Tsuburaya Productions announced on April 20 that its Ultraman tokusatsu franchise will have a documentary film titled The Origin of Ultraman. The documentary’s website began streaming a trailer on Thursday, revealing its July 3 opening date.
Image via Tsuburaya Productions website
© TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS
The documentary celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Ultraman franchise, and centers on the story of Ultraman’s creation, featuring footage of the first Ultraman series’ filming, with archival footage of Eiji Tsuburaya directing the crew. The documentary features interviews (some using archival footage) with staff involved with the production of Ultraman, including visual artst Tōru “Tohl” Narita, actors Susumu Kurobe, Hiroko Sakurai, Sandayū Dokumamushi, and more.
The documentary will also feature interviews (some using archival footage) with creative professionals influenced by the franchise (as well as writers and critics from different fields), including Guillermo del Toro, Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, Hideo Kojima, Takashi Shimizu, Noi Sawaragi, Hidenori Okada, Toshihiro Iijima, Kazuo Sagawa, Kiyoshi Suzuki, Sadao Iizuka, Noriko Shishikura, Nicolas Winding Refn, Shannon Tindle, John Aoshima, Kairi Narita, and Pat Cadigan.
Acclaimed film director Hirokazu Kore-eda (live-action Look Back, Air Doll, Umimachi Diary) is credited for planning the documentary, and is also featured as one of the creatiives interviewed in the documentary.
Sources: The Origin of Ultraman documentary’s website, Eiga Natalie, Anime! Anime!
