Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (1987)

[The Shadow]

The other day I had some reason, I don't recall what it was now, to browse through the Wikipedia article on the Ultra series. I became interested in reading and was surprised to see a reference to an animated Ultraman movie co-produced between Tsuburaya and Hanna-Barbera as a T.V. series pilot.

An animated Ultraman movie that ran on US television and I never saw it?!?! I watched Ultraman when local stations carried the show (my dad was in the Army so we moved every few years) and I watched Ultra Seven on TNT when I had the chance. But somehow I completely missed out on Ultraman: The Adventure Begins and I know I would have watched it if I had the chance.



Clip on Youtube:

The few clips on Youtube of the pilot movie looked good -- to bad the animated series never happened as it would certainly have raised awareness of Ultraman in the US. It's a shame about the names of the Ultras (Ultraman Scott, Ultraman Chuck, and Ultrawoman Beth), it would have been better if the Ultras had names other than their hosts' first names.

Last, but not least, what are the chances we could see a Warner Archive release of this animated movie? It was a co-production after all, and those often account for home region use and even home video. There seems to have been a US VHS release in the late 80s or early 90s, which could bode well for a WA release.

[zibbazabba]

I had the official US release of this on beta up until I pitched it a couple years ago(no beta VCR for 15 years). I can't remember too much about it other than I wasn't too impressed. I watched it a couple times, but that was it. Main reason I bought it back in the 80's was because there wasn't any live action Ultraman out to buy or rent.

[sentaison]

[monster of dark]

[kpa]

[ultrazilla2000]

[ryuuseipro]

[The Shadow]

It's intersting that Tsuburaya originally wanted to do a live aciton series with Hanna-Barbera as I don't recall H-B doing much in the way of live action on their own. Offhand, the only H-B series that I recall with signifcant live action elements is The Banana Splits Show.

You'd think Filmation would have been the first choice to co-produce a U.S. based live action Ultraman series. After all, Filmation had made 6 full live action series starting in the mid 70s, two of which were superhero shows. The Captain Marvel series Shazam!, The Ghost Busters, The Secrets of Isis, Ark II, Space Academy, and Jason of Star Command.

[sentaison]

Rankin/Bass would have been a more logical choice, both The Last Dinosaur and The Bermuda Depths were Tsuburaya and Rankin Bass collaborations. Not to mention R/B's role in King Kong Escapes

[O.Supreme]

[Jinzo Ningen]

[Timz]

[ryuuseipro]

[Jinzo Ningen]

[Reaper G]

[Xenorama]

the movie has been released on v. 2 of KISSology, but with the improved European cut of the movie as "Attack of the Phantoms". it's a bit shorter, with music from the solo albums replacing some of the other tracks.

[ryuuseipro]

And they also did C.H.O.M.P.S. (Hanna-Barbera/AIP; 1979) around the same time! The one about the crimefighting robot dog invented by Wesley Eure!

There's also that Benji TV series, Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince (Hanna-Barbera/Mullberry Square; 1983).

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Hanna-Barbera could've possibly done Ultraman: The Adventure Begins as live-action.

[mechagigan]

I have a DVD titled "Ultraman II" that is animated. This is from the same series, correct?

[Xenorama]

[Henry88]

[O.Supreme]

[Henry88]

is there any hope of seeing this come out on dvd?

[The Shadow]

Until someone finds out otherwise contacting WB Home Video, specifically the folks working on the Warner Archive releases, is probably our best bet.

[O.Supreme]

I have the legit VHS release from L.A. Hero released back in 1993. I wonder how much that would go for on the secondary market....

[Henry88]

http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/main/hel ... ervice.jsp

would this work?