Noriaki Yuasa | |
---|---|
Born |
Tokyo, Japan |
September 28, 1933
Died | June 14, 2004 Japan |
(aged 70)
Cause of death | Stroke |
Occupation | Film director |
Noriaki Yuasa (湯浅 憲明 Yuasa Noriaki?) (born 1933 in Tokyo, Japan, died June 14, 2004) was a Japanese director. Yuaasa is the main director being the Japanese film series Gamera, about a giant flying turtle from outer space that befriend small boys battles giant monsters. The series was created by Daiei studios after the box office success of the Godzilla series.
Noriaki Yuasa was born 28 September, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. Yuasa was the son of a stage actor and began work at a young age as a child actor. After graduating university, he began to seek work on the production of films. Yuasa joined Daiei Studios in 1955 and became director in 1964 with the musical comedy film Shiawasa nara te o tatake (lit. If You're Happy, Clap Your Hands).
Yuasa's next project was a film tentatively tiled Dai gunju Nezura (lit. The Great Rat Swarm) which would involve real rats crawling over minitures of cities. The rats received for the film had fleas which halted production on Dai gunju Nezura. As the miniatures for the film were already built, Masaichi Nagata had the idea to develop a giant monster to attack the city and had the idea for a giant flying turtle. Yuasa with his screenwriter Nisan Takahashi developed the idea into the 1965 film Gamera: The Giant Monster.
Yuasa continued work directing films in the series except Gamera vs. Barugon, where he only was the special effects director. Yuasa's personal favourite of his Gamera films was Gamera vs. Viras. Following the collapse of Daiei in 1971, he predominantly directed work for television including Electroid Zaborger (1974) and Ultraman 80 (1980). His last film was Gamera: Super Monster which included numerous stock footage from the previous Gamera films.