and Chim-Chim, his attitude brings comic relief in the anime series and live action film. He wears an athletic red shirt and a beige mechanic's cap and is overweight. Despite his build, Pops is nearly unmatched in combat as he was once a champion heavyweight wrestler. His unique design skills have created very powerful engines for his cars, especially his (in the film) prized "Mach" Series, giving them the ability to travel at high speeds while at the same time sustaining maximum performance. He is portrayed by actor John Goodman in the 2008 film.

Mom Racer / Aya Mifune (三船アヤ, Mifune Aya?)

* Voiced by: Ryoko Kinomiya (Japanese), Corinne Orr (English)

Speed's mother, Mom, originally Aya Mifune (三船アヤ, Mifune Aya?) is a side character in the series. She rarely appears in the anime or manga, having limited dialogue.[8] In the live action film, however, she is portrayed as an encouraging, caring, parental figure by Susan Sarandon.

Racer X.

Racer X (The Masked Racer) (覆面レーサー, Fukumen Rēsā?)

* Voiced by: Kinya Aikawa (Japanese), Peter Fernandez (English)

A frequent recurring character, driving car number 9, the "Shooting Star," is the enigmatic Racer X (Fukumen Racer (覆面レーサー, Fukumen Rēsā?) in the Japanese version and El Corredor Enmascarado in the Latin American version). Racer X is a heroic, mysterious, flamboyant, selfless, sympathetic and often brooding soldier of fortune whose secret identity is that of Rex Racer (Ken'ichi Mifune (三船健一, Mifune Ken'ichi?) in Japan) Speed's older brother. Six years ago, Rex had a falling out with Pops after Rex wrecked a race car that Pops had built. Pops had told Rex prior to the race that Rex was not yet prepared to compete at the professional racing level. With less than one lap to go in his first major race, Rex was leading and cruising toward victory, but lost control of the car and wrecked it. Pops exploded with anger and berated Rex. In even more enraged response, Rex fled the family and exiled himself while vowing to become the world's greatest race car driver. It was at that time that Rex assumed the mysterious, Racer X identity, to pursue his racing career. In both Speed Racer X and in the 2008 movie, however, Rex is thought to have died in that accident. In the film, he is portrayed by two actors, Scott Porter as a younger Rex Racer, and Matthew Fox as the older Rex Racer and Racer X.

It was acknowledged by both Pops and Speed over the years that Racer X was the superior driver of the two, and the greatest driver that they had ever seen, but Speed always vowed to defeat Racer X as the two vigorously competed. In the anime, Speed was often suspicious of Racer X's identity and motives because Racer X would repeatedly, and inexplicably, sacrifice winning races to protect Speed from drivers and others who tried to harm him. The assistance from Racer X nearly always led to Speed winning races, while Racer X came in second place. Racer X always left the scene unnoticed, receding into his secret life. It was not until the episode "The Trick Race" that fans of the show finally got to see the face of Racer X. Early in the series, in the episode "Challenge of the Masked Racer," Speed had already begun to suspect that Racer X might, in fact, be his estranged older brother; this suspicion would be expressed by Speed in later episodes such as "Race Against The Mammoth Car."

[edit] Supporting characters

Trixie (志村ミチ, Shimura Michi?)

* Voiced by: Yoshiko Matsuo (later Michiko Nomura) (Japanese), Corinne Orr (English)

Originally Michi Shimura (志村ミチ, Shimura Michi?), Trixie is Speed's chaste girlfriend. The "M" adorning Trixie's blouse stands for Michi. Michi would often fly around in a helicopter during a race, advising Speed Racer via a radio link to the Mach 5, in effect acting as his spotter, a function she also serves in the live-action film during the Casa Cristo 5000. In the manga it is mentioned that her father is the president of Shimura Aviation, which explains why she owns her own helicopter. Further implying that she is a "rich girl", she can also be seen driving a Mercedes (in the anime; in the manga, it's a generic symbol not representing any car company). A recurring event, used to add comic relief in the anime, is when Trixie becomes jealous and arrogant if Speed is appalled or enthralled by another beautiful girl or when she is ignored or left alone. In the 2008 live action film, she is portrayed by actress Christina Ricci. She had a reddish brown bob cut with bangs in the Anime version her hair was dark brown.

Unlike most female characters in cartoons at that time, Trixie is not portrayed as a helpless perpetual victim in need of saving. Trixie often proves herself the equal of Speed when forced into physical altercations. While Trixie has been captured on occasion by the villains, she refuses to cower or plead for her release, more often giving the bad guy a serious tongue-lashing until she is either rescued or escapes on her own. On some occasions, Trixie has even been the one to rescue Speed or other male characters from their predicaments.

Casually Trixie wears a pink blouse with the aforementioned embroidered "M" on her left side. She also sports red pants. In racing events where she spots for Speed as his navigator, she dons a white long-sleeve shirt with pink overalls placed over it. The overalls also have the embroidered "M". In this situation, she also wears a pink cap with racing goggles placed over it. In special occasions, Trixie wears a blue hat and dress.

Sparky (サブ, Sabu?)

* Voiced by: Kei Tomiyama (Japanese), Jack Grimes (English)

Other regular characters included Sparky, whose full name in the movie and in Speed Racer: The Next Generation is Wilson Sparkolemew (in the manga and anime, he is only called Sparky), was originally named Sabu (サブ?) and is called Bujía in the Latin American version, the company mechanic, whose yellow shirt bears an "pid" that matches both his original Japanese name and the North American renaming.[8] both in the anime and manga as a quirky young man who is a best friend of Speed and knows everything about cars. In the live action movie, he is portrayed as older than Speed but is still his close friend, and still retains the quirkiness of the original character. He is portrayed by actor Kick Gurry in the live action film. He makes a cameo in Speed Racer: the Next Generation.

Car Acrobatic Team
The Car Acrobatic Team (or the Car Acrobats) is one of the original set of characters that appeared both in the manga and in the anime. The 16 racers' (automobiles numbered 11 through 26) uniforms are embroidered with a letter from the English alphabet. All of the cars in the team, except for number 11, look the same in appearance, with purple and black accents. The cars also act similarly in function. The cars sprout wings from both sides, making them capable of traversing large gaps and gorges. The most notable of the team are Captain Terror and Snake Oiler (the latter being a character exclusive to the anime). It should also be noted that the initials of the Car Acrobatic Team form the word, CAT, an agile and acrobatic animal.

Captain Terror is the leader of the Car Acrobatic Team, is shown as an arrogant racing car driver in the manga, sabotaging races for his own benefit. His arrogance gets the best of him, and he ends being humilated when his team member Snake Oiler got severely injured in an explosion after not heeding Speed's warning about his car leaking oil in the dangerous Alpine Race. He has a "Z" embroidered on his racing uniform, and has a face of skeletal features and a lone feather atop his helmet. He drives the number 11 car, the only car different in appearance to the rest of the Car Acrobatic team.

In the anime, Captain Terror's character exists, but his original attitude in the manga had formed a new character for the anime, Snake Oiler, a hothead racer, eager to win. Embroidered with an "S" on his uniform and tinted visor on his striped helmet, Snake Oiler drives the number 12 car, similar in appearance to the other cars in the Car Acrobatic Team. The role Captain Terror had in the manga was lifted on to the Snake Oiler character, therefore Captain Terror's role in the Alpine Race was replaced with Snake. Although Snake didn't exist in the original manga, he was more notable in the West due to his appearance in the anime.

In the live action movie, Snake has completely changed in appearance. He is no longer part of the Car Acrobatic Team as it never existed in the film's timeline. However, in homage to the Car Acrobatic Team, Snake is leader of his own racing team, named "Hydra-Cell". He wears large shades and sports a black pompadour. His racing uniform is made entirely of snake skin (complete with a yellow snake on his helmet) and his car is now completely orange. Despite the change in appearance, Snake's car number and attitude are still intact in the film. He is portrayed by Christian Oliver.

Captain Terror, one of his "Car Acrobat" team members, and their cars make a recent cameo in Speed Racer: The Next Generation during a flashback sequence.

Also iin Speed Racer: The Next Generation, Zile Zeisick was seen wearing a racing outfit similar to Captain Terror during the episodes Comet Run: part 1-3, thus leaving it to the imaginations of the fans that Zile is/was Captain Terror, and Stan, Zile's main henchman, noted that Speed Racer had raced against Zile's Racing Team back in the day.

[edit] Westernized appearance of characters

One distinct feature seen in Speed Racer is the Westernization of their characters' physical appearance and, to some extent, their mentality. This is partly due to Tatsuo Yoshida's affinity for the United States through portrayals of American life in numerous films. This use of Western appearance can somewhat be referred as mukokuseki (literally meaning, "stateless"), though the term relates to more abstract anime and is used for hyperbole in this case. In Speed Racer, the fair complexion and American attire can be seen as an example of mukokuseki, but it can take many unconventional forms.[9][page needed] This can be seen more readily in later anime in the fantasy and mecha genres, where characters are given more unusual traits like unusually colored hair (pink hair, blue hair etc.), enlarged eyes, and dysmorphic humanoid bodies (such as Tetsuo and the Espers in Akira). Reasons behind the presence of mukokuseki may be to diversify the character roster and distinguish between individuals, but it can have cultural implications.[9] Other aspects of physical appearance, such as disproportionally large eyes, are used to promote kawaii, or “cuteness”, as seen in many shōjo anime. It has even been implied that the large eyes could have its roots in early influences from older cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat.

Despite their Westernization, the series falls into the familiar manga-anime storyline, which is a form of Japanese expression.[10] Speed Racer embodies the typical manga characterization of a teenage boy with superior skills (in this case, racing skills) facing unreal adversity through a multitude of villains; this is seen more in mecha anime such as Mobile Suit Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion.[citation needed] Though always doing his best, he frequently receives a helping hand from his virtually superior brother (Racer X) when he falls short of his goals. This kind of continuing support can easily be identified in the episode “Challenge of the Masked Racer”. Another persistent manga component is the overreactions of many characters. The long, drawn out dialogues with no pauses are very distinct in Speed Racer, from Pops speaking his mind to Ace Deucey's thugs in "The Great Plan" to Racer X’s monologue of his thoughts to Speed after crashing in "Challenge of the Masked Racer."

Development

Symbolism

Yoshida selected the names and symbolism in his creation very carefully. The large red M on the hood of the Mach 5, which in North America was assumed to stand for "Mach 5," is actually the emblem of Mifune Motors, the family business. That is also the origin of the "M" on Gō's helmet. This was a homage to Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune. In the Latin American version, the "M" stands for "Meteoro", Speed/Go's Latin American name and the name of the series in Latin America which literally translates into English as "meteor", an object that can also be related to swiftness and speed. His given name, Gō, is also a Japanese homophone for the number 5 (the number on his race car). This is also represented by the yellow letter G embroidered on his short-sleeve blue shirt. The tradition of symbolism on characters' shirts would be also used on Michi (Trixie) and Sabu (Sparky), who had the letter "M" and "S" on their shirts, respectively.
[edit] Audience

Beyond Speed Racer's appeal as an early anime, the series generally is for family entertainment and does not contain the deep intellectual conflicts or controversies seen in anime today. It can be argued that the plots in Speed Racer were more complicated than conventional American cartoons of the 1960s, but the overall purpose was to please a growing fan base worldwide with exciting stories that involved facing adversity on the race track and beyond.[7] There is some argument over how much was edited from the original series. Some say the original Mach GoGoGo episodes underwent minor editing to reach the form which aired in the US; others say it underwent major editing. Nevertheless, it was considered appropriate entertainment for the whole family. Both may be possible: the amount of violence in the American airing was generally acceptable; however, there are some scenes in the episodes that would have never been allowed to air were it created under American standards.

