Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima Interview: Ultraman Rising Kaiju Inspo

Ultraman has been around since the 1960s, starting out as a live-action series in Japan, it has gone on to inspire many shows, films, manga, and anime. Coming to Netflix June 14, directors Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima are set to introduce a new version of the iconic hero that is sure to delight longtime fans and newcomers of all ages.

Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima Interview

If you're a Kaiju fan like I am, Ultraman Rising is the film for you. It's perfect for the whole family and honestly what isn't there to love about watching a new parent take care of a cute giant baby monster? With eye-catching animation and its distinct look and feel, I was excited to speak with the directors and hear more about what it took to bring Tindle's version of Ultraman to life.

On What Influenced the Look of Ultraman Rising

Shannon: To begin with, the film wasn't an Ultraman film, it was inspired by Ultraman. I knew that even if people didn't know who Ultraman was, they might have seen the image of Ultraman because it's so iconic with the glowing eyes, the color timer, the red and silver. I wanted to pay homage to that original Ultraman suit because it might be a shorthand to poke at something familiar in people's brains and then I wanted to draw other inspiration from other artists that I love. Leiji Matsumoto, who was an incredible manga artist and an anime producer, has these really beautiful, elegant, long proportions in his characters. So I brought some of that over.

Then Hideaki Anno, who is a creator of Evangelion, who is like a scholar on Ultraman. You can see references to Ultraman in Evangelion. I love that the Evas move quickly, they're big, but they move quickly. We wanted that for Ultraman. So those are kind of the three primary sources– the original suit, Leiji Matsumoto proportions, and Anno-san's perspective on how to handle giant characters.

On Bringing a Baby Kaiju to Life:

Shannon: I wanted her to feel like a baby and have some of those aspects. What's great about Tokusatsu is it's someone in a suit. So I imagined what would a toddler look like if they were in a Kaiju suit, and how might they move? […] For a long time there was no gender for the baby and then because she's nonverbal, how can we have her communicate? Oh, we can have her change color. But also a big tip of the hat to Randy Thom, who created her voice. So all of those components, and a bit of my daughter in there as well.

John: That's all I see is his daughter Katie and the expressions.

About Ultraman Rising

With Tokyo under siege from rising monster attacks, baseball star Ken Sato (Christopher Sean) reluctantly returns home to take on the mantle of Ultraman. But the titanic superhero meets his match when he is forced to adopt a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby kaiju. Sato must rise above his ego to balance work and parenthood while protecting the baby from forces bent on exploiting her for their own dark plans.