1
00:00:08,008 --> 00:00:09,428
[skids]
2
00:00:09,509 --> 00:00:12,599
[man] In the '70s, everybody wanted
something new and exciting,
3
00:00:12,679 --> 00:00:13,759
and this was it.
4
00:00:13,847 --> 00:00:15,597
[in Japanese]
5
00:00:16,474 --> 00:00:18,694
[man] We made Japanese Spider-Man,
6
00:00:18,768 --> 00:00:20,898
and it is totally different
from the original Spider-Man.
7
00:00:23,940 --> 00:00:24,940
[screams]
8
00:00:29,237 --> 00:00:31,817
[monster shouts in Japanese]
9
00:00:32,323 --> 00:00:34,913
[man] There's no Aunt May.
There's no Peter Parker.
10
00:00:37,704 --> 00:00:38,714
There's a robot.
11
00:00:38,788 --> 00:00:39,998
[grunts]
12
00:00:41,082 --> 00:00:42,542
There's cars.
13
00:00:46,212 --> 00:00:50,512
There's people jumping and flying around
and battering the hell out of each other.
14
00:00:51,468 --> 00:00:54,298
And it had very little to do
with the actual Spider-Man.
15
00:00:54,804 --> 00:00:58,224
I remember Marvel saying,
"We don't let this out of Japan.
16
00:00:58,308 --> 00:01:00,848
Just limit everything to Japan only."
17
00:01:01,353 --> 00:01:02,733
For the next 30 years,
18
00:01:02,812 --> 00:01:06,652
you never heard of or even saw
the Japanese Spider-Man in America.
19
00:01:09,277 --> 00:01:11,527
This is the real story
of Japanese Spider-Man.
20
00:01:12,864 --> 00:01:14,874
[screams]
21
00:01:53,780 --> 00:01:57,240
There were three people,
brought me to Japan.
22
00:01:57,325 --> 00:02:00,535
A woman, Stan Lee and Spider-Man.
23
00:02:02,706 --> 00:02:05,626
The woman was my wife. She was from Japan.
24
00:02:06,543 --> 00:02:08,673
I met her in school in America,
25
00:02:08,753 --> 00:02:11,763
and in the '70s,
I used to take trips over to Japan.
26
00:02:13,049 --> 00:02:14,549
Now, when I was in Japan,
27
00:02:14,634 --> 00:02:18,474
I used to see a tremendous number
of Japanese comics.
28
00:02:18,555 --> 00:02:22,425
Everywhere I went, there was
what they call "manga," Japanese comics,
29
00:02:22,517 --> 00:02:24,387
and everybody was reading them.
30
00:02:24,477 --> 00:02:27,727
I remember looking around,
and I saw no American comics,
31
00:02:27,814 --> 00:02:29,654
and I started wondering why.
32
00:02:29,733 --> 00:02:31,993
And I was an old comic books buff.
33
00:02:32,068 --> 00:02:34,028
I liked the Marvel stuff.
34
00:02:34,112 --> 00:02:36,742
Stan Lee was a hero of mine.
35
00:02:37,615 --> 00:02:39,525
So I called up Marvel, and I said,
36
00:02:39,617 --> 00:02:43,287
"Hey look, you guys have your comics
all over the world and all over America,
37
00:02:43,371 --> 00:02:45,921
but the biggest comic book country
in the world is Japan,
38
00:02:45,999 --> 00:02:47,709
and you guys have nothing out there."
39
00:02:47,792 --> 00:02:50,552
They said, "Well, we used
to ship a bunch of comics over,
40
00:02:50,628 --> 00:02:53,588
and somehow half of them would come back.
They would never sell."
41
00:02:53,673 --> 00:02:57,143
I said, "Hey, I tell you what.
You want a chance to make some big money?
42
00:02:57,218 --> 00:03:00,058
I think that there's an audience here
that would go for you guys
43
00:03:00,138 --> 00:03:01,718
if it was presented properly.
44
00:03:01,806 --> 00:03:04,596
Give me a chance. I'll go over there,
and I'll figure out what's wrong,
45
00:03:04,684 --> 00:03:06,354
and I'll come back to you with a deal."
46
00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,810
Luckily, Stan Lee agreed with me.
47
00:03:10,648 --> 00:03:13,358
I came to Japan as a publisher.
48
00:03:13,443 --> 00:03:17,163
Every publisher in town knew that,
"Hey, there's this funny gaijin--"
49
00:03:17,238 --> 00:03:19,408
Gaijin is an outsider in Japanese--
50
00:03:19,491 --> 00:03:22,951
"running around with Marvel comic rights.
Maybe we should talk to him."
51
00:03:23,995 --> 00:03:27,915
And I figured out why American comics
were failing here in Japan.
