THE BLACK HOLE "Press-Out Book" (1979)

Here's a cool artifact of the 1970s, a Black Hole "Press-Out" Book, with fold-up paper spaceship models from Disney's 1979 outer space epic.

The book was printed on a light cardstock, and you'd press-out perforated images of the various Black Hole ships like The Cygnus and The Palomino, and fold them into cool little replicas of the cinematic spacecraft.

I kind of want this book now, though I doubt today's kids would find it much of a diversion. Not many people - adults or children - seem to build models anymore, of any kind. Why bother when everyone'll have a 3D printer soon, I guess?

Countdown: this is Space: 1970 post #995...

RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN (1978) Poster Art

Yeah, I like me some Witch Mountain - what kid of the Seventies didn't? The original two-film series from Disney featured a couple of likable adolescent leads in Ike Eisenmann (who would go on to star on TV's The Fantastic Journey and a play small part in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and Kim Richards, some genuine menace thanks to veteran heavies like Ray Milland and Christopher Lee (and Bette Davis!) and some all-too-brief glimpses of a cool flying saucer!

Here are some of the one sheets for the second film, released to U.S. cinemas in March of 1978, Return From Witch Mountain. Personally, I think it's the weaker of the two movies, but I always enjoy Chris Lee.

I really like the striking and atmospheric poster above. I don't know the identity of the artist, but I really dig the other-worldliness of the image, which is superior to the rather TV-like look of the actual film.

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) Lobby Cards

 

Courtesy of Star Kid Paul Quinn, here is a selection of colorful lobby cards from Disney's 1979 entry in the post-Star Wars cinematic space opera wave, The Black Hole. These scans are from a set of reproductions included in the 1999 special "tin box" VHS edition of the film, released by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

This is a cool collection, because aside from the familiar "rolling meteor" shot above, and the standard aft shot of the Cygnus, there are a bunch of lesser-seen stills from the movie included in this set. Enjoy.

And, before I forget, I'd like to express my appreciation for the late Maximilian Schell, who portrayed the demented Doctor Hans Reinhardt in The Black Hole, who passed away just a few weeks ago on February 1st. The highly-respected and acclaimed Austrian actor was 83 years of age. R.I.P.

Captain's bLog 0408.13

•  As you may have noticed, March was pretty much a bust as far as maintaining any momentum in posting to this blog. This can be attributed to a number of factors, including a bit of seasonal depression deriving from a seemingly endless winter, a touch of creative burnout, and some now-resolved physical ailments over the last few weeks that had a disastrous effect on my overall productivity. Then, last week, I lost a dear friend, and that really sent me reeling, too.

Anyway, I'll be making a very sincere effort to resume somewhat regular posting here beginning this week, starting with this "Captain's bLog" post, and, over the next few days, some long-promised reviews (Westworld, Futureworld & 1974's Wonder Woman). Stay tuned.

•  Poll Results: Last month, I posted the musical question: "Which 70s "Space Princess" Was The Sexiest?" With 271 votes cast, the clear winner (116 votes!) was Ornelia Muti's smokin' "Princess Aura," from 1980's Flash Gordon.

Making a respectable showing in second place, was Pamela Hensley's sultry "Princess Ardala," from the Buck Rogers television series, with an impressive 92 votes. Carrie Fisher's iconic "Princess Leia," from the original Star Wars trilogy, placed a distant third, with 43 votes. Sorry, Your Worship.

 •  DVD News: Various sites recently reported that the long-awaited Space: 1999 Year Two Blu-rays had gone up for pre-order at Amazon, with a release date of May 17, but this was an error on Amazon's part. In May, Space: 1999 is being re-issued on DVD (again) in Season One and Season Two packages. There's still no confirmed release date for the Second Season Blu-rays.

• Remake News: Disney is still teasing a remake of 1979's The Black Hole, to be directed by TRON Legacy's Joseph Kosinki. This past week, it was announced that Prometheus screenwriter John Spaiht was penning the new script. Hard to get excited about any of this... I didn't hate TRON Legacy, but I wasn't very impressed by it, either, and as for Prometheus.... oh well. We'll always have the original, and if the remake actually gets off the launch pad, maybe we'll finally get a Blu-ray.

