Ultraman: Towards the Future

Ultraman: Towards the Future, known as in Japan, is a tokusatsu sci-Fi/kaiju/superhero TV series produced in 1990 in Australia by the South Australian Film Corporation and Tsuburaya Productions, making it the tenth series in the Ultraman Series, and the first to be produced in Japan's Heisei era.
The series was first released on home video and LaserDisc in Japan on September 25, 1990, and was later broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System from July 8 to September 30, 1995. The show was distributed in the United States by Sachs Family Entertainment, and broadcast weekly from January 4 to March 28, 1992.
The series consists of 13 episodes, the first 6 making up the "Gudis Threat" story arc. At the time, eco-awareness was at a high, and many episodes included environmental themes. Ultraman's three minute time limit is also attributed to "Earth's polluted atmosphere" in this version.
==Production==
In 1986, preparations began for the project "New Ultraman," which was scheduled to be broadcast on TBS. At that time, Tsuburaya Productions was busy collaborating with Hanna-Barbera Productions to create the animated film Ultraman: The Adventure Begins. As for the new project driving the live-action series forward, it was proposed based on the popularity gained from the reruns of past series on television at that time. The project was overseen by Koichi Takano, Kazuho Mitsuta, and Kiyoshi Suzuki. Some screenwriters, including Noboru Aikawa, Hidenori Miyazawa, Chiaki J. Konaka, and Akinori Endo, also participated in the initial meetings. However, the project was shelved after six months., pg 4Entertainment Archive : Ultraman G & Ultraman Powered pg 66
In early 1989, under the impetus of Kiyoshi Suzuki, the project was relaunched. Originally aimed at airing on TBS, the project proposal explicitly stated that the greatest allure of Ultraman lies in its "mystery" and declared the exclusion of "Ultra Brothers." This move was not only to initiate a new television series but also to reboot the franchise by resetting key aspects of Ultraman.
The project emphasized three main elements of the original Ultraman series: "Ultraman," "monsters," and the "defense team." Two approaches for constructing the new series were proposed. Approach A advocated for a faithful portrayal of the "defense team" without introducing new concepts. Approach B, which became the core of the project, suggested starting changes from the defense team if modifications to the existing series were required. This involved a "reconstruction" of the defense team, establishing a specialized "LDM" (Laboratory for Destruction of Monsters) responsible for eliminating monsters. The protagonist's affiliation with the defense team shifted from a defense army or police organization to a team focused on monster research, analysis, and countermeasures, presenting a more realistic inclination. This also implied a reinforcement of the human drama aspect through the defense team.
In early March 1989, Chiaki J. Konaka and Kazuya Konaka, who participated in the meeting, submitted a document titled .https://moviewalker.jp/news/article/202295/p2/https://akiba-souken.com/article/37636/?page=2 Based on this synopsis, they organized a "New Series Proposal." This proposal centered around the Defense Team LULF (Laboratory to Unknown Life Forms), depicting a world where there is no knowledge of monster extermination. The protagonists undertake missions involving preliminary investigations and methods of repelling monsters, attempting to address the issue of the rationality of transitioning from patrol to investigation and then repulsion for a few individuals. Before the start of the second draft, it was confirmed that securing a broadcast slot on TBS would be difficult. Suzuki proposed a strategy of releasing the work in videotape format, which would also ensure easier production costs. A production committee was established with the media department of the Bandai Group at its center.
To expand globally, the production aimed to use English-speaking countries as its production base, with production taking place outside of Japan. Australia was selected as the filming location, with Paul Nicolahttps://rcscifi.blogspot.com/2021/02/ultraman-towards-future-aka-ultraman.html recommended by Suzuki as the head of SFX, Andrew Prowse as the director, and Ken Arlidge as the fight scene director. Production was conducted in three shifts on location at the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), operated by the South Australian government, with Adelaide as the central hub. Only a few scenes were shot in studios in Sydney.https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/last-40-years-exploring-south-australia-film, pg 5
Once the production arrangements were finalized, based on the setting of "New Ultraman," Aikawa created a full outline for the six-episode series titled . The story centered around the dichotomy of good and evil with Gudis at its core. The Ultraman's setting was clearly defined in the second draft of the "memorandum." They were referred to as "observers," depicting Ultraman as a highly evolved race akin to "gods," observing the growth of life and maintaining a neutral stance towards humanity. However, considering overseas sales, the series was eventually expanded to seven episodes, forming a seasonal structure.Entertainment Archive : Ultraman G & Ultraman Powered pg 68
By late August 1989, the preparation work by the Japanese team of writers was completed. The scripts written by Aikawa and others were adapted by Terry Larsenhttps://vantagepointinterviews.com/2021/11/19/ultraman-out-west-terry-larsen-on-scripting-the-groundbreaking-tokusatsu-series-ultraman-towards-the-future/, who meticulously reconstructed the series' environmental and ecological themes to suit the demands of television broadcasting in Europe and America. Filming and editing work in Australia progressed smoothly, with many special effects scenes taking advantage of Australia's geographical features, utilizing open shooting locations and natural light to convey a sense of scale. The overall principal photography period was only four months.
