“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing & jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth kaiju creature battle feature masterpiece from Japan’s Toho Studios.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70)

Original 1966 Toho Studios theatrical release trailer for “War of the Gargantuas” in Japan, featuring Russ Tamblyn’s dialogue track.

“All Brand New!” 1966 Toho Studios concept poster art for the international/worldwide feature film distribution market for “The War of the Gargantuas.”

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic creature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70), this Sat.; Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The classic mammoth 1966/70 Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production was directed by veteran Toho Studios feature film director and the father of classic mammoth kaiju creature cinema masterpieces, Ishirô Honda.  Honda’s best-known productions throughout his feature film directorial career include his classic mammoth Toho Studios pioneering kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Gojira”/”Godzilla” (1954, released in the United States under the title of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” with added scenes directed by Terry O. Morse that featured Raymond Burr of TV’s “Perry Mason” fame), “Rodan“ (1956), “Mothra” (1961, released through Columbia Pictures in the United States), “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963, released through Universal Studios in the United States). “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964, released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Thing”), “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964), “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), “All Monsters Attack” (1969, released theatrically in the United States under the title of “Godzilla’s Revenge”) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975).

Several of Honda’s other classic mammoth sci-fi masterpiece productions for Toho Studios outside of the kaiju genre included “The H-Man” (1958) and “Battle in Outer Space” (1959, both of Honda’s Toho productions of “The H-Man and “Battle in Outer Space” were released theatrically in the United States through Columbia Pictures by arrangement with Toho Studios, Sony/Columbia still owns the North American theatrical re-release, television syndication and home entertainment distribution rights to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios masterpiece productions of “The H-Man,” “Battle in Outer Space” and “Mothra”).

Honda also co-wrote the original screenplay treatment for “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) with veteran Toho Studios screenwriter Takeshi Kimura. Kimura was a screenwriter for Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios-Universal Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece production of “King Kong Escapes” (1967 dubbed for the North American theatrical market under the supervision of veteran stop-motion animation holiday TV masterpiece program producers Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass) and worked on many of the screenplay elements for several of the studio’s latter classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece feature productions from 1968-73.  Kimura received screen credit for Honda’s production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1967) under the pseudonym of Kaoru Mabuchi.

Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) was co-produced by veteran executive producer Kenichirô Tsunoda and veteran Toho Studios producer Tomoyuki Tanaka.

Tsunoda previously produced Senkichi Taniguchi‘s classic mammoth Toho Studios fantasy-adventure-action masterpiece production of “The Lost World of Sinbad” (1963) with veteran actor Toshirô Mifune; the aforementioned 1963 Toho Studios production was released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures.

Tanaka helped supervise many of the classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature feature masterpiece productions for the majority of his career; dating back to Honda’s original classic mammoth 1954 Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece production and concluding with Tako Okawara‘s modern classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kajiu creature masterpiece production of “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” (1995, the North American theatrical dub release was later handled through Columbia Pictures/Sony’s TriStar Pictures moniker).  Alongside Honda, it was noted that Tanaka was the other pioneer of Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions, notably for the studio’s classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” feature film masterpiece  productions.

The North American dubbing of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70) was supervised by veteran producer-production executive-screenwriter Reuben Bercovitch, who also wrote the story treatment for the North American dub of Honda’s classic mammoth 1966 Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production.  Bercovitch worked as an executive for Henry G. Saperstein’s United Productions of America (UPA), according to Brett Homenick’s 2017 retrospective article on the life and career of Bercovitch and article with the Bertovitch family for Vantage Point Interviews.

