Ultraman Zearth (film)

is a movie produced by Tsuburaya Productions in 1996 and was released as a celebration of the Ultraman Series' 30th anniversary, as part of the Ultraman Wonderful World project.
The movie can be watched on Tubi, Shout, Prime Video, and Vudu.
==Production==
In the 1990s, Tsuburaya Productions was planning the "Ultraman 30th Anniversary" project, aimed for a 1996 television broadcast. The project started in the summer of 1994, and from March 1995, characters from Ultraman Neos were introduced through magazines and events. During that time, Kiyoshi Suzuki, who was in charge of producing Ultraman: Towards the Future, decided to launch a new Ultraman project in the form of a theatrical film, separate from Koichi Takano's Ultraman Neos project. This initiative originated in early 1995, around the time Ultraman Neos started gaining exposure, when a corporate collaboration proposal was brought up by a business personnel from the advertising agency Dentsu. At that time, Idemitsu Kosan wanted to promote its clean fuel, "Zearth Gasoline," using Ultraman, not just through TV commercials but also through events and giveaways. Therefore, Suzuki decided to include the production of a theatrical film in the rollout of the new Ultraman., pg 4
However, throughout 1995, neither Ultraman Neos nor the alternative "New Ultraman" TV project was accepted by TBS Television. With the TV project still uncertain, the new film planned for release in the spring of 1996 quickly adopted the title "Ultraman 30th Anniversary." This became Ultraman Zearth. The name "Zearth" was decided from the beginning due to the corporate collaboration. A bigger issue was the character setting of Zearth as a hero. If Neos or "New Ultraman" were to be broadcast on TV in April 1996, and Zearth's character leaned towards the 'orthodox' style, it would clash with the image of Ultraman in the TV series.
If Ultraman Zearth and the characters intended to appear in the TV series were too similar, their influence would cancel each other out, which would be detrimental to both. Therefore, the planning team decided to design Zearth as a comedic character, developing him towards three 'goals.' This direction was based on the consideration of using the Ultraman in the TV series as the standard. However, if Zearth was viewed as an 'advertising character,' taking the comedic route was actually quite natural.
When determining the character design, the script and design were the most important aspects. The script for this work was handled by Hideka Nagasaka, a screenwriter who had previously worked on multiple series for Tsuburaya Productions. Initially, Nagasaka planned to have his team of writers collectively complete the story framework for Ultraman Zearth. However, this approach lacked coherence, so Nagasaka ended up taking sole responsibility and developed a story that perfectly catered to the needs of the new era.
Regarding the character design, there was initially a general color scheme, but it was eventually decided to reverse the relationship between silver and red from the usual Ultraman design. This change was also a declaration from the production team that "this is a different Ultraman." The design for Zearth was done by Chisato Sugiura. Since the television commercials for Idemitsu Kosan at the time were endorsed by the comedy duo "Tunnels," there was even a suggestion to make one of them an Ultraman. As a result, the design for Zearth underwent numerous changes, with various design sketches from 5-head tall to 6-head tall being preserved.
The director of this work was Nobuya Nakajima, a commercial director representing Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. Nakajima was responsible for Idemitsu Kosan's commercials at the time and had directed Suntory commercials featuring Gamera. It was Dentsu's Shoichi Iida, who handled Idemitsu Kosan's account, who invited Nakajima to direct Ultraman Zearth. Nakajima initially conceived a setting where Noritake Kinashi played the protagonist and Takaaki Ishibashi played the antagonist, but both of them agreed to participate only if their accompanying manager Masaharu Sekiguchi took the lead role. When Nakajima formally joined the project, the first draft of the script, based on this arrangement, had already been completed., pg 5
At this point, Nakajima was making his first mid-length work, which would be about 5 minutes long, so he was apprehensive about writing a long script. However, Nagasaka constructed the story from a comedic perspective, proposing a toothbrush-themed concept, and designed the script to have a climactic scene every 15 minutes to keep the audience engaged. Since this work was a theatrical film, 35mm film was used for shooting. The film featured up to 250 composite shots, utilizing digital compositing and CG technology. These composite shots were achieved by converting the footage shot on 35mm film into high-quality digital information for compositing, then creating the master on DI, and converting it back to 35mm film. Although the process was complex, it was the best method at the time to achieve high-quality composite images.
