To say the episode 64 broadcast on 20 Million Miles to Earth was chaotic would be an understatement. I still get angry e-mails from listeners about how crazy it was. Let’s just say there are reasons we edit stuff out for the podcast editions—and two of them are named Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton! Listening back on this reminds me why Michael and I used to butt heads: he’s a bit like Commander Hell and thinks he owns any place he walks into. Travis, on the other hand, is an agent of chaos (and I don’t mean the Get Smart kind).
This episode was just a month before the Kaiju Weekly podcast went on an extended hiatus. Despite my issues with Michael, I was sad to see it go. Kaiju Weekly was the first kaiju podcast Nate and I guested on, and we’ve been tight with Travis and Michael ever since. I’ve lived a storied life, but sometimes I feel “nostalgic” for things that happened three years ago. Does that count as “nostalgia”? Michael would know: he’s addicted to it. (Just listen to The Power Trip podcast: he says he “mainlines” it). 😛
Anyway, on to my notes:
Michael always wanted to be a Power Ranger, so I figured the hazmat suit would be a good start to a costume. It’s what he gets for denying my existence. 😛
Host privileges, Nate? Perhaps you should check some of them at the door.
I can vouch for…Travis’s assertion…whatever it was.
I met Billy Cranston once. I’d found my way to Aquitar after narrowly escaping a Natarl cruiser. We were the Double Dragons of intellect.
I did learn Latin, Marchand. I went to the best schools in New York and Japan!
Yes, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was Harryhausen’s next film after this.
He can’t cut me off here: Nate’s weird. Beyond weird, even. You should see what his apartment looks like. I think his decorator is a nerdy teenage boy. (Oh, wait…).
Kinko and Sexypus: the latest kaiju porn. And I’m sure Michael watches it daily.
I think Michael is jealous I saw Ymirs in their native habitat. And then I fixed their native habitat. You’re welcome, Venusians!
Jimmys are from Venus. This one is, anyway…well, sorta.
I like space candy. My favorite is Astro-taffy, which is flavored with literal stardust. We call it “Star-Stuff.” We’re all made of it, you know.
Now for Nate’s rather extensive notes. He almost never gets through all of them.
Two in one day! I’m on a roll! Now if only Nate could get caught up on uploading audio. This is what happens when you get promoted to working two jobs.
I wondered if having Alyssa Charpentier on episode 63 was a good idea, but Nate insisted he had to have her on. I wasn’t going to argue with having a Navy woman on the show (I worked extensively with naval aviators while in the Air Force back in the day), which Nate took as filtration. Given that she’s also a writer and a nerd, I told him I could say the same about him. But we behaved ourselves, and despite Goji-kun and Bro Kong mucking around with the equipment during that broadcast, the episode turned out well. I only took a few notes.
I can handle Alyssa…although, she is a short girl. You have to watch out for those.
Oh, man. The beeps. So. Many! Freakin’ mascot gremlins!
I prefer Nick Adams as my spirit animal. This is a well-established fact on the show.
Noh theater does not use puppets; it uses dance and minimal props. Bunraku uses puppets.
Here we go! Time to share my notes on one of the most Americana monster movies ever made: The Blob (1958). Something I forgot to mention during the episode 62 broadcast was that I’ve been a huge fan of Steve McQueen since I was a kid. Him and James Dean and, of course, Nick Adams (my “spirit animal”). Those should come as no surprise to anyone. Hell, I once took a martial arts lesson as a youth in the 1970s from Mr. McQueen, who was trained by Bruce Lee. So, you could say I vicariously learned from the best.
Anyway, let’s get into my notes:
“Kaiju doo-doo”? Let’s not insult the Blob like that! Besides, I’ve talked with Ricky the kaiju zookeeper, and he says kaiju crap is different from monster to monster.
I let Nate have it every day. It’s part of my job description as his “intrepid producer” and his friend.
I checked the filming locations for the film, which, according to Wikipedia, were “around Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, principal photography took place at Valley Forge Studios. Several scenes were filmed in the towns of Chester Springs, Downingtown, Phoenixville, and Royersford, including the basement of a local restaurant which is today named Downingtown Diner.”
I hereby challenge Nate to Unmatched! Now I just need to decide who is my main….