52
00:03:28,458 --> 00:03:31,208
An American comic book
is meant to be read.
53
00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,300
A Japanese comic is meant to be looked at.
54
00:03:34,798 --> 00:03:38,468
An American comic
is like an illustrated book.
55
00:03:38,551 --> 00:03:42,351
You have to read three or four
word balloons in every picture.
56
00:03:42,430 --> 00:03:46,020
You look at a Japanese manga
and they have action in it.
57
00:03:46,101 --> 00:03:48,481
You can feel the action like a storyboard.
58
00:03:49,521 --> 00:03:52,401
The Japanese manga audience
simply wanted to be entertained
59
00:03:52,482 --> 00:03:54,612
in the way that
they wanted to be entertained.
60
00:03:58,321 --> 00:03:59,321
[shouts]
61
00:03:59,406 --> 00:04:02,656
[Pelc] While I was sitting here in Japan,
I'd brought my young son with me,
62
00:04:02,742 --> 00:04:07,372
and he and a lot of his friends
watched these shows on Japanese TV,
63
00:04:07,455 --> 00:04:08,955
things like Kamen Rider,
64
00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,210
and kids loved it, even though they
didn't understand what was being said.
65
00:04:12,293 --> 00:04:14,133
They loved the action.
They loved the music.
66
00:04:14,212 --> 00:04:16,172
There was a driving force behind them.
67
00:04:17,257 --> 00:04:20,797
And one of the companies
behind those shows was named Toei.
68
00:04:23,013 --> 00:04:27,643
Toei was one of the big powerhouse studios
here in Japan at the time.
69
00:04:28,893 --> 00:04:33,523
So I made a call, and I was lucky enough
to get an interview with the president.
70
00:04:33,606 --> 00:04:35,726
His name was Watanabe.
71
00:04:35,817 --> 00:04:39,357
I said, "Look, you guys got all the shows
and all these superheroes,
72
00:04:39,446 --> 00:04:41,106
and I represent Marvel."
73
00:04:41,614 --> 00:04:44,914
Mr. Watanabe was known as
the king of the Ginza at the time,
74
00:04:44,993 --> 00:04:48,583
which meant that after work every night
you went out to bars together.
75
00:04:48,663 --> 00:04:50,873
It was the way of doing business
at the time.
76
00:04:51,374 --> 00:04:53,424
That's where you made your contracts
in Japan.
77
00:04:53,501 --> 00:04:55,881
You didn't make them
with a lawyer on paper.
78
00:04:55,962 --> 00:04:59,342
You made them over drinks and a handshake,
which you can never tear up.
79
00:04:59,424 --> 00:05:00,844
You can't tear up a handshake.
80
00:05:01,426 --> 00:05:03,596
And I sat down, and I negotiated a deal
81
00:05:03,678 --> 00:05:07,928
in which Marvel would be able to pick up
all the Toei superheroes
82
00:05:08,016 --> 00:05:10,556
and Toei could pick up
all the Marvel superheroes.
83
00:05:10,643 --> 00:05:12,153
We made a deal.
84
00:05:12,228 --> 00:05:15,358
I sent the contract to Marvel.
Marvel accepted it.
85
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:19,070
They said, "Okay, run with it."
So I said to Toei, "Okay, we got a deal."
86
00:05:19,569 --> 00:05:22,819
Stan Lee was the guiding genius
in comic books,
87
00:05:22,906 --> 00:05:26,616
and he had the sense of what people liked
and what they didn't like.
88
00:05:27,327 --> 00:05:29,907
So Stan needed to like what he saw.
89
00:05:31,206 --> 00:05:34,376
The first show that was produced
by Toei was Spider-Man
90
00:05:34,459 --> 00:05:37,169
'cause that was Marvel's
bread-and-butter character.
91
00:05:37,253 --> 00:05:39,593
Mr. Watanabe said,
"What do you think of Spider-Man?
92
00:05:39,673 --> 00:05:42,013
What do you think of it, Gene?"
I said, "I think it's great."
93
00:05:42,092 --> 00:05:44,642
And he said, "Okay, I believe in it.
I think this is good.
94
00:05:44,719 --> 00:05:46,639
I've got my best people working on it."
95
00:05:47,472 --> 00:05:50,232
We were approved for almost 50 episodes.
96
00:05:50,725 --> 00:05:55,305
Marvel just considered Japan
a territory in and unto itself.
97
00:05:55,397 --> 00:05:59,777
I remember Marvel saying to Toei,
"Just limit the territory to Japan.
98
00:05:59,859 --> 00:06:03,989
We don't let this out of Japan."
And then they said, "Go for it."