Media

Manga
Tatsuo Yoshida's Mach GoGoGo manga.
Top Row:Volume 1,Volume 2
Bottom Row:Volume 1 (Reprint), Sun Wide Comics release

Selected chapters of Tatsuo Yoshida's original Mach GoGoGo manga series were reprinted by Now Comics as Speed Racer Classics and by DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions as Speed Racer: The Original Manga (ISBN 1-56389-686-9). In 2008, a hardcover box set of the complete manga series was released by Digital Manga Publishing as Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go (ISBN 978-156970731-9).

The characters and story lines originated in Japan as the manga and anime series Mach GoGoGo, from the anime studio Tatsunoko Productions.

Mach GoGoGo was first created and designed by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida (1932–1977) as a manga series in the 1960s and made the jump to TV as an anime series in 1967. The actual manga was inspired by Yoshida’s earlier, and most popular automobile racing comics, Pilot Ace.[2] Pilot Ace’s main storyline would be lifted onto Mach GoGoGo, which followed the adventures of an ambitious young man who would soon become a professional racer.

When Yoshida had plans for a newer project, he took the popularity of Pilot Ace to his advantage. The characters’ designs in Pilot Ace would set the main ground for the character design in a newer project entitled, Mach GoGoGo. Yoshida got his idea for his story after seeing two films that were very popular in Japan at the time, Viva Las Vegas and Goldfinger. By combining the look of Elvis Presley's race-car driving image, complete with neckerchief and black pompadour, and James Bond's gadget-filled Aston Martin, Yoshida had the inspiration for his creation. Soon enough, Mach GoGoGo hit shelves in the early 1960’s. The central character in the anime and manga was a young race car driver named Gō Mifune (Mifune Gō).

The name of the series, Mach GoGoGo is actually a triple pun:

* "Go" is the Japanese word for the number 5. Thus "Mach-go" is the name of the car ("go" also being a suffix attached to the names of ships, etc.), which would be called the Mach 5 in the American adaptation
* It is the name of the main character, Go Mifune. (Speed Racer in the American adaptation)
* It contains the English word "go."

Taken together, the program's title means, "Mach-go, Gō Mifune, Go!". This is what the saying "Go, Speed Racer, Go!" comes from, taking out Gō Mifune and replacing it with his English name.

Also: "Gogogo", is used as a general Japanese sound effect for "Rumble". The names themselves constitute a multilingual wordplay of the kind that had started to become part of the Japanese popular culture of the time.

The manga (which was compiled into two deluxe volumes for Fusosha's re-release) has several story lines such as "The Great Plan", "Challenge of the Masked Racer", "The Fire Race", "The Secret Engine" and "Race for Revenge" that have been adapted to the anime, each story having similar story lines. However, minor changes occur between both the original manga and the anime series. Differences include minor changes in some story lines and back stories of several characters and places.

A few years later after the volumes were released, Yoshida decided to release his manga series as an anime program, adding new and heart-pounding plots in addition to the original stories in the manga. 52 episodes aired in Japan, each one emulating the fast-paced action of the manga.
[edit] Anime
Main article: List of Speed Racer episodes

The manga spawned an anime adaptation which became a bigger success than the manga which was created around the same time as its appearance. In 1997, Tatsunoko produced a modernized version of Mach GoGoGo which aired on TV Tokyo and lasted for 34 episodes. An English adaptation of this remake was produced by DiC titled Speed Racer X, which aired in 2002 on Nickelodeon, but only the first 11 episodes were adapted due to licensing disputes between DiC and the Speed Racer Enterprise.[3]

Mach Girl (マッハガール, Mahha Gāru?), a web based series by Tatsunoko Productions, and created by Tatsuo Yoshida's daughter, Suzuka.[4]
[edit] English adaptation

The English rights to Mach GoGoGo were immediately acquired by American syndicator Trans-Lux. Speed Racer premiered on American television in the fall of 1967. In the series, Speed’s full name was Go Mifune, in homage to Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune. His name, Americanized, became Speed Racer. His adventures centered on his powerful Mach 5 car, his girlfriend Trixie, his little brother Spritle with pet chimp Chim-Chim, and his mysterious older brother, Racer X.[5] For American consumption, major editing and dubbing efforts were undertaken by producer Peter Fernandez, who also provided the voices of many of the characters, most notably Racer X and Speed Racer himself. Fernandez was also responsible for a rearrangement of the theme song's melody, written by Nobuyoshi Koshibe, and subsequently wrote its English lyrics.[6] The theme was performed in the opening and closing titles (uncredited) by Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass.

A cover of the show’s theme song "Go Speed Racer Go", performed by Sponge, is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records.

In a 2008 interview with Chicago Tribune DVD columnist Louis R. Carlozo, Fernandez recalled that he landed the job working on "Speed Racer" after ghost-writing scripts for Astro-Boy and Gigantor. Simultaneously with "Speed Racer," Fernandez also voiced the main character and wrote scripts for another anime series, Marine Boy, sometimes taping both shows in the same day in New York City. Fernandez also said he could not possibly have predicted Speed Racer's lasting appeal at the time or in the decades that followed. Reflecting on the series' staying power, he commented: "There was the family relationship. You knew about Speed's family, you knew them well. They were all involved in each race. And we all play with cars as little kids, we love cars. The Mach 5 was a hot car, and there were all sorts of cars throughout all episodes. I still think the Mach Five is ahead of its time."

In an effort to squeeze the complicated plots into existing lip movements, the frenetic pace of the dubbing made Speed Racer famous—and famously parodied—for its quirky "fast" dialogue and constant gasping.

The series also reached areas beyond the United States. At about the same time the American series was aired, a Latin American adaptation of the series named, Meteoro, aired on Argentinian TV screens.

In the early 1990s the series made a comeback as reruns on MTV broadcast in the early morning hours. In 1993, the series was rebroadcast in syndication concurrently with a new American-created remake courtesy of the newly established "Speed Racer Enterprises", with distribution by Group W's international unit. In this version, all references to Trans-Lux were removed, with the opening sequence including a recreated logo, and with the episode titles and closing credits recreated (with the latter sequence including three typographical errors: Jack Grimes is misspelled Jack "Crimes", Hiroshi Sasagawa is misspelled Hiroshi "Sasacawa", and "Yomiko" is misspelled "Yumiko"); this is the version that later aired on the Cartoon Network in the late afternoon (and later on in late night/overnight) programming, and is also the version released on Region 1 DVD. This version can also be seen on the streaming video service Hulu (although oddly enough, episode 31—Gang of Assassins, Part 1—is missing; otherwise the complete series is available).In September 2009,this will move to CBS.This airing on CBS is at 9:00am on Saturdays.

Plot

A young man named Speed Racer wants to become a professional racer, despite the lack of Pops Racer's (his father) approval. When Pops reluctantly quits his job after the corporation he was working for declined production of a modified engine for his new racing car, the Mach 5, he later thinks of creating his own family owned company, Racer Motors (Mifune Motors in Japan). He realizes that he would need a great amount of money to make his idea work. Nonetheless, Pops conceals his plans for the Mach 5's new engine on a windshield. Speed, who values the welfare of his family, decides to take it upon himself to obtain the money for Pops. In hopes of using his unique driving skills to do so, Speed decides to do what he does best and enters a race.

Speed, along with the help of his friend and mechanic, Sparky, tune up and adjust the Mach 5 in preparation for the race, attaching a new windshield in the process. Unbeknownst to them, they had taken Pops' windshield that concealed the plans for the new engine. Speed takes the windshield along to the race the next day. With the windshield, Speed unwittingly brought trouble towards him, for a corporate gang, who is after Pops' revolutionary designs for the engine, sabotages the race, putting Speed in peril.

Speed, through his wit, realizes that Pops had hidden the plans on the windshield and fights hard to prevent the gang from stealing it. In a last minute effort to save his father's hard work, Speed shatters the windshield with his helmet so that in effect, nobody walks away with the plans. With the gang out of the way, Speed finishes and wins the race...however, he doesn't win the prize money since officials had found out that the race was sabotaged by the corporate gang. A slightly disappointed Speed apologizes to a slightly frustrated Pops, who had found out that Speed had entered the race, for entering the race and destroying his plans. Pops tells Speed that the plans were always locked within his head and gets slightly enraged and tells Speed to quit racing. Speed, who is confident enough to ignore Pops, drives away into many different adventures that come towards him and his friends.

Speed Racer

Speed Racer is an English adaptation name of the Japanese manga and anime, Mach Go Go Go (マッハGoGoGo, Mahha Gō Gō Gō?) which centered on automobile racing. Mach GoGoGo was originally serialized in print form in Shueisha's 1958 Shōnen Book, and was released in tankōbon book form by Sun Wide Comics, re-released in Japan by Fusosha. From 1967 to 1968 it ran as a television series in the United States, with 52 episodes. Selected chapters of the manga were released by NOW Comics in the 1990s under the title Speed Racer Classics, later released by the DC Comics division, Wildstorm Productions under the title Speed Racer: The Original Manga. In 2008, under the name of its Americanized title, Speed Racer, Mach GoGoGo, in its entirety, was re-published in the United States by Digital Manga Publishing and was released as a box set, used to commemorate the franchise's 40th anniversary and also served as a tie-in to coincide with the 2008 film. It was published under the title Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go as part of the company's DMP Platinum imprint. The actual television series itself is an early example of an anime becoming a successful franchise in the United States, which spawned multiple spinoff versions, in both print and broadcast media. Also The speed racer series had a new series in 2008-2009 called Speed Racer: the next generation where in the first episode speed jr. fnds out that X [a.k.a. the original speed racers son and speed jr.'s brother met] in spritles [the headmaster's office ]

Passenger trains

The train was the primary mode of long-distance transportation in Canada until the 1960s. Among the many types of people who rode CPR trains were new immigrants heading for the prairies, military troops (especially during the two world wars) and upper class tourists. It also custom-built many of its passenger cars at its CPR Angus Shops to be able to meet the demands of the upper class. The CPR also had a line of Great Lakes ships integrated into is transcontinental service. From 1885 until 1912, these ships linked Owen Sound on Georgian Bay to Fort William. Following a major fire in December 1911 that destroyed the grain elevator, operations were relocated to a new, larger port created by the CPR at Port McNicoll opening in May 1912. Five ships allowed daily service, and included the S.S. Assiniboia, and S.S. Keewatin built in 1908 which remained in use until the end of service. Travellers went by train from Toronto to that Georgian Bay port, then travelled by ship to link with another train at the Lakehead. After World War II, the trains and ships carried automobiles as well as passengers. This service featured what was to become the last boat train in North America. The Steam Boat was a fast, direct connecting train between Toronto and Port McNicoll. The passenger service was discontinued at the end of season in 1965 with one ship, the Keewatin, carrying on in freight service for two more years. It later became a marine museum in the United States.