The Jimmy train keeps a-rollin’! Episode 61(Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers – “Green with Evil”) was an interesting broadcast because, like Raymund Martin, I moonlighted as a substitute Ranger back in the ‘80s. It was for the Bio-Man team. I was blue. Here’s a picture of me in uniform:
All that to say, I have a bit of a frame of reference for the perks and perils of being a Ranger.
This episode was also interesting because we got a drunk call from Big Willy Three. He’s still reeling from the Kirk-fu chop I gave him last December. I’d say, “Poor guy,” but that would imply I cared.
Anyway, are my notes from that episode:
For once, Nate is clashing with Michael. Normally it’s me. But I’m not surprised given what I’ve heard on The Power Trip. 😛
I must agree with Michael about Nate’s “girly” hands. I’ve been trying to toughen them up with some Kirk-fu training, but I can only do so much. I may have to pass him off to Ozaki.
Michael, you’re resourceful. I knew you’d get to the Island. Plus, Uber-Moguera needed a tune-up. It is a mecha cobbled together using reverse-engineered future tech and alien tech. When it breaks down, it really beaks down.
Michael, I could put a good word in for you with Elon Musk if you want to patent the Rad Bug for Billy Cranston. I’m still a fan of Mr. Musk and have been trying to get in contact with him in case he wants an experienced NASA engineer as a consultant for SpaceX.
I keep a tally of how many times I say, “Damnit, Marchand!” in a day. My personal record is 97.
Don’t get me started on the coffee creamer! There was a band of office girls who trapped me in the breakroom until I refilled it. Hell hath no fury like a woman deprived of morning coffee. Sheesh! Just visit the Craterite Café like everyone else. I don’t care if the animatronic Putty Pandemonium band can’t carry a tune!
I can’t find any information on JDF’s parents, Ray and Janice, aside from seeing that Janice was an actress. Both have kept low profiles. All that to say, I can’t confirm or disprove that JDF was an army brat.
I’d rather have a loudmouthed space pirate queen than have my crush nearly murder me, Marchand!
“Little Nate.” As funny as that is, I’m not confirming it.
Michael needed to stop it because 1) family show, and 2) my dagger is bigger. Ha!
First, “Rutabaga” was the name of the planet, not the king. That cabbage-head’s name was Rooten-Toomen. Regardless, I met him once. Whatever you do, don’t eat his salads.
I couldn’t find a specific term for what Michael said about getting his best ideas while showering except for “Eureka moments.” It has to do with the brain having restricted sensory input, which allows it to process other things. You can read more about it on Insider.
I agree. Shutting up WHG3 was the best thing I’ve done on MIFV…except maybe when I outwitted the Board by calling in my friends at NASA so they could rescue us with the Gohten after Nate was shot into space.
Nate’s not the only one who’s way behind on his podcast duties. I have metric ton of notes from past episodes—or so it feels. But contractual obligations must be fulfilled! My New Year’s resolution is to get my blogs caught up. To save time, I’ll be sharing the notes I jotted down during the broadcast and including a PDF of Nate’s uncut notes. I won’t be editing out the portions he discussed on each episode; not until I get caught up.
But given that I was in jail for a while, I had nothing better to do than compile these.
So, bear with me, starting with episode 60 (THEM!), which featured by my former flame war nemesis, John LeMay:
Matango boosters are important, guys—unless you’re Dr. Dourif. That weirdo is an example of immersion therapy gone horribly wrong. I’m amazed he isn’t a supervillain yet.
It’s “Meganulon” or “Meganuron,” John. But I can understand. It’s the “L” vs. “R” pronunciation confusion with Japanese. But I still expected better from you!
I hate Matango brain fog! It’s the worst! Trust me, I know. I had to tend to those psychedelic mutants once on Halloween a few years ago. All I got out of it was a vision of Kumi Mizuno…at least, I thought it was her. Or was it a premonition of Kaguya?
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Gorgo did, in fact, have the same director: Eugène Lourié.
I once had to battle a Kamacuras with an American flamethrower. That was mostly because the Russian flamethrower I was given first didn’t work. And because Monster Island zookeeper, Ricky, didn’t know what he was doing. Who hires these people? He’s gotten better, but I’d rather not wrangle monsters with dangerous equipment.