In the series, the costumes for the monsters were initially planned to be filmed using animatronics and puppets, controlled through a waldo-style cable system. However, due to the inability of Animatronics to convey a sense of strength and speed, as well as its impact on the filming progress, it was ultimately decided not to use them. Instead, rubber suits were used as a substitute. Ultraman's suit, on the other hand, utilized spandex material.https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2020/12/10/from-monster-kid-to-monster-maker-model-maker-norman-yeend-on-living-the-dream-on-the-set-of-ultraman/https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2021/03/21/ultraman-down-under-a-candid-conversation-with-steve-rosewell-about-ultraman-towards-the-future/ Vicky Kite was responsible for producing the suits, while Andrew Blaxland supervised the production design. Filming of the work on 35mm celluloid was completed in the first half of 1990. The production news of the series was announced to the public at the end of 1989, with the character images released in February 1990.
The series generated a merchandise line including toys, comic books and a video game.
==Synopsis==
Jack Shindo and Stanley Haggard are members of the first manned expedition to Mars, and on the red planet find a giant slug-like monster, Gudis. Suddenly the giant warrior, Ultraman (Great), arrives and fights Gudis, but is knocked down for a period. Jack Shindo is pinned by a rockslide and Haggard tries to escape in their ship but is blown up by Gudis. 
It is then that Ultraman gets up, and when he is on the verge of victory, Gudis changes into a virus and travels to Earth, where it plans on corrupting all life, mutating other creatures into monsters and awakening existing ones. Needing a human host to survive on Earth, Ultraman joins with Jack, allowing him to become the mighty alien when all seems lost. He joins the Universal Multipurpose Agency, or UMA, in order to help them battle the many monsters that threaten humanity.
==Characters==
===UMA===
*Arthur Grant
*Jack Shindo
*Jean Echo
*Lloyd Wilder
*Charles Morgan
*Kim Shaomin
===Others===
*Stanley Haggard
*Ike
*General Brewer
*Sandman
*Leonie Krankstein
===Ultras===
*Ultraman Great
===Kaiju===
*Gudis
*Bogun
*Gigasaurus
*Gerukadon
*Jimmy clone
*Degunja
*Barrangas
*Gazebo
*Majaba
*Bios
*Vegoids
*Ryugulo
*Veronica
*UF-0
*Kodalar
*Kilazee
*The One Who Sleeps Below
==Cast==
Character 	English 	Japanese dub
Jack Shindo 	Dore Kraus 	Masaki Kyomoto
Jean Echo 	Gia Carides 	Yoshiko Sakakibara
Arthur Grant 	Ralph Cotterill	Akiji Kobayashi
Kim Shaomin 	Grace Parr 	Fumi Hirano
Charles Morgan	Lloyd Morris 	Shingo Yanagisawa
Lloyd Wilder 	Rick Adams 	Koichi Yamadera
===Voice Actors===
Character 	English 	Japanese dub
Ultraman Great	Matthew O'Sullivan 	Masaaki Okabe
Narrator 	John BonneyGus Mercurio (movies)	Hiroshi Fujioka (episodes 1-6)Kenji Utsumi (episodes 7-13)Tessho Genda (episode previews)
===Guest Cast===
Character 	English 	Japanese dub
Stanley Haggard 	Jay HackettEpisode 1 credits 	Eizou Tsuda
Ike 	David GrybowskiEpisode 2 credits 	Kazuhiko Kishino
TechniciansUltraman: The Alien Invasion credits	Chris KempDebbie LittlePaul CoulsonEpisode 5 creditsNicki Patterson	
Jimmy Martin 	Hamish FletcherEpisode 3 credits 	Daisuke Namikawa
Rachael 	Fiona Jarvis 	Atsuko Koganezawa
Archaeologist 	Raymond Jurgens 	
Site Foreman 	Brian Knott 	
 	Caitlin McDougall 	
 	Greg Elliott 	
Mudjudi 	Ernie DingoEpisode 4 credits 	Ryusei Nakao
Dave 	Alec Wilson 	
Robbo 	Stephen Horne 	
Bartender 	Betty Sumner 	
General Brewer 	Peter Raymond PowellEpisode 6 credits 	Shozo Iizuka
Inspector Sykes 	Norman YemmEpisode 7 credits 	Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Mary 	Carmel Johnson 	