99
00:06:04,072 --> 00:06:07,202
Nobody's gonna care over here in America
'cause they're not gonna see it.
100
00:06:07,283 --> 00:06:09,703
As long as it works and we make money,
that's fine.
101
00:06:10,245 --> 00:06:11,535
That was the key.
102
00:06:14,332 --> 00:06:18,632
Frankly speaking, these superhero shows
that were being made by Toei
103
00:06:18,712 --> 00:06:20,512
were commercials to sell toys.
104
00:06:21,297 --> 00:06:23,757
The sponsors were all toy companies,
105
00:06:24,259 --> 00:06:27,639
and they all were making
these fantastic metal toys.
106
00:06:27,721 --> 00:06:32,601
Robots and cars and stuff that
were incredibly intricate, beautiful toys.
107
00:06:32,684 --> 00:06:36,314
Basically, we needed toys
to fund this entire project.
108
00:06:37,564 --> 00:06:39,944
So we started sitting
and looking at the plots
109
00:06:40,025 --> 00:06:43,235
of the American Spider-Man and said,
"We don't have any of this stuff."
110
00:06:43,319 --> 00:06:46,569
So I said, "Let's put 'em in.
We need a robot."
111
00:06:47,991 --> 00:06:51,581
[man 2 in Japanese]
112
00:08:26,047 --> 00:08:31,337
[interviewer in Japanese]
113
00:08:39,811 --> 00:08:42,441
[Pelc] So we put in a robot
called Marveller,
114
00:08:42,522 --> 00:08:45,652
and Popy became the sponsor of the show,
115
00:08:45,734 --> 00:08:47,444
and we were on the way.
116
00:08:56,953 --> 00:08:59,373
There was a few things
that I insisted upon.
117
00:08:59,456 --> 00:09:03,876
Because of copyright, the costume had
to be perfectly Spider-Man, which it was.
118
00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:05,800
And he had to have Spider-Man action.
119
00:09:05,879 --> 00:09:09,799
Shoot webs, which he did,
crawl on walls, crawl on ceilings.
120
00:09:09,883 --> 00:09:12,723
So all of the action and powers
that Peter Parker had
121
00:09:12,802 --> 00:09:14,262
when he became Spider-Man,
122
00:09:14,346 --> 00:09:17,216
we incorporated that
into the Japanese Spider-Man.
123
00:09:18,224 --> 00:09:19,814
[narrator] Spider-Man.
124
00:09:20,685 --> 00:09:22,595
[in Japanese]
125
00:09:24,272 --> 00:09:27,032
[Pelc] When it came to picking
the actors and actresses,
126
00:09:27,108 --> 00:09:29,318
that was left in Toei's hands.
127
00:09:29,778 --> 00:09:32,488
They said "Look it, I have my people
that are popular.
128
00:09:32,572 --> 00:09:34,822
I know who's gonna work.
I know who's not gonna work."
129
00:09:36,493 --> 00:09:42,833
[man 3 in Japanese]
130
00:10:02,977 --> 00:10:06,267
[voice in Japanese]
131
00:10:10,819 --> 00:10:15,779
[Tôdô]
132
00:10:29,629 --> 00:10:32,629
[narrator] ...the amazing Spider-Man.
133
00:10:34,968 --> 00:10:38,678
[narrator] The most popular, most daring,
most exciting superhero
134
00:10:38,763 --> 00:10:40,143
in the entire world.
135
00:11:03,121 --> 00:11:04,501
[in Japanese]
136
00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:24,020
[Pelc] Stan Lee felt that
the American Spider-Man movie
137
00:11:24,100 --> 00:11:26,350
was not connecting with the audience.
138
00:11:26,436 --> 00:11:29,516
It wasn't as good as it should have been.
139
00:11:29,606 --> 00:11:31,726
Although it wasn't as bad
as it could have been.
140
00:11:31,816 --> 00:11:34,026
Well, I won't ask
if you had anything to do with it.
141
00:11:34,110 --> 00:11:36,110
Well, I was supposedly the consultant,
142
00:11:36,196 --> 00:11:38,816
but they really didn't listen to me
that much.
143
00:11:38,907 --> 00:11:42,577
The one thing I don't want to happen,
I don't want the shows to be pedestrian.
144
00:11:42,660 --> 00:11:46,580
These characters are too important to us,
and I think the future ones--
145
00:11:46,664 --> 00:11:48,674
Well, the beginning ones weren't bad.
146
00:11:48,750 --> 00:11:51,090
I think the future ones
will be much better.
