Battle Of The Planets Ep21: The Musical Mummy

"Crazy Music." -Keyop-

"Yeah, it's weird." -Mark (not at all referring to the always memorable, fantastically bold score by Hoyt Curtin and Bob Sakuma employed for the stateside series)-

Before deep diving into our latest entry, Battle Of The Planets, Episode 21, The Musical Mummy, we look back at a little Tatsunoko Studios animation history.

As noted in our previous entry, Episode 20, Magnetic Attraction, president and then producer of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974; 105 episodes), Ippei Kuri, discussed the difficulty of obtaining quality animators for the series.

Indeed the images and drawings for Battle Of The Planets (1978-1980; 85 episodes) are truly awesome at times. The art/cel work itself is simply gorgeous. Animators were always initiating thick black lines and a great use of a vast array of colors and shades.

In Newtype USA (August 2004) in the article Inside Tatsunoko Production, Kuri discussed what the Japanese animator was up against when it came to budgetary restrictions and cited Disney as a contrasting example of the American methodology versus the one necessary for animating in Japan.

Kuri accurately explained the contrast. "America had a history starting with Disney that used lots of frames, just for the mouth movements" (p.22). Kuri remarked that such an approach on the mouth would have chewed up the Japanese budget in no time by using up a fairly finite number of cels. Kuri notes that Disney's success was in its ability to create motion. The lower cel count used in anime unfortunately limited movement. Kuri explained that in Japan animators had to be creative and essentially fill a given frame with loads of visual information. His interview offered interesting insight into the process. "Even when there's no movement, we have to entertain. We put in shadows or little details to allow [the pause] to hold its own. The pictures themselves are elaborate. If Disney had done that back then, it would have taken them forever to finish anything. If we could make one of the frames detailed enough, we could usually make it work for about three seconds. In Japan, we make lots of scenes where just the mouth is moving, or just the eyes sparkle. If you make the pictures really detailed, it becomes entertaining, and people will watch it." In Japan, animators achieved the desired effect.

Battle Of The Planets may not always move with the kind of human fluidity our eyes would prefer, but many of its cels are glorious to behold and enjoy for any fan of art and its creative beauty. Kuri's examination explains in good detail the approach that worked so very well in the series on such basic scenes as the twinkle on Mark's sonic boomerang or singular, gorgeously drawn images during the fiery Phoenix or of any vehicle or character. The details were immense.

We continue to look back at that ace work with Battle Of The Planets, Episode 21, The Musical Mummy.

The Musical Mummy may not be one of the series finest moments but even weak Battle Of The Planets is better than no Battle Of The Planets at all.

The entry revolves around yet another poorly designed robot plan by Zoltar and Spectra as the deadly robot is controlled by a magic music flute. Huh?! Only through the sounds made by Zoltar is the Musical Mummy able to create devastation. Once the flute falls into the hands of anyone else, in this case Keyop, the Musical Mummy folds like a house of cards and explodes. What kind of villainy is this dumb? Honestly, this is one strange little episode. A scarecrow like villain transforms into Zoltar (often masking his guise).

Ronnie Schell steps out of his Jason character in one scene to provide the voice of Mark. Casey Kasem must have taken a bathroom break. Honestly, if this wasn't a series created by Japanese animators one might think it was the result of stoners from the 1960s. As Mark notes, "it's weird."

But once again Battle Of The Planets is based upon and edited from an original series in Japan called Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and God bless those Japanese for placing an emphasis on scientists as heroes as they do here in this episode. Spectra is abducting them and they must be saved for they are our heroes and future. Where so many superhero series place emphasis on super powers and spandex, the heroes here are G-Force saving the brains behind keeping our planet safe. You don't see that every day. Even the intellectual giant that is Chief Anderson becomes a target.

The Musical Mummy has a few interesting moments when Keyop takes control of the flute and Mark tells him to keep on "yankee doodling," but otherwise it's missing some dramatic intimacy between characters preferring to focus on the group dynamic as an ensemble piece with some considerable action moments against a modern day mummy design that is a fascinating technological marvel.

Now more times than we can count (well we probably could count) the G-5 or Phoenix was often damaged in combat with Spectra. Sometimes it appeared irreparably damaged, but Center Neptune always put the repairs back in place and it wasn't long before they were always five and acting as one again. In The Musical Mummy, Princess' G-3 Sonic Bike in civilian form crashes and is clearly a mangled mess. I can't recall how often that happened, but apparently her bike is repaired just as quickly as the Phoenix despite its fate. G-Force has quite the underrated repair team at that Center Neptune. Zark really should have provided a proper shout out now and again.

In the end, Mark declares "we can't let him escape" as Zoltar eludes their clutches yet again giving us another opportunity to see more of the team's great battle against Spectra. Zoltar lives to fight another day and we get to enjoy it.

Another final note is the traditional shot of this makeshift family of super orphans ending with a bit of levity and humor and laughter to balance the episode's dramatic tension. It was a frequent convention for the final moments of a TV series in the 1970s like The Herculoids, Johnny Quest and even many live action series and of course at times for Battle Of The Planets too.

They just don't make them like they used to.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman title: The Neon Giant That Smiles In The Dark.

Up Next: The Fiery Lava Giant.

Vintage 1970s tech in the world of an amazing science organization called Gatchaman.