• Space: 1970 on the Radio: Well, not exactly - but your humble Captain will be appearing on an upcoming episode of the Earth Station One podcast, where I'll be joining in on a discussion about the character of Buck Rogers - in all his incarnations. No doubt, I'll be talking a lot about Gil Gerard and Erin Gray... and TWIKI, too. Of course, I'll post an announcement here when the episode goes live, later this month. 

•  Blatant Cross-Promotion: First, I want to remind you all again that my new weekly sci-fantasy webcomic, Perils On Planet X, drawn by the talented Gene Gonazles, can be read for free at perilsonplanetx.com.  This serialized interplanetary swashbuckler sees a new page posted every Friday, and chronicles the adventures of modern-day Earth astronaut Donovan Hawke, stranded on the lost planet of Xylos, hundreds of millions of years in the past. The story is packed with monsters, beautiful women and lots of Flash Gordon/Blackstar-styled thrills. I hope you'll check it out, bookmark it, and follow the comic each Friday.

Anyone who enjoys my writing and the DVD reviews on this blog should check out my DVD Late Show site, where I have been reviewing B-movies, cult films and genre television shows on DVD and Blu-ray disc since 2005. Among the over 700 reviews on the site are plenty of Space: 1970-era favorites, like Battle Beyond The Stars, Damnation Alley, Starcrash, The Starlost, the Space: 1999 Blu-rays, and many more.

THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (1978) TV Guide Ad

I won't claim that Disney's 1978 kiddie comedy, The Cat From Outer Space, is one of my favorite 70s sci-fi flicks, because it really isn't. In truth, the last time I attempted to watch it - when my wife bought it on DVD about a decade ago - I fell asleep.

But, it is a nostalgic favorite of  many Star Kids and it's clearly the studio's reaction to the tremendous popularity of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind - two more-or-less adult films that were hugely popular with kids and sold lots of toys - from the previous year, so it does fit in here at Space: 1970.

Here's a vintage TV Guide ad trumpeting its World Network Television Premiere on CBS.

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #32: THE BLACK HOLE

With the help of a pair of technicians, professional mime Tommy McLoughlin is encased in the black fiberglass body of the Cygnus' gunslinging Sentry robot S.T.A.R., for Disney's 1979 interstellar epic, The Black Hole. His mouth and chin are blackened as a precaution against his skin showing through breathing holes/slits in the mask.

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) Radio-Controled V.I.N.CENT Robot

Courtesy of the the archivists at Megomuseum, here's a toy fair presentation film (not an on-air commercial) for a proposed radio-controlled V.I.N.CENT robot toy intended for their Black Hole toy line.

As it turned out, the 'bot never got past the prototype stage and never went into production, being deemed too expensive to produce. Too bad, it looks like it would have been really cool... even if it didn't levitate!

Coming Attractions: THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (1978) TV Spot

I was a bit too old for this Disney flick when it came out back in 1978, but my wife is a big fan of The Cat From Outer Space. We have the DVD in our library, but I haven't looked at it in ten years or so; the last time I tried to watch it, I fell asleep about halfway through. Now, to be fair, this was before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, so it may not have entirely been the movie's fault. Maybe I should try again one of these days when I'm in the mood for some light cheese.

That said... I do like the critter's space ship.

Coming Attractions: THE BLACK HOLE (1979) TV Spot

Here's a fun, 30 second TV spot for Disney's 1979 space epic, The Black Hole. Enjoy!

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) by Jack Kirby

Click on Image For Larger View

Back in 1979, the Disney folks hired legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby to adapt their new sci-fi epic, The Black Hole, into comic strip form for newspaper syndication. Like the Star Trek newspaper strip that appeared around the same time, it was intended to promote the expensive film. Apparently, it did get picked up by a few papers, but didn't last long - no doubt because the movie was a box-office disappointment.

