This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
Planet Prince (???? Y?sei ?ji) is a 1958 Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. Created by Masaru Igami and produced by Nippon Gendai and Senkosha, the series aired on NTV from November 4, 1958 to October 6, 1959, with a total of 49 episodes (divided into several segments). It was created to capitalize on the success of Shintoho's Super Giant (Starman) movie series. In fact, the title hero (whose alter-ego was Waku-san, played by Toshio Mimura) bore a strong resemblance to Super Giant (known as "Starman" in the U.S.). Planet Prince was filmed in black and white ToeiScope format.
Planet Prince | |
---|---|
Japanese | ???? |
Hepburn | Y?sei ?ji |
Directed by | Eijir? Wakabayashi |
Produced by | Walter Manley, Toei Company |
Screenplay by | Shin Morita |
Story by | Masaru Igami |
Starring | Tatsuo Umemiya Joji Oda Hiroko Mine |
Music by | Katsuhisa Hattori |
Cinematography | Masahiko Iimura |
Distributed by | Toei Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 57 minutes (Part I) 64 minutes (Part II) |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Toei produced two theatrical movies in 1959 that featured the Planet Prince character, but wearing a completely different, more streamlined costume (and goggled helmet). The hero in these two movies was played by Tatsuo Umemiya. The movies were released a week apart. The films were titled:
- Planet Prince (???? Y?sei ?ji) Released: May 19, 1959
- Planet Prince - The Terrifying Spaceship (???? - ?????? Y?sei ?ji - Ky?fu no Uch?sen) Released: May 25, 1959
For TV release in America, these two Planet Prince movies were compiled into a 95-minute movie entitled Prince of Space in 1962. It was also called The Star Prince, Planet Prince or Prince Planet.
Screenplay
As mentioned before, the TV version looks very similar to Super Giant, in that both wear cowled costumes and capes. Each character also has super powers and flies. The two-part movie version (produced by Toei) is different, as Prince of Space wears a streamlined costume, cape, and helmet. In the edited US version he has no superpowers other than the invulnerability of his costume, but in a subplot unique to the Japanese version he is able to revert a man who was brainwashed by the Ginsei aliens back to a peaceful state. He uses a wand-like laser gun and flies a small spaceship.
In the TV version, just like Moonlight Mask, the Planet Prince persona was credited as being played by "?" (even though he never wore a mask to conceal his face).
In the film, Prince's enemy is Ambassador Phantom of the Silver Planet (?????????) (he also appeared in one of the tv series' story arcs), while in the U.S. version he is called Dictator Phantom of the Planet Krankor. He (along with his henchmen) wears a prosthetic nose and cowl that gives him a decidedly chicken-like appearance, something that is constantly mocked when the film was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Phantom and his henchmen also don't appear to wear undergarments, as is made painfully obvious in several shots.
A translation error in the English dub has Prince of Space declare "Your weapons are useless against me!", implying he is invulnerable to them. In the Japanese version, this line simply had him implying that their weapons were useless because he was capable of dodging them. The English line leads to confusion as the Prince is constantly shown running away from the lasers in spite of his stated invulnerability.
Prince of Space was also featured on the nationally syndicated television series Cinema Insomnia. On the show, there is a commercial for the album Candles, Krankor and You where the Dictator Phantom sings various cover songs to popular music as "Unforgettable" and "Summer Wind".
(Americanized names in parentheses)
- Planet Prince/Waku-san (Prince of Space/Wally) - Tatsuo Umemiya
- Ambassador Phantom (Ambassador Dictator Phantom) - Joji Oka
- Sachiko (Susie) - Hiroko Mine
- Dr. Maki (Dr. Macken) - Ushio Akashi
- Ichiro (Johnnie) - Akira Asami
- Makoto (Mickey) - Koji Komori
- Kimiko (Kimmy) - Midori Tsuzuki
- Inspector Takeda (Commissioner) - Takashi Kanda
- Sawamoto (Dr. Sangamon) - Akira Tatematsu
- Shibasaki - Masahiko Naruse
- Mukai - Ken Sudo
- Newsreporter Tabei - Ken Hasebe
- Newsreporter Tono - Giichi Sugi
- Sakai - Koji Sahara
- Tsunoda - Tokio Kozuka
- Keichi Kawajima (Inspector) - Rin'ichi Yamamoto
- Dr. Naito - Hiroshi Katayama
- Newspaper reporter - Yuji Kitamine
- Phantom's henchmen - Riki Iwaki, Kenji Todoroki, Hiroshi Mihara, Nobuo Yana
- Dr. Tateishi (Dr. Fletcher) - Shusuke Sone
- Mrs. Tateishi - Kaoru Nakano
- Commander Koda - Akikane Sawa
- Secretary of Defense Fukuhara - Shiko Saito
- Major Munakata - Tadashi Minamikawa
- Colonel Matsuda - Junkichi Orimoto
- Colonel Watanabe - Junji Masuda
- The Guardian - Rin'ichi Yamamoto
- Planning - Sanehiko Okada
- Director - Eijiro Wakabayashi
- Producer - Sanehiko Sonoda
- Screenplay - Shin Morita
- Original Story - Masaru Igami
- Music - Hirooki Ogawa (stock music; uncredited), Katsuhisa Hattori
- Director of Photography - Masahiko Iimura
- Lighting - Kenzo Ginya
- Art Director - Shuichiro Nakamura
- Recording - Shozo Hirokami
- Film Editor - Yoshiki Nagasawa
- Director of Special Effects - Shozo Horai
- Assistant Director - Hajime Sato
- Production Assistant - Takeshi Nishii
Theme Song – "Planet Prince Song"
- Vocals - Kamitakada Junior Chorus
- Lyrics - Masaru Igami
- Composer - Katsuhisa Hattori