Ultraman Zearth was finally released on March 9, 1996, attracting a large audience and achieving significant success. Near the end of the movie's screening period, around April 20, Mainichi Broadcasting System decided to start airing the "New Ultraman" TV series from September, which later became known as Ultraman Tiga.
==Synopsis==
Ultraman Zearth, a new hero from the Nebula Z95, arrived on Earth. By day, he assumes the role of Mydo team member Katsuto Asahi, operating a disguised gas station. While performing tasks like refueling, he diligently trains to become a full-fledged Ultraman.
One day, a global crisis unfolds as gold mysteriously disappears worldwide. This turns out to be the work of Alien Benzene, afflicted by gas overdose syndrome. Despite Zearth's vulnerabilities being exposed, he confronts the Alien Benzene to protect the beauty of Earth.https://m-78.jp/videoworks/ultraman_zearth/
==Characters==
===Protagonist===
*Katsuto Asahi
===Mydo===
*Shinpei Ohkohchi
*Futsukichi Konakai
*Tohru Hoshimi
*Ganta Takemura
===Ultras===
*Ultraman Zearth
===Kaiju===
*Alien Benzene
*Cotton-Poppe
==Cast==
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*Night Watchman: 
*Fisherman: 
*Photographer: 
*Reporter: 
*Housewife: 
*Akuma Ogami/Alien Benzene: 
===Voice Actors===
*Midori: 
*Narrator: 
===Suit Actors===
*Cotton-Poppe: 
*Alien Benzene: 
*Ultraman Zearth: 
==Music==
*
**Lyrics: Shinya Jinma
**Composition and Arrangement: James Shimoji
**Artist: Tunnels
==Home Media==
*The VHS of the movie was released on January 1, 1997 by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan.
*Both the first and the second Ultraman Zearth movie was released as a DVD on August 27, 2004 by Bandai Visual.
*In 2016, both Ultraman Zearth movies were remastered in high definition, and released as a Blu-ray on December 22.https://m-78.jp/news/n-3910 Despite being labeled as a remaster, the movies are likely to be upscaled versions of the SD masters.
*In 2022, both Ultraman Zearth movies were released on DVD with English subtitles by Mill Creek on October 11.https://twitter.com/MillCreekEnt/status/1572967694177308677
Ultraman_Zearth_1&2_.jpeg|2016 Blu-ray
==Games==
A game adaptation of the film was released on PlayStation.
==Gallery==
Ultraman Zearth logo.png
Ultraman Zearth logo 111.webp
Ultraman Zearth 1996 04.jpg
Ultraman Zearth 1996 05.webp
Ultraman Zearth en 1.jpg
Ultraman Zearth en 2.jpg
==Trivia==
*The film's title originally had an additional subtitle, , before it was removed for the official release.
*A parody of the film was produced for the comedy show The Tunnels' Thanks to Everyone before the film's premiere.
*Actors/actresses from the original Ultraman series make cameos:
**Arashi is a helicopter reporter (which is not too far from what he currently does in real life).
**Hayata is a night watchman and holds his flashlight up like the Beta Capsule.
**Fuji is a woman who catches the Mydo plane taking off from a secret base exit, a billboard.
**Ide is a photographer.
**Captain Muramatsu is a fisherman.
*An Ultra Hero Series Ultraman, a larger Ultraman Taro figure, and a Sound Battler Ultraman Powered figure are shown at the beginning of the movie.
*One of the film's posters oddly depicts Gango, Jirahs, Woo, Pestar, Zaragas, Red King II and Garamon despite them not appearing.
*Before the preparation of this movie, there was another joint Sino-Japanese production titled Ultraman: Monster Mugen, billed as the "Ultraman 30th Anniversary" film. However, due to issues with the Chinese side and overseas rights involving Chaiyo Productions, the project was ultimately canceled.
==References==
id:Ultraman Zearth (film)
ja:ウルトラマンゼアス
Category:Ultraman Zearth
Category:Movies
Category:Heisei Movies
Category:Productions
Category:Parodies