Jenny 	Sharna Coates 	Atsuko Mine
Bulldozer Driver 	Adrian Shirley 	
 	Peter Green 	
Boy 	Russel Wirrabone 	
Sandman 	Peter DunnEpisode 8 credits 	Takuzou Kamiyama
Johnson 	Don Barker 	Masao Imanishi
Dr. Leonie Krankstein 	Lyn ShakespeareEpisode 9 credits 	Aiko Konoshima
 	Brian Debnam 	
 	Graham Dawson 	
 	Sebastian Scott 	
 	Tib Horvath 	
Veronica 	Oriana PanozzoEpisode 10 credits 	Keiko Han
SusanUltraman: The Battle for Earth credits 	Lym Semler 	
Drunk 	Francis Greenslade 	Masashi Hirose
Homeless Persons 	Caroline MignonSean Ladhams 	Hideyuki Umezu
Lou Varsallo 	Ike's Assistant 	
Railway Guard 	Claire Benito 	
Veronica as an older woman 	Lauriel Smart 	
Ryugulo 	Leigh Biolis (voice)Lloyd Morris (human form) 	Kazuhiro Nakata
Norberg 	Patrick FrostEpisode 11 credits 	Ichiro Nagai
 	Kathryn Fisher 	
 	Philip Stephens 	
 	Geoffrey Ashton 	
Curator/Evangelist 	Edwin HodgemanEpisode 12 credits 	
Silo Kid 	Michael Coard 	
===Suit Actors===
*Ultraman Great: Steve Apps and Robert Simper
*Monsters: Mike Read and Johnny Halliday
==Staff==
*Production Company: The South Australian Film Corporation
*Executive Producers: Noboru Tsuburaya, Richard Watson
*Supervising Producers: Kiyoshi Suzuki, Gus Howard
*Producers: Kiyoshi Suzuki, Sue Wild
*Music: Shinsuke Kazato
*Performed by: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
*Music Producer: Shizuka Tamagawa
*Music Directors: Kazuo Kogure, Kevin Roper
*Music Production Supervisors: Hidetoshi Kimura, Michael Elwood
*SFX Consultant: Koichi Takano
*Original Concept: Noboru Aikawa, Hidenori Miyazawa, Chiaki J. Konaka, Akinori Endo, Satoshi Suzuki
*Director: Andrew Prowse
*Series Composition: Terry Larsen
*Director of Photography: Paul Dallwitz
*Special Effects: Paul Nicola
*Art Director: Andrew Blaxland
*Action Sequence Director: Ken Arlidge
*Stunt Choreographer: Glenn Boswell
*Ultraman Design: Hiromitsu Murayama
*Kaiju Design: Minoru Yoshida
*Production Support: Mitsubishi Motors, Royal Australian Air Force
*Japanese Version Staff Producer: Juuhachi Shimada
*Japanese Version Staff Sound Director: Hiroshi Yamazaki
*Japanese Version Staff Production: Production Yurika
*Production: Tsuburaya Productions
**Ultraman Production Committee (Bandai, Kodansha, Takii Corporation, KSS, Marubeni)
==Music==
:;Opening Themes
* (Japanese)
**Artist: Masaki Kyomoto
*The Silver Giant (English)
**Composition: Shinsuke Kazato
:;Ending Theme
*
**Artist: Masaki Kyomoto
:;Insert Themes
*
**Artist: Masaki Kyomoto
*THE EARTH IT'S HURTIN'
**Artist: Masaki Kyomoto
==Merchandising==
===Soundtrack===
The music was composed by Shinsuke Kazato and released by Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd (COCC-9745) in 1992. The soundtrack is very rare, it went quickly out of print and can now only be found used. The music was performed by The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
===Toy Line===
The series also received an equally short-lived toyline from DreamWorks toys. The figures were 10" tall and included Ultraman, who came with a mini Jack Shindo, as well as his enemies Bogun, Barrangas, Majaba, Gerukadon and Kilazee. Also released was a toy of the Hummer vehicle which included a mini figure of Charlie Morgan. A toy of the Saltop was advertised on the back of all boxes, though it was never released or produced according to a Bandai representative. Despite their unique size, the toys were not without their problems. Jack, Charlie and the Hummer were well out of scale with the other toys, while the Ultraman figure lacked articulation. Also, despite being the main villain for the first story arc, neither version of Gudis was released as a toy in the DreamWorks line (although one did appear in Bandai's Japanese vinyl Ultraman line). However, Gudis was mentioned on the packaging of all the figures.
