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Jimmy’s Notes on Episode 57: ‘Rodan’ | Godzilla Redux | Feat. Kaiju Kim

Published February 3, 2022

There I was sitting in my producer booth like it was any other broadcast (Episode 57). Nate and Kaiju Kim were having a great conversation about Rodan (1956). The ratings for the listeners here on the Island were the highest I’ve seen since episode 37. I don’t know if that was because of Rodan or Kim. Then this crazy fangirl has the audacity to cancel me! Too bad for her I’ve survived worse—i.e. death in the War in Space. Now, in response, here are my notes on their broadcast:

  • No, Nate, insect nymphs are on land while the young in water are called naiads.
  • Near as I can tell, Kim is right: there is no explanation for second Rodan in the dub.
  • After doing some digging, it looks like it wasn’t “Radon” but “Radion” soap in Britain—or rather, laundry powder. Apparently the brand died in 2000 and resurrected about a decade ago.
  • Rodan Puffs sound delicious.
  • Nate going into a research rabbit hole gives me some much-needed peace and quiet in my garage. That’s where I decompress.
  • We actually got a letter from Kyoei Toshi about the “mistranslations” of the names, so I’ll let that be shared on listener feedback.
  • “Bystanders,” Nate, not “bystandards.”
  • This was the best explanation for “creeping floor” that I could find.
  • That is really what Meganulon taste like, and it’s usually best with Frank’s Hot Sauce (but so is everything).
  • I don’t have a face for YouTube? You barely have a face for radio, Nate! Kim, you’re missing out!

Now as per contractual obligations, er, tradition, here are Nate’s leftover notes with my annotations:

THE FILM

  • There’s talk of global warming, and this is a 1956 film. This was a relatively new concept at the time, so it’s interesting to see it discussed by characters in a Japanese film. There’s even a denier in the film. (As someone who’s been to Venus, Earth isn’t nearly as warm as we think it is. –Jimmy)
  • Some won’t see this a “feminist” film. I wouldn’t call it misogynistic, either, though. The female characters are all homemakers who are constantly concerned about their boyfriends/husbands and often crying, both of which may be seen as weaknesses.
  • It almost seems like, at first, the major threat will be the Meganulon. Could they have carried the film on their own? Maybe, maybe not. (That movie would be over in five minutes if I was in it. –Jimmy)
  • There’s a lot going on in this film! Meganulon, Rodan, second Rodan, amnesia, the “murders,” an earthquake, etc.
  • Rodan is confused for a flying saucer and a foreign plane. The former is an interesting foreshadowing of the alien invasion Godzilla films to come, although Rodan most certainly isn’t a disc. Did they mean UFO? It was probably them using a then-common trope in science fiction films or a sign of the increasing interest in such things. The foreign plane is interesting. I wonder they meant Chinese or Russian or the like. The presence of a foreign plane—particularly from an unfriendly country—was and is a big concern. (The stories I could tell you about Chinese and Russian UFOs. The intrigue! The horror! … I don’t want to talk about it. –Jimmy)
  • Rodan can fly at the absurd speed of mach 1.5. Kaiju film fantasy (or pseudo-science). He sounds like a jet plane in flight.
  • Lucky for them, the partial photo of Rodan fits the children’s pteranodon picture perfectly. 😛 (The scientists have copies of all of those books in their lab here on the Island. –Jimmy)
  • The birds are bit symbolic of the couple: youthful and on the verge of procreating.
  • There are so many characters, it’s often difficult to keep track of everything. Shigeru and Kiyo, I assume, are intended to be the main characters because they get the most screen time, but that’s not by much. Even then, their scenes are sporadic enough that I couldn’t quite latch onto them (or anyone else, for that matter). UPDATE: This is an ensemble piece. Very Japanese that way.
  • The amnesia seems like a plot device. It kinda comes out of left field and only serves to the characters in the dark about Rodan. In other words, it didn’t feel quite natural, almost like it was an addition to the story. Given that this script had three screenwriters, I wouldn’t be surprised. (Nate tells me he’s softened on this idea since making these notes. –Jimmy)
  • Rodan is theorized to have a nuclear origin like Godzilla, although it’s simply a fact as opposed to being thematic and/or allegorical. This makes the film more western, in some ways.
  • Did the egg shell magically get bigger? (Happens all the time when I have breakfast. –Jimmy)
  • Rodan, being a flying monster, has a dogfight with the JASDF, naturally.
    • Those planes flew low enough to go under a bridge?! (A classic problem. The JASDF is working on changing their pilots’ anti-kaiju training. I even wrote them a new handbook on the subject. –Jimmy)
  • The destruction scenes in this film are far more about wind damage than fire, making it quite different from Gojira. It creates visuals that also demark from the other film. This was a smart move so as to avoid repeating what was done before. Plus, with Rodan being a flying monster, it presented a unique set of challenges for Tsuburaya to overcome. Rodan is a hurricane as opposed to a tsunami or a nuclear attack.
  • Interestingly, Hirata plays the Dr. Yamane-type scientist in this film. He isn’t as interesting a character here as either Serizawa or Yamane, though. He serves mostly to exposit about Rodan and has no character arc or dilemma. He’s much more like Dr. Elson in Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
  • The burning Yokohama harkens back to Godzilla (1954).
  • Some really nice location filmmaking.