“Japanese” not “kaiju,” Nate. Professional radio host there.
Apparently, ants do go to war. They fight over territory and to defend their queen.
Nate is Russian spy confirmed. That accent is too good. Have some fun in the sun in a Siberian gulag! Got a Solzhenitsyn book you can read?
I did some digging, but I didn’t see anything about the ant puppets from THEM! still existing today. I could be wrong, though. We have the real things on the Island, but I’d rather deal with a prop. Speaking of which…
I killed a giant fire ant once. I don’t want to talk about it.
Michael does have an explosive temper. If you heard what I recorded of him off the air…more people than Kaiju Kim would cancel him!
I meant to fact check John’s Trinity nuclear test story involving his grandparents…but I forgot what I was fact-checking, and I don’t have time to re-listen to the episode. Here’s an article on the event: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test).
Marchand deprived me of work looking up Beast of Yucca Flats! I don’t get paid enough for this!
Hindsight is 20/20, and it shows me this broadcast for Episode 59 was beyond weird and awkward. That’s what happens when your guest is a shapeshifting Bug Lady from a scary Rolisican Mothra cult. Not even my War in Space-attuned combat skills could handle her. That was the worst part. But I don’t want to talk about that. Instead, here are my notes on that episode.
I retract my compliment about her laying down the law, because, you know, thieving, murderous Bug Lady.
I should’ve known something was wrong when she talked about getting to the Island. This is why I really should just shuttle every guest here. But I can’t make them all do that, even when I offer a ride on my giant robots.
“Handsome Nelson.” Another warning sign I should’ve heeded. That guy was a crony capitalist creep!
“Lepidoptera.” Also a sign. No one outside of an entomologist would know that name.
The Peanuts’ given names were Hideyo and Tsukiko Ito.
Yes, I’m triggered by a planet that I fixed…in my totally not fictional memoir.
I know what was in the red drink…but I don’t want to talk about it.
Note to self: remind Bex to watch Ikiru.
(ball-busting riff CENSORED for Nate’s sake)
I was consulted on the blueprints for Tokyo Tower after the Gyaos attack in 1960. How do you think they learned to rebuild it faster? It’s not just Japanese ingenuity and efficiency.
“Diptera.” I should’ve known! Again, only entomologists!
If you saw those astronaut girls, Nate, you’d understand. Seriously, hubba-hubba!
Why didn’t I suspect something from the laughing?! “Altitude”?! BS! Such BS!
I’ll agree with “Not-Bex” on one thing: you’re “genki,” Nate. That should be your name now. 😛
Seriously…“Bex” knew way too much about insects—because Bug Lady! Of course she’d know a lot about her “family.”
Now, to save space on the MIFV website (no one has time to scroll anymore), I’m attaching a PDF of Nate’s leftover notes. Sadly, there are no riffs from me. I’m still trying to catch up on blogging. LINK:
As for upcoming episodes, Nate’s friend Nick Hayden is coming for Ameri-kaiju and Cloverfield. Then we have Luke and Jason Jaconetti joining us for Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster as part of “Godzilla Redux.”
Despite everything that has happened to all of us at MIFV, as I always say, “We shall overcome!”
Nate’s not the only one who needs catch up on his content. No MIFV episode is complete without the intrepid Jimmy’s trademark blogs. With Winter and Board keeping us busy, and my personal projects in my garage eating up my time (top secret hush-hush stuff, you understand), I haven’t been able to keep up. Now your wait is over! Let’s start dropping some fact (check) bombs on Nate and company, starting with episode 58 on Mighty Joe Young.
Me and Nick’s e-mails are top secret. Although, not as top secret as my garage projects.
I hate to tell you this, Joy, but…
Little did I know this episode would become Memento by working through the film backwards. Reminds me of the time I got caught in a time loop. That may or may not explain how I’ve aged gracefully. But let me tell you, I can only punch M11 so many times to restart and/or break the loop so many times before it gets older than some of the scientists around here.
This whole episode came off the rails—until the Toku Topic. Then it all came to a crashing halt because it was the most boring Toku Topic yet. I don’t know if it was Nate’s presentation, the topic of gorillas in captivity, or the exhaustion of the caffeine. All of the above, probably.
