During one of my early drafts for my posting on Canada in science fiction and fantasy, I was hunting around for suitable images with which to illustrate the article. To my intense disappointment, I couldn't find a single image that showed a real science fiction view of anything Canadian.Undaunted, I decided to take another direction on the search - how about monster movies? Sorry, no luck. Godzilla has never breathed radioactive fire on Vancouver, King Kong never made it this far north, the Cloverfield monster was restricted to New York - I finally had to photocomp my own picture, as above (and ended up not using it anyway). I know that we have a reputation as a peaceful country, but damn it, has not one other person ever wondered what it would look like if Mothra decided to attack Sudbury?
To add insult to injury, it turns out that the Japanese aren't content to have had every giant lizard, insect, primate and robot on the planet visit Tokyo. No, that's not enough - in honour of the 30th anniversary of the Mobile Suit Gundam cartoon series, they decided to build a 1:1 scale model of the star of the show. The 60-foot robot now towers over onlookers in the Odaiba Shiokaze park. The head turns, and the eyes light up, but unfortunately that's as mobile as the statue gets.
To be honest, I have to think that there must have been something more important than giant combat mecha on the list of civic projects for Tokyo. But you've got to think that if it had been built earlier, it would have made those Independence Day aliens think twice before blowing up the Imperial Palace.
- Sid
Hey Sid. So is the Canadian content in the King Kong image Fay Wray? And what about that Mackenzie brothers movie, the name of which I have blissfully forgotten? Doesn't that have some sci-fi content (particularly if you define that term loose as a goosely)? Just wondering. Do the X-Files and Supernatural count? Filmed in Canada with American money? Although they're tv, I realise.
ReplyDeleteSigh...poor girl, been away so long. King Kong is standing on the CN Tower?
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, the Mackenzie Brothers movie - I have their album on my iPod, but I've never seen the movie. Damn, more research, and me with ten more hours of the Dune TV movies to watch...
X-Files, Supernatural, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, the old Highlander series, Andromeda, the new Battlestar Galactica, and the ill-fated Flash Gordon TV series - all shot locally, none set in Canada. Sad, that. I have 3/4 of a SF TV series concept set in Vancouver, but the missing 1/4 has kept me from seeking funding.
- Sid