147
00:11:51,169 --> 00:11:54,709
[Pelc] So we knew that we had
to do a good job, and if we don't do that,
148
00:11:54,798 --> 00:11:58,588
I'm out of work and all the money and time
that I put in to coming to Japan,
149
00:11:58,677 --> 00:12:01,297
and gave up my job,
and I've lost my house,
150
00:12:01,388 --> 00:12:03,848
I've lost my business,
if this goes to hell.
151
00:12:08,687 --> 00:12:13,897
[voice]
152
00:12:15,944 --> 00:12:16,954
[gasps]
153
00:12:17,028 --> 00:12:21,448
[voice]
154
00:12:42,595 --> 00:12:43,755
[growling]
155
00:12:45,015 --> 00:12:46,015
[Tôdô]
156
00:12:49,769 --> 00:12:50,899
[screams]
157
00:12:52,230 --> 00:12:55,320
[Tôdô]
158
00:13:07,787 --> 00:13:08,867
[screams]
159
00:13:11,583 --> 00:13:12,673
[gasps]
160
00:13:12,751 --> 00:13:15,551
[Tôdô]
161
00:13:20,633 --> 00:13:22,393
[groans]
162
00:13:25,430 --> 00:13:28,640
[in Japanese]
163
00:13:37,609 --> 00:13:41,989
[Tôdô]
164
00:13:53,124 --> 00:13:54,174
[in Japanese]
165
00:14:01,675 --> 00:14:04,215
[woman in Japanese]
166
00:14:22,821 --> 00:14:25,571
[Miura]
167
00:15:14,414 --> 00:15:16,884
[Hitomi in Japanese]
168
00:15:17,834 --> 00:15:23,174
[Miura]
169
00:15:42,275 --> 00:15:43,985
[child]
170
00:15:44,819 --> 00:15:51,529
[Miura]
171
00:16:24,067 --> 00:16:26,607
[in Japanese]
172
00:16:27,153 --> 00:16:29,663
[Miura]
173
00:16:57,058 --> 00:16:58,638
[in Japanese]
174
00:17:50,195 --> 00:17:52,525
[Garia in Japanese]
175
00:17:55,867 --> 00:17:59,497
[Kaneda]
176
00:18:38,660 --> 00:18:42,960
[in Japanese]
177
00:19:17,365 --> 00:19:19,365
[Kaneda]
178
00:19:35,383 --> 00:19:37,513
[Tôdô]
179
00:19:57,155 --> 00:19:58,695
[in Japanese]
180
00:20:03,787 --> 00:20:06,617
[Tôdô]
181
00:20:37,404 --> 00:20:40,664
[Pelc] We gave Spider-Man
a car called the GP-7.
182
00:20:42,659 --> 00:20:46,119
Now GP... a lot of people
would've thought of Grand Prix,
183
00:20:46,204 --> 00:20:47,714
but here's the inside story.
184
00:20:49,499 --> 00:20:51,079
[engine revs]
185
00:20:51,167 --> 00:20:55,417
After work we used to always
go out drinking together at night.
186
00:20:55,505 --> 00:20:57,415
And after a bunch of drinks,
187
00:20:57,507 --> 00:20:59,797
we're trying to think of a name
for the car.
188
00:20:59,884 --> 00:21:02,354
And I used to be a disc jockey
in New York City.
189
00:21:02,429 --> 00:21:07,059
I used to say, "GP, stay loose."
It was my closing line.
190
00:21:07,142 --> 00:21:09,102
So I said, "Why don't we use GP?"
191
00:21:09,185 --> 00:21:12,055
And then somebody,
I don't remember what, said,
192
00:21:12,147 --> 00:21:15,937
"We need a number,
and seven is a Japanese lucky number."
193
00:21:20,196 --> 00:21:22,906
[interviewer in English]
194
00:21:22,991 --> 00:21:24,831
I never got a real one so...
195
00:21:30,832 --> 00:21:37,342
[in Japanese]
196
00:21:38,256 --> 00:21:40,126
[Pelc] As far as
creating their own villains,
197
00:21:40,216 --> 00:21:45,256
they went back to some themes that come
from Japanese cultural mythology.
198
00:21:48,183 --> 00:21:52,233
A lot of Marvel comics comes
from Norse and Greek mythology.
199
00:21:52,312 --> 00:21:56,072
A lot of the Japanese stuff came
from Japanese history.
200
00:21:56,649 --> 00:21:59,819
So that would resonate more
with the Japanese audience.
201
00:22:00,445 --> 00:22:03,655
I said to Toei,
"I don't know much about Japan,
202
00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:06,910
but if you guys believe this is
gonna work, well, let's go with it."
203
00:22:07,619 --> 00:22:11,709
So I left it in their hands, and there was
no decision to use a Green Goblin
204
00:22:11,790 --> 00:22:13,790
or a Doc Ock or somebody like that.
