All posts in “King Kong”

The Kaiju: Early Japanese Monster Movie Trailers

2015年4月19日 / No Comments

Good Sunday morning! Time to talk “Kaiju.” Kaiju means “monster.” Japan’s cinema industry made a staple of these for decades.

Wikipedia explains:

Kaijū is a Japanese word that literally translates to “monster,” and is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment. Kaiju films usually showcase monsters of any form, usually attacking a major Japanese city or engaging another (or multiple) monster(s) in battle. Related terms include kaijū eiga, a film featuring giant monsters or a single monster; kaijin (referring to roughly humanoid monsters); and daikaiju (giant kaiju), specifically meaning the larger variety of monsters. Godzilla is an example of a daikaiju; others include Gamera, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Daimajin. The term ultra-kaiju is longhand for kaiju in the Ultra Series. Toho has produced a variety of Kaiju films over the years (many that featured Godzilla and Mothra) but other Japanese studios contributed to expanding the genre in Japan by producing Kaiju films and shows of their own.

Now you know the history, here’s a few of my early favorites.

First up, of course, the first Godzilla movie!

1954 – Godzilla – Ishirô Honda http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpz2qz_1954-godzilla-ishiro-honda_shortfilms

Then the sequel to Godzilla from the following year, 1955. Everyone always says sequels aren’t that good. Here’s proof!

 Godzilla Raids Again (If the video doesn’t play, copy and paste this link into your browser): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOo0CstvnM4

The success of these Godzilla movie led to a plethora of other monster movies. With the next billed as the “Ultimate Monster Movie” from 1968.

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS 1968 – GODZILLA Movie TRAILER www.dailymotion.com/video/x8oqwe_destroy-all-monsters-1968-godzilla_shortfilms

Finally, today’s throw-away film. This is the missing link between the 1933 King Kong film and the 1954 Godzillafilm. Sorry I don’t have a trailer for this. This is the only remaining bits from that film.

KING KONG APPEARS IN EDO (1938) Surviving Footage 江戸に現れたキングコング (If the video doesn’t play, copy and paste this link into your browser): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_2jUC60Ye4

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At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp

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More Exciting (and Bizarre) Animations! Part 3〜おもしろい動画をご紹介

2015年3月21日 / 2 Comments

Hey welcome back for some more great animations.I hope you folks enjoy this series of animations. As for me, I find that watching these things inspires me and gives me ideas for when I make my own video productions for Robot55. It is amazing that, in many cases, so many wonderful videos remain of productions that were made on shoe string budgets.

I love that sort of thinking. It is the ultimate in creativity. I hope that some of these videos give you ideas for your creative productions whether those are video productions, art, writing a book, or even making a cake! Whatever we do, let’s have fun!

The first animation up today is one of the earliest animators. His name is Willis O’Brien. Most of you might recognize his work as he was the guy who made the giant gorilla in the classic 1933 film, “King Kong.” I remember watching that film in cinema class at university and just being simply amazed that they could have this animation so many years ago…. (I was studying animation too at  the time!)

Willis Harold O’Brien was born in Oakland, California in 1886. He is a pioneer in motion picture special effects and stop-motion animations. He is well known and his reputation was (and still is) that he, “was responsible for some of the best-known images in cinema history.” O’Brien is best remembered for his work on The Lost World (1925), King Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949). He won the 1950 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. He wrote the story for King Kong vs. Frankenstein which was changed and was developed into Ishirō Honda’s King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962).

Here is Willis H. O’Brien from 1915 – “The dinosaur and the missing link”

(If link about doesn’t play, copy and past this link into your browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RClif87GM1A)

Next up is some stop animation work that, when I was a kid, I didn’t like at all. For some reason, these images disturb me. I can’t put my finger on it… But I guess they made me fear that my toys were alive while I was sleeping. You might recognize some of these images and this style too. This is work by George Pal.

George Pal was born in 1908 in Hungary and moved to the USA in 1940. He was an animator and film producer, mostly doing science fiction (maybe that’s where the scary part came in for me as a kid). He was nominated for Academy Awards in the category Best Short Cartoons for seven years in a row between 1942 – 1948! Wow! Pal is the the second most nominated Hungarian exile after Miklós Rózsa.

George Pal has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1722 Vine St.

Rocky Horror Picture Show fans will be interested in the trivia that, in the opening theme to that show, of both the stage musical, “Science Fiction/Double Feature,” George Pal is among the many references to classic science fiction and horror films in the opening theme.

Here’s George Pal with “Philips Broadcast” from 1938:

(If link about doesn’t play, copy and past this link into your browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQmiqymo7Og).

OK. I said the last animation scared me as a kid. Next up is a very bizarre and twisted animation that is sure to cause the kids have nightmares. I cannot find any information about this Japanese animator nor this animation. But I think it speaks for itself.

Hitoshi Suenaga Distrust of Romantica:

(If link about doesn’t play, copy and past this link into your browser:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2mJIpvgUC0)

Well that’s it for this week. Hope you enjoyed this short trip into the past and the minds of some very “out of the box” creators. See you next week, same place and same time!

Psst! Want to see more?

Need a Break? Watch These Three Fantastic Short Animations! (robot55.jp/blog/need-a-break-watch-these-three-fantastic-short-animations/)

More Exciting (and Bizarre) Animations! robot55.jp/blog/more-exciting-and-bizarre-animations/

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At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget.  Contact us! contact@robot55.jp

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