Joseph Luster
August 11, 2021 
Without Fred Ladd, the anime landscape in America wouldn’t be what it is today. Fred “Ladd” Laderman was instrumental in introducing anime to North America, starting with the adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s Tetsuwan Atom—AKA Astro Boy, as it would be known in English—in 1963. Sadly, Ladd has passed away at the age of 94.
After helping to air the first anime in North America, Ladd went on to produce Gigantor (Tetsujin 28 in Japan) and Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Taitei) in 1964 and 1966, respectively. He also worked as a creative consultant on Sailor Moon‘s DiC Entertainment dub, inspiring anime fandom in an entirely new generation of viewers.
Ladd re-edited and redubbed European cartoons prior to Astro Boy, and also worked as a writer on cartoons ranging from The Incredible Hulk and MASK to Ghostbusters. The book he authored with Harvey Deneroff, Astro Boy and Anime Come to the Americas: An Insider’s View of the Birth of a Pop Culture Phenomenon, shed further light on his contributions and the importance of this pioneering moment in anime history.
Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Fred Ladd, along with appreciation for the incredible legacy he left behind.
Source: Anime News Network
