When I hear the word Sanrio, the first thing that comes to mind is Hello Kitty - whom is the Sanrio Corporation's most popular "kawaii" character. Hello Kitty, while being a corporate Japanese mascot, is beloved around the world. There are only a handful of fictional Japanese icons that share just as much fame in the worldwide market, however only one of those icons predates Hello Kitty...
...that Japanese icon being the king of monsters, Godzilla.
So back in the early 90's during Godzilla's first resurgence into what is now known as the Heisei series, Godzilla franchise owners and film studio, TOHO, teamed up with Sanrio to create a 4D attraction for Sanrio's Puroland amusement park in Tokyo.
They called it Monster Planet of Godzilla.
It featured a POV style short film of Godzilla going up against the Japanese Self Defense Force (J.S.D.F), Rodan, and Mothra. The 3D film was created specifically for the attraction and was enhanced with motion controlled seating and even made use of odors to further immerse the audience into the experience.
I bet Godzilla smelled like shit.
The attraction ran from 1994 until the early 2000's when it was eventually replaced by "Time Machine of Dreams", which utilized the same format.
Fortunately the short film itself has been released a couple of times in Japan on DVD as a bonus feature, and I just happened to pick up a special edition boxed copy of Godzilla 1984 this weekend, which to my delight included Monster Planet of Godzilla. I uploaded it to my YouTube channel but had to take it down due to monetization and copyright purposes :( So instead, I've added it here, directly to my blog for everyone around the world to enjoy :)
There were actually already a couple versions of this floating around online, but they looked like ass. The version I've uploaded is the best looking copy online to date, but please note that I have yet to add subtitles, although I know you are all here for the monster action, not the talking!!
So sit back and enjoy some giant monster mayhem, but if you want to recreate the smells, I'd say a rotten can of sardines and a lit cigarette should cover it.
Enjoy!!
. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment