Happy 38th Birthday, Space Battleship Yamato!
Thirty-eight years ago, October 6, 1974, Space Battleship Yamato began its maiden voyage on Japanese television.
2012 is also the 40th anniversary of Okinawa’s Reversion to Japan. On May 12, the event was celebrated in Okinawa Civic Hall, at which the USMC III MEF Band played the theme to Yamato.
Happy 30th Birthday, Macross! October 3, 2012
Thirty years ago, Super Dimension Fortress Macross premiered on Japan’s Mainichi Broadcasting System. Studio Nue and Tatsunoko Production of Japan produced 36 episodes about an enormous alien battleship, manned by humans, defending Earth against a race of warrior giants. There were space battles galore, but at its heart was a love story involving a young pilot and a gorgeous pop singer. Harmony Gold imported the series to America, with Carl Macek adapting it into the first third of Robotech.
Here’s the original opening to Macross:
And the updated 2012 opening can be seen below and on YouTube here.
1984 saw the release of the feature film Macross: Do You Remember Love? Here’s some spectacular visuals from the opening:
A direct-to-video (OVA) series, Macross II: Lovers Again, came out in 1992, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the franchise:
Followed by the Macross Plus 4-part OVA series in 1994, inspired by Top Gun and featuring the music of Yoko Kanno.
That same year, Macross 7 premiered, the longest-running series of the franchise with 49 episodes, 2 movies, and 2 OVA sequels.
Macross Zero, an OVA series that’s a prequel to SDF Macross, was released in 2002. Here’s the opening dogfight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iD94oyGv88&feature=share&list=PLuPzC_3xhQD1eWGIzMoTNU4knQbNXBY7-&index=7
Macross Frontier celebrated the 25th anniversary in 2008. This TV series lasted 25 episodes, plus three spinoff movies.
Why has Macross lasted so long? It features high-tech action, love stories, some spectacular animation and great pop music. An effective combination!
The Star Wars Reference Guide: Progress Report 9/14/2012
Over the past few months I’ve been switching back-and-forth between working on the first Justice Dragon book, and cataloging periodicals for The Star Wars Reference Guide. The annotated Guide is global in coverage, documenting published material up to the year 1990. British coverage is especially important, since British craftsmen and technicians provided such a great contribution to the original trilogy.
This week, I finished compiling entries for all the Star Wars comics published in England prior to 1990. That’s 378 English Star Wars comics! These include
Star Wars Weekly #1-117
The Empire Strikes Back Weekly #118-139
The Empire Strikes Back Monthly #140-158
Star Wars Monthly #159-171
Star Wars Summer Special 1983. Summer 1983
Star Wars Summer Special 1985. Summer 1985
Return of the Jedi #1-155
Return of the Jedi 1983-1984 Winter Special. Winter 1983-1984
Return of the Jedi 1984 Christmas Special. (December) 1984
Return of the Jedi 1984 Summer Special. (June 6) 1984
Spider Man and Zoids #15-22
ANNUALS
Star Wars Annual, (Britain)
n. 1. 1979. (November) 1978
n. 2. 1980. (October) 1979
n. 3. 1981. (December) 1981
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Annual,
n. 1. (August) 1980
n. 2. (August) 1981
Return of the Jedi Annual 1983. August 1983
Return of the Jedi Annual 1984. (August) 1984
Star Wars Annual Featuring Ewoks. (July) 1985
Ewoks Annual 1989. (August 1) 1988
EWOKS / DROIDS
Droids TV Special 1988. (April 28), 1988
Droids (Spring) Special. March 1989
Ewoks (Monthly) #1-10
Marvel Bumper Comic #14-25
Spidey Comic #661-666
***
I wish to thank Robin Kirby for filling in some of the holes I needed for the latter issues of Return of the Jedi.
I’d also like to thank Pete Vilmur, co-author of The Star Wars Poster Book and Vader: The Ultimate Guide, for swapping some very hard-to-find items. Pete has been a wonderful asset to me, and to Lucasfilm.
John Larson of the Saint Paul Public Library has gone above and beyond the call of charity, by digging up articles from the Minneapolis-St. Paul vicinity, for which I am grateful.
Another deserving of recognition is Katalin Baumann of the Glendale Public Library, for retrieving articles and microfilms through their interlibrary loan service. These articles come from all over the U.S., enabling me to have a more comprehensive bibliography, and thus, more information to share with those who buy the book.
Many librarians and researchers throughout the western world have helped me with this project. I’m grateful to them all.
