Anyone Remember Ultraman?

I mean the original, made entirely in Japan, then dubbed into English for Saturday morning viewing.

Well, I found the complete the series at (of all places) Wal-Mart. You can watch with the English dub (the same folks who did Speed Racer), or Japanese with subtitles. Hayata/Ultraman, Muramatsu, Fuji, and the rest of the Science Patrol in all their orange-clad cheesy glory.

BTW, the actor who played Muramatsu ('Mura' in the dub) would have been a great choice for Dr. Nambu in a live-acton Gatch movie. He didn't have the moustache or long hair, but he had the mature look required to be the anchor for a team of adolescent superheroes.

I'm currently watching it. For some reason, my disk occasionally veers out of the English dub into Japanese and back again in some episodes.

Anyway, some of the same themes in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman make an appearance in this show: pollution, the need for world peace, alternative energy resources, and so on.

I'm watching an episode that takes place in the Middle East. When the heroes get there, every single actor in the village is Japanese. The only non-Japanese is a guy sent from the Paris headquarters of the Science Patrol who accompanied the team. It's a bit jarring (and yet, in its way, no more ridiculous than the Hollywood practice of using European extras as Middle Easterners).

__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

Hayata, the human who ended up merged with Ultraman. I'd forgotten there was a woman on the team, and a kid hanging around with them.

I remembered the trippy visuals that precede the oh-so-1960s theme music and silhouette credits. And once that song started, I remembered it damn near perfectly.

I will have an ear worm tomorrow.

(I had one when I found the opening to The Banana Splits on Cracked dot com. If I'm not careful, bits still come back to haunt me.)

I didn't know there was an animated version, but I shouldn't be surprised. Most of these live-action shows would look much better animated.

__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

Last disk has interviews with the voice cast, including Corinne Orr.

Cheesy fun.

__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

Who needed drugs when you had Sid and Marty Krofft? Honestly.

__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

Remember the show, remember that Martha Rae was in it (and Billy Barty played the lightning bug), but not the names of the Bugaloos themselves.

__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features