MOVIES & TV | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Apr05

TOKUSATSU: How to Punch Monsters and Influence People

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Apr 5, 2024

TOKUSATSU: How to Punch Monsters and Influence People

Josh Hicks — writer and artist of the new tokusatsu satire Hotelitor — waxes rhapsodic about rubbery monsters and robots that beat on each other… By JOSH HICKS Some of my earliest memories have to do with an action figure. Here in the UK, the summer of 1995 saw each box of Kellogg’s Frosties packaged with a tiny plastic Power Ranger – the result of a temporary cross-promotional alliance intended to sell cereal and advertise the Rangers’ upcoming movie. When my family opened up our box of Frosties, it was the White Ranger who fell out. The term ‘action figure’ is stretching it. He was a few centimetres of solid plastic, permanently posed with hands on his hips – an expression of heroism or disapproval, depending on the light. I took him everywhere. The only way my parents could get me to school was to let me take the White Ranger with me. I wanted to sit at home, watching him and his friends fight evil on TV, while I played out a world of imagined further adventures on the living room floor. In the strange new world of the classroom, the only further adventures I imagined were ones in which I was back home. This little White Ranger basically represented the sum total of my five-year-old passions and interests, condensed down into a few grams of plastic and paint for easy transport in a lunchbox. There’s also a ton of VHS footage of me running around family gatherings in a full Power Ranger outfit, but luckily this getup never made it to the schoolyard. At the time, I had no idea that Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was an American repackaging of Japan’s Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, with the Fox Kids show marking another step in the long and storied history of the Western repurposing of Japanese tokusatsu media. Translated literally as “special photography,” tokusatsu is a strain of specifically Japanese live-action film and television that prizes practical special effects. Export and cultural exchange has been a key part of tokusatsu media since its golden age in the 1960s and ’70s: toku pioneers Ultraman and Giant Robo made their way to American TV screens via crude dubs, while British national treasure Thunderbirds became a hit in Japan, partly owing, I imagine, to its own, puppet-themed brand of wirework, scale models...

Apr05

Dig This UP-CLOSE LOOK at an Original RIDDLER Costume

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Apr 5, 2024

Dig This UP-CLOSE LOOK at an Original RIDDLER Costume

The late, great FRANK GORSHIN was born 91 years ago… — UPDATED 4/5/24: The late, great Frank Gorshin was born 91 years ago on April 5, 1933. The owner of this Riddler outfit, Dr. Stewart Berkowitz, died recently. He always liked it when I’d re-run these articles. This one first appeared in 2018. Enjoy. — Dan — There were few things more exciting as a kid watching Batman on New York’s Channel 11 in the ’70s than when Frank Gorshin showed up as the Riddler. See, I liked Cesar Romero’s Joker and Burgess Meredith’s Penguin just fine. But I didn’t fully appreciate what those actors brought to their roles until I was much older. Not the case with Gorshin, whose manic, spring-loaded kineticism was mesmerizing from the jump. So imagine my giddiness at being able to see — to touch — an original Riddler costume that’s part of an extraordinary private collection of screen-used Batman costumes and props: Yeah. That’s the real deal. Now, the collection — which also features an original Batmobile and a replica Batboat, Batcopter and Batcycle — belongs to an anonymous owner we’re calling Alfred. It’s ensconced in a hidden location in New Jersey and we’ve already teased it for you. (Click here. You want to.) It is, in all likelihood, the greatest Batman ’66 collection you’ll ever see. And hopefully you’ll get the chance in person: Alfred is considering a traveling exhibit. In the meantime, we’re showing off the items one at a time over the coming weeks and months. For example, we’ve already given you an UP-CLOSE LOOK at Burt Ward’s Robin duds. (Click here for tons of pix.) But as far as the villains go, I wanted to start with the guy who was Young Dan’s absolute favorite, the Riddler. Just check this out: Almost everything you see there is original. (Replica shoes and cane were added to complete the look.) Oh, and that mannequin? That’s the amazing handiwork of Greg Maraio and a team of fellow artists, including Marc Spess, who handled the 3D rendering, molding and casting; Daniele Tirinnanzi, who did the custom color-matched glass eyes; and, David Costa of Dash-N-Dazzle, who provided the paint job: Stunning. Absolutely stunning. The best part is we’re just getting started. With that in mind, do you want another tease? Here you go: — MORE...

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