OTHER SOURCES

Honda Biography

  • Partially filmed in Shikamachi, a mining town.
  • Honda: “My intention was to give [Rodan] a sense of authenticity and credibility, and not to make it a mere fairy tale…I wanted to create something that has ample scientific factual background and support, something that is not false.”
  • The sounds effects saved the ending.
  • Honda: “I think it was Rodan that put me on my path.”

LeMay – Big Book Vol. 1

  • Supposedly inspired by a dream had by Tanaka.
  • Some elements from the infamous unmade film The Bride of Godzilla?
  • Tsuburaya won a Japanese Film Technique Award for this.
  • It made $500,000 alone in New York, and some publications claimed it was the highest-grossing sci-fi film up to that point.
  • Two dubs have called Rodan by his Japanese name: Monster Zero (but only by Nick Adams) and vs. Mechagodzilla II. (You forgot to mention that first one, Nate.HOW DARE YOU FORGET MY MAN, NICK ADAMS! –Jimmy)
  • Tourism to Mt. Aso increased after this.

Galbraith – Japanese Horror…

  • He says Kimura wrote some of the best and worst kaiju/toku films for Toho. Called him “more consistent and ambitious” than Sekizawa.

Kalat

  • The dubbed version was produced by Frank and Maurice King, who would later make Gorgo.

Brothers

  • The Rodan suit weighed 100 pounds. He studied the movements of birds for this.
  • People seem to either love or hate this film.

Well, that was surprisingly short. Then again, Nate recycled most of these notes from his “previous podcast life.” He didn’t add much, and he burned through most of what he had. Nice work!

Next week you’ll hear the chaotic but hilarious broadcast on Mighty Joe Young (1949) that featured the original Tourists, Nick Hayden, Joe Metter, and Joy Metter. I’ve rarely laughed as hard as I did during that broadcast. Then in the next “Godzilla Redux,” Becky “Bex” Smith of Redeemed Otaku returns to discuss Mothra (1961). To say Jessica is ecstatic would be an understatement.

Social media:

#JimmyFromNASALives       #WeShallOvercome                #MonsterIslandFilmVault

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Episode 57: ‘Rodan’ (1956) | Godzilla Redux | Feat. Kaiju Kim

Published January 26, 2022

Hello, kaiju lovers! YouTuber and aspiring filmmaker Kaiju Kim returns to Monster Island to discuss a nostalgic monster movie for her: Toho’s first kaiju movie in color, Rodan (1956). It may not have Big G in it, but Rodan debuted in this film and later became a staple of Toho’s flagship franchise. Amidst funny accents, cancelations (sorry not sorry, Jimmy), and talk of Meganula breakfast cereal, Kim and Nate discuss the film’s Japanese communist screenwriter, Takeshi Kimura, the infamous Mantell UFO incident that inspired the film, and the symbolism of the monsters. If ever there was an episode that exemplified our mantra, “Entertainment and enlightenment through tokusatsu,” it’s this one.

Before the broadcast, Nate visits the Monster Island Legal Action Team office to collect his new contract, and after getting an update from Gary, Raymund Martin bursts in and claims he was a Goranger back in the day. Let’s just say there isn’t enough salt in the ocean for Nate to take with Raymund’s story.

This episode’s prologue, “Go, Go, Goranger!” was written by Nathan Marchand with Damon Noyes.

Check out Kaiju Kim’s YouTube channel, including her Rodan review.

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Guest stars:

  • Damon Noyes as Gary Steward and Raymund Martin

Additional music:

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, and Ted Williams! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

This episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Timestamps:

  • Prologue: 0:00-5:22
  • Intro: 5:22-12:00
  • Main Discussion: 12:00-1:17:08
  • Housekeeping & Outro: 1:17:08-end

Podcast Social Media:

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault       #GodzillaRedux

© 2022 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

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Jimmy’s Notes on Episode 56: The Omni Viewer vs. ‘The Lost World’ (1925)

Published January 20, 2022

Did I ever tell you about the time I visited the fabled dinosaur plateau Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about in his novel The Lost World? And how there was a “hot girl” involved? No? Good, because I’m saving that for my autobiography. Regardless, despite some sidekick shenanigans from that wannabe Muppet, Snazzy Chapeau, when Omni Viewer visited for MIFV’s season three premiere (episode 56), I managed to take a few good notes for my first Jimmy’s Notes blog of 2022. I may not be contractually obligated to do follow-ups for Nate, but someone has to fact-check this goofball. So, here you go:

  • William Rutherford wasn’t the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes; only Prof. Challenger. According to Wikipedia,

Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes was inspired by the real-life figure of Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, whom Conan Doyle met in 1877 and had worked for as a clerk. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations. However, he later wrote to Conan Doyle: “You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it”.[14] Sir Henry Littlejohn, Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, is also cited as an inspiration for Holmes. Littlejohn, who was also Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health in Edinburgh, provided Conan Doyle with a link between medical investigation and the detection of crime.