Of interest to fellow Super Tooners/Super SvenPals of Toony & Bill Leff/Bill the Cartoon Curator’s weekday morning Me-TV classic mammoth cartoon masterpiece showcase series, “Toon In With Me;” UPA was primarily known as the animation studio that took over the Columbia Pictures animation contract in 1948 after Columbia shuttered their own in-house “Screen Gems” animation studio in 1946 (inspired by the “Gem of the Screen” motto that was used for 1926-32 print variant of Columbia’s famous studio trademark, the “Screen Gems” name was re-purposed for Columbia’s pioneering TV production-syndication unit).  UPA’s theatrical animated short subjects for Columbia theatrical release included the final series of Columbia’s “Fox and Crow” theatrical cartoons and the original classic mammoth Columbia “Mr. Magoo” theatrical cartoon masterpiece series with the vocal stylings of Jim Backus, beginning with “Ragtime Bear” (1949) and the classic mammoth Columbia-UPA animated short subject adaptation masterpiece production of Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel‘s “Gerald Mc Boing-Boing” (1950, released two years before Stanley Kramer and Roy Rowland‘s 1953 Columbia live-action feature production of Seuss’ “The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.“).  

“Godzilla Meets ‘Magoo’!” 1985 ad from Broadcasting Magazine (Broadcasting & Cable) for Bocass Communications and their syndication package of UPA cartoons and TV syndication of select classic mammoth Toho Studios feature film masterpieces at the time.

UPA later turned their attention to animated cartoons for TV, including “The Mr. Magoo Show” (1960-61), the classic mammoth animated holiday special masterpiece production “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” (1962), a syndicated animated adaptation of Chester Gould‘s “Dick Tracy” (1961) and “The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo” (1964-65).  Saperstein decided to focus on the North American theatrical dubbing rights to Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions.

According to fellow Super SvenPal/Super Tooner Dave Fuentes’ 2016 “Terror From Beyond the Dave” in-depth retrospective article on the 50th anniversary of Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature feature masterpiece and Stuart Collier’s Oct. 2019 Turner Classic Movies online retrospective article, it was noted that during the original 1966 Toho Studios theatrical release of “War of the Gargantuas” in Japan; Honda’s production was originally intended as a direct sequel to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature-monster masterpiece production of “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” (1965) with Nick Adams, Kenji Sahara, Kumi Mizuno, Jun Tazaki and Tadao Takashima.   A previous co-production between Toho Studios and Saperstein’s UPA, the dubbed version of Honda’s 1965 classic mammoth kaiju creature-monster masterpiece production was released theatrically in the United States under the title of “Frankenstein Conquers the World” (1966) by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures; according to IMDB.

This will mark Sven’s second big broadcast of the UPA dub of Honda’s classic mammoth 1966 Toho Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece production on the airlanes of Me-TV.  He previously showcased “War of the Gargantuas” (1966/1970) as a big broadcast premiere from coast-to-coast back in Feb. 2023.

Who was in Ishiro Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece production “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70)?

The players who appeared in Ishiro Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaju creature masterpiece production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70) were veteran Toho Studios stunt performer/kaiju creature suit stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (as Gaira), veteran Toho Studios actor-stunt performer Yû Sekita (as Sanda), Russ Tamblyn (as Dr. Paul Stewart), Kumi Mizuno (as Akemi Togawa), Kenji Sahara (as Dr. Yuzo Majida), Nobuo Nakamura (as Dr. Kita), Jun Tazaki (as a General), Hisaya Itô (as the Police chief), Yoshifumi Tajima (as a Police officer), Ren Yamamoto (as a sailor), Kipp Hamilton (as a singer), Kôzô Nomura (as an aide to the General), Nadao Kirino and Shôichi Hirose (as soldiers), Tadashi Okabe, Hideo Shibuya, Yoshio Katsube and Yutaka Oka (as reporters), Ikio Sawamura and Seishirô Kuno (as fishermen), Someshô Matsumoto (as an official), Yû Fujiki and Bin Furuya (as Coast Guard members) Shigeo Katô (as a JSDF member) and Akio Kusama (as one of the key leaders within Japan’s Self-Defense Force).

