I’m a big fan of the 1969 Toei film FLYING PHANTOM SHIP – I paid cash money to have it translated into English, even though its story of a ultra-advanced flying battleship fighting super destructive giant robots controlled by an evil capitalist conspiracy masterminded by an undersea monster is easy enough to grasp, no matter what language it’s in. And as a big fan, I can’t quit writing about it.
So when I spotted this Asahi Sonorama children’s book-and-record set among the Kamen Rider singles and jazz LPs of Tokyo’s Kanda/Jinbucho neighborhood, there was no question that it would be coming home with me. And it did!
A highly abbreviated version of the film, what makes this scratchy Sonorama single stand out are the original Shotaro Ishinomori color illustrations. I can’t get enough of moody Ishinomori watercolors of tattered sailing vessels looming ominously in the background as Hayato, our audience-identification hero, bravely faces killer crabs and deadly soft drinks.
Not that those make it onto this Sonorama record, of course. Hey, even at 331/3 rpm you only get seven minutes per side, so something’s gotta get cut. But the important stuff remains, including the mysterious skull-masked captain of the Flying Phantom Ship, the robot Golem, and its ending in a giant explosion (cue producer of “Bride Of The Monster”). The opening song and music cues from the film remain, though the dialog is completely rewritten.
There are enough short Toei films from the late 1960s-early 1970s to outfit an entire fleet of Flying Phantom Ships, and while most of them can’t boast this movie’s pedigree, they’re all worth a look if you can dig ‘em up. Until that day, however, enjoy the scratches and pops of this representative sample.
So when I spotted this Asahi Sonorama children’s book-and-record set among the Kamen Rider singles and jazz LPs of Tokyo’s Kanda/Jinbucho neighborhood, there was no question that it would be coming home with me. And it did!
A highly abbreviated version of the film, what makes this scratchy Sonorama single stand out are the original Shotaro Ishinomori color illustrations. I can’t get enough of moody Ishinomori watercolors of tattered sailing vessels looming ominously in the background as Hayato, our audience-identification hero, bravely faces killer crabs and deadly soft drinks.
Not that those make it onto this Sonorama record, of course. Hey, even at 331/3 rpm you only get seven minutes per side, so something’s gotta get cut. But the important stuff remains, including the mysterious skull-masked captain of the Flying Phantom Ship, the robot Golem, and its ending in a giant explosion (cue producer of “Bride Of The Monster”). The opening song and music cues from the film remain, though the dialog is completely rewritten.
There are enough short Toei films from the late 1960s-early 1970s to outfit an entire fleet of Flying Phantom Ships, and while most of them can’t boast this movie’s pedigree, they’re all worth a look if you can dig ‘em up. Until that day, however, enjoy the scratches and pops of this representative sample.
