Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am thrilled to announce we are returning to the venerable archives of Toei Doga, this time exploring the 1969 feature Flying Phantom Ship. By the end of the ‘60s, the methods of film production had already changed significantly within the young animation studio; from the humble beginnings of Hakujaden being key animated largely by two artists, the Toei team had expanded to the point where they were generally producing two animated films at the same time.
This means we sadly won’t see Yasuji Mori’s hand on Flying Phantom Ship, but never fear – we’ve got Hayao Miyazaki here to console us, who was apparently responsible for designing and animating this film’s giant robot. Miyazaki is here accompanied by a battery of Toei mainstays, from original veterans like Reiko Okuyama to key Puss ‘n Boots collaborators like Sadao Kikuchi. Additionally, animation director Yoichi Kotabe is a legend even setting aside his Toei Doga work; he’d follow Miyazaki from Toei to first Heidi, where he’d serve as character designer and animation director, and then onward to Nausicaa, before “settling down” to become the animation supervisor of decades worth of Pokémon cartoons. The further we travel through Toei Doga’s catalog, the more obvious its creators’ various post-Toei adventures become – but for now, let’s savor the pleasure of seeing all of them in one place, as we journey through one more classic!
Flying Phantom Ship
We open with a lonely foghorn crying out across the sea, a ship concealed by mists in the distance. This’ll be interesting; Toei’s films often include flourishes of horror, but I’ve yet to see them tackle something like a dedicated ghost story. I wonder if the conclusion of Puss ‘n Boots proved to be something like a trial run for this film, with its exceedingly haunted castle and skeletons
I recall Yasuo Otsuka attempted to make a spooky skeleton for the much earlier Magic Boy, but his realistic interpretation of a fully articulated bone structure ended up coming across more as funny or endearing, prompting laughter among theater audiences. A pity we won’t get to see him take another stab at horror here
The narrator tells us of a ghost ship that is frequently seen before disasters
Lovely textured backgrounds realizing this creaking metal behemoth, making it a pleasure simply to slowly pan across them through the credits. In the era of digital background design, it is much rarer that a production can engage and impress simply through slow pans like this; frankly, it often feels like modern shows have to distract from a full appreciation of their backgrounds, lest the mechanical seams of the art design become too apparent
I’m impressed with how vivid this scenery looks in spite of the limited color palette. Sorta like Angel’s Egg; all variations on blues and grays, but all the more evocative for it
Welp there’s our first skull, making sure to keep a close eye on the helm
Is it alive!? Nope, there’s just a crab inside, complete with some very convincing crab animation
We transition to get our first glimpse of the film’s human protagonist, and it’s quite a shock! This boy and his family’s designs are utterly unlike anything in the earlier Toei catalog. Rather than either the traditional painting-reminiscent designs of Toei’s earliest films, or the more modernism-inspired designs of Little Prince, these characters feel far more indebted to contemporary, Tezuka-derivative manga character designs. I suppose that’s no surprise given the film is an adaptation of a comic by Shotaro Ishinomori (Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider’s creator), but it’s nonetheless a bit of a shock to see designs that undercut the quasi-timelessness of Toei’s earlier films
“I sure goofed up last time. I brought home a frozen fish!” That sense of clear temporal place is further bolstered by the very modern concerns of our heroes
The designs are pleasant and expressive nonetheless. Compared to Toei’s previous characters, you can tell these were initially created for still manga panels; there’s far more personality embedded in the basic shapes of their faces, like this father’s strong jaw and the lines beneath his eyes. In contrast, the earlier Toei Doga character designs, especially for the protagonists, tend to stick to more simplified, rounded shapes, which make them easier to animate. Motion is the vehicle through which previous Toei Doga protagonists conveyed their personality, whereas these designs are intended to convey personality even in a still frame