  • The Lost City of Z was a 2009 nonfiction book by David Gran. It was made into a movie starring Charlie Hunnam in 2016. As for whether it was found or not, Wikipedia says,

Researchers believe that Fawcett may have been influenced in his thinking by information obtained from indigenous people about the archaeological site of Kuhikugu, near the headwaters of the Xingu River. After Fawcett’s presumed death in the jungle, Kuhikugu was discovered by Westerners in 1925. The site contains the ruins of an estimated twenty towns and villages in which as many as 50,000 people might once have lived. The discovery of other large geometrical earthworks in interfluvial settings of southern Amazonia has since been recognised as supporting Fawcett’s theory.

  • I’m not sure this was the only time Willis O’Brien used a football bladder to simulate breathing in his creatures. Wikipedia claims this was also done in King Kong (1933), but a citation is needed.
  • I found the opening theme of the Lost World TV series mentioned by Omni, and Nate said he remembered seeing a bit of it when I show it to him.
  • All this prequel talk…I’m having flashbacks to sand…I can’t go to the beach now…and I live on an Island!
  • Mammoths and mastodons are, in fact, not the same. Similar, but not the same. Read more here.
  • I checked the film during the city rampage, and there wasn’t a full-sized head. However, there were some excellent close-ups of the stopmotion puppet.
  • I always do internet searches with safe mode turned off. It’s more…exciting that way.
  • “Jimmygon” has a nice ring to it. I’ll get the Island’s geneticists on that right now!
  • Actually, there are studies that show people with bigger brains are smarter. No wonder Nate is a genius: he has a big head. 😛
  • I am 110% behind a boxing Cope and Marsh skeletons sculpture. I’ll petition Winter and the Board immediately!

Now for the ever-important—and increasingly large—leftover notes from Nate’s research with my riffs commentary.

THE FILM

  •  “Jocko” played by himself.
  • The plot moves briskly compared to novel. Characters introduced very quickly. Skips to lecture to introduce Challenger.
  • Gotta love the “overacting” and funny jump cuts mid-scene. (Reminds me of the show’s host. 😛 –Jimmy)
  • “Cock-and-bull story.” Ha! (Is this the “rule 34” version? –Jimmy)
  • In the Amazon. Just South America in novel?
  • Dead for 10 million years. More than that!
  • There wasn’t a Miss White in the novel, either. Not gonna lie: she’s pretty. Maple White’s daughter. Of course she’s the beautiful assistant. (No complaining here. –Jimmy)
  • Wait…is that Sherlock!? Or someone cosplaying him? (The first in-film Easter egg? –Jimmy)
  • Jocko the monkey wasn’t in the novel, either. Added for comic relief. (At least he isn’t a Gungan. –Jimmy)
  • I think Malone’s letters are text from the novel.
  • They’re introducing the ape-men already?! Proto-Chewbacca. (Does he rip arms out of socket? –Jimmy)
  • Pterodactyl was first in novel.
  • Okay, don’t tell us that Malone saved the bug.
  • The tree bridge. Another forerunner to Kong.
  • Really? Stop to catch the insect in middle of bridge? (I did that once…but I don’t want to talk about it. –Jimmy)
  • Brontosaurus takes out bridge—and squishes some spiders. (Ah. A spider pit joke. Hilarious. –Jimmy)
  • PSYCHO MONKEY?! WTF?!
  • The allosaurus vs. other dino fight is impressive if inferior to Kong. He picks his teeth? Arms too long.
  • Yes, he wiped out the last of a wood-tick species.
  • The trees have eyes.
  • Is that a torch or a giant cigarette? And it’s in color?! (That’s what wiped out the dinosaurs: smoking. –Jimmy)
  • The allosaurus vs. triceratops fight is one of the more famous scenes—and it’s gory! Trike wins. But then another allosaurus gets revenge for its mate. (“Dino Vengeance” is a B-movie waiting to happen. –Jimmy)
  • No one is paying attention to the dinosaur fights! The proto-kaiju fights!
  • The ape-man is very drooly.
  • Challenger is taking up pole dancing, and he sucks at it. 😛 (This is the “rule 34” version. –Jimmy)
  • They never call this place “Maple White Land.”
  • They play drums when he shoots the gun. Clever. “Mickey Mouse-ing.”
  • “Dam liar”? A liar about dams?
  • The colors fit the moods of the scenes very well. Red for eruption.
  • Does the allosaurus want to eat the bronto or hitch a ride during the eruption?!(“Rule 34” version…again? –Jimmy)
  • “Rock climbing monkey, Joel.” You just better hope he doesn’t fill and hang himself.
  • Jocko carried a rope ladder?!
  • I was waiting for the ape-man with the Joker smile to kidnap Paula. Because Kong.
  • Oh my gosh! Paula looks like Ann Darrow at the end! It’s very Kong.
  • Ten feet long? That’s WAY bigger!

Other Sources

Byrd (in LeMay)

  • As a teenage drifter, O’Brien was a guide for a fossil excavation for the University of Southern California.
  • The origins of the film are a complex feud between O’Brien and a fellow animator named Herbert Dawley. They were constantly fighting over the credit to O’Brien’s work in short films, particularly The Ghost of Slumber Mountain, and the legal shenanigans led to O’Brien working with producer Watterson Rothacker on this film. Dawley sued O’Brien over the animation process, citing patent violation, but this was settled out of court. There’s still debate over how much of Slumber Mountain was animated by either of them.
  • Over 50 dinosaurs were made for the film, and they included bladders to simulate breathing, saliva made with shellac and rubber cement, chocolate syrup to simulate blood.

