TV on Tape: Johnny Sokko and His Giant Robot Movie Review

Of the various Japanese science-fiction series imported for American television in the ‘60s and ‘70s, few are more beloved than Johnny Sokko and His Giant Robot. Toei Studio's live-action series premiered in the U.S. in 1967, the same year as its Japanese debut, courtesy of AIP-Television. The series consisted of only 26 episodes, repeated over and over on UHF channels until the kids who loved the show practically had them memorized.

The first episode set the tone for the entire series: a flying saucer containing the evil space-emperor Guillotine (a clawed, octopus-headed being) appears in Earth's skies, and, after shooting down some Japanese planes, disappears under the ocean. Later, Johnny Sokko, a young boy traveling (apparently alone) on a ship, meets Jerry Mano, who is actually a secret agent for a world defense organization known as Unicorn. Their ship is sunk by Dracolon, a giant fish-monster who's apparently part of Guillotine's plans for taking over the world. Jerry and Johnny are washed up on an island, actually the headquarters of the Gargoyle Gang, Guillotine's human henchmen. Imprisoned by the Gargoyles, Jerry and Johnny meet super-scientist Lucius Guardian, who's been ordered to construct a gigantic robot for Guillotine's evil purposes. Johnny accidentally activates the robot's control device, and when an atomic bomb Guardian planted to destroy the Gargoyles’ headquarters inadvertently activates the robot, the powers of good gain a powerful new ally.

Johnny joins Unicorn as a full-fledged agent, and proceeds to have a wonderful time fighting a parade of colorful monsters and alien spies. Johnny Sokko’s menagerie of rubber-suited beasties rivaled anything in the Godzilla movies. They included a giant ambulatory eyeball, a huge flying robot head, a monster bull able to swallow an entire train, and a dinosaur with the power to conjure up blizzards. The expressionless Giant Robot (who for some reason wore what appeared to be an Egyptian head-dress) didn't have much personality compared to, say, Ultraman, but millions of kids loved the fantasy of being in control of a mountain-sized being of limitless strength.

In 1970, several of the Johnny Sokko episodes were edited (rather badly) into a feature-length movie called Voyage into Space. Like the series proper, it was sold directly to American television, where it delighted children and bewildered their parents. More recently, Japanese director Yasuhiro Imagawa created an animated series, Giant Robo, based (very vaguely) on Johnny Sokko. Although Giant Robo is vastly more sophisticated than its predecessor and contains some wonderful characters (like a modern-day samurai who can breathe fire), most fans are likely to have a special place in their hearts for the original series.

1967/C JPDirector: Yasuhiro Imagawa. VHS ORI