After World War II, passenger traffic declined as automobiles and aeroplanes became more common, but the CPR continued to innovate in an attempt to keep ridership up. Beginning November 9, 1953, the CPR introduced Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) on many of its lines. Officially called "Dayliners" by the CPR, they were always referred to as Budd Cars by employees. Greatly reduced travel times and reduced costs resulted, which saved service on many lines for a number of years. The CPR would go on to acquire the second largest fleet of RDCs totaling 52 cars. Only the Boston and Maine Railroad had more. This CPR fleet also included the rare model RDC-4 (which consisted of a mail section at one end and a baggage section at the other end with no formal passenger section). On April 24, 1955, the CPR introduced a new luxury transcontinental passenger train, The Canadian. The train provided service between Vancouver and Toronto or Montreal (east of Sudbury; the train was in two sections). The train, which operated on an expedited schedule, was pulled by diesel locomotives, and used new, streamlined, stainless steel rolling stock.

Starting in the 1960s, however, the railway started to discontinue much of its passenger service, particularly on its branch lines. For example, passenger service ended on its line through southern British Columbia and Crowsnest Pass in January 1964, and on its Quebec Central in April 1967, and the transcontinental train The Dominion was dropped in January 1966. On October 29, 1978, CP Rail transferred its passenger services to VIA Rail, a new federal Crown corporation that was now responsible for intercity passenger services in Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney presided over major cuts in VIA Rail service on January 15, 1990. This ended service by "The Canadian" over CPR rails, and the train was rerouted on the former "Super Continental" route via Canadian National without a change of name. Where both trains had been daily prior to the January 15, 1990, cuts, the surviving "Canadian" was (and is) only a three-times-weekly operation.

In addition to inter-city passenger services, the CPR also provided commuter rail services in Montreal. CP Rail introduced Canada's first bi-level passenger cars here in 1970. On October 1, 1982, the Montreal Urban Community Transit Commission (MUCTC) assumed responsibility for the commuter services previously provided by CP Rail. It continues under the Metropolitan Transportation Agency (AMT).

Canadian Pacific Railway currently operates three commuter services under contract. The West Coast Express comprises ten daily trains between downtown Vancouver and its eastern suburbs on behalf of TransLink, a regional transit authority. GO Transit contracts CPR to operate six return trips between Milton and downtown Toronto in Ontario. In Montreal, 59 daily commuter trains run on CPR lines from Lucien-L'Allier Station to Candiac, Rigaud and Blainville–Saint-Jerome on behalf of the AMT.
[edit] Sleeping, Dining and Parlour Car Department

Sleeping cars were operated by a separate department of the railway that included the dining and parlour cars and aptly named as the Sleeping, Dining and Parlour Car Department.

The CPR decided from the very beginning that it would operate its own sleeping cars, unlike railways in the United States that depended upon independent companies that specialized in providing cars and porters, including building the cars themselves. Pullman was long a famous name in this regard; its Pullman porters were legendary. Other early companies included the Wagner Palace Car Company. Bigger-sized berths and more comfortable surroundings were built by order of the CPR's General Manager, William Van Horne, who was a large man himself. Providing and operating their own cars allowed better control of the service provided as well as keeping all of the revenue received, although profit was never a direct result of providing food to passengers. Rather, it was the realization that those who could afford to travel great distances expected such facilities and their favourable opinion would bode well to attracting others to Canada and the CPR's trains.

This department also operated the news service which provided the news agents on passenger trains, who sold small refreshments and many other items such as playing cards to travelers, who might otherwise be unable to afford the higher priced dining car meals. The news service also operated lunch counters in medium-sized stations at key points (there were 19 of them east of Winnipeg) while the large terminal stations had dining rooms operated directly by the Dining Car Department (e.g. the Alouette Room in Montreal's Windsor Station and the Pacific Room in the Vancouver station).

Freight trains

Over half of CP's freight traffic is in coal, grain, and intermodal freight, and the vast majority of its profits are made in western Canada. A major shift in trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific has caused serious drops in CPR's wheat shipments through Thunder Bay. It also ships automotive parts and assembled automobiles, sulphur, fertilizers, other chemicals, forest products, and other types of commodities. The busiest part of its railway network is along its main line between Calgary and Vancouver.

Since 1970, coal has become a major commodity hauled by CPR. Coal is shipped in unit trains from coal mines in the mountains, most notably Sparwood, British Columbia to terminals at Roberts Bank and North Vancouver, from where it is then shipped to Japan. The CPR hauls over 34 million tons of coal to the west coast each year, mainly for export to Japan.

Grain is hauled by the CPR from the prairies to ports at Thunder Bay (the former cities of Fort William and Port Arthur), Quebec City and Vancouver, where it is then shipped overseas. The traditional winter export port was West Saint John, New Brunswick when ice closed the St. Lawrence River. Grain has always been a significant commodity hauled by the CPR; between 1905 and 1909, the CPR double-tracked its section of track between Fort William (Which is today part of the city of Thunder Bay) and Winnipeg to facilitate grain shipments. For several decades this was the only long stretch of double-track mainline outside of urban areas on the CPR. Today, though the Thunder Bay-Winnipeg section is now single tracked, the CPR still has two long distance double track lines serving rural areas, including a 75 mile stretch between Kent, British Columbia and Vancouver which follows the Fraser River into the western part of the Canadian Rockies, as well as the Canadian Pacific Winchester Sub, a 100 mile stretch of double track mainline which runs from Smiths Falls, Ontario through downtown Montreal which runs through many rural farming communities.

In 1952, the CPR became the first North American railway to introduce intermodal or "piggyback" freight service, where truck trailers are carried on flat cars. Containers later replaced most piggyback service. In 1996, the CPR introduced a scheduled reservation-only short-haul intermodal service between Montreal and West Toronto called the Iron Highway; it utilized unique equipment that was later replaced (1999) by conventional piggyback flatcars and renamed Expressway. This service was extended to Detroit with plans to reach Chicago however CP was unable to locate a suitable terminal. Loss of the small Detroit terminal and low US traffic along with loss of the Chrysler Windsor traffic it was later cut

History

Before the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1870–1881

Creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a task originally undertaken for a combination of reasons by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald. British Columbia had insisted upon a transport link to the east as a condition for joining the Confederation of Canada (initially requesting a wagon road). The government however, proposed to build a railway linking the Pacific province to the eastern provinces within ten years of July 20, 1871. Macdonald also saw it as essential to the creation of a unified Canadian nation that would stretch across the continent. Moreover, manufacturing interests in Quebec and Ontario desired access to sources of raw materials and markets in Canada's west.
Sir John A. Macdonald.

The first obstacle to its construction was economic. The logical route went through the American Midwest and the city of Chicago, Illinois. In addition to this was difficulty of building a railroad through the Canadian Rockies, an entirely Canadian route would require crossing 1,600 km (1,000 miles) of rugged terrain of the barren Canadian Shield and muskeg of Northern Ontario. To ensure this routing, the government offered huge incentives including vast grants of land in Western Canada.

In 1872, Sir John A. Macdonald and other high-ranking politicians, bribed in the Pacific Scandal, granted federal contracts to Hugh Allan's "Canada Pacific Railway Company" (which was unrelated to the current company) and to the Inter-Ocean Railway Company. Because of this scandal, the Conservative party was removed from office in 1873. The new Liberal prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie, began construction of segments of the railway as a public enterprise under the supervision of the Department of Public Works. The Thunder Bay branch linking Lake Superior to Winnipeg was commenced in 1875. Progress was discouragingly slow because of the lack of public money. With Sir John A. Macdonald's return to power on October 16, 1878, a more aggressive construction policy was adopted. Macdonald confirmed that Port Moody would be the terminus of the transcontinental railway, and announced that the railway would follow the Fraser and Thompson rivers between Port Moody and Kamloops. In 1879, the federal government floated bonds in London and called for tenders to construct the 206 km (128 mile) section of the railway from Yale, British Columbia to Savona's Ferry on Kamloops Lake. The contract was awarded to Andrew Onderdonk, whose men started work on May 15, 1880. After the completion of that section, Onderdonk received contracts to build between Yale and Port Moody, and between Savona's Ferry and Eagle Pass.

On October 21, 1880, a new syndicate, unrelated to Hugh Allan's, signed a contract with the Macdonald government. They agreed to build the railway in exchange for $25,000,000 (approximately $625,000,000 in modern Canadian dollars) in credit from the Canadian government and a grant of 25,000,000 acres (100,000 km2) of land. The government transferred to the new company those sections of the railway it had constructed under government ownership. The government also defrayed surveying costs and exempted the railway from property taxes for 20 years. The Montreal-based syndicate officially comprised five men: George Stephen, James J. Hill, Duncan McIntyre, Richard B. Angus, and John Stewart Kennedy. Donald A. Smith and Norman Kittson were unofficial silent partners with a significant financial interest. On February 15, 1881, legislation confirming the contract received royal assent, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was formally incorporated the next day.
[edit] Building the railway, 1881–1885

The Canadian Pacific Railway began its westward expansion from Bonfield, Ontario (previously called Callander Station) where the first spike was driven into a sunken railway tie. Bonfield was inducted into Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2002 as the CPR First Spike location. That was the point where the Canada Central Railway extension ended. The CCR was owned by Duncan McIntyre who amalgamated it with the CPR and became one of the handful of officers of the newly formed CPR. The CPR started in Brockville and extended to Pembroke. It then followed a westward route along the Ottawa River passing through places like Cobden, Deux-Rivières, and eventually to Mattawa at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers. It then proceeded cross-country towards its final destination Bonfield (previously called Callander Station). Duncan McIntyre and his contractor James Worthington piloted the CPR expansion. Worthington continued on as the construction superintendent for the CPR past Bonfield. He remained with the CPR for about a year until he left the company. McIntyre was uncle to John Ferguson who staked out future North Bay after getting assurance from his uncle and Worthington that it would be the divisional and a location of some importance.

It was assumed that the railway would travel through the rich "Fertile Belt" of the North Saskatchewan River valley and cross the Rocky Mountains via the Yellowhead Pass, a route suggested by Sir Sandford Fleming based on a decade of work. However, the CPR quickly discarded this plan in favour of a more southerly route across the arid Palliser's Triangle in Saskatchewan and through Kicking Horse Pass over the Field Hill. This route was more direct and closer to the American border, making it easier for the CPR to keep American railways from encroaching on the Canadian market. However, this route also had several disadvantages.

