| Planet Prince | |
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1959 Japanese movie poster |
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| Directed by | Eijirō Wakabayashi |
| Produced by | Walter Manley, Toei Company |
| Written by | Masaru Igami (story), Shin Morita (writer) |
| Starring | Tatsuo Umemiya |
| Music by | Katsuhisa Hattori |
| Cinematography | Masahiko Iimura |
| Distributed by | Toei Company |
| Release date(s) | March 19, 1959 |
| Running time | 121 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Planet Prince (遊星王子 Yūsei Ōji) is a 1958 tokusatsu superhero television series. Created by veteran writer Masaru Igami and produced by Nippon Gendai and Senkosha, the series aired on NTV from November 4, 1958 to October 6, 1959, with a total of 49 episodes (divided into several segments). It was created to capitalize on the success of the Super Giant serials. In fact, the title hero (whose alter-ego was Waku-san, played by Toshio Mimura) bore a strong resemblance to Super Giant.
Toei produced two movies that featured the character, but in a completely different, more streamlined costume (and goggled helmet). The hero was this time played by Tatsuo Umemiya. The films were titled:
For release in America, these two movies were compiled into a TV movie titled Prince of Space.
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As mentioned before, the TV version looks very similar to Super Giant, in that both wear cowled costumes and capes. Each character also has super powers and flies. The two-part movie version (produced by Toei) is different, as Prince of Space wears a streamlined costume, cape and helmet. In the edited US version he has no superpowers other than the invulnerability of his costume, but in a subplot unique to the Japanese version he is able to revert a man brainwashed by the Silver Star aliens to a peaceful state. He uses weapons (a wand-like laser gun) and flies a small spaceship.
In the TV version, just like Moonlight Mask, the Planet Prince persona was credited as being played by "?" (even though he never wore a mask).
In the film, Prince's enemy is Ambassador Phantom of the Silver Star (銀星のまぼろし大使) (who also appeared in one of the series' story arcs), or in the US version, Ambassador Dictator Phantom of Krankor. He (along with his henchmen) wears a prosthetic nose and cowl that gives him a decidedly chicken-like appearance, something that is constantly mocked in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version. Phantom and his henchmen also appear to eschew undergarments, as is made painfully obvious in several shots.
Phantom claims that Planet Krankor is "half a million Earth miles" from Earth. This seems highly unlikely, given that the Moon is less than 240,000 miles from Earth, which would make Krankor quite visible from Earth. Phantom races back and forth between Earth and Krankor in his spaceships (one of which resembles the Nautilus, the other resembling a metallic roast chicken). He kidnaps scientists, blows up a rocket and continually threatens Earth and Prince, despite the fact that his weapons, even at close range, have no effect whatsoever on Prince. He reminds Phantom of this fact many times, but still finds it necessary to dodge his foe's "lasers" each time he fires. Phantom also keeps a grotesque giant humanoid creature as a guard for his palace on Krankor who is about as successful at stopping Prince as Phantom is himself.
Prince of Space was also featured on the nationally syndicated television series Cinema Insomnia.[1][2] On the show, there is a commercial for the album Candles, Krankor and You where the Ambassador Dictator Phantom sings various cover songs to popular music as "Unforgettable" and "Summer Wind".[3]