Gamera's Jim Morgan Through the Years: 2005 and 2007

Carl Craig with a Destroy All Planets/Noriaki Yuasa tribute polo shirt in July 2005. Photo by Brett Homenick.

This next batch of photos of Carl Craig (Jim Morgan in Gamera vs. Viras, a.k.a. Destroy All Planets, 1968) covers  his Chicago appearances in July 2005 and July 2007, though most of the photos in this blog post are actually from 2005. (The 2007 photos only cover the recording of the Retromedia Destroy All Planets commentary track.) In 2005, Carl and I hosted a panel discussion that paid tribute to Noriaki Yuasa, who had passed away the previous year in 2004, photos of which can be found below.

Posing with Carl Craig with props from Gamera vs. Viras.

Carl Craig at his table.

Carl Craig meets Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) director Yoshimitsu Banno in July 2005. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Carl Craig and yours truly host the Noriaki Yuasa tribute panel discussion.

The photos below are from July 2007 when we recorded the Destroy All Planets commentary:

Recording the Destroy All Planets commentary track. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Gamera's Jim Morgan Through the Years: 2003

Carl Craig in July 2003. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Seeing Carl Craig (Jim Morgan in Gamera vs. Viras, a.k.a. Destroy All Planets, 1968) made me want to dust off some old photos and share them here. This batch is from Chicago in July 2003, during which I met Carl for the first time. Also in attendance was Gamera director Noriaki Yuasa, whom Carl hadn't seen in 35 years. These photos were taken with a disposal camera and aren't of the best quality, but I wanted to preserve them, so here you go. 

Carl Craig with Noriaki Yuasa (and Viras). Photo by Brett Homenick.

Yours truly wearing Noriaki Yuasa's hat.

Gamera's Jim Morgan Returns to Japan!

Carl Craig with his film debut. Photo by Brett Homenick.

When I lived in Japan during my first go-round, one area of disappoint was the lack of visits to the country from folks I'd interviewed who'd been involved in Japanese movies in one capacity or another. Several people talked about making the trek and meeting up over here, but it ended up almost never happening. Well, I haven't been back all that long, and already my luck has improved.

 

On Saturday, March 28, I was privileged to spend the evening with Carl Craig, the former child actor who played Jim Morgan in Gamera vs. Viras (a.k.a. Destroy All Planets, 1968). I'd met Carl a number of times during the 2000s at conventions, but it's still hard for me to believe that I hadn't seen him in the flesh since 2007 when we recorded the commentary track for Retromedia's Destroy All Planets DVD. Where did all that time go?

We met up in Akihabara and walked around the area with his family. While Carl's daughters went shopping, he shared many stories from his days in Japan, the Air Force, and a host of other topics. 

It was surprisingly difficult for us to find a restaurant that could accommodate five guests. I suppose that's because it was Akihabara on a Saturday night, but I was taken aback by how many times we were turned away due to lack of available space. By this time, Carl's daughters wanted to eat at a nearby McDonald's which is what we did. (Even in Japan, you can't go wrong with a little Scottish cuisine.)

Of course, there were obligatory photos taken and autographs signed. All in all, it was a fun evening with a friend I hadn't seen in person in nearly -- gulp! -- 20 years. I hope our next visit doesn't take another 20.

Godzilla vs. Ichikakuya Ramen in Shinjuku!

Photo by Brett Homenick.

While out and about in Shinjuku today, I spied this promotion for Ichikakuya restaurants. I wasn't in the mood for ramen, so I didn't partake, but I thought it was interesting enough to photograph, so here you go!

Ultraman: Towards the Storage Unit!

Ultraman sez, "Keep it!" Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

While out and about today, I spied not one but two storage units (owned and operated by the same company, of course) that prominently use Ultraman to advertise their services. It was certainly unexpected -- maybe they'll bring in Ultraman to host Storage Wars!

The King of the Monsters Begins His Purple Reign

Image courtesy of Kaiju No. 14.

If a man is considered guilty

For [putting fake director quotes in official Godzilla books]

Then gimme the electric chair

For all my future crimes, oh

Electric chair

-- Prince, "Batdance"

I firmly believe the Internet should talk about Hideaki Anno less (not more), but this bit of goony nonsense was too amusing to pass up. Last year, an "official" Godzilla book was released, which to this day I've never seen. Until recently, all I knew about it is that one of the authors promised some never-before-seen storyboards (or whatever), upon which a Twitter user pointed out that these would-be exclusives had already been published for years. Other than that, I didn't know much else.

That was until yesterday when I discovered that this "official" tome published an all-time howler, which you can see in the image above. Although I wasn't aware of it at the time, a fake quote attributed to Shin Godzilla (2016) director Hideaki Anno was making the rounds online at the time of the film's release, in which the auteur supposedly named Prince as an inspiration for his movie.

An example can be found here, but, as you can very easily see, the alleged quote was quickly debunked in the comments. So how did it get past our "masterclass" authors and into an official history of the Godzilla series?

That's a great question, but, if past is prologue, I'm afraid we won't get any satisfactory answers. Had this blunder occurred in some other book, either the aforementioned authors themselves or their social-media mouthpieces would be flogging it for years, using it as a cudgel to discredit the poor, duped, disgraced journalist and as proof that only a select few self-appointed experts should cover the genre.

To illustrate this point, another writer who tackled Ishiro Honda in his own biography got put through the ringer for a string of silly typos ("eye-pooping" being the most eye-popping example), which have been used ever since to discredit him and his research. The first Honda book does contain its share of flaws, but I'm pretty sure it didn't contain any fake quotes about how the director got the idea for the film while spinning some Paul Anka records.

Will the stench of this "Purple Rain" gag follow our heroic book authors and DVD commentators the same way that "eye-pooping" has followed the embattled first Honda biographer? Pfft! Who are we kidding? The reaction to the revelation of this gaffe on social media was mostly muted, and folks have already moved on to more pressing topics, like how Rental Family (2025) is pure cinema. 

Happily, this is something we can correct ourselves. Remember the laziness and sloppiness on display here, and make future book-purchasing decisions accordingly.

Toho Entertainment Store in Hibiya!

Photo by Brett Homenick.

While out and about in Hibiya on March 13, I discovered the Toho Entertainment Store quite by accident in Hibiya Chanter. As the name might suggest, this store is not another Godzilla store but sells goods related to various Toho properties -- Godzilla included. 

There were some cool items for sale, such as Blu-rays of Godzilla movies and other things, but I successfully kept my money in my wallet. I really ought to start spending less money, but that's easier said than done.

Godzilla is so well represented in Hibiya that a 7-Eleven in the basement of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya has its own Godzilla section. So, yes, you may be able to buy a Slurpee at yours, but can you buy a Godzilla keychain there, too? Yeah, that's what I thought! 

Kaiju Invade TV Asahi!

Sennengama at TV Asahi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On March 13, I was exploring the TV Asahi Building in Roppongi when I stumbled upon an unusual sight -- a kaiju on display! It turns out it's Sennengama from the current TV series Kamen no Ninja Akakage (Masked Ninja Akakage, 2025-26). But you don't often see kaiju hanging out at TV Asahi, so it was worth a photo!