205
00:22:35,522 --> 00:22:36,362
[cawing]
206
00:23:00,171 --> 00:23:01,301
[screams]
207
00:23:02,799 --> 00:23:05,049
[Tôdô]
208
00:23:17,814 --> 00:23:22,444
[Pelc] Professor Monster really sounds bad
when you do Japanese to English,
209
00:23:22,527 --> 00:23:24,197
but in Japanese it sounds good
210
00:23:24,279 --> 00:23:27,489
'cause you combine a Japanese word
with a American word,
211
00:23:27,574 --> 00:23:29,164
and, at the time, that was cool.
212
00:23:29,242 --> 00:23:33,122
So "Munsta," Monster is "Munsta,"
killed you.
213
00:23:33,705 --> 00:23:35,115
It sounds cool to the kids.
214
00:23:35,206 --> 00:23:36,996
It doesn't matter what it is.
It sounds good.
215
00:23:40,545 --> 00:23:41,665
[Spider-Man grunts]
216
00:23:44,382 --> 00:23:47,302
[Pelc] Toei knew what turns on
the Japanese audiences.
217
00:23:47,385 --> 00:23:49,385
These guys have been making for years
218
00:23:49,471 --> 00:23:52,601
extremely popular stuff
that kids connect with.
219
00:23:53,433 --> 00:23:54,563
[beeping]
220
00:23:59,981 --> 00:24:02,981
[Pelc] The robot's not a character
that was a problem with Marvel.
221
00:24:03,068 --> 00:24:06,948
It doesn't really exist in America.
Plus, it's a cool looking thing.
222
00:24:20,794 --> 00:24:24,214
[Murakami]
223
00:25:28,737 --> 00:25:29,897
[grunts]
224
00:25:29,988 --> 00:25:33,778
[in Japanese]
225
00:25:33,867 --> 00:25:35,447
[tires squealing]
226
00:25:40,790 --> 00:25:43,500
[growling]
227
00:25:45,128 --> 00:25:48,468
[Tôdô]
228
00:26:02,062 --> 00:26:03,022
[yelps]
229
00:26:03,104 --> 00:26:05,234
[monster grunts]
230
00:26:07,067 --> 00:26:09,027
[Tôdô]
231
00:26:20,497 --> 00:26:25,287
[in Japanese]
232
00:26:26,461 --> 00:26:28,761
[voice yowls]
233
00:26:28,838 --> 00:26:30,548
[Pelc] Japanese shows were being made
234
00:26:30,632 --> 00:26:33,302
on what Americans would consider
a shoestring budget.
235
00:26:33,843 --> 00:26:38,773
And I remember a guy once said, "Gene,
we dream of what we can afford to do."
236
00:26:38,848 --> 00:26:41,178
And that I remember
made an impression on me.
237
00:26:41,267 --> 00:26:43,937
We dream what we can do.
238
00:26:44,521 --> 00:26:47,861
[growling]
239
00:26:47,941 --> 00:26:50,241
The limited budget was the king.
240
00:26:50,318 --> 00:26:52,988
If you stepped beyond the budget,
you were going to kill your future.
241
00:26:53,071 --> 00:26:54,071
[in Japanese]
242
00:26:54,155 --> 00:26:57,575
[Pelc] You had to stay within a tight
budget, so you did the best you could.
243
00:26:58,451 --> 00:27:00,161
You had to save money everywhere.
244
00:27:02,997 --> 00:27:04,327
[speaking Japanese]
245
00:27:04,791 --> 00:27:09,381
[Pelc] You'd always reuse scenes.
Again, a budgetary thing, but it worked.
246
00:27:12,215 --> 00:27:15,505
[monsters screaming, groaning]
247
00:27:21,474 --> 00:27:23,444
-[growls]
-[gasps]
248
00:27:25,437 --> 00:27:31,567
[Kaneda]
249
00:27:46,875 --> 00:27:52,545
[Koga]
250
00:27:58,928 --> 00:28:01,928
[Pelc] For the opening,
we decided to do a big stunt.
251
00:28:02,015 --> 00:28:05,555
We spent some money to shoot
in the heart of Tokyo,
252
00:28:05,643 --> 00:28:07,103
at the Tokyo Tower.
253
00:28:07,604 --> 00:28:09,864
[Koga]
254
00:28:40,095 --> 00:28:43,305
I remember standing there with
all the people watching him and saying,
255
00:28:43,390 --> 00:28:44,810
"Don't fall. Don't fall."
256
00:28:46,101 --> 00:28:48,061
He climbed that thing by himself.
257
00:28:49,312 --> 00:28:53,022
[man singing in Japanese]
258
00:29:21,970 --> 00:29:25,470
[creature] Hmm? Spider-Man!
