Production
The show was the result of a three-years licensing agreement with Marvel that allowed both to use each other's properties in any way they wanted. Toei initially planned to use Spider-Man as a supporting character for an unmade television series starring a fictionalized version of Yamato Takeru who was sent to the present via a time warp. However, Toei decided to make Spider-Man the protagonist instead and the character of Yamato Takeru was revised into Garia, an alien who gives Spider-Man his powers. The resulting show deviated from the source material completely, outside of Spider-Man's costume and some of his superpowers and gadgets. Other productions by Toei as a result of this licensing deal included Battle Fever J (a show originally conceived about a Japanese counterpart of Captain America) and an animated television movie based on the comic book Tomb of Dracula. In contrast, Marvel would use the main robots from two of Toei's anime programs, Wakusei Robo Danguard Ace and Chōdenji Robo Combattler V, in their comic book adaptation of the Shogun Warriors toyline. A toy version of Leopardon, Spider-Man's robot from the Toei series, was also sold in the United States as part of the Godaikin line.
Although the show's story was criticized for bearing almost no resemblance to the Marvel version, the staff at Marvel Comics, including Spider-Man's co-creator Stan Lee, praised the show for its special effects and stunt work, especially the spider-like movement of the character himself. While it is said that Marvel initially opposed the addition of Leopardon, the robot was viewed as a necessary gimmick to attract younger viewers and was ultimately kept. The show's mechanical designer, Katsushi Murakami (a toy designer at the time), expressed concern about Toei's capability to market Spider-Man to Japanese audiences and was given permission by producer Yoshinori Watanabe to take whatever liberties he deemed necessary. Murakami came up with the idea of giving Spider-Man an extraterrestrial origin, as well as a spider-like spacecraft that could transform into a giant robot (due to the popularity of the giant robot shows in Japan at the time).
The action figure version of Leopardon was initially sold as a part of the Chogokin toyline and became an unprecedented success in the market, which contributed to the TV series' popularity as well. The success of the show made Toei introduce the giant robot concept to their Super Sentai franchise in Battle Fever J (a show which they also co-produced with Marvel) and contributed to Spider-Man's popularity when Marvel began to export more of their properties to Japan during later years.
The head writer of the series was Susumu Takaku (Key Hunter, Mazinger Z, G-Men '75), who wrote 16 episodes and the movie, while former Tsuburaya writer Shōzō Uehara also wrote 15 episodes, including the first episode and the finale. There were many episodes in which the "monster of the week" (usually a "Machine BEM" created by the villain) was not relevant to the plot, as well as two episodes (ep. 12 and ep. 27) which featured no monsters at all. The show also featured a story arc in which the female antagonist Amazoness tries to uncover Spider-Man's secret identity.
Read more about this topic: Spider-Man (Toei TV Series)
Other articles related to "production":
... Pre-production design Design brief or Parti pris – an early (often the beginning) statement of design goals Analysis – analysis of current design goals ... presenting design solutions Design during production Development – continuation and improvement of a designed solution Testing – in situ ...
... and VP of sales, but became dissatisfied with being so far removed from aircraft production and quit to form Beechcraft, using the original Travel Air ... In 1942 Beech won its first Army-Navy ‘E’ Award production award and became one of the elite five percent of war contracting firms in the country to win five ... The Bonanza has had the longest production run of any airplane, past or present, in the world ...
... The relationship between design and production is one of planning and executing ... In contrast, production involves a routine or pre-planned process ... A design may also be a mere plan that does not include a production or engineering process, although a working knowledge of such processes is usually expected of designers ...
... money used to buy things is a way of measuring production ... Note that if you knit yourself a sweater, it is production but does not get counted as GDP because it is never sold ... some major activities such as child-rearing (generally unpaid) as production, GDP ceases to be an accurate indicator of production ...
... Kaman was awarded a contract for four prototype and 12 production HU2K-1 helicopters in late 1957 ... With no follow-on orders, Kaman ended production in the late 1960s after delivering 184 SH-2s to the US Navy although production would be later restarted in 1971 to manufacture an improved variant of the helicopter ... A significant factor in the reopening of the production line was that the Navy's Sikorsky SH-60 Sea Hawk, which was newer and more capable in anti-submarine operations ...
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