“Ultra Q”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Produced in black and white by Tokyo Broadcasting System/Tsuburaya Productions, this is actually the first of the long-running Ultra Series, and was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from January 2 to July 3, 1966 (the final episode was preempted until December 14, 1967), with a total of 28 episodes. This series was followed two weeks later by the more popular Ultraman (Urutoraman, 1966), the second Ultra Series.

Ultra Q can be described as a half-hour Toho kaiju series. Executive Producer Eiji Tsuburaya intended this series to be more like the American television series The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, featuring all kinds of strange and unusual stories. After a survey, the TBS network convinced Tsuburaya Productions to add more giant monsters, as children were intensely interested in them, since Godzilla (Gojira) and Gamera were all the rage at the time (the first "Kaiju Boom" took off after Ultra Q became an enormous hit).^[1] Much like The X-Files, the series features continuing characters who investigate strange supernatural phenomena, including giant monsters, aliens, ghosts, and various other threats.

The original planned title of this project was Unbalance, and was subsequently rechristened Ultra Q (the English word, "Ultra" had become popular because of the Gold Medal winning Japanese gymnast during the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, who used a technique called "Ultra C", which caused the word to becoming a catch phrase.) The series began production in 1964, with the premiere set for January 1966. At the time, this was the most expensive television series ever produced in Japan. The "Q" stands for "Question" and also tied with another hit TBS series, Obake no Q-tarō, an animated series based on the manga by Fujiko Fujio.^[2]

Characters

Monsters

Because of his stature as a filmmaker, and with his close relationship with Toho (they were investors in, and on the Board of Directors at, Tsuburaya Productions),^[3] Eiji Tsuburaya was ordered his crew to take what they needed from the prop warehouse, where the various props from his films were stored, for use on the series. The large Manda prop was used for the dragon Kairyu (while the head was used as the front portion of a Viking ship seen in episode 12), as well as the giant octopus prop from Frankenstein vs. Baragon became Sudar, while the Maguma suit from Gorath was repurposed as Todora. Other suits and props were refurbished to play some of the monsters, such as Godzilla for Gomess, King Kong for Goroh, Baragon for Pagos, and a small, mechanical Rodan prop was stripped down and rebuilt as the bird monsters, Litra and Largeus, respectively.

Episodes

English dub

In 1967, Ultra Q was licensed from Tsuburaya and TBS by CBS Films, producers of The Twilight Zone. For the task of dubbing, CBS hired Film House in Toronto, Canada, what is now DeLuxe Toronto. Tsuburaya provided translated scripts, plus English language opening and closing credits, and a custom, swirling title-card. The series itself was dubbed in its 28-episode entirety. At some point, CBS Films backed out of licensing the series, and it was picked up, along with Ultraman, by United Artists Television, producers of The Outer Limits. Subsequently, United Artists Television hired Titra Studios to dub Ultraman. Ultraman was syndicated, however, Ultra Q was not, due to being in black-and-white at a time when most television was switching to color. After Ultraman finished its run in syndication, audio and film masters, and other materials, for both series went into storage, eventually finding their way into the MGM vaults, after MGM acquired United Artists in 1980 (stumbled upon by the author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, August Ragone, while researching materials concerning Ultra Q).^[4]

Before Ragone uncovered this information, it was commonly believed, even by Tsuburaya Productions, that only one episode, Episode 3 ("Gift From Outer Space"), was dubbed into English as a pilot.^[5] Over the last decade, other episodes have been discovered in the hands of private U.S. collectors on the 16mm film format.

Radio Drama

In 2003 a weekly radio drama series was produced called The Ultra Q Club. It featured voice acting from the original Ultra Q cast.^[6]

Legacy

In the years following the show's original run, a live action film called Legend of the Stars was released in 1990. As well, a radio program featuring the voices of the three original stars of the show (playing their classic characters) called The Ultra Q Club aired on Japanese radio from 2003-2004. Also in 2004, a new series called Dark Fantasy was produced while another series called Neo Ultra Q began airing in early 2013.

Production

The original concept of the show (when it was going to be called Unbalance) was ultimately used for a 13-episode horror anthology series entitled Horror Theater Unbalance that was produced by Tsuburaya Productions in 1973.^[7]

Various Ultra Q monsters were reused or redressed for various monsters in Ultraman. Kemur and Ragon (now giant-sized) returned, while the Garamon suit was reused and repaired to serve as Pigmon. Other suits were altered to play other monsters such as Peguila being altered into Chandorah, Kemur being altered into Alien Zetton, Pagos being altered into Neronga (and later Magular and Gabora), while the head of the Cicada Man was modified to become the head of Alien Baltan. Finally, Peter's suit was modified to become that of Gesura.

Home media

References

1. ^Ragone, August (2007, 2014) Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, Chronicle Books, {{ISBN|978-0-8118-6078-9}}
2. ^Ragone, August (2007, 2014) Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, Chronicle Books, {{ISBN|978-0-8118-6078-9}}
3. ^Ragone, August (2007, 2014) Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, Chronicle Books, {{ISBN|978-0-8118-6078-9}}
4. ^Ragone, August (2007, 2014) Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, Chronicle Books, {{ISBN|978-0-8118-6078-9}}
5. ^Ragone, August (2007, 2014) Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, Chronicle Books, {{ISBN|978-0-8118-6078-9}}
6. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.henshinonline.com/ultraq_club_episode_guide.html|title=THE ULTRA Q CLUB EPISODE GUIDE||accessdate=December 20, 2017}}
7. ^Ragone, August (2007, 2014) Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, Chronicle Books, {{ISBN|978-0-8118-6078-9}}
8. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Urutora-Q-The-Complete-Series/18445 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2013-10-02 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004232540/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Urutora-Q-The-Complete-Series/18445 |archivedate=2013-10-04 |df= }}

Bibliography

External links