Ultraman (1966 TV series)

Due to the success of Ultra Q, Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) requested a similar themed show from Tsuburaya Productions Company (TPC), this time filmed in color and with the hopes of continuing the series with TPC.[12] TPC founder Eiji Tsuburaya and writer Tetsuo Kinjo decided to recycle the barebones idea of Ultra Q about civilians and center the show on a team, tentatively dubbed the "Scientific Investigation Agency" (SIA), specifically designed to deal with monsters and supernatural phenomena. Tsuburaya and Kinjo repurposed unused ideas from Ultra Q, as well as the rejected outline for Woo.[6] Tsuburaya had spent significant studio money to build his miniatures for the Godzilla films, and TPC was seeking a new project to repurpose and monetize those miniatures.[6]

The first iteration of Ultraman was named "Bemular" and had a human host in his late 20s named "Officer Sakomizu", described as a "tough guy" in early drafts. Captain Muramatsu would have been the only SIA member to know his secret identity,[6] and a female SIA member was added late in production.[13] Pre-production and story layout began in December 1965 as Bemular: Scientific Investigation Agency. Writer Masahiro Yamada completed a sample teleplay titled The Birth of Bemular that featured an unused scenario originally written for Ultra Q. TBS producer Takashi Kakoi demanded that Bemular have a metallic complexion and be distinguishable from similarly designed monsters to avoid confusion. As a result, Tsuburaya and Kinjo discarded Bemular's original design in favor of a humanoid appearance.[6] The name "Bemular" was dropped for the hero but given to Ultraman's first foe in the debut episode "Ultra Operation No. 1".[14]

In January 1966, the production's title was changed to Redman to reflect the hero's color scheme and was unanimously approved for production a month later. In this version, Redman lands on Earth as a refugee after invaders destroyed his home planet. Redman fuses with Sakomizu and together protect the Earth from giant monsters and alien invaders.[6] This version also featured the "Flashbeam", an early version of Ultraman's transformation device the Beta Capsule, however, the Flashbeam version resembled a futuristic fountain pen.[15] During the casting process, TBS suggested actors with Western appearances in order to appeal to overseas markets, however, most of the cast came from Toho. On March 22, 1966, the copyright offices approved the shows's registration, now titled Ultraman.[13] Each episode was produced on a budget of ¥20−30 million.[16]

The early Bemular version was originally conceived by Kinjo as an intergalactic reptilian creature that would enlarge itself to 164 feet (50.0 m) and come to the SIA's aid. The early design was a cross between Garuda, a mythological Hindu/Buddhist guardian bird, and Tengu, a Japanese folkloric crow-goblin.[6] Eiji Tsuburaya found the early designs to be "too alien and sinister" and requested that production designer Tohl Narita continue drafting additional designs as teleplays were being written concurrently. Narita took inspiration from the Greek concept of cosmos (order and harmony), in contrast to Narita's monster designs for Ultra Q, which were rooted in the Greek concept of Chaos. Narita also drew inspiration from classical Greek art, ancient Egypt, the European Renaissance, and Miyamoto Musashi. Tsuburaya and Kinjo also gave their own input on Narita's designs. To reflect Ultraman's cosmic origins, his silver skin symbolized steel from an interstellar rocket and the red lining represented the surface of Mars. Narita's assistant, Akira Sasaki, sculpted clays, but became concerned about the nose and mouth looking too human. They eventually decided on a brim-like nose that runs from the mouth to the top of the head like a dorsal fin, and applied flexibility on the mouth for speech. Early outlines had Ultraman capable of spitting fire and a liquid called "silver iodine", but these ideas were dropped. A three-minute warning light called the "Color Timer" was added at the last minute due to the filmmakers feeling that Ultraman was too invincible, and also believed that it would invoke suspense and cheers from viewers.[13]

To keep production costs from going over budget, the series was filmed on 16mm stock and optical effects on 35mm. This met the network's requirement for making new episodes on a fast-paced production schedule, due to filming starting in March 1966 for July premiere. The production crew were separated into three teams, subdivided into separate live-action filming and special effects filming groups. TBS and TPC originally agreed to air Ultraman on July 17, but TBS delayed it by one week in order to cover the spot originally intended for the final episode of Ultra Q, which was pulled from the broadcast schedule due to not featuring any monsters. TBS also wanted to beat the release of Fuji Television's similarly themed Ambassador Magma.[17] Though production on Ultraman was proceeding well enough, it was falling behind to meet the premiere date. After meetings between TBS, Tsuburaya Productions, and sponsors, they decided to produce the Ultraman Eve Festival, a live TV special intended to introduce Ultraman to viewers that would air on July 10. This was also done to help the crew catch up and finish the premiere episode. The special was retitled The Birth of Ultraman: An Ultraman Premiere Celebration.[18] Kunio Miyauchi, who composed the music for Ultra Q, was brought back to compose the music for Ultraman. The lyrics to the show's opening theme music were written by Hajime Tsuburaya (credited as Koichi Fuji).[17]

Several monster suits were produced for the show, while others were recycled from Godzilla films and Ultra Q.