Commentary by Nicolas Ciccone

  • The credits in this restoration was made for it.
  • There’s a missing scene that explains why the paper sends Malone to cover the story despite his clumsiness: basically, to get lawsuit money.
  • Wallace Beery (who played Challenger) was just like his character.
  • Many scholars theorize that Malone’s coming-of-age story arc was inspired by Doyle himself.
  • Bessie Love, who plays Paula, hated all the close-ups of her. (I didn’t. –Jimmy)
  • The attack by the cannibals explains why Zambo’s arm is broken later. Only stills remain of these scenes.
  • A 15-foot pterodactyl fossil was found in Brazil in the 1990s and named after Doyle.
  • Gomez, a “half-breed” character cut from the film, caused the tree bridge disaster. He’s a traitor.
  • The film doesn’t say how Maple White died, but the script has Roxton find a rifle bent in half. The implication was it was the ape-man.
  • The plateau is a bit too easy to find in the film.
  • The cast didn’t like working with Jocko. He bit and peed on everyone.
  • The romance is trite, but it could serve as a metaphor for the plateau: it’s a place of adventure and wonder we all wish we could visit.
  • A scene unfilmed from the script has Challenger and company on a ship with a caged bronto.
  • The end of the drunk’s scene, while not in the script, was described in a review as returning with a bottle of milk for a cat that grew huge.
  • Missed opportunity: Make Paula more adventurous.

“The Lost World: Secrets of the Restoration” by Serge Bromberg (and other essays in the booklet)

  • Many film historians link the decision to destroy prints of this film with the production of King Kong a few months later.
  • The first restoration by George Eastman House, used surviving 35mm Kodak nitrate negatives and a 35mm print found in the National Film Archive of the Czech Republic in 1992. It was an export copy that didn’t use the best angles (it was filmed with a second camera). The restoration was made for $80,000 given by the National Endowment for the Arts—and classic film buff Hugh Heffner(!).
    • The animated map sequence was in the trailer, and no one knows if it was a concept for the film or only the trailer.
    • It’s 76 minutes long and was published as an unlisted bonus feature on the DVD of the 1960 version.
  • David Shepherd Restoration (2000)
    • This used the same materials plus a few more. This big difference was the use of digital technology to upgrade the picture quality to standard-definition TV.  
    • The promotional footage found by Doyle was found at this time in the Robert Youngson collection.
    • The original footage of Doyle at his writing table was lost but was replaced with footage of him sitting on a bench addressing the audience from a 1927 Movietone film.
    • This was edited at the Lobster Films studio in Paris.
    • Two scores were commissioned for the film, including one by Robert Israel that harkened back to ‘20s-era films. The other was more modern.
    • 93 minutes long.
  • 2016 Restoration
    • Several months after the release of the previous restoration, David Adamitis contacted Lobster Films and gave them several cans of film, including some A negatives for The Lost World. These included color tints and missing scenes.
    • This was put together frame-by-frame by a three-man team over the course of six months using 2k technology and several other newly-discovered elements. Robert Israel composed another score for this one.
  • The music Israel composed included a Brazilian lullaby about a bogeyman called “Tutu Maramba,” which is sung by mothers to children to ward off evil so they may sleep. He adapted it to strings for the native girl playing guitar.

Season three of my always-essential blogs is off to a great start. This is going to be fun.

Next time YouTuber and up-and-coming filmmaker Kaiju Kim returns to continue the “Godzilla Redux” subseries by discussing Rodan (1956), which was the only non-Godzilla kaiju she watched a lot as a child. Then we get back to “Ameri-kaiju” with (hopefully) the original Tourist crew (Nick Hayden, Timothy Deal, Joe and Joy Metter) for King Kong (1933)’s spiritual sequel, Mighty Joe Young (1949). Exciting times for patriotic Kaiju Lovers ahead!

Social media:

#JimmyFromNASALives       #WeShallOvercome

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Episode 56: The Omni Viewer vs. ‘The Lost World’ (1925)

Published January 12, 2022

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! And welcome to season three of The Monster Island Film Vault! We begin 2022 with a brand new series focusing on giant monster films from the U.S.A., “Ameri-kaiju.” To launch this special occasion, Nate is joined by returning guest/YouTuber/author Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins (and his kaiju-muppet-thing sidekick, Snazzy, who butts heads with Nate’s sidekick, the intrepid producer Jimmy From NASA) to discuss the prototypical kaiju film, The Lost World (1925). You’re about to hear one of the most MIFV of MIFV episodes: literary analysis, film appreciation, witty banter, hilarious puns, and wild history. What more could you want?

Before the broadcast, Nate meets Dr. Nick Tatopoulos, the leader of H.E.A.T., in the KIJU breakroom (and pronounces the man’s name correctly) while fighting with the coffeemaker. Nick talks about his hostile history with the Island’s new boss, Cameron Winter—and then the crooked tycoon calls them on Nate’s phone!