One consequence was that the CPR would need to find a route through the Selkirk Mountains, as at the time it was not known whether a route even existed. The job of finding a pass was assigned to a surveyor named Major Albert Bowman Rogers. The CPR promised him a cheque for $5,000 and that the pass would be named in his honour. Rogers became obsessed with finding the pass that would immortalize his name. He discovered the pass in 1883,[4] and true to its word, the CPR named the pass "Rogers Pass" and gave him the cheque. This however, he at first refused to cash, preferring to frame it, and saying he did not do it for the money. He later agreed to cash it with the promise of an engraved watch.

Another obstacle was that the proposed route crossed land was controlled by the Blackfoot First Nation. This difficulty was overcome when a missionary priest, Albert Lacombe, persuaded the Blackfoot chief Crowfoot that construction of the railway was inevitable. In return for his assent, Crowfoot was famously rewarded with a lifetime pass to ride the CPR. A more lasting consequence of the choice of route was that, unlike the one proposed by Fleming, the land surrounding the railway often proved too arid for successful agriculture. The CPR may have placed too much reliance on a report from naturalist John Macoun, who had crossed the prairies at a time of very high rainfall and had reported that the area was fertile.

The greatest disadvantage of the route was in Kicking Horse Pass. In the first 6 km (3.7 miles) west of the 1,625 metre (5,330 ft) high summit, the Kicking Horse River drops 350 metres (1,150 ft). The steep drop would force the cash-strapped CPR to build a 7 km (4.5 mile) long stretch of track with a very steep 4.5% gradient once it reached the pass in 1884. This was over four times the maximum gradient recommended for railways of this era, and even modern railways rarely exceed a 2% gradient. However, this route was far more direct than one through the Yellowhead Pass, and saved hours for both passengers and freight. This section of track was the CPR's Big Hill. Safety switches were installed at several points, the speed limit for descending trains was set at 10 km per hour (6 mph), and special locomotives were ordered. Despite these measures, several serious runaways still occurred. CPR officials insisted that this was a temporary expediency, but this state of affairs would last for 25 years until the completion of the Spiral Tunnels in the early 20th century.
Sir William Cornelius Van Horne.

In 1881 construction progressed at a pace too slow for the railway's officials, who in 1882 hired the renowned railway executive William Cornelius Van Horne, to oversee construction with the inducement of a generous salary and the intriguing challenge of handling such a difficult railway project. Van Horne stated that he would have 800 km (500 miles) of main line built in 1882. Floods delayed the start of the construction season, but over 672 km (417 miles) of main line, as well as various sidings and branch lines, were built that year. The Thunder Bay branch (west from Fort William) was completed in June 1882 by the Department of Railways and Canals and turned over to the company in May 1883, permitting all-Canadian lake and rail traffic from eastern Canada to Winnipeg for the first time in Canada's history. By the end of 1883, the railway had reached the Rocky Mountains, just eight km (5 miles) east of Kicking Horse Pass. The construction seasons of 1884 and 1885 would be spent in the mountains of British Columbia and on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Many thousands of navvies worked on the railway. Many were European immigrants. In British Columbia, the CPR hired workers from China, nicknamed coolies. A navvy received between $1 and $2.50 per day, but had to pay for his own food, clothing, transportation to the job site, mail, and medical care. After two and a half months of back-breaking labour, they could net as little as $16. Chinese navvies in British Columbia made only between $0.75 and $1.25 a day, not including expenses, leaving barely anything to send home. They did the most dangerous construction jobs, such as working with explosives. The families of the Chinese who were killed received no compensation, or even notification of loss of life. Many of the men who survived did not have enough money to return to their families in China, although Chinese labour contractors had promised that as part of their responsibilities.[5] Many spent years in lonely, sad and often poor conditions. Yet the Chinese were hard working and played a key role in building the western stretch of the railway; even some boys as young as 12 years old served as tea-boys. In 2006 the Canadian government issued a formal apology to the Chinese population in Canada for their treatment both during and following the construction of the CPR.[6]

By 1883, railway construction was progressing rapidly, but the CPR was in danger of running out of funds. In response, on January 31, 1884, the government passed the Railway Relief Bill, providing a further $22,500,000 in loans to the CPR. The bill received royal assent on March 6, 1884.
Donald Smith, later known as Lord Strathcona, drives the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, at Craigellachie, November 7, 1885. Completion of the transcontinental railroad was a condition of BC's entry into Confederation.

In March 1885, the North-West Rebellion broke out in the District of Saskatchewan. Van Horne, in Ottawa at the time, suggested to the government that the CPR could transport troops to Qu'Appelle, Assiniboia, in 10 days. Some sections of track were incomplete or had not been used before, but the trip to Winnipeg was made in 9 days and the rebellion was quickly put down. Perhaps because the government was grateful for this service, they subsequently re-organized the CPR's debt and provided a further $5,000,000 loan. This money was desperately needed by the CPR. On November 7, 1885, the Last Spike was driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia, making good on the original promise. Four days earlier, the last spike of the Lake Superior section was driven in just west of Jackfish, Ontario. While the railway was completed four years after the original 1881 deadline, it was completed more than five years ahead of the new date of 1891 that Macdonald gave in 1881.

The successful construction of such a massive project, although troubled by delays and scandal, was considered an impressive feat of engineering and political will for a country with such a small population, limited capital, and difficult terrain. It was by far the longest railway ever constructed at the time. It had taken 12,000 men, 5,000 horses, and 300 dog-sled teams to build the railway.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Canada, the CPR had created a network of lines reaching from Quebec City to St. Thomas, Ontario by 1885, and had launched a fleet of Great Lakes ships to link its terminals. The CPR had effected purchases and long-term leases of several railways through an associated railway company, the Ontario and Quebec Railway (O&Q). The O&Q built a line between Perth, Ontario, and Toronto (completed on May 5, 1884) to connect these acquisitions. The CPR obtained a 999-year lease on the O&Q on January 4, 1884. Later, in 1895, it acquired a minority interest in the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway, giving it a link to New York and the northeast US.
[edit] 1886–1900

So many cost-cutting shortcuts were taken in constructing the railway that regular transcontinental service could not start for another seven months while work was done to improve the railway's condition. However, had these shortcuts not been taken, it is conceivable that the CPR might have had to default financially, leaving the railway unfinished. The first transcontinental passenger train departed from Montreal's Dalhousie Station, located at Berri Street and Notre Dame Street on June 28, 1886, at 8:00 p.m. and arrived at Port Moody on July 4, 1886, at noon. This train consisted of two baggage cars, a mail car, one second-class coach, two immigrant sleepers, two first-class coaches, two sleeping cars, and a diner (several dining cars were used throughout the journey, as they were removed from the train during the night, and another one was picked in the morning).
First Transcontinental Train arrives in Port Arthur on June 30, 1886

By that time, however, the CPR had decided to move its western terminus from Port Moody to Gastown, which was renamed "Vancouver" later that year. The first official train destined for Vancouver arrived on May 23, 1887, although the line had already been in use for three months. The CPR quickly became profitable, and all loans from the Federal government were repaid years ahead of time.

In 1888, a branch line was opened between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie where the CPR connected with the American railway system and its own steamships. That same year, work was started on a line from London, Ontario to the American border at Windsor, Ontario. That line opened on June 12, 1890.

The CPR also leased the New Brunswick Railway in 1890 for 990 years,[7] and built the International Railway of Maine, connecting Montreal with Saint John, New Brunswick in 1889. The connection with Saint John on the Atlantic coast made the CPR the first truly transcontinental railway company and permitted trans-Atlantic cargo and passenger services to continue year-round when sea ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence closed the port of Montreal during the winter months.

By 1896, competition with the Great Northern Railway for traffic in southern British Columbia forced the CPR to construct a second line across the province, south of the original line. Van Horne, now president of the CPR, asked for government aid, and the government agreed to provide around $3.6 million to construct a railway from Lethbridge, Alberta through Crowsnest Pass to the south shore of Kootenay Lake, in exchange for the CPR agreeing to reduce freight rates in perpetuity for key commodities shipped in Western Canada. The controversial Crowsnest Pass Agreement effectively locked the eastbound rate on grain products and westbound rates on certain "settlers' effects" at the 1897 level. Although temporarily suspended during World War I, it was not until 1983 that the "Crow Rate" was permanently replaced by the Western Grain Transportation Act which allowed for the gradual increase of grain shipping prices. The Crowsnest Pass line opened on June 18, 1899.
[edit] The CPR and the colonization of Canada
One of the CPR's land offerings.

Practically speaking, the CPR had built a railway that operated mostly in the wilderness. The usefulness of the Prairies was questionable in the minds of many. The thinking prevailed that the Prairies had great potential. Under the initial contract with the Canadian Government to build the railway, the CPR was granted 25,000,000 acres (100,000 km2). Proving already to be a very resourceful organization, Canadian Pacific began an intense campaign to bring immigrants to Canada.

Canadian Pacific agents operated in many overseas locations. Immigrants were often sold a package that included passage on a CP ship, travel on a CP train, and land sold by the CP railway. Land was priced at $2.50 an acre and up. Immigrants paid very little for a seven-day journey to the West. They rode in Colonist cars that had sleeping facilities and a small kitchen at one end of the car. Children were not allowed off the train, lest they wander off and be left behind. The directors of the CPR knew that not only were they creating a nation, but also a long-term source of revenue for their company.
[edit] 1901–1928

During the first decade of the twentieth century, the CPR continued to build more lines. In 1908 the CPR opened a line connecting Toronto with Sudbury. Previously, westbound traffic originating in southern Ontario took a circuitous route through eastern Ontario.

Several operational improvements were also made to the railway in western Canada. In 1909 the CPR completed two significant engineering accomplishments. The most significant was the replacement of the Big Hill, which had become a major bottleneck in the CPR's main line, with the Spiral Tunnels, reducing the grade to 2.2% from 4.5%. The Spiral Tunnels opened in August. On November 3, 1909, the Lethbridge Viaduct over the Oldman River valley at Lethbridge, Alberta was opened. It is 1,624 metres (5,327 ft) long and, at its maximum, 96 metres (314 ft) high, making it the longest railway bridge in Canada. In 1916 the CPR replaced its line through Rogers Pass, which was prone to avalanches, with the Connaught Tunnel, an eight km (5 mile) long tunnel under Mount Macdonald that was, at the time of its opening, the longest railway tunnel in the Western Hemisphere.

The CPR acquired several smaller railways via long-term leases in 1912. On January 3, 1912, the CPR acquired the Dominion Atlantic Railway, a railway that ran in western Nova Scotia. This acquisition gave the CPR a connection to Halifax, a significant port on the Atlantic Ocean. The Dominion Atlantic was isolated from the rest of the CPR network and used the CNR to facilitate interchange; the DAR also operated ferry services across the Bay of Fundy for passengers and cargo (but not rail cars) from the port of Digby, Nova Scotia to the CPR at Saint John, New Brunswick. DAR steamships also provided connections for passengers and cargo between Yarmouth, Boston and New York.

On July 1, 1912, the CPR acquired the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, a railway on Vancouver Island that connected to the CPR using a railcar ferry. The CPR also acquired the Quebec Central Railway on December 14, 1912.

