The Child's Dream is the third episode of Ultraman: Towards the Future. It is also called A Charming Boy in Japan.
Synopsis[]
Jimmy finds a "green stone" while searching for his lost pet at a building construction site. However, the true identity of the stone is a Gudis Cell, and it takes over Jimmy's grudge for losing his pet and transforms into Gerukadon!
Plot[]
One night an abandoned carnival was reactivated by unknown circumstances. The local police went to check it out only to be scared out of their minds by the monster Gerukadon. Before they could inflict any damage Gerukadon ran away from the scene. Little did anyone suspect it was a creature summoned by a Gudis device found by a boy named Jimmy.
Gerukadon appeared in a much larger size the next night and destroyed two new buildings that were opening up. Before UMA could do anything the alien mutant monster disappeared. Within moments they found out through one of their agents that Jimmy had a strange Gudis device that created Gerukadon by a combination of his favorite dinosaur and his recently lost pet lizard, Gus.
Jimmy was lured by the device to a Gudis nest in a parking lot building. As Jimmy was being infected by the Gudis, Gerukadon appeared once again to destroy the city, this time without disappearing. UMA tried as much as they could, but Gerukadon was too much for their fighters to handle.
Once by himself Jack Shindo turned into Ultraman Great to fight Gerukadon. Great used his Palm Shooters, but Gerukadon's fire resistance prevented the alien mutant monster from receiving serious harm. The same thing happen when Great used the Knuckle Shooters. After Jimmy broke free of the Gudis hold Great used the Magnum Shoot to purify Gerukadon.
With the monster now free of the Gudis virus Gerukadon, now as Gus, took off into the night sky with Jimmy.
Cast[]
- Jack Shindo: Dore Kraus
- Jean Echo: Gia Carides
- Arthur Grant: Ralph Cotterill
- Kim Shaomin: Grace Parr
- Charles Morgan: Lloyd Morris
- Lloyd Wilder: Rick Adams
Guest Actors[]
- Jimmy Martin: Hamish Fletcher
- Rachael: Fiona Jarvis
- Archaeologist: Raymond Jurgens
- Site Foreman: Brian Knott
- Caitlin McDougall
- Greg Elliott
Voice Actors[]
- Ultraman Great: Matthew O'Sullivan
- Narrator: John Bonney
Japanese Dub[]
- Jack Shindo: Masaki Kyomoto
- Jean Echo: Yoshiko Sakakibara
- Arthur Grant: Akiji Kobayashi
- Kim Shaomin: Fumi Hirano
- Charles Morgan: Koichi Yamadera
- Lloyd Wilder: Shingo Yanagisawa
- Jimmy Martin: Daisuke Namikawa
- Rachael: Atsuko Koganezawa
- Narrator: Hiroshi Fujioka
Suit Actors[]
- Ultraman Great: Steve Apps and Robert Simper
- Monsters: Mike Read and Johnny Halliday
Appearances[]
Ultras[]
Kaiju[]
Trivia[]
- According to a 2017 interview with the Japanese production staff, the original concept for the monster "Gerukadon" was initially planned to be based on an extinct species from Australia, later changed to "Moa" in the second draft. However, due to the fact that the moa was driven to extinction by overhunting by humans, the Australian staff believed that the local audience would not appreciate this theme. As a result, they ultimately decided to change the creature to the Frilled lizard.[1]
- The original draft of this episode was written by Hidenori Miyazawa in May 1989. Existing versions include the first draft dated May 29, the second draft, and a revised draft (third draft) with an unspecified date. Initially, since the main title had not been decided, the working title of the first draft was temporarily "Ultraman Down Under [2] ."
- In the second draft, Jimmy has a line: "My dream is to ride that Moa and soar freely in the sky." In the original script, Jimmy was terminally ill and on the verge of death, and the Moa was depicted as a famous "flightless bird." This connection conveyed Jimmy’s emotional projection of his fading life onto the Moa.
- Due to concerns about using the image of the Moa, when Gerukadon's appearance was changed to that of a frilled lizard, a pet lizard named "Gus," owned by Jimmy, was added to the story. This revision introduced a different emotional tone compared to the Moa's symbolism.
- In Terry Larsen’s version of the script, Jimmy's terminal illness was removed, and a new element was added, where a "Jimmy clone" externally controls Gerukadon after Jimmy merges with it. Additionally, a series of scenes were included to depict Jack resonating with Jimmy. Jack felt that Jimmy, who had "merged with another being," was similar to himself and hoped that Jimmy's willpower would be able to resist Gudis' influence.
References[]
Ultraman: Towards the Future Episodes | |
---|---|
1. Signs of Life | 2. The Hibernator | 3. The Child's Dream | 4. The Storm Hunter | 5. Blast from the Past | 6. The Showdown | 7. The Forest Guardian | 8. Bitter Harvest | 9. The Biospherians | 10. Tourists from the Stars | 11. The Survivalists | 12. The Age of Plagues | 13. Nemesis |