Space Cruiser Yamato was another 1970's Japanese cartoon, mature beyond its years. It made it's first trip to the U.S. in 1978, when a little film called Star Wars had just made a huge demand for every sci-fi series possible. Unfortunately, the 1970's was also a time when American parental censor groups were so rampant, even classic American cartoons were censored; cartoons that kids had already seen, many times! If 1970's parents found Bugs Bunny "harmful" to kids, you can imagine how they reacted to an alcoholic doctor! Every scene of Dr. Sane's drunkenness was to be deleted. 

If only it were that simple...

People used to seeing a totally hammered Barney on The Simpsons, might wonder what the fuss was about. Remember: this was a pre-Simpsons age of cartoons, when all animated work was still considered as being just for kids. They therefore needed to delete Dr. Sane's drunkenness, "for the children." However, how do you keep a character from looking drunk, when the character was drunk all the time?

The resolution was as imaginative as it was problematic. He wasn't drinking sake; he was drinking spring water! Hmmm...Why did he act like an imbecile, then, whenever drinking "spring water"...? Oh; he's just that way all the time, I guess. So, basically you have two choices; either Dr. Sane is a drunk doctor (and therefore totally worthless), or he's a doctor who is simply an idiot (and therefore totally worthless). Take your pick.

The end result is a silly character, either way you look at it. Whether he was drunk as a skunk, or whether Sane was, well, in-sane, it made little sense that this guy was ship surgeon. The Star Blazers were supposedly humankind's last hope of survival; why would they hire an alcoholic --or, worse yet, an imbecile-- as the head physician aboard the ship? As Mr. Spock might say: how totally illogical!

On to Worst Character, #6: Casper, we hardly knew ye!