During the late 19th century, the railway undertook an ambitious program of hotel construction, building the Château Frontenac in Quebec City, the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, the Banff Springs Hotel, and several other major Canadian landmarks. By then, the CPR had competition from three other transcontinental lines, all of them money-losers. In 1919, these lines were consolidated, along with the track of the old Intercolonial Railway and its spurs, into the government-owned Canadian National Railways.

When World War I broke out in 1914, the CPR devoted resources to the war effort, and managed to stay profitable while its competitors struggled to remain solvent. After the war, the Federal government created Canadian National Railways (CNR, later CN) out of several bankrupt railways that fell into government hands during and after the war. CNR would become the main competitor to the CPR in Canada.
[edit] The Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945

The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 until 1939, hit many companies heavily. While the CPR was affected, it was not affected to the extent of its rival CNR because it, unlike the CNR, was debt-free. The CPR scaled back on some of its passenger and freight services, and stopped issuing dividends to its shareholders after 1932.

One highlight of the 1930s, both for the railway and for Canada, was the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939, the first time that the reigning monarch had visited the country. The CPR and the CNR shared the honours of pulling the royal train across the country, with the CPR undertaking the westbound journey from Quebec City to Vancouver.

Later that year, World War II began. As it had done in World War I, the CPR devoted much of its resources to the war effort. It retooled its Angus Shops in Montreal to produce Valentine tanks, and transported troops and resources across the country. As well, 22 of the CPR's ships went to warfare, 12 of which were sunk.
[edit] 1946–1978

After World War II, the transportation industry in Canada changed. Where railways had previously provided almost universal freight and passenger services, cars, trucks, and airplanes started to take traffic away from railways. This naturally helped the CPR's air and trucking operations, and the railway's freight operations continued to thrive hauling resource traffic and bulk commodities. However, passenger trains quickly became unprofitable.

During the 1950s, the railway introduced new innovations in passenger service, and in 1955 introduced The Canadian, a new luxury transcontinental train. However, starting in the 1960s the company started to pull out of passenger services, ending services on many of its branch lines. It also discontinued its secondary transcontinental train The Dominion in 1966, and in 1970 unsuccessfully applied to discontinue The Canadian. For the next eight years, it continued to apply to discontinue the service, and service on The Canadian declined markedly. On October 29, 1978, CP Rail transferred its passenger services to VIA Rail, a new federal Crown corporation that is responsible for managing all intercity passenger service formerly handled by both CP Rail and CN. VIA eventually took almost all of its passenger trains, including The Canadian, off CP's lines.
The logo used from 1971 to 1994 when it fell out of use. Often referred to as the 'Pac-Man' logo named after the popular 80s video game of the same name.

In 1968, as part of a corporate re-organization, each of the CPR's major operations, including its rail operations, were organized as separate subsidiaries. The name of the railway was changed to CP Rail, and the parent company changed its name to Canadian Pacific Limited in 1971. Its express, telecommunications, hotel and real estate holdings were spun off, and ownership of all of the companies transferred to Canadian Pacific Investments. The company discarded its beaver logo, adopting the new Multimark logo that could be used for each of its operations.
[edit] 1979–present

In 1984 CP Rail commenced construction of the Mount Macdonald Tunnel to augment the Connaught Tunnel under the Selkirk Mountains. The first revenue train passed through the tunnel in 1988. At 14.7 km (9 miles), it is the longest tunnel in the Americas.
Soo Line 6022, an EMD SD 60, pulls a train through Wisconsin Dells, WI, June 20, 2004.

During the 1980s, the Soo Line Railroad, in which CP Rail still owned a controlling interest, underwent several changes. It acquired the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway in 1982. Then on February 21, 1985, the Soo Line obtained a controlling interest in the Milwaukee Road, merging it into its system on January 1, 1986. Also in 1980 Canadian Pacific bought out the controlling interests of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway (TH&B) from Conrail and molded it into the Canadian Pacific System, dissolving the TH&B's name from the books in 1985. In 1987 most of CPR's trackage in the Great Lakes region, including much of the original Soo Line, were spun off into a new railway, the Wisconsin Central, which was subsequently purchased by CN. Influenced by the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989 which liberalized trade between the two nations, the CPR's expansion continued during the early 1990s: CP Rail gained full control of the Soo Line in 1990, and bought the Delaware and Hudson Railway in 1991. These two acquisitions gave CP Rail routes to the major American cities of Chicago (via the Soo Line) and New York City (via the D&H).

During the next few years CP Rail downsized its route, and several Canadian branch lines and even some secondary mainlines were either sold to short lines or abandoned. This rationalization, however, came at a price, as many grain elevators in the region known as Canada's Breadbasket shut down due to not being able to distribute their thousands of bushels of grain through a large enough region. This included all of its lines east of Montreal, with the routes operating across Maine and New Brunswick to the port of Saint John (operating as the Canadian Atlantic Railway) being sold or abandoned, severing CPR's transcontinental status (in Canada); the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the late 1950s, coupled with subsidized icebreaking services, made Saint John surplus to CPR's requirements. During the 1990s, both CP Rail and CN attempted unsuccessfully to buy out the eastern assets of the other, so as to permit further rationalization. As well, it closed divisional and regional offices, drastically reduced white collar staff, and consolidated its Canadian traffic control system in Calgary, Alberta.
CP Rail SD90MAC locomotive in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

Finally, in 1996, reflecting the increased importance of western traffic to the railway, CP Rail moved its head office to Calgary from Montreal and changed its name back to Canadian Pacific Railway. A new subsidiary company, the St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway, was created to operate its money-losing lines in eastern North America, covering Quebec, Southern and Eastern Ontario, trackage rights to Chicago, Illinois, as well as the Delaware and Hudson Railway in the U.S. Northeast. However, the new subsidiary, threatened with being sold off and free to innovate, quickly spun off losing track to short lines, instituted scheduled freight service, and produced an unexpected turn-around in profitability. After only four years, CPR revised its opinion and the StL&H formally re-amalgamated with its parent on January 1, 2001.

In 2001, the CPR's parent company, Canadian Pacific Limited, spun off its five subsidiaries, including the CPR, into independent companies. Canadian Pacific Railway formally (but, not legally) shortened its name to Canadian Pacific in early 2007, dropping the word "railway" in order to reflect more operational flexibility. Shortly after the name revision, Canadian Pacific announced that it had committed to becoming a major sponsor and logistics provider to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.

On September 4, 2007, CPR announced it was acquiring the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad from its present owners, London-based Electra Private Equity.[8] The transaction is an "end-to-end" consolidation,[9][10] and will give CPR access to U.S. shippers of agricultural products, ethanol, and coal. CPR has stated its intention to use this purchase to gain access to the rich coal fields of Wyoming's Powder River Basin. The purchase price is US$1.48 billion, and future payments of over US$1.0 billion contingent on commencement of construction on the smaller railroad's Powder River extension and specified volumes of coal shipments from the Powder River basin.[9] The transaction was subject to approval of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB), which was expected to take a year.[9] On October 4, 2007, CPR announced it has completed the financial transactions required for the acquisition, placing the DM&E and IC&E in a voting trust with Richard Hamlin appointed as the trustee. CPR planned to integrate the railroads' operations once the STB approves the acquisition.[11] The merger was completed as of October 31, 2008

LazyTown Extra

LazyTown Extra is a spin-off series of short TV segments created for 3- to 6-year-olds, featuring characters from LazyTown and interactions with non-actor children. The English-speaking version of the series debuted in the United Kingdom in 2008. There are 26 episodes of LazyTown Extra, each ranging from 11 to 14 minutes in duration.

As of January 2010[update], LazyTown Extra has not been broadcast in the United States.
# Title Original airdate Production code
1 "Goal" September 15, 2008 (2008-09-15)

2 "I Love Sports Candy" September 16, 2008 (2008-09-16)

3 "Ready Set Go!" September 17, 2008 (2008-09-17)

4 "Fantastic Gymnastics" September 18, 2008 (2008-09-18)

5 "Splish Splash!" September 22, 2008 (2008-09-22)

6 "Clean Up" September 23, 2008 (2008-09-23) (UK)

7 "Pedal Power" September 24, 2008 (2008-09-24) (UK)

8 "Picnic Time" September 25, 2008 (2008-09-25) (UK)

9 "Let's Dance" September 29, 2008 (2008-09-29) (UK)

10 "Smart Art" September 30, 2008 (2008-09-30) (UK)

11 "Slam Dunk" October 1, 2008 (2008-10-01) (UK)

12 "Let's Jump" October 3, 2008 (2008-10-03) (UK)

13 "Teethtastic" October 6, 2008 (2008-10-06) (UK)

14 "Outdoor Action" October 7, 2008 (2008-10-07) (UK)

15 "Let's Roll" October 8, 2008 (2008-10-08) (UK)

16 "Great Greens" October 9, 2008 (2008-10-09) (UK)

17 "Jump Up" October 13, 2008 (2008-10-13) (UK)

18 "It's Hip To Skip" October 14, 2008 (2008-10-14) (UK)

19 "Deep Sleep" October 15, 2008 (2008-10-15) (UK)

20 "Kick Tricks" October 16, 2008 (2008-10-16) (UK)

21 "Do Re Mi" October 20, 2008 (2008-10-20) (UK)

22 "Bounce Away" October 21, 2008 (2008-10-21) (UK)

23 "Super Speed" October 22, 2008 (2008-10-22) (UK)

24 "Tall Stories" October 23, 2008 (2008-10-23) (UK)

25 "Ice Is Nice" October 27, 2008 (2008-10-27) (UK)

26 "One Two Ski" October 28, 2008 (2008-10-28) (UK)

Season 2

# [6] Title Original airdate Production code[7]
1 "Sports Candy Festival" May 16, 2006 (2006-05-16) 134

Robbie attempts to scare the children of LazyTown into only eating candy by disguising himself as giant fruits and vegetables.
Disguises worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Giant Carrot; Giant Apple; Giant Banana
2 "Dancing Duel" May 17, 2006 (2006-05-17) 135
Stephanie decides to enter a dance contest. Meanwhile, Robbie finds a way to supersize a dancing figurine to win the contest.
3 "Ziggy's Alien" May 17, 2006 (2006-05-17) 130

A lonely Ziggy makes friends with an alien named Zobbie, who's really Robbie Rotten creating chaos and mischief for the folks in LazyTown.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Zobbie the Space Alien
4 "Sportacus on the Move" May 18, 2006 (2006-05-18) 136
A typical day in the life of Sportacus is experienced as he performs amazing physical feats while helping the residents of LazyTown steer clear of catastrophes.
5 "Rockin' Robbie" September 25, 2006 (2006-09-25) 201

Robbie Rotten pretends to be the Mayor’s favorite rock and roll singer, Johnny B. Badd, so he can demand that Sportacus leave town. The Mayor decides to give "Johnny" a trophy after the concert. Robbie must find a way to steal the trophy.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Johnny B. Badd
6 "Little Sportacus" September 27, 2006 (2006-09-27) 203

