An Afternoon with Gamera, Daimajin, and Jim Morgan!

Carl Craig with his old friend. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Sunday, April 5, I was able to spend the day with Carl Craig, who (I'm sure we all know by now) played Jim Morgan in Gamera vs. Viras (Destroy All Planets, 1968). We met at Chofu Station at 11:00 a.m. to take some photos in front of the Gamera murals there. After that, we moved on to Kadokawa Daiei Studios for more Gamera-related shenanigans.

When we explained to the security staff at the studio that Carl was the child actor from Gamera vs. Viras, we got some smiles but not that studio tour we were kind of hoping for in the back of our minds. Oh, well -- you win some, you lose some!

Following our brief trip to Kadokawa Daiei Studios, Carl wanted to go bullet train-shopping at Hobby Center Kato in Shinjuku. Once that was complete, we made our way to Roppongi, did some more shopping, and ate lunch at Saizeriya. Afterward, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. 

It was great to catch up with Carl not once but twice during his trip to Japan. I still can't believe it had been 20 years since we last hung out. That aside, today was an incredible day, and I've got the proof below!

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.

Carl Craig: proud papa!

Carl Craig poses with Brett at G-FEST 2005.

On April 22, at 8:52 in the morning, Evelyn Takeko Craig was brought into the world. Her father is Carl Craig, best known to us monster fans as Jim Morgan from Destroy All Planets (a.k.a. Gamera vs. Viras). Suffice it to say, Carl has much bigger things on his mind these days than Gamera!

The Craigs named Evelyn after her maternal and paternal great-grandmothers. At this point, all I can say is that Evelyn is one lucky girl. Not everyone has a father who helped save the world from alien squids!

Congratulations, Carl! Let's see those photos!