The Omni Viewer’s YouTube channel.

This episode’s prologue, “Dr. Tatopoulos, I Presume,” was written by Nathan Marchand.

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Guest stars:

  • J.R. Villers as Nick Tatopoulos
  • Jack “GMan” Hudgens as Cameron Winter

Additional music:

  • “Stomp the World” by Jim Latham
  • “Pacific Rim” by Niall Stenson

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, and Ted Williams! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

Timestamps:

  • Prologue: 0:00-6:21
  • Intro: 6:21-16:19
  • Entertaining Info Dump: 16:19-24:53
  • Toku Talk: 24:53-1:40:30
  • Promo: 1:40:30-1:41:56
  • Toku Topic: 1:41:56-2:13:06
  • Housekeeping & Outro: 2:13:06-end

This episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Podcast Social Media:

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault       #Amerikaiju

© 2022 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

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Jimmy’s Notes on Episode 55: ‘Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century’ (feat. Travis Alexander and Daniel DiManna)

Published January 10, 2022

So, you might be wondering what I was doing after that Scottish scallywag George Three tased me during Episode 55 (Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century). It’s actually quite simple, you see. I was conscious the entire time, of course, just biding my time. I would’ve probably “Kirk chopped” him sooner, but I got a little distracted playing Candy Crush on my phone. Then my battery died, and I thought, “Well, I should probably kill this bastard.” So, there I was, sitting in the room, fearing for my life. And then I rose up behind him, you see. It’s a good thing I’m a Star Trek fan or else I wouldn’t have thought of this, but I snuck up behind him and raised my arm to exact right degree (I spent a lot of time staring at William Shatner—I realize that might’ve sounded strange), and brought it right down in the perfect spot on his trapezius muscle to temporarily stop the blood flow to his booze-addled brain and knock him out. (If you, too, would like to learn to fight like Captain James T. Kirk and yours truly, check out the Kirk Fu Manual. I got it for Nate as a Christmas gift, and he’s working toward his blackbelt).

But I was still doing my due diligence as MIFV’s intrepid producer. I took some notes right under WHG3’s drunk nose. So, without further ado, here’s my final Jimmy’s Notes of season two.

  • For the record, gentlemen, this…movie was 118 minutes long when released in Italy, 105 minutes when released in the U.S., and is 101 minutes on blu-ray (and, I assume, on streaming). Not sure why.
  • The Night of the Lepus episode, Travis. That was the Kaiju Weekly episode you were thinking of when discussing how you don’t like intentionally bad movies.
  • I’m not 100% sure what “moose kaiju” movie that drunk was talking about, but I think it might be Moose: The Movie.
  • Here’s a gif of “disco yeti.” Read more about him here.
  • Travis was kind enough to provide me with the “Georgia Bigfoot” story he brought up.
  • If you think WHG3’s drunk profanities are bad, you should hear me after I pound down a few bottles of Jack Daniels. I make sailors blush.

Now, for the last time in season two, Nate’s leftover notes. (Actually, they’re the notes provided by that Scottish booze hound, but who’s keeping track?)

Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century Notes

THE MOVIE

  • Opening shot: the polar icecaps are melting. What does this have to do with anything? (Answer: everything. Don’t you pay attention to Greta Thunberg? –Jimmy)
  • Title’s in two completely different fonts. (So? –Jimmy)
  • Is the opening music a classic opera theme we hear in everything?
  • Why are they thawing this thing in the wild? (Best not to ask this movie questions. It might strangle you with its toes. –Jimmy)
  • The crowd can be seen through some objects in the effects.
  • I’M AN ELEPHANT! And King Kong! That roar gets reused.
  • Watch it! He’s got a tree! (He stole that move from Kong –Jimmy)
  • They’re not in a well, Lassie!
  • What do you know about cannibals?! (That they are what they eat. 😛 –Jimmy)
  • Did he catch a mama fish with a baby fish?!
  • Freaking yeti is horny after sleeping for a million years.
  • Those little tufts of “fur” reminded the yeti of his mate and family?
  • How? Just…how could he mistake the tiny humans for his “family”? At least with Kong the implication is he’s lonely.
  • Did this thing inspire the Yeti brand tumblers? (No. –Jimmy)
  • “Slavery”? That’s for people! Not yetis! (You species-ist bastard! 😛  –Jimmy)
  • Niagara Falls, you say? I’ve been there. Insert stock footage?
  • Remind me what those shady dealings have to do with anything?
  • Good grief, this wants SO MUCH to be King Kong. (We all have dreams –Jimmy)
  • The windows are TV screens! (Sounds like my apartment. –Jimmy)
  • Oh yeah, he’s totally hiding. In plain daylight when he’s 50-feet tall!
  • Oh yeah, a lamb who smashes builds, rips up elevators like weeds, and nearly kills a 100 people! (A sheep kaiju? –Jimmy)
  • Hulk van to the rescue?
  • How’d they get a breathing apparatus that big? (Again, don’t ask questions. It’s dangerous. –Jimmy)
  • How did Yeti know which one didn’t have Herbie?
  • The matte lines are very prominent at points on Yeti.
  • Why are you rolling and not running? (The questions! –Jimmy)
  • It’s a yeti miracle, I guess.