When Robbie Rotten realizes that Sportacus started learning all of his hero skills when he was a boy, Robbie turns Sportacus into a 10-year-old. When Stephanie and Ziggy discover who the boy really is, they and the other kids join Little Sportacus on a mission to Robbie’s lair, so he can be changed back to his larger self.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: A Giant Purple Bush
7 "Trash Trouble" September 27, 2006 (2006-09-27) 204

Stingy is tired of the mess in LazyTown. He tries to get them to clean up all of the garbage. But the kids aren't interested, and their mess continues to grow. Robbie Rotten overhears this and realizes that if he makes a huge mess in LazyTown, the kids won't be able to play any more. He then creates a trash shooter that loads up the town with garbage. But Robbie's plan ends up backfiring when his trash shooter gets stuck and buries LazyTown.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: A Garbage Man
8 "Double Trouble" September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28) 205

Mayor Meanswell goes away for the day to catch butterflies so Robbie Rotten decides to impersonate him so he can start changing LazyTown’s rules — no more sports candy and Sportacus must leave town forever! When Sportacus finds the real Mayor in trouble, they team up to save LazyTown from Robbie's rotten rampage.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Mayor
9 "Haunted Castle" September 26, 2006 (2006-09-26) 202

After Bessie tells the kids not to play near her drying laundry, they decide to create their own playground at the park, which is Robbie's favourite place. Robbie poses as a ghost to scare the kids into not playing there anymore. Meanwhile, the Mayor warns the kids to stay away from an old, unsafe castle, but Trixie ignores the warning and convinces the kids to join her inside. The kids get trapped in the falling castle and Sportacus arrives to save the day. Trixie admits what she did and the kids learn a valuable lesson in following the rules.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: A Ghost
10 "The LazyTown Snow Monster" December 15, 2006 (2006-12-15) 206

The Mayor has informed the kids that they can play outside, but they must read and pay attention to the signs - such as the one telling them to be cautious on the frozen lake. Robbie disguises himself as a snow monster in order to frighten the kids and stop them from playing outside in the snow. The kids, however, have some tricks up their sleeves, and in the end Robbie has to flee. In his rush, he ignores the signs near the frozen lake and falls into the icy water. It then becomes up to Sportacus to rescue Robbie from the lake.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: A Snow Monster
11 "The LazyTown Circus" February 12, 2007 (2007-02-12) (UK) 207

The kids decide to create a circus in LazyTown. Robbie Rotten quickly formulates a scheme to blast Sportacus out of a cannon, and out of LazyTown. Meanwhile, Stephanie struggles with a secret fear of heights, but when Ziggy and Trixie are caught in Robbie's trap, Stephanie must confront her fear and walk on a tightrope to save them.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Roberto the Ringmaster
12 "Friends Forever" February 13, 2007 (2007-02-13) 208

A competition is created in LazyTown where whoever wins gets a ticket to Sportacus' airship, but Robbie steals the ticket and attempts to let the air out of the ship.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Shaking Cup Man
13 "Pixel TV" February 15, 2007 (2007-02-15) 209

Pixel creates LazyTown TV, a channel devoted to the goings on of LazyTown. Robbie Rotten decides he doesn't like this idea, and as such, attempts to stop it by using various disguises.
Disguises worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Rob R. Robley, Newsman; The Purple Legend; Chef Robert; Gorilla
14 "School Scam" February 16, 2007 (2007-02-16) 210

It's time for school. As Stephanie and the others go to class, Robbie Rotten comes up with a plan to prevent the kids from learning: disguising himself as a teacher, and not teaching them lessons. During science class he makes a major mistake, and almost blows up the school. Sportacus arrives to save the day.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Professor H.R. Rottenein
15 "Energy Book" May 6, 2007 (2007-05-06) 211

Sportacus gives each of the children an energy book and some stickers to help them keep track of their daily habits, including exercising, brushing their teeth, and so on while Robbie attempts to distract them from using the stickers by appealing to each of their own character traits.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Stamp Guy
16 "Birthday Surprise" May 12, 2007 (2007-05-12) 212

The town's residents have a disagreement on where Sportacus's birthday celebration should be held while Robbie Rotten uses this to his advantage and builds a giant wall separating the town.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Giant Wall Builder
17 "LazyTown Goes Digital" May 20, 2007 (2007-05-20) 213

Mayor Meanswell plans to modernise the town. Robbie Rotten uses this perfect opportunity to disguise himself as a technician to keep the kids busy (and lazy) with the new technology.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Bob Wired, Technician
19 "The Lazy Genie" June 21, 2007 (2007-06-21) 214
Robbie Rotten is visited by a magical genie who grants him three wishes, but his wishes go wrong.
20 "Once Upon A Time" August 5, 2007 (2007-08-05) 215

The LazyTown kids have an idea to play as the three little pigs, but Pixel has made a machine where people can be scanned into the storybook. So Pixel scans Stephanie, Ziggy and Stingy into the book and the story goes well until Robbie scans himself and disguises as a Wolf to change the story. Ziggy loses the button that Pixel gave him before he was scanned so he could be scanned out. Sportacus is scanned into the book to save the day and finds the button.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Big Bad Wolf
21 "Sportacus Saves The Toys" October 15, 2007 (2007-10-15) 218
Robbie invents a machine that pulls toys away from kids. He sends two of the devices to Paris and China, so that Sportacus will have to leave LazyTown to help the kids in those countries. Meanwhile, Robbie takes away all of the toys in LazyTown. Sportacus returns and says he’s sorry he was too late to help, but Ziggy points out what Sportacus had taught him earlier – you don’t need toys to play!
"The Lazy Rockets" August 12, 2007 (2007-08-12) 216
The Mayor organizes a race called the LazyTown Derby. Stephanie, Stingy and Ziggy build race cars, but Robbie cheats by getting himself a rocket powered car. He ruins the kids' cars, but they use components from all the cars to make one big car.
"Dancing Dreams" October 1, 2007 (2007-10-01) 217

Stephanie and Ziggy decide to open a dance school in LazyTown. When Robbie learns of this he disguises himself as the head of a famous dance school and invites Stephanie to join him far, far away. Stephanie leaves in a plane piloted by the Mayor. Back in LazyTown, Robbie traps Sportacus in a trunk tied to helium balloons and sends it floating away. Robbie, however, gets stuck on the trunk too. It’s up to Stephanie and her uncle to save Sportacus and Robbie in a daring aerial rescue.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Dance Instructor

Season 1

# [6] Title Original airdate Production code[7]
1 "Welcome to LazyTown" August 16, 2004 (2004-08-16) 106
When Stephanie arrives in LazyTown to stay with her Uncle Milford, she finds that she has trouble making friends because all the local kids spend all their time indoors playing video games. So, her uncle enlists the help of Sportacus, an athletic hero who encourages the kids to have fun by remaining active. Unfortunately, this doesn't sit well with Robbie Rotten, a lazy cheat who takes pride in having LazyTown be the laziest town around, so he plots to get rid of Sportacus.
2 "Defeeted" August 16, 2004 (2004-08-16) 103

It seems that nobody is playing outside in LazyTown. Stephanie wants to play soccer, but Pixel just wants to play a new soccer game on his computer and Ziggy wants to take a nice after-breakfast nap so he'll be ready for lunch. Mayor Meanswell sends a message to Sportacus and sets up this year's Sportacular Spectacle Day. Sportacus decides to perform a great soccer trick, but Robbie plans to ruin it all. He dresses up as a traveling salesman, messes up Sportacus's shoes and then tricks him into wearing radio-controlled boots.
Disguises worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Rob U. Blind, the Traveling Salesman; Lazycus
3 "Sports Day" August 17, 2004 (2004-08-17) 102

The kids must face Robbie Rotten in a sports competition without the help of Sportacus after the villain causes the athletic hero to suffer a Sugar Meltdown brought on by a candy apple.
Disguises worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Mailbox
4 "Crystal Caper" August 18, 2004 (2004-08-18) 105
Sportacus loses his Crystal and offers a reward of one free wish to whoever finds it and returns it. Robbie sees this as the opportunity to get the free wish and use it to wish Sportacus out of LazyTown. It is soon discovered that Stingy has found the Crystal and kept it for himself.
5 "Sleepless in LazyTown" August 19, 2004 (2004-08-19) 111

Robbie discovers that plenty of sleep gives people much needed energy so he plots to rob Sportacus of his precious sleep so that he'll become weak and lose an upcoming baseball game.
Disguises worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Softball Uniform
6 "Swiped Sweets" August 20, 2004 (2004-08-20) 109

Bessie's birthday cake turns up missing and Robbie tricks everyone into believing that Sportacus stole it. The accusations land Sportacus in jail so the kids get together to prove that he's innocent.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Sherlock Foams, Private Eye
7 "Hero for a Day" August 23, 2004 (2004-08-23) 112
Ziggy's desire to be a hero causes problems for LazyTown.
8 "Sportafake" August 24, 2004 (2004-08-24) 108

The kids are inclined to do whatever Robbie says and not question him when he disguises himself as Sportacus and gets them to act lazy. The lesson in the episode is to speak up even if no one wants to hear it.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Sportacus
9 "Happy Brush Day" August 25, 2004 (2004-08-25) 110

Ziggy tosses out a toothbrush, a birthday gift from Sportacus, in favor of a taffy machine from Robbie Rotten. Soon, Ziggy is unable to stop the gadget when it begins to get out of control and covers LazyTown in taffy.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Birthday Fairy
10 "Lazy Scouts" August 26, 2004 (2004-08-26) 104

The kids join the Lazy Scouts lead by Scoutmaster Robbie, who promises to teach them the easy and lazy way to go camping. This doesn't sit well with Stephanie, especially when she discovers that the kids are ill-prepared for an oncoming storm.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Scottie the Scoutmaster
11 "Dr. Rottenstein" September 27, 2004 (2004-09-27) 116

Robbie causes panic in LazyTown when he disguises himself as Dr. Rottenstein and makes everyone believe that vegetables are at the root of a new disease.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Dr. Rottenstein
12 "Rottenbeard" October 4, 2004 (2004-10-04) 119

Robbie tricks the kids into going on a treasure hunt for the LazyTown Stone and then tries to steal it from them until Sportacus arrives to stop Robbie, much like a mysterious hero (perhaps Sportacus 9) once stopped the famed Rottenbeard.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Rottenbeard
13 "Cry Dinosaur" October 25, 2004 (2004-10-25) 115

