I’m happy to now have two three dimensional wall plaques or flat sculptures of Gigantor and Gojira on the kitchen walls of our house: Gigantor the giant, remote controlled, peace-keeping robot, based on the manga Tetsujin 28-go (Iron man No.28) by Mitsuteru Yokoyama and adapted for animation, plus Gojira (Godzilla) star of the famous Japanese movie directed by Ishirō Honda. These plaques are the work of model maker, artist and comics creator Lewis P. Morley and were exhibited just last month at a gallery in Redfern, Sydney. Once installed, Lewis agreed to attended their christening.
I have always thought that Gigantor’s body resembled a pot-bellied stove so I decided that it was appropriate he be positioned above the stove. His clunky design with rivets and pistons, prior to those more elegant mobile suit robots, such as Gundam that succeeded him, have some resonance with the metal stove and the various pots and pans on the shelves.
The whale eating Gojira, on the other hand, coming from the depths of the ocean and memorably seen in the 1954 Godzilla movie wading through Tokyo Bay, had to go over the kitchen sink.
The position of Lewis’s eye in this photo reminds me of the actors who played the monsters in those Japanese films having to get inside a costume with their eyes are visible through a mesh covered slit in the throat or neck of the character that enabled them to see where they were going.
It was very kind of Lewis to come over, wearing his Gundam T-shirt and perform this ritual. He now has visiting rights. This post was first published on the Doctor Comictopus blog.
News photo: Godzilla officially welcomed to Shinjuku by the Mayor.
This entry was posted in Art, Comics, Film, Japanning and tagged alias, animation, Gigantor, Godzilla, Ishirō Honda, Japanese monster films, Lewis P. Morley, Michelle Park, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Tetsujin 28-go by Doctor Comics. Bookmark the permalink.
What a lovely blog… I feel quite embarrassed that I didn’t really know of it’s existence.
( I assumed Dr. Comics did all his posting on Facebook) It’s doubly nice to be featured with my work and to be fed pancakes and ramen! Yum! Many thanks to Dr.C & Louise!
Thanks Lewis. Yes I have this blog and another one, too. There’s a link to that one on the About page. That’s also by Doctor Comics. This one, that you and your work are on, is the “fun” one. It’s a little less scholarly, not that the other one is that scholarly. My serious comics stuff goes on The Comics Grid. What I post on Twitter is sent to Facebook. I don’t actually originate much material on Facebook.
Anyway I am so pleased you like the blog and want to thank you again for your work and your visit to the “site”. You really entered into the spirit of the occasion.
Best wishes with your teaching and the animation project. Are we talking Besset here?
Your story was really inofvmatire, thanks!