Gamera vs. The Ice Men (1966, Unmade)
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:06 amI finally got myself a copy of Shout Factory's release for "Gamera vs. Barugon" (1966), and immediately headed straight for the audio commentary.
No offense to the film itself, but I've seen it plenty of times before, either by itself, or with the MST3K comedy crew. And that being said, I was more interested in the obscure history of the Gamera franchise, which admittedly, no one touches upon beyond August Ragone's commentary. And maybe, MAYBE, the odd magazine article I don't have the time, nor money to effectively track down.
And with that said, its a real shame that the remaining Gamera DVDs from Shout Factory lack August's input, because I love hearing about giant monster movies that never were, and boy, did I get a welcome gift with the "Barugon" commentary!
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August will likely reply and improve upon the information that I'm about to share, but "Gamera The Giant Monster Versus The Ice Men From Outer Space" (or "Gamera vs. The Ice Men" for short) was the original concept for the 1966 sequel, and was surprisingly an ambitious story idea, even by unproduced Kaiju Eiga standards.
The original treatment deals with alien invaders, The Ice Men, whose ice-based bodies grotesquely exposes their internal organs and skeletons. They begin their invasion by setting off multiple volcanic eruptions across the globe, in hopes that the ash-soaked atmosphere will create a new ice age, and thus drive an unwitting humanity underground, so that they can have total control of the surface.
Mankind however insists on remaining above ground, and the Ice Men are forced to reveal themselves, enslaving the human race in the process.
Meanwhile, Gamera is set free from the Plan Z capsule (not unlike the events from the completed 1966 film), and flies back to Earth. And by fortunate timing and circumstance, joins humanity in its final battle against the Ice Men, who also unleashes their own monstrous champion, the simply titled Ice Giant.
Unlike other monsters from the Gamera series, who were wildly original creations of a considerably inhuman design, the Ice Giant was going to be a very humanoid entity, heavily inspired by the fearsome Jottun, or Frost Giants, of Norse mythology. Particularly the Ymir, who was said to be the most massive and ancient Frost Giant of them all.
And of whom the semi-tragic Venusian monster of the 1957 film "20 Million Miles To Earth" takes its name from.
"Gamera vs. The Ice Men" never got pass a basic story treatment, but the concept of a contradicting cold element against Gamera's fiery one remained, resulting in the finished version's title antagonist of Barugon.
However, the idea of a humanoid elemental being stuck with the Daiei production staff, who soon after replaced the element of ice for that of stone. And taking cues from the Jewish folklore creature known as the Golem, and a little bit of Japan's own supernatural legends, resulted in the creation of Daimajin, and his impressive trilogy of films from 1966 alone.
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I'm surprised that no one else brought up this awesome tidbit, and being an artist, I plan to do my own interpretations of the Ice Giant and his masters, not unlike the educated guess done with this Godzilla obscurity: http://enshohma.deviantart.com/art/Godz ... -142085547
Although knowing my luck, never before production sketches for the icy villains will suddenly pop up, half way into my project (like what happened with me and Ghost Godzilla), but ultimately, real design art would be better than non at all.
With all that out of the way, what's your opinions on this Gamera adventure that never was?
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Other Gamera Concepts That Were Never Made...?
I was going to ask about other unmade concepts in the Gamera franchise, in another thread. But since I've already started this one, might as well make some very quick notes here as well.
Here's some unmade Gamera bits that I'm familiar with, though all are lacking any official confirmation. So please, don't take my word completely on the following.
#1-"Gamera vs. Leoman" - may have simply been an alternative title / name for what ended up as "Gamera vs. Zigra", though others note it could have been a storyline totally different from the finished 1971 film: http://www.angelfire.com/film/unmadekai ... eoman.html
#2-"Gamera vs. Garasharp" is the most famous of all the unproduced Gamera films and foes, BUT there is some doubt wither Garasharp herself was only realized for the Gamera box set, that features the short film concerning the unmade movie. And further more, the real monster envisioned for the 1972 project was a two-headed beast (serpentine or not) dubbed something like 'Giant Monster W' or 'Giant Monster Double X'.
#3-Daiei's original plans for Gamera's return in 1995, was way more conservative from the final version; basically a family oriented film done in a relatively short, one hour length. And may have been planned only for home video release. One of the earliest teaser trailers for "Guardian of the Universe", which a different looking Gamera suit breathing fire into the camera, may have been a remnant from this original version, before said suit was rebuilt for the final version.
#4-Early concepts for what became "Gamera 2: Advent of Legion" featured the return of Viras, who like his original incarnation, was to be multiple alien squids that merged into a single giant creature. Ultimately a new monster, the Legion, was used instead.
#5-A totally different monster creation, a purely underwater monster, was a prototype for what became Iris for the film "Gamera 3". There's also rumors that an 'Evil Gamera', separate from the hostile 'hero' Gamera of the finished film, was also considered. In the end of course, the 'Evil Gamera' concept was simply incorporated into the main character himself.
#6-Around the time of "Gamera the Brave", Cartoon Network supposedly had plans for Gamera, possibly to use him in his own animated series. Unfortunately, and similar to Trandmasters' barely / never released Gamera toyline, Cartoon Network got cold feet, based on the character's relatively obscure status, and abandon the project early on.
#7- A fully original alien beast (or 'Planet Terra Monster') was planned to meet its end at the knife headed antagonist of "Gamera vs. Guillon" (1969), before being replaced by the cost cutting Space Gyaos.
#8-'The Magical NG Monster' from the "Gamera vs. Garasharp" segment, also known as Malcopkarappa, Marukoburappa, AND Malikopukarappa...is a real enigma for me. What's up with this guy? All I know is that he was seen in said segment, and no where else, outside some rare collectable toys based on him / it.
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I'm fully aware of the giant rats on the loose project "Nezura", which came close to actual production, before a slew of bad luck doomed the film. Even some test footage and a banned / destroyed teaser trailer was made before the end. And thus Daiei went on to do Gamera instead...but for the sake of no one else bringing it up, I'm listing it here anyway.