These characters are having altogether too lovely of a family trip, I imagine something terrible will happen soon
This dog’s array of laughing faces reflects this film’s odd position between limited and full animation; rather than the fluid expression shifts of earlier films, he transitions between a sequence of still expressions that are each held for about a second
“Play with your junk like a real dog!” Rude
Suddenly, a car goes through the railing of a cliffside road! Our boy springs into action
The car has no driver, but the passenger is Mr. Kuroshio, who owns a variety of local businesses
Our boy’s name is Hayato. His energetic movements call to mind Horus, and feel like a natural precursor to Future Boy Conan. Wild seeing so much of what made Miyazaki’s next era great here in these foundational texts
The woman who was in the car states that a skeleton appeared on the road. Hayato’s father helpfully suggests they retire to a nearby haunted house
Really just min-maxing our horror staples here, and I’m all for it. Horror in animation is a tricky business owing to the inherent dramatic distance of the medium; it’s hard to feel like you’re genuinely vulnerable when you’re clearly watching characters in an invented, animated world. The easier route is leading the audience to feel fear for the characters on-screen, as in brutal stories like Shiki, but here I’m just happy to admire whatever wild animation brings these ghouls to life
A crack of lightning serves as our transition to the haunted house’s gates. This transition somewhat echoes the flashes of light used for key moments in Puss ‘n Boots, while this perspective shot at the gate is a natural way to draw the audience more directly into the action, framing the sequence as if we ourselves are walking into the house
Oh man, love this overhead shot with all these hanging willows. Terrific use of negative space, making our heroes seem all the smaller due to their confinement in the bottom left corner of the frame, with these branches reaching out towards them like malicious fingers
The dog Jack once again gets much of the most playful expression work. Animation that is in and of itself horrifying is a rare feat; I imagine the mutations at the end of Akira, or the morphing nightmares of Magnetic Rose. More important for horror is scene-setting, which means the background artists and storyboarders here are bearing the bulk of the tonal drama, while the animators work on tone-balancing flourishes like Jack’s goofy reactions
Yep, more goofy Jack expressions as he elects to help Dad search for firewood. It reminds me again of how in earlier Toei Doga films, the somber drama often meant these legendary animators were mostly busying themselves realizing tonally discordant animal mascot shenanigans. Otsuka’s preferred approach to animation demands a film like Puss ‘n Boots, where playful movement is in fact the point of the feature
The wide gulf between how Ishinomori draws male and female characters reminds me of Leiji Matsumoto; functional dot eyes and simplified forms for boys, luxuriously detailed glimmering eyes for girls
More smart employment of negative space as Hayato looks for towels, presenting this mansion’s hallways as vast and impenetrable, Hayato’s candle merely a flicker in the darkness
In one standout cut, the darkness practically reaches out to grasp them, much like the branches outside
But then, a skeleton! More interesting limited animation cuts here, with our heroes’ flight conveyed as repeated movement cycles overlaid over a transparent skull
It seems clear this film was intended as a less resource-intensive film than its predecessors, and it’s interesting seeing a Toei film straddle the line between film and TV production methods. The fact that this is a horror film works in its favor in that regard – as I said, horror is more about atmosphere than motion, more about anticipation than execution, meaning evocative backgrounds and strong sound design can do a lot of the work that would necessarily be realized through animation in another story
Kuroshio wakes, and Hayato’s father introduces himself as Arashiyama
Yeah, the film can frequently get away with still held shots as spooky noises rise in volume. Economical trick!
