![]() ![]() Here, we see how mining activity disrupts the slumber of an ancient dinosaur-like creature called Gomess who emerges to wreak havoc. The first episode on the DVD tells a story very much like that of RODAN (1957), the first non-Godzilla giant monster movie produced by Toho (although eventually Rodan would be integrated into the Godzilla series). I knew it was a rare find and purchased it, even though I didn’t know the name of the series and had to look it up when I got home. It jogged my memory of seeing mention of a series that had made use of the giant monster suits created for the Godzilla movies. What drew me to pick up the DVD was a picture on the DVD case of a giant ape resembling King Kong from KING KONG VS. Most of the monsters in “Ultra Q” were created in the time-honored Tsuburaya fashion of rubber suits worn by actors who then stomp around miniature sets. Tsuburaya was renowned for the special effects he’d created for every Godzilla movie up to that time, as well as many other giant monster and science fiction movies produced by Toho Pictures. ![]() The series was the brainchild of Japanese special effects genius Eiji Tsuburaya, who’d formed his own company to produce series for television. However, the emphasis on the visual aspects of the stories, rather than the scientific exposition, made them easy to follow and fun to watch, with only one episode offering an “explanation” that suffered without subtitles. I managed to find a DVD containing the first four episodes of this series and, like most Japanese pre-records I’ve picked up from Japanese video stores, it was in Japanese with no subtitles. The producers eventually settled on a handy formula that featured a trio of paranormal investigators (two male pilots and a female newspaper photographer) as regular characters confronting unusual monsters and other kinds of phenomena. It was called “Ultra Q” and its original aim was to be an anthology show telling different, unrelated stories about unnatural occurrences in a science fiction vein, in the style of “Twilight Zone” and “Outer Limits,” two American sci-fi shows that had become quite popular in Japan around this time. Or simply go to the Google Search Engine and click the Ultraman inspired graphic.Once upon a time, in 1966 to be exact, there was a weekly TV show in Japan that gave viewers a different giant monster in every episode. You can click here to enjoy the Doodle Google animation and read about the inspiration for it here. Fans should feel some pride that Tsuburaya's influence was not overlooked. ![]() The fact that Tsuburaya is remembered in North America like this really an honor. What's great about this is that it's viewable on North American search engines as well. Even Guillermo del Toro took Tsuburaya's influence on tokusatsu into account when designing the monsters for Pacific Rim. The upcoming Attack on Titan films are also heavily influenced by his techniques. His influence is felt today in the likes of Super Sentai, Ultraman spin-offs and Kamen Rider. Today is the 114 th anniversary of the Master of Monsters.Įiji Tsuburaya was responsible for the special effects techniques that brought Godzilla to life, ushered a new age of Japanese cinema and created Ultraman. Google has debuted the new Doodle in honor of Eiji Tsuburaya's birthday. Google Doodle (an artistic variation of Google's logo usually refitted for holidays or important dates) currently has an interactive version of their logo that allows you to “make a movie” tokusatsu style. ![]()
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