Ultra Dreamworks.jpg|Bandai's DreamWorks Ultraman & Jack Shindo figures.
UTTF1.jpg|The unreleased Saltop appeared in DreamWorks's promotional material.
UTTF2.jpg|The unreleased Guigasaurus as seen in DreamWorks promotional material.
==Home Media==
There were two video releases in the West. In 1990, New World Entertainment distributed two feature versions - Ultraman - The Alien Invasion and Ultraman - The Battle For Earth, which were released in Canada by Malofilm Video. They were slightly letterboxed and some limited post production video effects were added as well as replacing the original narrator John Bonney with Gus Mercurio. In 1993, L.A. Hero released the entire series in 13 voulmes. Some of the releases were taken from the television syndication video masters and still had the commercial bumpers.
Emotion released the entire series on LaserDisc.
The Japanese release of the show had Ultraman Great's voice added with additional Ultra kiai recorded by Masao Nakasone (though it frequently overlaps with Matthew O'Sullivan's dubbed grunts), with his Color Timer's sound being reused from the original's.
In 2017, the entire series was released on Blu-ray in Japan, with both English and Japanese dubbed language tracks, and a total two versions of the TV show: English Hardsubbed, and Japanese broadcast. The release also features two compilation movies also in original English, non-hardsubbed release. All of the Episodes are upscaled and slightly modified from the Japanese broadcasts.https://m-78.jp/ultraman-bd/ultraman_great/
MaloGreat1.jpg|Malofilm Video's VHS release of Ultraman - The Alien Invasion
GreatLDcover.jpg|Volume 1 of Emotion's LaserDisc release of Ultraman Great
UTTFVHS.jpg|L.A. Hero's VHS release
Ultraman Great Blu-Ray.jpeg
Ultraman_The_Alien_Invasion_VHS_Argentina.jpg|Argentine VHS release of Ultraman - The Alien Invasion
Ultraman_The_Alien_Invasion_Poster_Lebanon.jpg|Lebanese theatrical release poster of Ultraman - The Alien Invasion
==Comic Book==
A comic book retelling of/sequel to the series, published in early 1993 by Harvey Comics' short-lived "Nemesis" label, was printed in the United States. However, the comic treats Ultraman Great as the same Ultraman from the original 1966 series. The comic has also been known to confuse Ultraman: Towards the Future with the subsequent American-produced series, Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (which was released as Ultraman Powered in Japan), of which the comic had included plenty of full-color publicity pictures in many issues to generate interest. After 8 issues (most of these issues had different collectible cover variants, a trend prevalent in the "Speculator Boom" at the time), the comic series was canceled once Harvey Comics went out of business the next year.
==Cancelled Plans==
===Season 2===
As revealed by Sho Aikawa there were plans to make a season 2 of Great. While most information on it is unknown, what is known is that it would've continued after the finale of season 1 with Ultraman Great returning to Earth to protect it from more monsters and aliens. The Alien Baltan was set to appear as alien invaders in a three-episode storyline with some other popular Ultra monsters potentially showing up as well. Veronica and Ryugulo were to come back and assist the Ultra in defending Earth, mainly in the Baltan's invasion. The Ultra Brothers were also considered for guest appearances. The season would've had 14 episodes in total or episodes 14 - 27.
===Ultraman Great Goes To Japan===
There was a movie idea thrown around about Ultraman Great visiting Japan and stopping a powerful villain there. Not much else is known really beside the fact of potential crossovers with Showa Ultras.
==Gallery==
Ultraman Towards the Future Logo.png
ultraman_towards_the_future_logo.png
Ultraman Great Logo Romanized.png
Ultraman- Towards the Future Movie 1.jpeg|Japanese poster
Ultraman- Towards the Future Movie 2.jpeg
Ultraman- Towards the Future poster 3.jpeg
Ultraman Towards the Future 0004.jpeg
Ultraman- Towards the Future Emotion 1.jpeg
Ultraman- Towards the Future Emotion 2.jpeg
Ultraman- Towards the Future Emotion 3.jpeg
Ultraman- Towards the Future Emotion 4.jpeg
==External Links==
*Ultraman: Towards the Future at Tsuburaya Productions' official website
==References==
Category:Series
Category:Shows Dubbed in Japanese
Category:Productions
Category:Heisei Series
Category:Ultraman: Towards the Future