Ultraman Kicks off His 40th Anniversary at MIPTV

Author: Bob Johnson Source: Tsuburaya Productions

2006 is the year of ULTRAMAN! This year Tsuburaya Productions will be celebrating 40 years of Ultraman, and we will bring you all the details here at SciFi Japan when they become available!

The first step in the yearlong celebration is an appearance at MIPTV in France next month. MIPTV is taking place on April 3-7 in Cannes, France. Each year, MIPTV is where you find everyone involved in content creation, production & distribution across all traditional, digital and Telcos TV platforms. MIPTV boasts a world class conference with over 200 speakers and 45 sessions on TV and Digital Platforms. Last year, some 12,000 professionals from across the globe attended the show. If you want to interest the world in your product, this is the place to be and this year Tsuburaya Productions is taking Ultraman to MIPTV in a big way! In addition to the newest ULTRAMAN MAX, Tsuburaya will be soliciting their latest hero re-birth, MIRROR MAN REFLEX, as well as ULTRAMAN THE NEXT and ULTRAMAN NEXUS and their entire back catalog of TV series and feature films. Following is the latest press release from Tsuburaya publicizing their MIPTV appearance: CELEBRATES HIS 40th BIRTHDAY AT MIP-TV 2006 When Eiji Tsuburaya created ULTRAMAN in 1966, nobody thought ULTRAMAN would still be going as strong as ever 40 years later. But ULTRAMAN has outlasted all the competition to become Asia’s uncontested number one superhero character of all time. In terms of name recognition, merchandising sales and sheer iconic quality, ULTRAMAN beats all comers. Tsuburaya Productions was just a few years old when ULTRAMAN was born. Its founder, Eiji Tsuburaya, was already world famous for his pioneering special effects work on the Godzilla film series. The company went on to produce thousands of hours of special effects based science fiction, children’s shows and anime. This year we’re bringing our latest Ultraman series, ULTRAMAN MAX to MIP-TV. ULTRAMAN MAX carries on the Ultraman tradition in fine form with up-to-date computer generated special effects as well as a lively and engaging storyline featuring a talented international cast. We’ve even brought back some of your favorite monsters from the classic Ultraman shows of the 1960’s. These monsters have proven so popular that they’ve continued to be hot merchandising items for some four decades.

In addition to Ultraman, Tsuburaya Productions is launching an updated edition of its classic superhero show MIRROR MAN. Mirror Man made his first appearance in 1971, at the height of Japanese TV’s first “Giant Monster Boom.” Like Ultraman, Mirror Man was a giant sized hero who battled gargantuan monsters bent on world domination. But Mirror Man was no mere imitation and fans have kept begging for more ever since the show left the airwaves. Now Mirror Man returns in an all-new production called MIRROR MAN – REFLEX. It’s a darker, harder edged program aimed at sophisticated science fiction fans. Tsuburaya Productions representatives will be at booth 07.36 at this year’s MIP-TV in Cannes, France (April 3-7, 2006) with these programs and more. Hope to see you there!