Below is my wantlist for periodicals published in Britain. If you live there and can supply these, this will pretty much wrap up my cataloguing of Star Wars press coverage in England. Thank you!
M Bigscreen, (Britain)
* August 11, 1983. (SW)
M BKSTS Journal, (Britain)
(British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society)
* v. 66, n. 10. October 1984. (SW) (LU)
N Daily Star. (London) CAMBRIDGE
* June 10, 1983. (R) p. 15.
N Daily Telegraph. (London)
* December 26, 1977. (SW) “Disco Funk from the Outer Worlds?” p. .
N The Mail on Sunday. (London) CAMBRIDGE, BRITISH LIBRARY
*Check July 10, 1983. (R)
December 23, 1984. (EW) “All the Fun of the Fur,” p. 33. Check for photo.
M Newsagent & Bookshop. (Britain)
* November 30, 1978. (SW)
* M The Star. (London) December 18, 1977
Susan Forscutt Arkell.
“Merchandisers are Ready for the Kill,”
“British Filmmakers Say It’s Their Star Wars,” p. . Article extols the British
participation in Star Wars, and advantages of working with a British cast and crew. Filming for Star Wars 2 is scheduled for January 1979. Comments from Gary Kurtz and John Barry.
N Sunday Mirror. (London)
* December 18, 1977. (SW)
M Video – The Magazine, (Britain) [Video Today] CAMBRIDGE UNIV
* February 1986. (R)
M Video World, (Britain) CAMBRIDGE UNIV
* v. 2, n. 9. September 1980. Color cover, R2. “R2D2 and the Dream Factory”
* v. 4, n. 7. July 1982. Color cover photo inset, X-wing fighter
M Weekend, (Britain)
* May 25, 1983. (R)
M What’s On in London.
* December 23, 1977. n.g. ON FILM–“‘Star Wars’ Star,” p. . 2 photos.
Interview with Harrison Ford.
* December 20, 1984. “Californian Cuties,” p. 41.
M Woman. (Britain)
* December 24, 1977.
Triumph of the Justice Dragon
There’s no doubt about it. Dragons are hot, these days. DreamWorks has their franchise, and Weta Digital is bringing Smaug to life for the Hobbit films. Meanwhile, I’m writing and illustrating The Justice Dragon’s Secret. That secret will affect mankind, and one young man has the key to unlock it–if he survives a tribe of hostile dragons, that is.
DreamWorks’ Dragons Debut
A Viking named Hiccup. A dragon named Toothless. Their adventures have so far spanned ten books by British author Cressida Cowell. DreamWorks produced a film version of How to Train Your Dragon, directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, which turned into a box office blockbuster in 2010.
A trio of shorts followed: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010), Book of Dragons (2011) and Gift of the Night Fury (2011).
[The original post featured videos, since removed from YouTube.]
Then, the inevitable TV spinoff, Dragons: Riders of Berk, broadcast on Cartoon Network.
Two back-to-back episodes premiered on August 7, 2012: “How to Start a Dragon Academy” and “Viking for Hire.”
The series began its regular showings on September 4.
A stage show, How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular, features 23 enormous animatronic dragons, from the creators of the Walking With Dinosaurs Arena Spectacular.
An advance preview was given to the Australian press in August 2011:
This $20 million production began its tour in Melbourne in March 2012, played in New Zealand in April and, beginning in June, began traveling through North America. See the website for details.
The Today Show provided behind-the-scenes coverage on May 11, 2012. See here.
Meanwhile, production continues on a motion picture sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, directed by Dean DeBlois, set for release June 20, 2014. Number 3 is also in the works.
There’s no doubt about it. Jeffrey Katzenberg knows how to ignite a franchise.
SCBWI Summer Conference 2012
Every year the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators hosts a convention in Los Angeles, attracting writers, editors, agents and illustrators. The latest marketplace conditions are presented, advice is given and the craft of writing is honed. At her blog, Nutschell Anne Windsor details this year’s events and shares some advice from the presentations:
Summer Conference Day 1
August 3
What books have a timeless quality? Arthur Levine, US editor of the Harry Potter series, gives a list and mentions what it takes for a book to be timeless.
Summer Conference Day 2
August 4
Deborah Halverson presents the 2012 SCBWI Market Survey, and the current trends in publishing.
Summer Conference Day 3
August 5
A panel of agents talk about what they’re looking for in a client and offer advice. Also, author Deborah Halverson discussed “How to Talk Like a Teen When You’re So Not One”