259
00:29:25,557 --> 00:29:28,807
[Kaneda]
260
00:29:52,959 --> 00:29:56,499
[Pelc] A lot of these guys
were Olympic level athletes in my mind.
261
00:29:56,588 --> 00:30:00,008
And, you know, don't want to call them
stuntmen, I'd rather call them athletes.
262
00:30:01,051 --> 00:30:05,681
[Kaneda]
263
00:30:39,506 --> 00:30:44,636
[Koga]
264
00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,990
[tires squealing]
265
00:31:51,327 --> 00:31:52,537
[in Japanese]
266
00:31:56,833 --> 00:31:58,043
[grunts]
267
00:32:19,147 --> 00:32:20,227
[grunts]
268
00:32:28,031 --> 00:32:29,821
[gasping]
269
00:32:33,078 --> 00:32:35,578
Most of the people
were not getting paid a lot of money,
270
00:32:35,663 --> 00:32:37,463
but they were happy to be in the shows.
271
00:32:37,540 --> 00:32:40,130
So they were taking it
very, very seriously.
272
00:32:41,002 --> 00:32:46,342
On set, it was very much business-like,
very unlike an American set. No joking.
273
00:32:47,384 --> 00:32:51,014
Now in Japan, taking liberties
is not considered good.
274
00:32:51,596 --> 00:32:55,016
"This is what we told you to do, this is
what you're getting paid to do. Do it."
275
00:32:55,100 --> 00:32:58,520
So it's really the producer and director
who decide what you're gonna do,
276
00:32:58,603 --> 00:33:02,193
and I know that sounds,
to an American, rather cold,
277
00:33:02,774 --> 00:33:04,534
but this is the other side of the world.
278
00:33:04,609 --> 00:33:06,609
[laughing]
279
00:33:07,612 --> 00:33:10,662
We're producing film in Japan
for the Japanese,
280
00:33:10,740 --> 00:33:12,870
so you want something that works for them.
281
00:33:13,243 --> 00:33:17,713
To me, it looks a little overplayed
as a lot of Japanese actors tend to do,
282
00:33:17,789 --> 00:33:19,709
-but that works here in Japan.
-[laughing]
283
00:33:19,791 --> 00:33:23,001
And we have to realize
that there are many paths to the same end.
284
00:33:24,629 --> 00:33:26,879
[Pelc] What they do in one culture
and what's done in another culture,
285
00:33:26,965 --> 00:33:27,965
you can't compare them.
286
00:33:28,967 --> 00:33:30,137
[grunts]
287
00:34:27,442 --> 00:34:30,702
[Tôdô]
288
00:34:41,039 --> 00:34:45,419
[Pelc] Marvel trusted us and they really
didn't communicate very much with us.
289
00:34:45,502 --> 00:34:49,132
As long as the checks were coming in
and people were happy with me,
290
00:34:49,214 --> 00:34:50,304
everything was fine.
291
00:34:50,382 --> 00:34:53,132
Whatever we wanted to do,
they said, "If it works,
292
00:34:53,218 --> 00:34:57,138
and it's popular and getting the ratings,
what more do you need? Go for it."
293
00:34:59,599 --> 00:35:03,769
[Koga]
294
00:35:42,350 --> 00:35:43,390
[barking]
295
00:35:57,574 --> 00:35:58,834
[groans]
296
00:35:58,908 --> 00:36:01,448
A lot of times we had a lot of explosions
297
00:36:01,536 --> 00:36:04,576
because explosions are exciting
for kids and on TV.
298
00:36:04,664 --> 00:36:06,964
[man singing in Japanese]
299
00:36:07,042 --> 00:36:10,592
But because we had too much trouble
with the police and the fire department,
300
00:36:10,670 --> 00:36:13,300
we used to have to take the crews
way out in the woods
301
00:36:13,381 --> 00:36:16,971
and explode everything out there,
where there'd be no danger to anything.
302
00:36:19,763 --> 00:36:21,013
[creature grunting]
303
00:37:09,729 --> 00:37:11,819
[Pelc] Marvel wanted to see
what we were shooting.
304
00:37:12,357 --> 00:37:13,727
So we cut a pilot.
305
00:37:14,859 --> 00:37:16,149
We had the first one ready.
306
00:37:16,236 --> 00:37:18,656
So Marvel flew a bunch of people out here,
307
00:37:19,030 --> 00:37:23,240
Stan Lee, a bunch of other people
who were from corporate.
308
00:37:24,327 --> 00:37:27,787
So I remember sitting in the screening
room, and here's all the corporate guys.
309
00:37:27,872 --> 00:37:30,422
They're sitting there,
the corporate people plus Stan.