“Svengoolie” presents his big premiere of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70), plus “Sventoonie;” this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing & jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast premiere of one of the classic mammoth kaiju creature feature masterpieces from Japan’s Toho Studios.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast premiere of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70), plus “Sventoonie”

Original 1966 Toho Studios theatrical trailer for the original theatrical release of “The War of the Gargantuas” in Japan.

Original 1966 Toho Studios theatrical poster art for the original theatrical release of “The War of the Gargantuas” in Japan.

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based classic creature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast premiere of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70), Sat., Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central; followed by “Sventoonie” at 10:30 p.m. Eastern/9:30 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The classic mammoth 1966/70 Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production was directed by veteran Toho Studios feature film director and the father of kaiju creature cinema, Ishirô Honda.  Honda’s best-known productions throughout his feature film directorial career include his classic mammoth Toho Studios pioneering kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Gojira”/”Godzilla” (1954, released in the United States under the title of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” with added scenes directed by Terry O. Morse that featured Raymond Burr of TV’s “Perry Mason” fame), “Rodan“ (1956), “Mothra” (1961, released through Columbia Pictures in the United States), “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963, released through Universal Studios in the United States). “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964, released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Thing”), “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964), “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), “All Monsters Attack” (1969, released theatrically in the United States under the title of “Godzilla’s Revenge”) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975).   Several of his non-kaiju classic mammoth sci-fi masterpiece productions for Toho Studios included “The H-Man” (1958) and “Battle in Outer Space” (1959, both of Honda’s Toho productions of “The H-Man and “Battle in Outer Space” were released theatrically in the United States through Columbia Pictures by arrangement with Toho Studios, Sony/Columbia still owns the North American theatrical re-release, television syndication and home entertainment distribution rights to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios masterpiece productions of “The H-Man,” “Battle in Outer Space” and “Mothra”).

Honda also co-wrote the original screenplay treatment for “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) with veteran Toho Studios screenwriter Takeshi Kimura, who was a screenwriter for Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature battle masterpiece production of “King Kong Escapes” (1967, dubbed for the North American theatrical market under the supervision of veteran stop-motion animation holiday TV program producers Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass and released through Universal Studios) and worked on many of the screenplay elements for several of the studio’s latter classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece feature productions from 1968-73.  Kimura received screen credit for “The War of the Gargantuas” (1967) under the pseudonym of Kaoru Mabuchi. .

Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) was co-produced by veteran executive producer Kenichirô Tsunoda and veteran Toho Studios producer Tomoyuki Tanaka.  Tsunoda previously produced Senkichi Taniguchi‘s classic mammoth Toho Studios fantasy-adventure-action masterpiece production of “The Lost World of Sinbad” (1963) with veteran actor Toshirô Mifune; the aforementioned 1963 Toho Studios production was released in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures.  Tanaka helped supervise many of the classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature feature masterpiece productions for the majority of his career; dating back to Honda’s original classic mammoth 1954 Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece production and concluding with Tako Okawara‘s modern classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kajiu creature masterpiece production of “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” (1995, the North American theatrical dub release was later handled through Columbia Pictures/Sony’s TriStar Pictures moniker).  Alongside Honda, it was noted that Tanaka was the other pioneer of Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions, notably for the studio’s classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” feature film masterpiece  productions.

The North American dub of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70) was supervised by veteran producer-production executive-screenwriter Reuben Bercovitch, who also wrote the story treatment for the North American dub of Honda’s classic mammoth 1966 Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production.  Bercovitch worked as an executive for Henry G. Saperstein’s United Productions of America (UPA), according to Brett Homenick’s 2017 retrospective article on the life and career of Bercovitch and article with the Bertovitch family for Vantage Point Interviews.