Stephanie and Stingy campout with a scared Ziggy who thinks he's seeing a dinosaur roaming about. After Sportacus mentioned he's afraid of the dinosaurs, Robbie decides to disguise himself as a dinosaur to scare Sportacus out of LazyTown. The episode talks about facing your fears.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: A Purple Dinosaur
14 "My Treehouse" November 11, 2004 (2004-11-11) 113
The kids enter a treehouse building contest but find it difficult working with Stingy because he doesn't know how to work as part of a team.
15 "The Laziest Town" June 6, 2005 (2005-06-06) 122
The kids attempt to raise the Energy Meter in order to avoid being named the Laziest Town.
16 "Dear Diary" June 7, 2005 (2005-06-07) 118
A page - supposedly from Stephanie's diary - causes trouble amongst the children.
17 "Zap It!" June 8, 2005 (2005-06-08) 107
Pixel invents a machine that makes things vanish and Robbie tries to get his hands on it so that he can get rid of Sportacus. Unfortunately, the Zapper didn't make items vanish, it just made them invisible.
18 "Records Day" June 9, 2005 (2005-06-09) 131
Everyone in town is busy trying to set new world's records, with Robbie trying to be the laziest man in the world. Robbie constantly tries to sabotage the kids' world record attempts by breaking things in LazyTown. He also builds a soccer ball catapult to prevent Sportacus from coming to Lazytown to help with the kids' record-setting. One of Robbie's catapulted soccer balls hits the controls on Sportacus' airship, which flies out of control. Will Stephanie and the kids save Sportacus and the airship before it's too late?
19 "Prince Stingy" June 10, 2005 (2005-06-10) 132

Robbie fools Stingy into thinking that he's the Prince of LazyTown by disguising himself as a knight. This, however, soon causes trouble, as Stingy is locked up in a fake tower and Robbie leaves the children a scroll of rules he wrote (the children don't know that he wrote it, as he says Stingy did) so Sportacus can stop saving others by falling into a trap. This doesn't go as planned, as the children are the ones who fall in just as Sportacus arrives to save the day!
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: A Royal Messenger
20 "Pixelspix" July 11, 2005 (2005-07-11) 117
Pixel designs a LazyTown website about the town's residents but neglects to include Robbie. This angers Robbie, so he attempts to "crash" the website. However, he ends up sucked into the computer. Sportacus must enter the website and kick Robbie out of the website — literally.
21 "Play Day" August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01) 129

The kids celebrate a day devoted to playing games.
Disguises worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: The Rotten Kid (a cowboy); Gorilla
22 "Remote Control" August 2, 2005 (2005-08-02) 121
Pixel creates a remote that controls everything. Chaos ensues when Robbie steals the remote and uses it to control the residents of LazyTown.
23 "Sportacus Who?" August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03) 123
Robbie uses a device to erase Sportacus' memory.
24 "Soccer Sucker" August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03) 114

Robbie uses a soccer-playing robot to play against Sportacus in a game. NOTE: This episode premiered on Noggin.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Soccer-Bot 6000
25 "Miss Roberta" August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04) 127

The kids learn to misbehave from Robbie when he disguises himself as a manners expert named Miss Roberta.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Miss Roberta, Manners Expert
26 "LazyTown's New Superhero [Special Double-Length Episode]" August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15) 120 & 124
LazyTown has a new superhero and her name is SportaStephanie! In this special one-hour episode, Sportacus takes a vacation and leaves LazyTown in the hands of his good friend Stephanie. As SportaStephanie, she faces her first big challenge when Robbie unleashes a hero-hating machine called Robo-Dog.
27 "Secret Agent Zero" October 21, 2005 (2005-10-21) 126

Sportacus and the kids help Mayor Meanswell become a secret agent so that he can find out how Robbie Rotten won a race to become mayor of LazyTown.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Mayor Fordmill Meansbad
28 "LazyTown's Greatest Hits" November 23, 2005 (2005-11-23) 128
Stephanie goes around LazyTown asking everyone what their favorite LazyTown song is while the music video of the song they name plays. The Mayor's is "Teamwork" from My Treehouse, Ziggy's is "Cooking by the Book" from Swiped Sweets and Miss Roberta, Trixie's is the Spooky Song from Cry Dinosaur, Sportacus' is "Twenty Times Time" from Happy Brush Day, Bessie's is "Man on a Mission" from Secret Agent Zero, Stingy's is "The Mine Song" from Dear Diary and Robbie says his is "You Are a Pirate" from Rottenbeard. At the end of the episode, Stephanie says her favourite song is "Bing Bang".
29 "LazyTown's Surprise Santa" December 9, 2005 (2005-12-09) 125

It's the Christmas season in LazyTown and everyone's getting ready for a holiday party. Robbie Rotten soon spots this, but declares that he wouldn't go even if he was invited. He hatches a plan to dress up as Santa Claus and spoil everyone's holiday fun. Meanwhile, Stingy is having trouble understanding the spirit of Christmas. He just loves the gift-getting, but can't quite seem to get into the gift-giving.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: Santa Claus
30 "Robbie's Greatest Misses" February 7, 2006 (2006-02-07) 133

Mayor Meanswell is once again getting ready to present the Person of the Year trophy to Sportacus, but can't seem to keep it a secret that Sportacus is the winner. When he hears that Sportacus is winning again, Robbie decides to put a stop to it. Considering the past failures of his evil plans, he decides to hit Sportacus with several of his past failures, hoping that they'll combine into a success.
Disguise worn by Robbie Rotten in this episode: A Purple Cow

List of LazyTown episodes

There are 52 episodes of LazyTown. 30 episodes were produced for season one, and 22 were produced for season two.[1][2][3] All episodes past "School Scam" have never been broadcast in the United States.

Episodes were produced in a 5067 m² studio in Garðabær, Iceland, which contains one of the most advanced HDTV facilities in Europe. The budget for each episode was approximately USD $600,000.[4][5]

NASCAR Cup years

Stewart started his Winston Cup career in 1999 with a bang, as he qualified his #20 Home Depot Pontiac in second place in his first Cup race, the Daytona 500. He showed courage in one of the Gatorade Twin 125 races, when involved in a great battle with Dale Earnhardt for the win. The Intimidator came out on top, but Stewart had nonetheless impressed quite a few people with his performance. In the 500 itself, Stewart ran near the front until problems with the car relegated him to a 28th place finish.

Stewart spent most of his rookie season wowing people, as his car was often in the top 5. He won a pair of pole positions at short tracks, and set a series record for victories by a rookie with three (two of which within the last three races of the year). He finished his first year an unprecedented 4th in points, the highest points finish by a rookie in the modern era (which held until 2006 when his then-teammate Denny Hamlin finished 3rd), and only bested by James Hylton, who finished 2nd as a first-timer in 1966. Not surprisingly, he ran away with the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award.

Stewart also attempted to race 1,100 miles (1,800 km) on Memorial Day weekend, as he competed in both the Indy 500 during the day and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., at night. He finished in the top 10 at both races; ninth in the 1999 Indy 500 and fourth at Lowe's Motor Speedway. However, he only completed 1,090 miles (1,750 km) of the scheduled 1,100.
2000 season

Stewart showed no signs of a sophomore slump in Winston Cup in 2000, winning six races. However, he "slipped" to sixth place in the standings because of a handful of DNFs and an increase in the number of competitive drivers, among them his teammate Labonte, who won the Cup championship. Tony also began to get some bad press for his on-track incidents. The best known of these came at Watkins Glen, when he and Jeff Gordon tangled and crashed. Stewart made his displeasure toward Gordon known in an obscenity-laden tirade. Stewart won the Turkey Night Grand Prix midget car event at Irwindale, California, which he called, “one of his greatest wins ever." [3]
2001 season

Stewart's 2001 season got off to a frightening start, as he was involved in a spectacular crash in the Daytona 500 where his car violently flipped over several times toward the middle of the race that also had the final-lap crash that killed Dale Earnhardt. He walked away unscathed, recovered to win three more races and, as he'd done before, ran near the front most of the season. Statistically, he had a worse season than 2000, but he was the runner-up to Gordon for the Cup championship.

For the second time he ran "The Double" on Memorial Day Weekend, in spite of a 17 minute rain delay at Indianapolis. He finished 6th in the Indianapolis 500 and 3rd in the Coca-Cola 600, running all 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of the two races.[4]

The 2001 season was not without controversy, however. Jeff Gordon pulled a "bump and run" on Stewart to gain a better finishing position in a race in Bristol, and it resulted in Stewart retaliating in a post-race incident by spinning Gordon out on pit road. Stewart was fined and placed on probation by NASCAR. He got into further trouble at Daytona, when he confronted a Winston Cup official after ignoring a black flag. At the same race, he also got into an incident with a reporter, kicking away a tape recorder. He confronted the same NASCAR official at the race in Talladega after refusing to wear a mandated head-and-neck restraint. Stewart was not allowed to practice until wearing one and only managed to practice after his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli intervened. His fines and probation periods resulting from these incidents have earned Stewart a reputation of having a hot-temper, and he became NASCAR's "bad boy".
2002 season

Tony started 2002 even more inauspiciously than in the previous season, as his Daytona 500 lasted just two laps due to a blown engine. He went on to win twice early in the season but was only seventh in the points standings at the halfway point of the season. The second half of his season was plagued by an altercation with a photographer after the Brickyard 400. NASCAR put Stewart on probation for the rest of the season. He went on to win the very next week at Watkins Glen, and went on a hot streak in the final races, finishing consistently in the top five. At the end of the year, Stewart held off a charging Mark Martin to win his first Winston Cup championship. Many see this as a symbolic passing of the torch, as Stewart collected his first championship the year after Jeff Gordon won his fourth championship, who won his first championship the year after Earnhardt won his last championship. Earnhardt won his first championship in 1980, the year after Richard Petty won his seventh and final championship.
2003 season

As defending champion, Stewart managed to have a relatively incident-free 2003. Driving a Chevrolet instead of his previous Pontiac (Gibbs switched manufacturers), Stewart actually had his worst Cup season (until the 2006 season), but it was still good enough for seventh in the points. He only won twice that season but led more laps than he had the previous year and was highly competitive in the final races of the year.
2004 season

The 2004 season was highlighted by first victory coming at Chicagoland as well as his second victory at Watkins Glen. Stewart qualified fourth for the first ever Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. However an incident at the first race of The Chase at Loudon dashed hopes of a second series title.

In November, Stewart became the owner of one of the most legendary short tracks in America, Eldora Speedway. Located in New Weston, Ohio, Eldora is a half-mile dirt track known to many as "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954." Stewart began racing there in 1991 and continues racing in special events alongside other Nextel Cup drivers and dirt track legends.

In 2004, Stewart teamed with Englishman Andy Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a Boss Motorsports Chevrolet to take fourth in the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race. The result does not show the trio's performance, however: They had dominated the race until the last two hours, when the suspension cracked. With 15 minutes left in the race, and with Stewart at the wheel, one of the rear wheels came off, finally ending their run. In addition to placing fourth overall, the trio placed third in the Daytona Prototype class.
2005 season
Tony Stewart's 2005 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winning car on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum.

2005 was one of Stewart's most successful years in the Nextel Cup. He won five races, including the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard, a race that Stewart said he would give up his championship to win, and took with it the No. 1 seed heading into NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup 10-race playoff.

On August 16 Stewart was fined $5,000 for hitting the car of Brian Vickers, after the completion of the Busch Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. Stewart was driving a Busch series car owned by Kevin Harvick Incorporated at the time. Stewart also was placed on probation until December 31.