The skeleton captain appears outside the window! I’m instantly reminded of Slint’s “Good Morning, Captain,” because I will always be an indie rock nerd
The skeleton informs us that ten years ago, a tragedy befell him. His crew were beaten to death, he was poisoned, and his wife and child were led to his ship, which was then set on fire. A real bummer all around
He also says he’s still seeking revenge, which I assume means Kuroshio was responsible for his misfortune
The group is joined by Mr. Haniwa, the “Chief of Defense.” Amused by this world’s delightfully children-oriented perception of adult jobs
Ooh, loving these sleek modern building and car designs as we move past the moment of crisis, and return to the big city. Lots of simplified shapes and rounded metal forms, which serve as a strong contrast with the textured, organic look of the haunted house
Apparently the Phantom Ship has already taken down ten transport vessels. The perils of shipping, I guess
Hayato informs his father of a challenge his schoolmates are participating in: collect 1,000 Boa Juice caps to win a trip in a submarine
And holy shit, suddenly a tank drives over the traffic jam. Luscious mechanical animation as this overwhelming machine crushes a line of cars; with so little time yet such talented animators, I imagine this film will continue to offer discordant shifts from limited animation to impressive displays like this
“I am the Golem! The Phantom Ship’s messenger of death!” Sure, say whatever you need to say to justify a giant robot’s appearance in a ghost ship narrative. Regardless, I’m just happy to see Miyazaki having fun – in fact, this robot’s rampage feels strongly reminiscent of Gulliver’s Journey to the Moon’s final robot battles, which I believe also involved heavy Miyazaki contributions
Love the animation of these buildings crumbling before this creature. Even within this one sequence, the contrast between the fluidity of that destruction and the repeated cuts of this one surface-to-air missile launcher embody this film’s lopsided approach to animation
Also like the rough, sketchy linework used for the frantic motion of this debris falling on our heroes. Apparently Yoshinori Kanada was greatly inspired by this whole golem sequence; strange to think Miyazaki was already an inspiring predecessor to the next generation back in the ’60s when he’s still directing movies today
Hayato’s house was also destroyed by the robot, er, golem
Oh no, his mother was actually killed in the collapse! Genuinely painful moment as he wails over her body and blames her for leaving him behind. I’d lament the lack of Yasuji Mori being here to really make this animation sting, but frankly, Hayato is an exceedingly un-Mori-like character in all regards; these clumsy, staggered movements suit him much better
And with his father near death as well, he reveals that Hayato was actually found washed up on the shore ten years ago, and was then adopted by his current parents
He also reveals that Hayato possesses a photo of his birth parents
His father then immediately dies. Jeez, what a grim turn!
I mentioned this film’s “lack of timelessness” relative to the other Toei Doga films, and that feels even more apparent given these new narrative twists. The boy who must make his own future, having just received a hint from his dying father, is a staple of classic manga that would carry on through Tomino, Anno, and beyond, while these scenes of urban desolation inevitably echo imagery of the atomic bomb’s aftermath. Toei might have been largely seeking to compete with Disney, but Ishinomori was addressing the world around him
“Stop acting like you’re better than me! I don’t mind being on my own!” Hayato offering some very human responses to this tragedy, rebuffing Jack to avoid grappling with his own feelings
They reconcile over his mother’s forlorn shoe. Kids of this generation couldn’t really keep loss at a distance; tragedy of an unimaginable scale was just a collective assumption of their childhood, prompting a premature understanding of grief and despair that would carry on into the art they produced
We pick up at Kuroshio’s manor, where he offers to let Hayato stay. His wife mentions that “our son would be just about your age if he were alive,” so that seems like a clue
Hayato desires revenge against the ship and its foul golem
A news brief on the continuing disaster is interrupted by a commercial for Boa Juice. “What a stupid time for a commercial!” This film is definitely infused with an uncommonly sharp comedic edge for a Toei Doga feature, which I assume is also Ishinomori’s influence
The Phantom Ship appears in Tokyo’s harbor, and actually seems to engage in battle with the golem! What is happening!?