12 Monkeys: Season One

"Whoever you are today is not who you have to be tomorrow."

-Cassie-

It's no wonder the creatively gonzo, mind-tastic time travel enterprise called 12 Monkeys endures. Inspired by, yes, the French (very) short film La Jetee (1962; 28 minutes), but more importantly David and Janet Peoples' script for the Terry Gilliam classic of the same name, 12 Monkeys, the TV series quickly taps into many of the concepts and ideas that made the 1995 film such a fascinating trip to experience and in the case of the film to periodically travel back for a revisit. Peoples' source material is impressive and no wonder given David People was the man behind writing Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) as well as taking Hampton Fancher's original script and fine tuning into the now legendary Blade Runner (1982). Three classics! So 12 Monkeys the TV series has a monkey on its back of its own. Can it be as worthy successor to its source?

Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic absorbs the time travel story of the SyFy original series in all its thrilling glory on Blu-Ray and it proves to be a relatively fantastic science fiction animal on its own.

Well cast, with smart writing and just the right pacing 12 Monkeys managed to run four seasons and Season One is a generally outstanding table setter for the rest of the story.

Aaron Stanford (familiar from the X-Men film franchise as young Pyro) is particularly well cast as the series lead with terrific supporting back up from second lead Amanda Schull. Too often in series the actress casting lands flat for me especially on mainstream network television (The Blacklist), but here it shines. Performances are universally strong though I'm less enthusiastic with Kirk Acevedo having seen the actor turn up in so much genre fare (Fringe, OZ, LOST). Other notable highlights include Alisen Down and in particular German actress Barbara Sukowa.

The story beats are also strong, smart, logical and thoughtful, whereby many network shows tend to land too tidy, cliché and functional to the point of boring or preposterous story concepts and convenient episodic clean up (again The Blacklist Season One).

The script work is strong (save for a few moments of wincing) and is surprisingly adept at navigating some fairly challenging time travel concepts across the entire season.

12 Monkeys employs a terrific score utilizing the music of Trevor Rabin (rock band Yes).

The series' use of lighting, camera and effects implements an effective atmosphere for splintering or time travel throughout the series. Each jump or splinter is effectively conveyed for fans of visual effects work. These visual touches add to the sophistication of what appears to be a well thought out series bible by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett based on this introductory season. So strong is their hand in the series, their writing would remain prominent through to the end of its four season run. Matalas himself would not only script but step behind the camera beginning with Season Three. That is nothing short of impressive.

This fan of the original film was skeptical upon the series arrival but its longevity got me curious and this first season gets things running quickly with no monkeying around.

Perhaps the long list of talent involved behind the camera combined with the cast being provided some solid scripting with which to work has a lot to do with its success and execution. Take for example director John Badham who delivers on the wonderfully layered and emotional entry The Keys. Badham you'll recall was the director behind a string of 1980s classics including Blue Thunder (1983) and War Games (1983). 12 Monkeys relies on a great deal of suspense and tension and a man like Badham brings a wealth of experience to the series and it shows. It doesn't end with Badham as the season is chockful of talent (T.J. Scott, Jeffrey Reiner, Michael Waxman and David Grossman) with solid resumes to juggle this wild odyssey into time travel.

12 Monkeys becomes increasingly complex as the season wears on and one can't help but wonder how the future will be influenced by all of it, but the creators appear to have a plan.

This writer has always waded into the time travel sub genre within science fiction with some trepidation and caution. Further I'm not particularly a big fan of time travel science fiction. When it's done well (The Terminator, Predestination, Stargate Universe episode Time, Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Yesterday's Enterprise to name a few) it can be both thoughtfully engaging and thrilling and still not my favorite. 12 Monkeys mostly succeeds on that front and lands itself squarely in the successful category.

I might be hard pressed to dub 12 Monkeys essential science fiction based on this single season, but it is strong and worthwhile, particularly for those who love solid time travel plotlines or the original film on which it was inspired. Though the post-apocalyptic plague component of the series concept also sees the TV series lean toward inspiration from other science fiction sources like The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston by season's end which holds additional promise.

12 Monkeys comes highly recommended to time travel fans and merely recommended for those less inclined, because they will likely be generally enthralled just the same as an entertainment. Still, it's a tough call for someone less interested in the time travel or mirror universe sub-genre, story telling conventions that are still better than the body-switching trope (ugh-kill me now). So this writer comes into the series with some biases toward the concept. It won't be the higher cinematic and dramatic art of Gilliam's original one and done film, but as modern science fiction TV goes it is smarter than most and meets the speed required for contemporary television with which young eyes and minds seem addicted and require.

It's a much more story-driven, action-based narrative and as a result character moments suffer though there are still good, solid, important moments.

As far as engagement it's comparable to science fiction series Continuum and Fringe. Continuum was a SyFy series and also enjoyed a four year run. It was also a time travel-based action series that seems to work within SyFy's niche.

This is solid B-TV entertainment, but by no means as compelling as some of the best television has to offer.

When you have finished, if disappointed by your investment of time, just splinter back in time and simply erase the season from memory. I'm not in a hurry to get back to Season Two, but will likely return to the series eventually. It truly is an expertly assembled, well-paced series likely worth your time. Non-essential but recommended.