Other Sources

LeMay – Kong Unmade (1st and 2nd editions)

  • Yeti takes a paternal interest in Jane’s brother. He’s angered by flashbulbs (very Kong-esque).
  • A healthy number of extras in some scenes.
  • Says it’d make for a great double feature with The Mighty Peking Man.

Research on Yeti Cryptid

  • Radford:
    • “In March 1986, Anthony Wooldridge, a hiker in the Himalayas, saw what he thought was a Yeti standing in the snow near a ridge about 500 feet (152 meters) away. It didn’t move or make noise, but Wooldridge saw odd tracks in the snow that seemed to lead toward the figure. He took two photographs of the creature, which were later analyzed and proven genuine.”
    • “Many in the Bigfoot community seized upon the photos as clear evidence of a Yeti, including John Napier, an anatomist and anthropologist who had served as the Smithsonian Institution’s director of primate biology. Many considered it unlikely Wooldridge could have made a mistake because of his extensive hiking experience in the region. The following year, researchers returned to where Wooldridge had taken the photos and discovered that he had simply seen a dark rock outcropping that looked vertical from his position. It was all a mistake — much to the embarrassment of some Yeti believers.”
  • Cryptid Wiki
    • “The Yeti was even mentioned in pre-Buddhist cultures, such as the Lecha people, who worshiped a “Glacier Giant.” Tibetan and Nepalese monasteries have collected several skulls and bones of the yetis, some which preside in the Smithsonian Museum today. Although one of their specimens was proven to be a human bone, others contained the museum are still in question.”
    • “In 1832, James Prinsep’s Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal published an account by B.H. Hodgson, a trekker in Northern Nepal, in which he describes spotting a large bipedal creature covered in long dark hair. Hodgson believed it was an orangutan.”
  • Wikipedia
    • Reports of footprints started in 1899.
    • The famous Eric Shipton footprint photos of 1950 and the 1972 Cronin-McNeely footprint photo were deemed to be bear tracks by Daniel C. Taylor in 2017.

With this, my long-overdue final Jimmy’s Notes for season two of the show is complete. It’s just as surreal for me to write that as it is for Nate to say it on the air. 2021 was a crazy year, and while I’m not completely sold on the new boss, it can only go up from here. Right?

Did I ever tell you about the one time I infiltrated Solstice Technologies HQ with Monique Dupre? No, because that story is reserved for my autobiography.

On to season three! We launch “Ameri-kaiju” with what’s sure to be a deep literary discussion between Nate and YouTube personality Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins and his sidekick, Snazzy, on The Lost World (1925). That…whatever-he-is keeps trying to compete with me for best sidekick. He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with, obviously. Then “Godzilla Redux” continues with a small diversion: Rodan (1956). We’ll be joined by another YouTuber and returning guest: Kaiju Kim.

AMERICA…@#$% YEAH!

Social media:

#JimmyFromNASALives       #WeShallOvercome

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Episode 55.5: Season 3 Promo – ‘Ameri-kaiju’

Published January 5, 2022

Hello, kaiju lovers! New year, new season! In 2022, The Monster Island Film Vault will focus not on a franchise but on a country: ‘Merica! Join Nate, his intrepid producer Jimmy From NASA, and the colorful cast of characters (in more ways than one) at KIJU as they examine 12 of the best (and most infamous) giant monster films to come out of the U.S. of A with “Ameri-kaiju.” All the while trying to deal with their new boss, Cameron Winter. Oh boy….

Additional music:

  • “Pacific Rim” by Niall Stenson

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org.

Listen to Nathan Marchand and Travis Alexander’s spinoff podcast, The Henshin Men, on Redcircle.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, and Ted Williams! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

This episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Podcast Social Media:

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2022 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Bonus Episode #10 – Meet the New Boss: An Interview with Cameron Winter

Published December 29, 2021

Hello, kaiju lovers! In an MIFV exclusive, Nate interviews Solstice Technologies CEO (and the envy of Elon Musk), Cameron Winter, who recently purchased the majority shares of Monster Island. Winter discusses several changes that he will make to the day-to-day operations on the Island and how he plans to revitalize the struggling scientific facility and resort in light of the ousting of the Board. It’s the biggest interview Nate has ever scored!

This episode was written by Nathan Marchand with Michael Hamilton and Jack “GMan” Hudgens.

Guest stars:

  • Michael Hamilton as William H. George III
  • Jack “GMan” Hudgens as Cameron Winter

Additional music:

  • “Son of Chaos” by Xaleph

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org.

Listen to Nathan Marchand and Travis Alexander’s spinoff podcast, The Henshin Men, on Redcircle.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, and Ted Williams! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

This episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Podcast Social Media:

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2021 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Episode 55 – ‘Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century’ (feat. Travis Alexander and Daniel DiManna)

Published December 23, 2021

Welcome to MIFV’s season finale, kaiju lovers—it wasn’t what it was supposed to be! No, after the Board’s envoy, William H. George III, stunguns the ever-intrepid Jimmy From NASA, he takes over as producer and forces Nate, Travis Alexander (co-host of Kaiju Weekly and Henshin Men), and Daniel DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project) to watch the infamous 1977 Canadian-but-actually-Italian kaiju movie, Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century. Though Nate survived watching it during Kaiju Quarantine, he’s still unprepared for inflatable abominable snowman nipples and deadly “toe-fu.” The riffs and jokes abound amidst actual research as WHG3 gets drunker—and more Scottish?!—as the episode progresses. God(zilla) help Nate!

