Grow Up! Little Turtle

"Hey, l'm counting on you to take me to the dragon's palace. Don't forget that I'm taking good care of you. Do you understand?"

―Taro Urashima

Grow Up! Little Turtle
Ultra Q, episode 6
Information
Airdate	February 6, 1966
Directed by	Harunosuke Nakagawa
Written by	Masahiro Yamada
Special Effects Directed by	Hajime Koizumi
Continuity
Previous	Peguila Is Here!
Next	S.O.S. Mount Fuji

Grow Up! Little Turtle is the sixth episode of Ultra Q.

Synopsis

Taro is a schoolboy known for his tall tales. His newest claim? That his pet turtle Gameron will grow big enough for him to ride on and take him to an underwater castle. But when he reports a bank robbery, no one believes him. The robbers then kidnap him until Gameron grows and scares them into turning themselves in. Taro rides Gameron to the castle, where princess Otohime chides him for lying.

Plot

A young boy named Taro develops a curious preoccupation with his pet turtle named Gameron, to whom he constantly encourages to grow. After getting into trouble for bringing his turtle to school and neglecting his studies, Taro winds up in the company of two bumbling gangsters as they flee from the authorities.

While hiding out in the sewer, Taro is delighted to find that his turtle has suddenly grown to 99 cm in length. The sight of the giant turtle, however, frightens the gangsters into the welcoming arms of the police. Assuming that Taro had been kidnapped by the two thieves, the authorities return to collect the boy, who is nowhere to be found. Instead, he rides on the back of his turtle to the undersea Dragon Palace, as depicted in his crayon drawings.

There he meets a young mischievous princess names Otohime, who eludes Taro while riding on a rocket and then proceeds to sic her pet Dragon on him. When Taro wishes to return home, Otohime gives him a mysterious box, which she tells him never to open and he is immediately transported back to his family. Unable to resist temptation, Taro opens the box and instantly becomes an old man!

Cast

• Jun Manjome : Kenji Sahara
• Yuriko Edogawa : Hiroko Sakurai
• Ippei Togawa : Yasuhiko Saijo

Guest Actors

• Taro Urashima : Kazuo Nakamura
• Otohime : Aiko Tateishi
• Sato : Masanari Nihei
• Uchida : Chotaro Tougin
• Taro's homeroom teacher : Akira Oizumi
• Taro's Father : Akio Isono
• Inspector : Shin Otomo
• Detective : Toshihiko Furuta
• Taro's Mother : Kiyoko Hoshi
• Teacher : Kazuo Imai
• Cop : Yasuo Araki
• Takeo : Junji Muraoka

Suit Actors

• Gameron : Yukio Fukutome

Appearances

Kaiju

• Gameron
• Dragon
• Otohime

Home Media

• Ultra Q Volume 2 features episodes 5-8, while the Total Natural Color Blu-ray Volume 2 features episodes 4-7.

2001 release

2008 release

Total Natural Color Blu-ray

Trivia

• This episode is labeled "No. 8" on the script cover. However, due to production adjustments, it was actually the eleventh episode filmed, with production beginning in February 1965.
  • The story was adapted from Urashima Tarō. During development, three drafts were created. The earliest, titled "Taro's Picture Book" , was the first officially labeled as part of Ultra Q, unless counting the Ultra Q version of "The Disappearance of Flight 206," whose revision timeline is unclear.
  • The plot of "Taro's Picture Book" differed from the final version. In the original draft, a wheelchair-bound boy named Taro sees a giant turtle emerge from the pages of his favorite picture book, Urashima Taro, and helps the turtle defeat a group of kidnappers. While the details changed, the final version retained the core themes of a child immersed in fantasy and the appearance of a giant turtle.
  • During the script stage, Dragon did not exist. The initial plan was for a phoenix to appear instead. The model used for Dragon was adapted from the monster Manda in Toho's film Atragon. After filming, the model was returned to Toho.
• Regarding the episode's theme, director Harunosuke Nakagawa commented: "The adults in the story dismiss Taro's journey to the Dragon Palace as a lie. Yet, his classmates start raising turtles in hopes of following in his footsteps. That, in itself, is a form of rebellion against the adults. I wanted to expose how grown-ups lack dreams."
• Actress Aiko Tateishi struggled to laugh naturally during the scene where Otohime laughs. To help her, director Nakagawa performed a belly dance, which made her laugh.
• There were two versions of the opening sequence for the episode: one with a spoken line by Taro and one without.

• Harunosuke Nakagawa's niece wrote the title shown in the opening credits.
• The Gameron suit was originally made by Toho's special effects department for a festival. Its shell is still preserved at Tsuburaya Productions.