310
00:37:31,251 --> 00:37:35,511
I'm nervous as hell because if these guys
don't like it, I'm out of work.
311
00:37:44,264 --> 00:37:46,934
The thing comes on. We watch it.
312
00:37:49,811 --> 00:37:51,901
[creature growling]
313
00:37:51,980 --> 00:37:53,940
[whimpering]
314
00:37:57,944 --> 00:37:59,654
[Spider-Man grunting]
315
00:38:04,409 --> 00:38:05,579
[Pelc] It ends,
316
00:38:06,077 --> 00:38:08,407
and all the people
don't have a word to say.
317
00:38:14,919 --> 00:38:17,089
And the corporate people look at me
and they say,
318
00:38:17,172 --> 00:38:19,802
"Gene, you've been in Japan too long.
319
00:38:19,883 --> 00:38:22,013
Nobody's gonna want this.
What the heck is this?
320
00:38:22,093 --> 00:38:24,513
This is not Spider-Man.
This is crazy stuff."
321
00:38:25,555 --> 00:38:29,845
When the executives
all start dissing this thing
322
00:38:29,934 --> 00:38:32,274
because it's so silly-looking to them,
323
00:38:32,354 --> 00:38:36,194
I'm scared
because I'm about to lose years of work.
324
00:38:37,984 --> 00:38:41,494
And then, suddenly,
Stan Lee stood up applauding.
325
00:38:41,571 --> 00:38:45,661
And he said, "This is great.
This is a living comic book."
326
00:38:45,742 --> 00:38:48,542
He said,
"Adults will love it because it's camp.
327
00:38:48,620 --> 00:38:51,120
Kids will love it
'cause the action's fantastic.
328
00:38:51,206 --> 00:38:54,036
If this is what the audience wants,
let's give it to 'em."
329
00:38:54,709 --> 00:38:58,509
And at that point the executives looked at
me and said, "Gene, what a great idea."
330
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:03,340
Stan has always had my back,
but at this time,
331
00:39:03,426 --> 00:39:07,006
when he saw what we actually produced
and stood up and started clapping,
332
00:39:07,097 --> 00:39:08,427
I felt so good.
333
00:39:08,932 --> 00:39:11,772
I said, "Hey look, the king
of comics is looking at what I've done
334
00:39:11,851 --> 00:39:15,481
to his favorite character
and his work, and he likes it."
335
00:39:16,606 --> 00:39:18,146
And the rest is history.
336
00:39:22,278 --> 00:39:27,278
[interviewer in Japanese]
337
00:39:41,381 --> 00:39:43,011
[Pelc] Everybody loved what we did.
338
00:39:43,633 --> 00:39:47,143
The merchandise,
the toys, were selling like mad.
339
00:39:48,054 --> 00:39:49,644
So that made everybody happy.
340
00:39:50,140 --> 00:39:53,640
The toys are selling, the ratings
are good, the money's coming in.
341
00:39:53,727 --> 00:39:55,187
What more do you need?
342
00:39:56,187 --> 00:40:00,977
[Murakami]
343
00:40:12,245 --> 00:40:13,245
[pulsing]
344
00:40:13,329 --> 00:40:17,079
[Miura]
345
00:40:27,886 --> 00:40:30,136
-[screaming]
-[creature growling]
346
00:40:30,221 --> 00:40:32,811
[Tôdô]
347
00:40:46,780 --> 00:40:48,320
[grunting]
348
00:40:56,748 --> 00:40:58,828
[all in Japanese]
349
00:40:59,709 --> 00:41:01,249
[Tôdô]
350
00:41:14,015 --> 00:41:15,015
[cheering]
351
00:41:15,850 --> 00:41:18,980
[Tôdô]
352
00:41:23,692 --> 00:41:26,072
[Spider-Man]
353
00:41:30,156 --> 00:41:32,906
[Tôdô]
354
00:41:43,211 --> 00:41:46,381
[Tôdô]
355
00:41:48,008 --> 00:41:50,008
[Spider-Man]
356
00:42:01,312 --> 00:42:03,232
[Tôdô]
357
00:42:21,207 --> 00:42:26,337
[Pelc] Spider-Man was such a popular show
that all these similar shows were created.
358
00:42:27,714 --> 00:42:32,144
In Japan, that type of TV show
became the main style for kids' shows.
359
00:42:33,011 --> 00:42:37,521
[Miura]
360
00:42:42,312 --> 00:42:46,482
[Pelc] The Sentai series, which are these
Japanese live-action superhero stuff,
361
00:42:46,566 --> 00:42:48,146
did not have robots at the time.