Of interest to fellow Super Tooners/Super SvenPals of Toony & Bill Leff/Bill the Cartoon Curator’s weekday morning Me-TV classic mammoth cartoon masterpiece showcase series, “Toon In With Me;” UPA was primarily known as the animation studio that took over the Columbia Pictures animation contract in 1948 after Columbia shuttered their own in-house “Screen Gems” animation studio in 1946 (the “Screen Gems” name was re-purposed for Columbia’s pioneering TV production-syndication unit).  UPA’s theatrical animated short subjects for Columbia theatrical release included the final series of Columbia’s “Fox and Crow” theatrical cartoons and the original classic mammoth Columbia “Mr. Magoo” theatrical cartoon masterpiece series with the vocal stylings of Jim Backus, beginning with “Ragtime Bear” (1949)  and the classic mammoth Columbia-UPA animated short subject adaptation masterpiece production of Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel‘s “Gerald Mc Boing-Boing” (1950).  

UPA later turned their attention to animated cartoons for TV, including “The Mr. Magoo Show” (1960-61), the animated holiday special “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” (1962), a syndicated animated adaptation of Chester Gould‘s “Dick Tracy” (1961) and “The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo” (1964-65).  Saperstein decided to focus on the North American theatrical dubbing rights to Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions.  UPA later had the North American theatrical licensing, TV syndication licensing and home entertainment licensing rights to the classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature feature film masterpieces for a brief time.  The UPA dub of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) was released four years later in 1970 through Maron Films, according to IMDB.

Who was in “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70)?

The players who appeared in Ishiro Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaju creature masterpiece production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70) were veteran Toho Studios stunt performer/kaiju creature suit stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (as Gaira), veteran Toho Studios actor-stunt performer Yû Sekita (as Sanda), Russ Tamblyn (as Dr. Paul Stewart), Kumi Mizuno (as Akemi Togawa), Kenji Sahara (as Dr. Yuzo Majida), Nobuo Nakamura (as Dr. Kita), Jun Tazaki (as a General), Hisaya Itô (as the Police chief), Yoshifumi Tajima (as a Police officer), Ren Yamamoto (as a sailor), Kipp Hamilton (as a singer), Kôzô Nomura (as an aide to the General), Nadao Kirino and Shôichi Hirose (as soldiers), Tadashi Okabe, Hideo Shibuya, Yoshio Katsube and Yutaka Oka (as reporters), Ikio Sawamura and Seishirô Kuno (as fishermen), Someshô Matsumoto (as an official), Yû Fujiki and Bin Furuya (as Coast Guard members) Shigeo Katô (as a JDSF member) and Akio Kusama (as an executive with the Self Defense Force).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “King Kong Escapes” (1967), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a classic Toho Studios–Universal Studios mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “King Kong Escapes” (1967)

Original Toho Studios theatrical trailer for the Japanese theatrical release of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece, “King Kong Escapes” (1967). Universal Studios handled the North American theatrical release of Honda’s production.

Original Toho Studios theatrical poster artwork for the Japanese theatrical release of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece, “King Kong Escapes” (1967). Universal Studios handled the North American theatrical release of Honda’s production in 1968.

The legendry Berwyn/Chicago-based creature film host will present his big broadcast of “King Kong Escapes” (1967) this Sat., May 22 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

Co-produced by Toho Studios of Japan and released in the states by Universal Studios, the classic 1967 mammoth kaiju creature feature film masterpiece was directed by veteran Toho Studios director Ishirô Honda, who received screen credit in the film under the name of Inoshiro Honda.  Honda’s best known classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions for Toho Studios of Japan include “Gojira”/”Godzilla” (1954, released/re-purposed in 1956 as “Godzilla: King of the Monsters!” in the United States with Raymond Burr in the North American dub); “Rodan“ (1956), “Mothra” (1961), “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1962), “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964, released in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Thing”), “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964), “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” (1965), “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966), “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), “All Monsters Attack” (1969, a.k.a. “Godzilla’s Revenge”) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975).