Oh my god, the Phantom Ship is also equipped with secret missile bays, alongside some kind of… lightning laser attack? Fantastic stuff
And the golem crashes into the harbor! A great victory for the phantom ship, which was apparently tired of this golem ruining its good name
Hayato follows Kuroshio into what appears to be an empty room, which is presumably his launch route for controlling the giant robot
Ooh, impressive sequence of movement into depth as Hayato rides on this mechanical chair, employing alternatingly shaded tiling on the floor to make it easy to parse the distance being crossed. As ever, the gulf between this film’s standout animation sequences and generally economy of animation is really something
Yep, the chair takes Hayato through first a secret arms factory, and then right past the giant robot. An easy thematic takeaway here, implying Japan’s post-war efforts to revitalize the economy might be concealing immediate attempts to remilitarize, in spite of the obvious cost to the common man
Ooh, beautiful cut of a manta ray swimming beneath this moon pool. Quite the contrast between its realistic design and our boy Hayato
Kuroshio states that the Chief of Defense may have to retire due to his failure to protect the golem. A clear implication that the military exists downstream of secret moneyed interests
“Many excellent men were among the pilots, but they believed they were dying for a cause, so who’s the wiser?” The rank-and-file soldiers are also victims of capitalism’s ambitions
“Tanks and missiles were made to kill! This has been very profitable.” “We manufacture them using tax dollars, so the more we destroy, the more money we rake in.” I apparently don’t have to spell out the themes here, the film itself is pretty intent on underlining that modern militarism is really just a mask disguising the inhumane will of capitalism
Another clever trick to create drama within still panes here, by repeatedly zooming in on the cels to create anticipation while this computer decides the Chief of Defense’s fate
Also just a fun narrative flourish, adding some suspense to what is essentially just a man being fired
And again, the sound design does the lion’s share of the work here, with that ominous, impersonal clacking of keys leading into a tense silence before the Chief’s chair descends, and he wails while plummeting out of view
“I want you to introduce stories in the Kuroshio Times and on Kuroshio TV, demanding an increase in the Defense Force.” Weapons manufacturers and other societal ills integrating into and corrupting alleged news programs? Say it ain’t so! Kinda wild to see a children’s film from the ‘60s so precisely articulating the societal rot that would define the next half-century
Meanwhile, one of Kuroshio’s other subsidiaries spearheads the urban redevelopment plans for the cities they themselves destroyed. “Funnily” enough, this is one of the few ideas here that doesn’t directly correlate to modern American society, almost entirely because the people pulling the strings are too racist to encourage public works programs for what they consider the “lesser elements” of society. Of course, that would be less of an issue in as homogeneous a nation as Japan, where such feuds generally fall more on class lines (like with local farmers protesting the Tokyo airport)
Kuroshio reveals he also used to be friends with the Phantom Ship’s captain, but ultimately betrayed him
“I’ll expose them for what they really are!” Another difference between this story and our modern world is this idea that “bringing the truth to light” will actually do anything. We’re well aware that Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers have poisoned the minds of billions, there’s just nothing anyone can do about it
“Officer! Why aren’t you going after the real bad guys!?” Of course, some things never change
The officer appears thoroughly addicted to Boa Juice
And as we soon learn, excessive consumption of Boa Juice actually melts you into a fine foam, and then to nothing at all. Genuinely horrifying sequence of this man on the street melting into nothing – I’m sure this film inspired more than a few nightmares
Hayato is captured by Kuroshio’s charmingly designed goons, who drag him to… a TV special in his honor? Kuroshio’s trying to buy him out!
But Kuroshio has miscalculated! Using his momentary stardom, Hayato tells the people of Kuroshio’s villainy!
A grim comedy in Hayato’s speech being hastily cut off by a Boa Juice commercial. This film is angry as hell!
Suddenly, gargantuan crustaceans begin emerging all across the city. More obvious nightmare fuel; these are indeed some of the most terrifying designs in Toei’s history, with none of the playful energy that added a certain relatability to Otsuka creations like that skeleton or the Monkey King’s fight with a scorpion
Apparently these creatures are messengers of the Boa, and they’re rightly pissed that Kuroshio has failed to take care of the Phantom Ship
Dear lord! This megacrab picks up Kuroshio and douses him with bubbles, melting him in seconds. This cut of his clothes falling shapelessly from this creature’s claw is genuinely chilling
More excellent use of sound design, with the mechanical whirring of this megacrab emphasizing its encroaching menace as it chases Hayato to the roof of the TV studio
And again, smart use of perspective shots to draw us into Hayato’s headspace as the crab brandishes its mighty pincers
Fortunately, he is beamed up by the Phantom Ship in the nick of time. Nice composition of the ship above the city here, really emphasizing the aesthetic contrasts of the film
That composition only makes the following shot-countershot conversation of Hayato and the captain stand out all the more. This film is more frequently driven by conversation than visual drama, which also helps limit its animation requirements, particularly since there’s very little character acting in the style of Little Prince or Horus
The skeleton captain reveals that the ships he sunk were actually loaded with weapons
“They’re probably after the usual, world domination.” As you do
The “Boa” relay their orders from a secret undersea base marked with a big star. Alright, we get it, it’s America
“It’s a must-have device for any Phantom Ship!” This captain’s quite charming, skull face aside
“This is the interior of the ship.” An extremely Miyazaki embellishment here; the dude absolutely loves mechanical diagrams, a fascination he shares with Otsuka and presumably countless other animators. Sherlock Hound loves getting into the nitty-gritty of how Moriarty’s hideouts are constructed, and so many Miyazaki productions feature a car or plane of some sort being dismantled in motion, each layer of mechanical structure falling away in turn
Hayato is then struck by a bout of Boa Juice withdrawal! That fiendish liquid!