362
00:42:49,110 --> 00:42:52,950
The Spider-Man robot
was such a big hit and a big seller
363
00:42:53,031 --> 00:42:56,161
that for the next season they said,
"Hey, we gotta have a robot."
364
00:42:57,869 --> 00:43:01,039
Then Stan said, "You know, those
robots are great characters.
365
00:43:01,122 --> 00:43:04,542
Why don't we do something
with the robots for the American comics?"
366
00:43:04,626 --> 00:43:07,376
I said, "Well why don't we do a story
with just all robots?"
367
00:43:08,546 --> 00:43:10,666
So Stan helped me write the stories.
368
00:43:11,716 --> 00:43:14,546
We did a comic book
called Shogun Warriors.
369
00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:17,850
And one of the robots
that later got pulled out of it
370
00:43:17,931 --> 00:43:19,771
was called The Transformers.
371
00:43:20,392 --> 00:43:23,602
And The Transformers, as you know,
became a big hit after that.
372
00:43:24,354 --> 00:43:26,064
And frankly speaking,
373
00:43:26,147 --> 00:43:29,857
to me, Japanese Spider-Man
started the Power Rangers.
374
00:43:30,902 --> 00:43:33,702
I'm proud of all the shows
and all these superheroes,
375
00:43:33,780 --> 00:43:36,490
because nobody else
had ever done this before.
376
00:43:38,618 --> 00:43:42,538
By the end of the shoot,
the crew's connection was really amazing.
377
00:44:10,650 --> 00:44:12,650
[Miura]
378
00:44:24,372 --> 00:44:26,712
[Murakami]
379
00:44:38,470 --> 00:44:41,060
[Pelc] If you enjoy what you're doing,
it's not work.
380
00:44:42,599 --> 00:44:44,559
It's pleasure,
and that's the way to live your life,
381
00:44:44,642 --> 00:44:48,862
and I enjoyed what I did
with Stan and his wife, Joanie,
382
00:44:49,522 --> 00:44:53,112
who once told him,
"Write what you want to write,
383
00:44:53,193 --> 00:44:55,533
and if your heart is in it,
people will go for it,"
384
00:44:55,612 --> 00:44:57,322
and that happened with me.
385
00:44:57,405 --> 00:45:00,945
My wife said, "Gene, if you really feel
you can make a success of it,"
386
00:45:01,034 --> 00:45:02,874
she said, "I'm with you. Go for it."
387
00:45:03,578 --> 00:45:06,118
And it worked,
and I'm forever grateful for that.
388
00:45:07,123 --> 00:45:11,003
We recently celebrated
our 50th plus anniversary
389
00:45:11,086 --> 00:45:12,996
on the road to forever together.
390
00:45:14,297 --> 00:45:16,837
That came from Spider-Man. Thank you.
391
00:45:18,301 --> 00:45:20,261
[Tôdô]
392
00:46:16,151 --> 00:46:18,401
[Tôdô]
393
00:47:29,057 --> 00:47:31,597
Spider-Man! Spider-Man.
394
00:47:32,811 --> 00:47:36,861
Ah. My son. How are you?
395
00:47:36,940 --> 00:47:39,530
Wow, it's great. Look at that.
396
00:47:39,609 --> 00:47:41,819
Now, you ought to go like that too.
397
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:45,410
Oh, that's great.
398
00:47:46,408 --> 00:47:47,658
Wait. Here we go.
399
00:47:51,705 --> 00:47:54,825
-Thank you very much. It's great.
-Thank you.
400
00:47:54,916 --> 00:47:57,086
I enjoyed it very much.
401
00:47:57,752 --> 00:48:04,512
Well, I liked the way they did it
in a Japanese style.
402
00:48:04,592 --> 00:48:08,512
It wasn't really like
the American version.
403
00:48:08,596 --> 00:48:13,346
It had its own flavor.
And even the way he walked.
404
00:48:13,435 --> 00:48:17,395
And the characters that they had,
that they created,
405
00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:21,190
which were different
than our own characters,
406
00:48:21,276 --> 00:48:24,236
were very colorful and very interesting.
407
00:48:24,320 --> 00:48:27,660
I was very impressed with the action
408
00:48:27,741 --> 00:48:31,541
because none of them were done
by computer graphics,
409
00:48:31,619 --> 00:48:38,499
but whatever you saw on the screen
was really being done by human beings.
410
00:48:38,585 --> 00:48:42,085
And when Spider-Man
was climbing that building,
411
00:48:42,172 --> 00:48:46,182
I thought it was wonderful the way
they had him going up the wall.
412
00:48:46,259 --> 00:48:50,849
It was so different than the way
we do them in the United States
413
00:48:50,930 --> 00:48:56,940
that it was fun 'cause I was looking at a
totally different style and a good style.