This episode’s prologue, “The Board’s Revenge,” was written by Nathan Marchand with Travis Alexander, Michael Hamilton, and Daniel DiManna.

Guest stars:

  • Michael Hamilton as William H. George III

Additional music:

  • “Opening the Way” by Pablo Coma

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org and Toho foley.

Listen to Nathan Marchand and Travis Alexander’s spinoff podcast, The Henshin Men, on Redcircle.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Elijah Thomas, and Eric Anderson! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors…maybe.

Timestamps:

  • Prologue: 0:00-5:15
  • Intro: 5:15-11:28
  • Main Discussion: 11:28-1:39:36
  • Housekeeping & Outro: 1:39:36-1:52:25
  • Epilogue: 1:52:25-end

Podcast Social Media:

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2021 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

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Jimmy’s Notes on Episode 54: Bex vs. ‘Gamera the Brave’

Published December 14, 2021

“The Year of Gamera” is officially over. As a Gamera kid—a “Kenny,” if you will—I’m going to miss it. Mostly because I was entertained by Nate’s cringing as he watched those movies. Well, until he got to the good ones, anyway. He may rant about the Heisei Trilogy and The Brave, but nothing compares to the dramatization of me and Masao helping Gamera save the world from that dastardly bastard Viras. Regardless, here are my notes from episode 54 on Gamera the Brave.

  • You’d be surprised who I know, Nate. The organizers for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are just a few. I’ve lived a storied life and met many storied people. I have quite the network.
  • I’m clueless on Pokémon gens. Mostly because I was way too old to get into it. (I know, I know—“Okay, boomer,” right?)
  • I started a tradition. Hot damn! I’m still going to insist that Nate reading my Entertaining Info Dumps be kept in his contract. Speaking of which, both his and mine are coming up for renewal soon.
  • The Leotard Ladies are playing the Denham Theater on Monster Island next spring. 😛
  • You kept mixing up Toru and Toto, Nate. It’s easy to confuse them, I know, but still, one is a kid and one is a cutesy turtle.
  • Here’s that “proof of concept” Gamera film Nate mentioned:
  • I’ll see what I can do about instant-instant ramen. That will probably require consultation with physicists, engineers, and cooks. But we would give humanity one of its greatest gifts.
  • Bangiku (Late Chrysanthemums) was directed by Mikio Naruse and released in the U.K. with two more of his films. Criterion doesn’t have it.
  • It turns out there are two versions of Oodles the ramen cup Funko Pop: regular and “spicy.”
  • I tried to build a lead zeppelin once. Jimmy Page saw it and started a band based on it.

Now, to fulfill my contractual obligations (or keep with MIFV tradition?), here are Nate’s leftover notes with my riff-tastic annotations.

  • It says Kadokawa and not Daei.
  • SFX director: Isao Kaneko. Any relation? (Given that no relation was mentioned in the film’s commentary, I’m guessing, no. –Jimmy)
  • Talk of the Monster Council is similar to the Heisei Trilogy. Pays lip service to government response but is focused on Toru. (They’re still around and quite busy. But this is Japan, after all. –Jimmy)
  •  I thought Toto would bite Toru’s finger to wake him up. (I pet-sitted a lizard one time that did that. I dumped that girl the next day. –Jimmy)
  • I love how little Toto likes to sit on Toru’s head. “Kawaii!” (Nate…you sure you didn’t turn into a certain magical girl? –Jimmy)
  • The scene with the sailor getting pulled under and killed—with the sea turning red with blood—is effectively eerie, especially since it has no dialogue or music. Let that be a lesson to horror filmmakers.
  • I wonder if the disbanding of the Monster Council was a bit of a commentary on the kaiju genre/fandom?
  • There’s also a weird Ultra Q episode about a boy and a flying turtle.
  • This works very well as a self-contained story.
  • The animatronics for “adult” Toto are quite good. The CGI for little Toto is good, too.
  • The red stone reminds me of the opal egg from Gamera vs. Barugon.
  •  The kids wear lots of English-language shirts.
  • I love the shot of Toto poking his head out of his shell while in a house. Lots of detail.
  • Toru connects with Toto, but it’s earned and makes sense. (And my connection to Gamera wasn’t?! –Jimmy)
  • Poor Toto gets stabbed in the hand like any good Gamera.
  • The glow of the stone was added in post.
  • The kids stand against the adults to protect Toto. Again, it feels earned. The innocence and faith of children.