Following his second win of the season, Stewart began climbing the fence separating the fans from the race track after each victory, borrowing IndyCar Series driver Hélio Castroneves' trademark move.[5] After winning the 2009 All-Star race Tony was quoted as saying "I'm too damn fat to be climbing fences," and recently purchased $17,000 worth of exercise equipment to remedy the problem. It also led to sponsor Home Depot cashing in on Stewart's success with some promotions reminiscent of Stewart's Eldora Speedway drivers. After his second full climb of the fence in Loudon, N.H., they ran a discount on ladders and fencing at the stores with a campaign named, "Hey Tony, we've got ladders," where anyone who presented the advertisement in national newspapers in their stores earned the discount. After his victory in Indianapolis, Home Depot presented fans who presented the advertisement of his Allstate 400 win with a discount on purchasing bricks. He mentioned in a press release from his sponsor, "I plan to keep winning races and helping to drive down the cost of home improvement for The Home Depot customers."

On November 20, Stewart won his second NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship, joining Jeff Gordon as the only active, full-time drivers at the time to have won multiple championships. Jimmie Johnson afterward did so from 2006-2009. He also is one of the youngest drivers to win multiple championships. During the 2005 season, Stewart won a total of $13,578,168, including $6,173,633 for winning the championship, the largest season total in NASCAR history. Stewart also went through training to become a deputy sheriff in Alabama.[6]
2006 season

Stewart's 2006 season was very much up and down. He had competitive cars and scored early wins at Daytona and Martinsville. However he also had strings of bad luck. He also suffered a shoulder injury due to two heavy crashes in both the Busch and Cup races at Charlotte during the Memorial Day Weekend races (Stewart's Busch car hit the Turn 4 wall so hard it even knocked the rear end off the car). During the Dover race, he was substituted by Ricky Rudd, and in later weeks had to drive in pain.

Additionally he has once again been involved in several on track controversies.

Following a rough Bud Shootout on February 12, Stewart expressed concern to the media about the possibility of aggressive driving resulting in the serious injury or death of a driver. It came during a week in which the racing world remembered the fifth anniversary of the death of legend Dale Earnhardt, who died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Just a few days after Stewart's comments to the media, during the 48th running of the Daytona 500, he was involved in a number of incidents with Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, who he chased halfway across the track to run into the grass. "He has no room to complain," Stewart said of his brush with Kenseth. "He started it, and I finished it".

On May 20 during NASCAR's All Star Race, Stewart and Kenseth wrecked again. Each driver claimed it was the other one's fault with Stewart saying, "if (Kenseth) thinks it's my fault and I (caused the wreck) he's screwed up in his head." Following the wreck, several media outlets proclaimed the new Stewart-Kenseth rivalry as must-see TV.[7] The so-called rivalry was short-lived as Kenseth and Stewart participated as friends in a joint promotional tour for DeWalt and The Home Depot;[8] Kenseth also appeared in September at Stewart's Eldora Speedway in the NEXTEL PRELUDE with NASCAR drivers, as well as the ARCA Truck Series event there.

On July 23, Stewart once again was at the center of a media storm. On lap 31 of the Pennsylvania 500, Stewart was accidentally squeezed against the wall by fellow driver Clint Bowyer. Stewart responded by waving his hand in anger, then purposely hitting Bowyer's car. This contact sent Bowyer spinning down the front stretch where he collided with Carl Edwards. Stewart was promptly held one lap by NASCAR for rough driving. He did however pass leader Ryan Newman to get back on the lead lap and eventually rallied to finish 7th and get back in the top 10 in the point standings. After initially refusing to take responsibility for the incident he apologized the next day.[9]

Tony Stewart missed the cut to qualify for the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup by 16 points.[10] He finished poorly at Richmond after wrecking his primary car in practice, and was displaced in the top ten by Kasey Kahne. As a result, he finished the 2006 season 11th in points, his worst thus far in his career, as he had completed each of his seven previous seasons in the top ten in points. Commenting on not being in the 2006 Chase, he says: “It lets us have the ability to take chances and try things ... that we've been wanting to try but just haven't had the luxury to do it. If we were in the Chase we wouldn't have that ability”[11]. Stewart won three races in the 2006 Chase (Kansas, Atlanta, and Texas).

The season wasn't totally unkind to Stewart, however. He was a participant in the 30th season of IROC and won 2 of the 4 races (Texas, and the Daytona road course) on his way to capturing the series championship. He won a million dollars for the effort, but made an offer to return his prize money if IROC would hold one of its events at his Eldora Speedway. This offer was not entertained as IROC folded in 2007. In addition, Stewart's three wins in the Chase races gave him five total for the season, tying him with Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick for second most in Nextel Cup behind Kasey Kahne's six.
2007 Season

His 2007 racing season started out with Stewart winning his second Chili Bowl Nationals midget car feature. Tony started off the Daytona Speedweeks with a win in the 2007 Budweiser Shootout. It was his third win in the race. [12] He also won his qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

On lap 152 of the Daytona 500, the rear of Stewart's car slid up the track, and when he tried to cut down the track, he smacked the front of Kurt Busch's car knocking both of them out of the race. Tony and the Busch brothers (Kurt and Kyle) were the three leaders for the majority of the race.

On March 22, 2007, it was released that Stewart would be on the cover of the official NASCAR video game published by Electronic Arts, "NASCAR 08". This would be the third time this honor was given to Stewart (2001, 2004, 2008).

In his first Car of Tomorrow race with the Impala SS, Stewart was dominant at Bristol, leading 257 of 504 laps (green-white-checker finish), before he experienced a fuel pump problem. At the third Car of Tomorrow race at Phoenix, Stewart lead a race high 154 laps, but a late race caution moved Stewart to second, where he finished behind Jeff Gordon. In the following week, Stewart implied the cautions were "bogus" and that NASCAR is rigged like professional wrestling.[13]

On June 4, 2007, Stewart and Kurt Busch had an incident on pit road in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover. Busch passed Stewart on the inside, and Stewart smacked Busch into the wall, knocking out Busch, but with Stewart staying in the race. Under the caution, Stewart was on pit road in his pit box when Kurt Busch pulled along side to express his feelings over the incident. One of Stewart's crewmen had to jump out of the way of Kurt's car to avoid being hit.

At the All-Star Challenge at Charlotte, he finished 5th behind Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, and Jeff Burton. At the Coca-Cola 600, Stewart finished sixth, after having to come in to pit for fuel.

On July 15, 2007, Stewart led a race high 108 laps and recorded his 30th career NEXTEL Cup win at the USG Sheetrock 400 at Joliet.

On July 29, 2007, after leading a race high 66 of 160 laps, Stewart won the "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard" race at Indianapolis, just 45 minutes from where he grew up. During the victory lane interview, Stewart was penalized 25 points and fined $25,000 for violating NASCAR's policy on the use of obscene language during interviews during the race.

On August 12, 2007, he won the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen after Jeff Gordon spun his car around after wheel hopping in turn 1 with two laps to go.
2008 Season

Stewart began the 2008 season starting 6th for the 50th running of the Daytona 500, and was only able to come up with a 3rd place finish after being passed on the last lap by Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.

On lap 109 of the UAW-Dodge 400, Stewart cut a tire and slammed into the turn 3 wall. Stewart came out of the car under his own power, but was helped to the ambulance where he was taken to the infield care center. Stewart had complained about a sore foot from a wreck which occurred the day before in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas. Stewart was later announced okay and ripped on Goodyear for not bringing quality tires. The next week at the Kobalt Tools 500, Stewart commented that "Goodyear doesn't give a fuck about tire quality."

With 3 laps to go in the 2008 Coca-Cola 600, Stewart cut a tire and saved it from contact with the wall. However, Stewart had to give up the lead to future race winner Kasey Kahne in order to take pits.

In the Best Buy 400 Stewart was involved in another crash with Elliott Sadler in which Sadler was turned by David Gilliland and Sadler's no. 19 collected Stewart and 11 other cars including Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Stewart said, "I take 100 percent responsibility -- it's my fault for being anywhere close to Elliott. If I'm within half a lap of him, I expect that to happen. It's my fault -- I'm the one that hit him. When I hit him it caused all the guys behind us to wreck, so it's my fault."

On July 5, during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Tony began feeling ill and turned the car over to former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate J. J. Yeley, who finished 20th after getting involved in two wrecks in the last 5 laps. [14] Stewart earned his first & only win of the season in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega on October 5. On the final lap Stewart was passed by Regan Smith. NASCAR declared that Smith had made an illegal pass and awarded the victory to Stewart.[15]
[edit] 2009 Season - Split from JGR and Debut of Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart pits his #14 Impala at the 2009 Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte
Tony Stewart pits his #14 Impala at the 2009 Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte

On July 8, 2008, it was reported that Stewart had been granted a release of the last year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing, a decision based primarily on the fact that JGR had switched from running Chevrolets to Toyota. Stewart was very vocal about his loyalty to Chevrolet (which sponsors his USAC Midget, Sprint Car, and Silver Crown teams), and would make the move over to Haas CNC Racing to drive one of Haas' Chevrolets, which will be co-sponsored by Office Depot and Old Spice. Stewart will also own half of the team, renaming it Stewart-Haas Racing. The reports also indicate that the deal will make Stewart the highest paid driver in NASCAR. The expected announcement of his departure from JGR was planned on Wednesday, July 9, and announcement of deal with Haas on July 10.[16] It was announced on July 21 that Stewart will drive the #14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet car next season for Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart chose the #14 to pay homage to his hero A.J. Foyt. To date, he is the most successful driver for Joe Gibbs Racing with 33 wins and two championships (2002 and 2005).

On August 15, 2008 it was announced at Michigan International Speedway that Ryan Newman signed a multi-year contract to drive the number 4 car for Stewart-Haas Racing and will be a teammate to Stewart who will wheel the above mentioned 14 car for SHR. On his radio show on August 18, 2008, Tony Stewart surprised guest Ryan Newman with the announcement that he would not be driving the number 4 car, but rather the number 39 car (his number in USAC racing). It was then revealed that Newman's sponsor will be the U.S. Army that comes over from Dale Earnhardt, Inc..

As the most recent series champion not among the Top 35 in owner's points, Stewart was first in line for past champion's provisionals for the first five races of 2009. He made the first five races of 2009 without needing to use the provisional, ending up well inside the Top 10 in points.

Stewart won his first race as a driver/owner in the non-championship Sprint All Star Race XXV, and took the top prize of over $1,000,000. It is also Stewart's first win in the event in ten tries. He followed that victory with his first points race win as a driver/owner at Pocono in the Pocono 500 on June 7, 2009, which made Stewart the first owner-driver in the Cup series to win a race in 11 years.[17] Stewart also won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona after a controversial finish with a wreck involving Kyle Busch, his former teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart's season overall was his best showing since his rookie year. Maintaining 1st place in the standings for 13 weeks. Stewart won his 3rd race of the season at The Glen.

Stewart qualified for the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup as he finished the first 26 races as the points leader. He was moved to second in the points following reseeding as Mark Martin, who won more races than Stewart, moved ahead of him.On October 5, 2009. He won the Price Chopper 400 and moved to 4th in the standings. Stewart finished the season in 6th after a late race incident with Juan Pablo Montoya at Homestead.