Ah, yes, Adam Smith. Author of The Wealth of Nations and philosopher who advocated for laissez-faire economics. It’s only the best bedtime reading for any kid.
I may have to talk with Mr. Gold about booking Mighty Joe and the Burning Orphans, especially after their album, “Rampage at the Nightclub.”
It wasn’t an interviewer but another special effects artist on the blu-ray commentary with Harryhausen and Moore: Ken Ralston.
Not the singing, Joy! See the above meme!
I could go for spaghetti and a western. Sounds like a great stay-at-home date night.
We’re getting canceled in Africa.
“Mighty Jimmy Young.” I like the sound of that.
Sacrificed orphans? That IS fake news! The textbook definition of slander! I could sue you for libel! (But I don’t want to talk about it).
Here are Nate’s leftover notes. (Am I still contractually obligated to share these? I better check the fine print).
This is what happens when the Three Stooges get drunk. (Was WHG3 one of them? -Jimmy)
He’s gonna realize he knows drunken monkey kung fu. Also, Mighty Joe can’t hold his liquor. Okay, there’s a line that they gave him more. (Actually, I think he does know drunken monkey kung-fu…mostly because he’s a drunken ape. -Jimmy)
I think he killed some lions. But not people.
“No animals were harmed in the making of this motion picture.” You sure?
From “pull” to “push.” You suck at pushing. Stick to pulling. (Words to live by. -Jimmy)
What in blazes started this fire?! (Haha, Marchand. -Jimmy)
Commentary by Terry Moore, Ray Harryhausen, and Ken Ralston
Terry Moore didn’t have any storyboards in her script and acted to lots of nothing alone on set not knowing what Mighty Joe looked like.
She got the role when she came to the lot and Schoedsack asked, “Can you run?” so she took off her high heels, ran, and came back. He said, “You run like a deer. You got the role!” (I think that’s what David Perin was told when he played me in my favorite movie. -Jimmy)
Everyone called Schoedsack, “Monty.”
Harryhausen grew up loving King Kong, so it was an honor to work with that team.
Cooper once complained that the $25/day extras weren’t good enough, so instead of replacing them, they paid them $250/day.
Moore said Cooper promised one of the Mighty Joe puppets to her when he died, but the maid stole it when he died. There’s another one in London at the Museum of Moving Images.
Armstrong modeled his character after Cooper like he did in Kong. Ruth Rose, the screenwriter and Cooper’s wife, put much of him into the character.
The flying tackle was cut out for a while for some reason.
Harryhausen “was” Mighty Joe. He would eat vegetables on breaks to get into character.
Marcel Delgado also built the armatures for this.
This was Ben Johnson’s first movie. He acted in many John Ford westerns.
They shot for 3 months.
O’Brien developed the scenes with sketches while Harryhausen did most of the animation.
Terry Moore could whistle “Beautiful Dreamer.” She was surprised it didn’t make a comeback.
Moore became friends with the wrestlers. The Italian wrestler would put his foot next to hers and say, “Teeny-weeny.” He didn’t speak much English. He’d carry her on his shoulders, and she would go to the wrestling matches.
For the piano scene, Moore was lifted up using what she described as a “huge carjack.”
The long shots of Mighty Joe in the wrestler scene was a smaller armature. 8 inches tall.
Each of the coins was hand-drawn in the coin throwing scene.
Harryhausen covered the puppet’s lips with clay so he could hold the bottle. The liquor was glycerin.
Moore spent a lot of time acting toward a back projection screen. White screen.
Cooper was known for throwing a hat on the ground and stomping it. (Sounds like a certain radio host I know… -Jimmy)
Moore says Howard Hughes saw her in Return of October and told his projectionist, “I’m gonna marry that girl! Find out what she’s done!” He said she’d just made a film for RKO that hadn’t been released. He said, “Buy RKO.”
“Mama Walton” makes a cameo during orphanage scene.
The orphanage miniature was 5-6 feet high.
Marcel Delgado animated the shot of Mighty Joe climbing the tree.
Harryhausen says the Jill doll used for the piano was remade into a caveman.
Moore’s mother makes a cameo saving the little girl.
