Ultraman makes his television debut in the black & white special, BIRTH OF ULTRAMAN. The show will be released for the first time in North America as part of an exclusive UKTRAMAN Blu-ray collection. Photo courtesy of Tsuburaya Productions. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONSExclusive Release For Ultraman Day Featuring Cover Art By Alex Ross! Source: Mill Creek Entertainment Special Thanks to Barrett Evans and J.W. Starrett
THE BIRTH OF ULTRAMAN O-ring cover art by comics legend Alex Ross. Photo courtesy of Mill Creek. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONSMinneapolis, MN (June 17, 2020) Mill Creek Entertainment is pleased to announce “The Birth of Ultraman Collection”, a Blu-ray set containing some of the best episodes of the original ULTRAMAN series with both the original Japanese language and the classic English dub audio tracks plus THE BIRTH OF ULTRAMAN – ULTRAMAN Pre-Premiere Special, the very first appearance of the hero that would become famous across the world as Ultraman. This exclusive Blu-ray release also features art created by Alex Ross which is also featured on The Rise of Ultraman cover for Marvel Comics and Tsuburaya Production’s recent collaboration with the debut issue releasing September 2020. This exciting, special-edition comes off the back of Mill Creek Entertainment’s license of the entire available Ultraman back-catalog via international distribution company Indigo Entertainment, from the revolutionary team at Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd. Mill Creek Entertainment now brings a selection of ULTRAMAN episodes in high definition video with DTS-HD Master Audio of the original Japanese soundtrack plus the uncut United Artists English dubs. Each episode will also come with two English subtitle options; one for the Japanese audio and a second matching the English audio track. “The Birth of Ultraman Collection" will include the following episodes... Episode 1 – ULTRA OPERATION NO. 1 – The story begins as the heroic alien Ultraman pursues the space monster Bemular to Earth, leading to a fateful encounter with Shin Hayata, an agent of the SSSP. Episode 2 – SHOOT THE INVADER – Ultraman’s iconic foe, Alien Baltan, makes its first appearance in a tale narrated by Ide, the SSSP`s genius inventor. Episode 19 – DEMONS RISE AGAIN – An ancient time capsule unleashes the red-skinned monster Banila and its blue-skinned rival Aboras, who wage a titanic battle in the National Stadium. Episodes 26 & 27 – THE MONSTER HIGHNESS Parts 1 & 2 – The only 2-part ULTRAMAN story features the Ancient Monster Gomora, who escapes captivity and overwhelms Ultraman as it rampages towards Osaka.
Blu-ray packaging artwork. Photo courtesy of Mill Creek. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONSEpisode 33 – THE FORBIDDEN WORDS – When Alien Mefilas tries to convince a boy to give him the Earth, even Ultraman may not be able to stop him. Episode 37 – A LITTLE HERO – Ide suffers a crisis of faith as the Friendly Monster Pigmon warns that the evil creature Geronimon is reviving an army of monsters to destroy Ultraman and the SSSP! Also included is THE BIRTH OF ULTRAMAN – ULTRAMAN Pre-Premiere Special. Airing in Japan on July 10, 1966, one week before the series premiere, this stage show was filmed before a live studio audience and introduced viewers to the story, cast and characters of ULTRAMAN. This July 10 debut of ULTRAMAN on television is now celebrated annually and known throughout the world as “Ultraman Day.” Never before released in America, this special is presented in black & white (as originally broadcast) in standard definition with Japanese audio and English subtitles. ULTRAMAN premiered on Japanese television on July 17, 1966 and was an immediate ratings smash. While the series was still in production, the North American rights were licensed to United Artists, who in-turn commissioned voice director Peter Fernandez (Speed Racer) to supervise the English dubbing of the show. The English language version was syndicated to American television in 1967 and went on to air in various markets across the country into the early 1980s. "The Birth of Ultraman Collection" Blu-ray will be exclusively sold on DeepDiscount as part of the launch of a dedicated Ultraman storefront that will offer up all of Mill Creek Entertainment`s current Blu-ray/SteelBook® releases in addition to other Ultraman related merchandise and product. Available July 10, 2020, the set retails for $25.99. · Pre-order: deepdiscount.com/ultraman
Sample pages from the booklet included with the collection. Photo courtesy of Mill Creek. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS
Photo courtesy of Mill Creek. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONSAbout Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment is the home entertainment industry’s leading independent studio for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital distribution. With direct sales pipelines to all primary retail and online partners, Mill Creek Entertainment licenses, produces, markets and distributes a dynamic array of film and television content to over 30,000 retail stores and thousands of websites reaching millions of customers across North America. Mill Creek Entertainment’s expansive library includes Oscar®-winning theatrical feature films, Emmy®-winning classic and current TV series, original documentary productions and pop-culture favorites that enlighten, educate and entertain. Mill Creek Entertainment also owns and operates movieSPREE, an on-demand transactional streaming service offering movie bundles, complete TV series and premium entertainment options with apps available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV, Android and iOS. Mill Creek Entertainment is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information, please visit millcreekent.com or movieSPREE.com.