Honda’s classic 1967 Toho Studios/Universal mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece was produced by veteran Toho Studios producer Tomoyuki Tanaka.  Alongside producing the majority of Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions, Tanaka also served as producer for Akira Kurosawa’s classic mammoth Japanese samurai drama masterpiece with Toshirô Mifune for Toho Studios, “Yojimbo” (1961).  The North American dub of “King Kong Escapes” was produced for Universal Studios by veteran producer Arthur Rankin Jr.  Rankin was known for working with veteran producer Jules Bass on their numerous classic mammoth “Animagic” stop-motion animation holiday television and feature film productions under the name of Rankin/Bass Productions (a.k.a. “Videocraft International”), including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1964) and their classic mammoth Halloween/horror/comedy stop-motion Animagic feature film masterpiece released through Joseph E. Levine’s Embassy Pictures with the vocal characterizations of silver screen horror legend Boris Karloff and comedian legend Phyllis Diller, “Mad Monster Party?” (1967). The North American dub of “King Kong Escapes” (1967) was a joint collaboration between Toho Studios of Japan, Rankin/Bass Productions and Universal Studios.

The screenplay for Honda’s classic mammoth 1967 kaiju creature masterpiece was written by veteran Toho Studios screenwriter Takeshi Kimura, who received screen credit under the pseudonym of Kaoru Mabuchi.  Kimura previously wrote the screenplay for Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios sci-fi/mystery masterpiece, “The H-Man” (1958, released theatrically in the United States by Columbia Pictures).  Mabuchi also wrote the screenplay for the latter Toho Studios classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpieces, including “Destroy All Monsters” (1968, under the pseudonym of Mabuchi), “Godzilla vs. Hedorah” (1971, Mabuchi), “Godzilla vs. Gigan” (1972) and “Godzilla vs. Megalon” (1973).

Kimura’s screenplay was partially inspired by screenwriter Edgar Wallace. Wallace wrote the screenplay for the original Ernest B. Schoedsack– Merian C. Cooper–Willis O’Brien–David O. Selznick–RKO Radio Pictures* classic mammoth stop-motion creature/fantasy masterpiece, “King Kong” (1933), which featured Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Noble Johnson, Victor Wong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher and the “eighth wonder of the world,” Kong!

This will mark Svengoolie’s fourth big broadcast of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth 1967 Toho Studios/Universal kaiju creature masterpiece production on Me-TV.  He previously showcased “King Kong Escapes” (1967) back in June 2013 (as a big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere), Jan. 2014 and Jan. 2016 (Fun Fact: I recall that Sven’s big Jan. 2016 Me-TV broadcast of “King Kong Escapes” was shown on my 28^th Birthday back on Jan. 16, 2016)! –C.H.

Who was in Ishirô Honda’s classic Toho Studios/Universal Studios mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece production of “King Kong Escapes” (1967)?

The players who appeared in Ishirô Honda’s classic Toho Studios/Universal mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece production of “King Kong Escapes” (1967) were veteran stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (in the “King Kong” suit), Yû Sekita (in the Mecha-Kong/Gorosaurus suits), Rhodes Reason (as Cmdr. Carl Nelson), Mie Hama (as Madame Piranha, a.k.a. “Madame X”**), Linda Miller (as Lt. Susan Watson), Akira Takarada (as Lt. Cmdr. Jiro Nomura), Hideyo Amamoto (as Dr. Who***), credited under the name of Eisei Amamoto), Yoshifumi Tajima, Shôichi Hirose, Susumu Kurobe, Nadao Kirino, Tôru Ibuki and Kazuo Suzuki (as henchmen); Yasuhisa Tsutsumi (as a General), Ikio Sawamura (as a Mondo Islander), Tadashi Okabe and Seishirô Kuno (as soldiers);  Andrew Hughes (as a United Nations reporter), the vocal stylings of Paul Frees (for the  dubbing of Hideyo/Eisei Amamoto’s characterization of Dr. Who***), the vocal stylings of Julie Bennett (for the dubbing of various characters) and the vocal stylings of David de Keyser (for the dubbing of various characters).