Production designer Tohl Narita designed all of the show's monsters, and sometimes deviated from their original descriptions. A majority of the time, the writers did not include any specific descriptions in the teleplays and left most unnamed. The names of the monsters were decided via staff meetings, where it would also be determined if the writer had created a creature that was capable or incapable of being filmed with the special effects technology available at the time. The monsters were sculpted and fabricated by Ryosaku Takayama, Akira Sasaki, and Ekisu Productions.[7]

Haruo Nakajima, who played Godzilla for the first 12 films in the Godzilla franchise,[19] choreographed all the monsters' battles with Ultraman performer Bin Furuya and even played the monsters for episodes three and ten. Nakajima also had two cameos, one in episode 24 and one in episode 33 as a police officer.[20] Ultraman featured new monster suits, as well as recycled suits from Ultra Q. Two Godzilla suits were recycled from Toho for the monster Jirahs, with the head taken from the Godzilla suit from Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and placed upon the body of the Godzilla suit from Mothra vs. Godzilla. The dorsal fins and parts of the suit were sprayed yellow and a large yellow frill was attached to disguise the connection of the head with the body.[21] The show also marks the first appearance of Ultraman Zoffy in the finale Farewell, Ultraman.[22]

In April 2013, Tsuburaya held a press conference announcing the new Ultra Series show and character, Ultraman Ginga, where they also announced that the original 1966 show will be given an HD remaster treatment in Japan. In July 2013, Bandai Visual released an HD transfer of Ultraman on Blu-ray titled Ultraman HD Remaster 2.0, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Tsuburaya Productions.[34] Bandai Visual released the series on three separate box sets, each containing 13 episodes. The first box set was released on July 10, 2013, the second one on October 25, 2013, and the final one on January 29, 2014.[35]

On November 25, 2020, Tsuburaya Productions and Pony Canyon released a 3.0 HD remaster of the series on Blu-ray titled Ultraman 55th Anniversary Ultraman Archives: Ultraman MovieNEX, suitable for large screen televisions. Composite technology EXA Quality Advanced Service (EQAS) was used to process the series to remove excess picture noise while retaining an appropriate level of graininess.[2]

BCI Eclipse Home Entertainment LLC officially released Ultraman on two separate DVD volumes in 2006 and 2007, licensed from then-rights holder Southern California-based Golden Media Group Inc. (via Tokyo-based UM Corporation). BCI's first DVD release featured the first 20 episodes, while the second release featured the final 19 episodes, all presented uncut, unedited and re-mastered in color with stereo sound. These releases also featured the original Japanese audio and the English dub. When Navarre folded BCI Eclipse in December 2008, the series was shuffled over to Navarre's other home video label, Mill Creek Entertainment.[36] In June 2009, Mill Creek re-released the complete series set on September 29, 2009, in a four-disc set with the same special features from the previous release.[37]

On July 10, 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that it had acquired most of the franchise library from Tsuburaya Productions through Indigo Entertainment, including 1,100 episodes and 20 films. Mill Creek released the series on Blu-ray and digital on October 15, 2019, in standard and steelbook editions.[38] Mill Creek released The Birth of Ultraman Collection on Blu-ray on July 10, 2020. It included the pre-premiere special and seven episodes from the 1966 series, which included the English dub. The Blu-ray featured artwork by Alex Ross (originally created for Marvel's Ultraman comic) and was sold exclusively on DeepDiscount.[39]

In July 2020, Shout! Factory announced that they had struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek, with the blessings of Tsuburaya and Indigo, that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the Ultra series and films (1,100 episodes and 20 film) acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. Ultraman, amongst other titles, streamed on Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu in the United States and Canada.[40]

Due to the show's success, a feature film titled Ultraman: Operation Giant was planned. Toshihiro Iijima was attached to write the script. The film was to be filmed in CinemaScope and was to introduce new characters, such as a self-sacrificing automaton built by the Science Patrol, the Baltans invading Earth with the help of a human scientist, a new subterranean monster named "Morugo", and Ultraman was to be given a new sword weapon. A sequel series tentatively titled Ultraman Continues (続ウルトラマン, Zoku Urutoraman) was also proposed; however, neither project ever materialized.[41][30][42]

Harvey Comics Entertainment published two short comic book series based on Ultraman in 1993 and 1994. Bandai published the video game Ultraman for Super Famicom in 1990, and PD Ultraman Battle Collection 64 for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. The games were released in Japan only. In 2011, a manga adaptation simply titled Ultraman began serialization in Shogakukan's Monthly Hero's magazine. It serves as a sequel to the television series. It was released on August 18, 2015, in North America by Viz Media, who had received the rights on February 18, 2015.[43][44] The manga was adapted into a 3DCG anime of the same name and released on Netflix in April 2019.[45] In September 2020, Marvel Comics launched a monthly series titled The Rise of Ultraman.[46]

In May 2022, Toho released a reimagining of the series, titled Shin Ultraman, directed by Shinji Higuchi.[47] Using motion capture technology, Bin Furuya, the original Ultraman suit actor, portrays the titular hero alongside Hideaki Anno.[48]

Since its debut, both the show and character became international pop culture phenomena,[49] inspiring rip-offs, imitators, parodies, tributes,[45] and a multimedia franchise centered around spin-off characters based on Ultraman.[50] The series has been recognized by Guinness World Records for "TV series with most number of spin-offs."[51] Mark Schilling from The Japan Times called the series "a rite of passage for Japanese boys (and a few girls) and their families" since the series' debut and noted "the series is as much a part of the national fabric as furikake (rice topping) and chopsticks."[4] SciFi Japan called the 1966 series "the gold standard of Japanese special effects television series."[2] Ultraman has been parodied, tributed, and referenced in various media such as Ben 10,[52] Ready Player One,[53] The Simpsons,[54] South Park,[55] Kyoei Toshi,[56] and Ant-Man.[57] Chris Kirkpatrick,[58] Will Smith,[59] and Guillermo del Toro[60] have cited the 1966 series as one of the shows they grew up watching as kids. Del Toro named Ultraman and Pigmon as his favorite characters from the show and cited Ultraman as an influence on Pacific Rim.[61][62]