COMMENTARY BY KEITH AIKEN AND BOB JOHNSON

  • A novelization called Friends: Gamera the Brave was released as a tie-in. Gyaos blew off Gamera’s jaw. Other Showa Gamera kaiju were present in it but didn’t make it due to budget constraints.
  • The executive producer wanted to make an original monster for kids, but the studio insisted on a Gamera film.
  • The actor playing Toru’s father was also in Masked Rider: The First and Shin Godzilla.
  • The actress playing Toru’s mother (Megumi Kobayashi) was Moll in Rebirth of Mothra.
  • Kadokawa did try to make a Godzilla vs. Gamera film before this.
  • They had 13 different turtles on this, including a real turtle: an African spur tortoise. They also used a vinyl turtle for the stunt scenes. When he gets big, Toto is based on a loggerhead turtle, which is native to Japan and the only turtles that have teeth. The real turtle didn’t listen to direction.
  • This film had a tie-in with the Ministry of the Environment, who told people not to abandon their pets. They used Toto as an example. (But what if your pet is a kaiju? –Jimmy)
  • “Why did the turtle cross the road?”
  • The special effects director—Kaneko—was a former animator and assistant director.
  • They were wrong about Spock’s blood color. They said it was blue, but it was green! (Nice call there, Nate! You get 50 nerd points. –Jimmy)
  • Kadokawa wanted to make another Daimajin movie, but they scrapped it and made a TV show instead after this movie flopped.
  • The commentarors played the old Showa music during the relay, and it ruined it! (Agreed—except, you know, my life story. –Jimmy)

ARROW VIDEO SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Director Tasaki has a lecture as a special feature where he explains the filmmaking process by comparing it to cooking and restaurants. This also has interviews with the unsung heroes from departments like lighting, cinematography, and the physical effects. I recommend watching it.
  • They interviewed the kid actors, and the boy was surprisingly thoughtful. Kaho even said it was different because she doesn’t have a kid brother.
  • The full-size Toto puppet was operated by a technician with a hand up its rear, it looks.
  • The director says they portray Toto’s feelings toward Toru ambiguously, but he does say Toru is special to him. (Duh? I’m a bit confused by this. Does he care or not? –Jimmy)
  • It was unusual to film a kaiju movie mostly in the day.
  • Some audiences thought the film was “too cute.” This was compared to kids being too scared of the Heisei films.
  • They at first couldn’t get cooperation from the JSDF, so they had to put limitations on them to avoid discrepancies.

ARROW BOOKLET

MACIAS

  • Daiei changed ownership again in 2002 when Kadokawa bought them. The trilogy’s creative team had moved on to other projects, so they brought in a new one to do what hadn’t been done since 1980: a Gamera film for children.
  • Magical realism of the trilogy with kids’ POV of Showa series.

FLOWERS

  • The first editions of the Media Blasters dub had an error that misaligned the music and sound effects. That was corrected by Arrow.

OTHER SOURCES

LEMAY – Big Book Vol. 2

  • The concept of a child raising Gamera may have come from a 1993 Ito script that had a group of children do it.

Toku Topic: Japanese Ramen Culture

  •  “Although ramen is now an iconic Japanese dish, it’s actually an immigrant, and the names originally used for it made that perfectly clear. Chūka soba and Shina soba both basically mean “Chinese noodles” but have very different connotations. Chūka soba became the most-used term after World War II and is having something of a revival. It replaced shina soba as the political connotations of “shina” became controversial, since it was the word used for China when Japan was an imperialist power in Asia. But there’s no dish in China that closely resembles today’s Japanese ramen, so the story is much more complicated than a simple borrowing.” (Fransisco)
  • “Ramen soup began gaining its huge popularity in the 1920s and the 1930s due to the great demand for food that is both hearty and quickly cooked. The industrialization encouraged thousands of Japanese people to work in the cities and have no time for preparing food. Eating outside became more common, and nutritious food was needed to give enough strength to the workers. Ramen soup became a successful solution as it was widely served all over the country and had more calories than traditional Japanese meals did. Therefore, ramen became an essential part of urban culture.” (IvyPanda)
  • Jordan: “Nearby in Yokohama is the Cupnoodles Museum. This location is similar, but focuses on Nissin Foods and their inventions of Instant Ramen and Cup Ramen. Here, you also have the opportunity to try ramen from around Japan, as well as customize your own Cup Noodles (both the exterior cup and the flavors of the ramen inside)! Lastly, if you’re lucky enough to be in Tokyo around late October through early November, you’re in time for one of my favorite food festivals, the Tokyo Ramen Show! In 2020, the event will host 18 ramen vendors for the first 6 days, and a completely different set of 18 ramen vendors for the last 5 days! That’s 36 different ramen shops to try! Entry into the park’s grounds is free, and a ticket for a delicious bowl of ramen is only ¥800!”

There you go. More information about than you ever wanted to know about the food we all ate in college because we couldn’t afford anything else. Do you feel enlightened or entertained?

The next episode is the season two finale—and I don’t know what it is. All I know is it’s courtesy of Michael Hamilton on MIFV MAX (Patreon). That should theoretically make it more exciting—assuming I let Michael come here. Then again, he’s one of the many guests attending Nate’s Board-funded Kaiju Podcasters Banquet, so I guess I can’t stop that. Oh well. Michael just needs to stay out of my garage. Then in January, we begin season three—Ameri-kaiju!

Social media:

#JimmyFromNASALives       #WeShallOvercome

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