After a Boa attack dislodges the captain’s mask, we finally reveal he is indeed Hayato’s father. This half-scarred look seems like it was a popular design quirk in this film’s era
I’m curious as to how the film achieved this warbling underwater look – looks like they moved some sort of uneven transparent filter over the cel or something
“We’re going to pilot this ship ourselves, and take out the Boa base!” Love this nurse’s can-do attitude. Also interesting seeing this Ishinomori-style heroine in a Toei Doga picture; Toei’s heroines usually all conform to Yasuji Mori’s somewhat reserved style, a style that would go on to inform Miyazaki’s ideal heroine
“We created the Boa by drinking all this juice! We have to throw this crap out!” Hayato reframing the threat of the Boa as a general call to action towards the audience, asking viewers to be more mindful of how they unthinkingly contribute to social ills
More ominous imagery as an unmanned tank rolls through the city, its entire crew reduced to limp clothes draped about the cabin. This film has wildly exceeded my expectations in terms of finding genuine horror in animation
Ooh, another great negative space-based composition, with the phantom ship descending down a thin ravine at the bottom of the ocean. The massive scale of the darkness versus the thin column containing the ship emphasizes just how deep they’re going, and how forbidding this terrain
They emerge from the ravine into a ship graveyard! Just one exciting visual setpiece after another down here; in spite of this film’s relative lack of animation, they’ve found a way to make an exciting finale based largely around background art and sound design
And now the ship is trapped in a minefield! Plenty of generous effects animation for these explosions, I must admit
Oh no, the base is defended by a giant octopus! It’s funny, Otsuka was absolutely Toei’s go-to guy when it came to animating weird monsters like this, and you can certainly feel his absence in the relatively labored, low-drawing-count movements of creatures like this and the megacrabs
Hayato comes up with the clever idea of using the ship’s magnetic tractor beam to fuck up the octopus-robot’s computer systems
Ooh, delightful frenetic movement as the octopus goes on a rampage! This film feels like a case study in how to maintain visual intrigue in spite of largely sticking with limited animation; as a blueprint for the next era of TV animation, I imagine it was actually a lot more useful and actionable than Toei’s earlier films, whose lessons are mostly “employ some of the best animators of all time”
The ship’s final charge is a thrilling variation of that “mechanical device collapses around its pilots” beat I mentioned, as the phantom ship is stripped of masts, weapons, and armor in turn by the relentless enemy fire
As the escape pod ejects, the phantom ship is sent directly into the Boa base!
Turns out the Boa base was actually a giant clam hidden beneath the ocean floor. Never trust clams, our final lesson
And Done
Excellent work, Hayato and company! That was a thoroughly engaging watch for all sorts of reasons, with even its limitations proving an interesting comparison to earlier Toei Doga films. The film reflects a decline from the animation standard set by Little Prince, Horus, and Puss ‘n Boots, but it makes up for its fundamental paucity of key animation through a variety of scrappy solutions: prioritizing conversation over action, suspense over resolution, and sound design/storyboarding as a vehicle for drama. It feels like we can through this film see Toei emerging from the frank outlier of its early golden age into a more sustainable, eventually television-oriented production model. Additionally, it was also great fun watching a Toei film that isn’t just set in the modern day, but also determined to grapple with the political backdrop of modern society. Plus it’s just a plain excellent adventure by any metric – evil crabs, giant octopuses, and a ghost ship with a laser cannon. Who can say no to that?
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