Mighty Joe peels the banana at the end when he ate it whole before. He was “civilized.”
Special Features
He got no direction from Schoedsack. He only worked with O’Brien during the planning stage. The script only had broad strokes for Mighty Joe’s scenes. He used O’Brien’s continuity stages.
Harryahusen gets mail from people saying they prefer his old films because they have more soul.
One of the armatures was made by Henry Cunningham.
The 4 armatures cost $1,500-$2,000 each!
The fur on Mighty Joe moved less because it was substituted with rubber.
Mighty Joe was brown.
The debris was animated with wires.
LeMay – Kong Unmade 2nd Edition
“The genesis of the story was inspired by a true event, recorded in the book Toto and I: A Gorilla in the Family (1941). The book, by Augusta Maria Daurer Hoyt, told of the author rescuing an orphaned gorilla in 1931 Equatorial Africa and making it part of her family. That is where the similarities ended, though. Using that as a jumping-off point, the rest of the story was essentially a light, happier retelling of King Kong. (The script was even written by Ruth Rose again, who had done one of the Kong drafts.)”
“Though it shares no continuity ties with King Kong, the resultant Mighty Joe Young is what could be called a spiritual sequel to Kong. As previously established, it was made by the same overall team and has the same themes of beauty and the beast, the beast brought to civilization, etc. Even the same trio of main character archetypes reappear. You have the girl that controls the beast in the form of Jill, then her rough-and-tumble cowboy love interest, Gregg, and the showman, Max O’Hara, out to exploit them—the latter even played again by Robert Armstrong. One could even say Mighty Joe Young presented a ‘road not taken’ with King Kong. What if Ann had tamed Kong? What if Denham’s show had been a success rather than a tragic failure? In the years that followed the release and rereleases of King Kong, audiences had grown fonder and more sympathetic for Kong, so it was only natural Joe would be treated as nothing but sympathetic, and in the end, even heroic. The climax, where Joe is on the run from the authorities out to kill him, is quite the nail-biter due to the audience’s sympathy for Joe. But of course, we’re not here to discuss what the film is, but what it could have been.”
Morton – King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon, from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson
Other Kong alumni included Linwood Dunn, Ted Cheesman, and Walter Elliot.
He says it took six months to shoot. (No one can agree on a timeline, it seems. Because time travel is dangerous. -Jimmy)
A big torso only armature was made but never used.
The models were covered with the fur of unborn lambs and rubberized by taxidermist George Lofgren.
He says the animation took 14 months.
O’Brien was unable to use his miniature projection process due to time constraints, so the composite work was done with an optical printer.
The Ray Harryhausen Podcast, Episode 24: Mighty Joe Young, 70th Anniversary Special
Colorized test footage was made, but it’s been lost.
It’s popular with animators because of Harryhausen’s work, especially with how much is in it.
This was essentially the end of O’Brien’s career and big-budget special effects pictures.
Tarzan would’ve been played by Lex Barker, who’d just played the character.
Soundtrack has never been released because it was “married” into the mix. It was re-recorded later and released, with Harryhausen playing cymbals on “Beautiful Dreamer.”
Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life
Peterson’s trademark was broad humor, most of which was cut. Harryhausen didn’t like it. Example: Mighty Joe slapping his knee during the chase.
Harryhausen was 29 when he worked on this.
Harryhausen is most proud of the lion cage sequence.
I’m pretty sure Nate read most of his notes on that boring interesting Toku Topic, so I cut the rest.
As for upcoming episodes, this moth we have two regular episodes and two bonuses! These include a Damon Noyes double-header with The Giant Claw (yep, antimatter-powered alien Beaky Buzzard) and his Patreon-sponsored episode on Little Shop of Horrors (1986). Then Nate invites his “co-host in kamen” (ba-dum-tsh!) on so he can finally “see the goo” with a bonus episode on Beware! The Blob (aka Son of Blob). Then Nate and his friend Elijah Thomas have their first annual crossover on Ray Harryhausen since the two of them share a birthday with him. They’re being weird and going in reverse order of his filmography, starting with Clash of the Titans (1981).
Despite everything that has happened to all of us at MIFV, as I always say, “We shall overcome!”
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:
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.
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!