In 2007, Disney published at least some of the strips - with new, digital colors - in their Disney Zone digest magazine.

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #8: THE BLACK HOLE

This week's Behind-The-Scenes photo, from The Black Hole, takes us to the effects stage of Walt Disney Studios, circa 1979, and the shooting of one of the two 12-foot USS Cygnus miniatures with Disney's A.C.E.S. (Automated Camera Effects System). Aside from the pair of 12-foot, full models of the Cygnus, there were several other sectional models built to a much larger scale for close up shots. The 12-foot miniatures weighed 170 pounds each and were constructed primarily of brass. They were built from scratch, with EMA tubes and domes used for detailing. Under the brass exoskeleton were sections of translucent plastic, built in sections, which housed about a hundred and fifty automotive light bulbs. The two models cost $100,000 and took a crew of 12 to 15 people approximately a year to build.

One of the two models was completely destroyed filming the story's climax. The other miniature went to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for a while after filming. It's fate since then is a mystery.

The Black Hole ultimately received two Academy Award nominations - one for Best Visual Effects and one for Best Cinematography.

ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN (1975) & RETURN TO WITCH MOUNTAIN (1978) Double Feature TV Spot

In 1978, Walt Disney Productions re-released their G-rated space kids-on-the-run thriller, Escape To Witch Mountain on a double bill with its sequel, Return From Witch Mountain. Here's a 30-second TV commercial for that telekinetic double feature. Obviously, these movies were childhood favorites, in large part because I saw them at the drive-in with my family. Even then, though, I wished that we'd seen a lot more of their flying saucer and learned more about their people.

For the record, I actually enjoyed the 2009 update - I thought the kids were quite good, Dwayne Johnson was likable enough, and I have a serious crush on Carla Gugino - but I don't believe I ever saw any of the various other remakes and spin-offs done for television in the 80s & 90s. There was a short-lived TV series, too, right? Or am I misremembering? (I must be - I can't find one on the IMDb....)

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) International Theatrical Posters

A lot of promotional art was generated for Disney's 1979 space opera, The Black Hole. About a year ago, I posted a bunch of theatrical one-sheets from the film - one of my favorites from the era - and now, here's a couple more nicely-designed International theatrical posters that I've stumbled across in my galactic Googling. I particularly like the top one - it's a great image. Enjoy.

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) Whitman Comics Cover Gallery

Back in '79-'80, Whitman Comics published four issues of a comic book series (and a movie adaptation collected album, not pictured) based on the Walt Disney Studios film, The Black Hole.

The first two issues adapted the movie, with art by Dan Spiegel, and the second two issues chronicled what became of the crew of The Palomino after they passed through the titular cosmic singularity. I never read - or even saw - those issues, so I have no idea what they found Beyond The Black Hole... except, apparently, you know, dinosaurs.

(And, evidently, a cover artist lacking in necessary photo reference - well, at least he got the robots right!)

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) Lobby Cards

Here are a set  of really cool color lobby cards from 1979's epic cinematic space opera, The Black Hole. (Currently my #1 most desired HD Blu-Ray upgrade - get on the ball, Disney!)

Click on the images for a slightly larger view.

THE BLACK HOLE (1979) Promotional Art by David Mattingly

Here's a piece of art that I had never seen before, until stumbling upon this scan online. It's a Black Hole promotional painting by space artist David Mattingly done for Disney. I don't know if it was ever used anywhere - as I said, I've never seen it before, not on any merchandising or advertising.

That's another cool thing about doing this blog: as I search around for stuff to illustrate my posts, I occasionally stumble across something like this that is completely new to me.

ADDENDUM 6/11: I have just discovered that this art appeared on the cover of the sixth issue of Questar magazine, published in February of 1980.

News: TRON (1982) on Blu-Ray in April

The groundbreaking original cyberspace epic from 1982, TRON, will be making its high-definition debut on Blu-Ray in April, released side-by-side with the much bally-hooed 2010 sequel, TRON Legacy (which I still have not seen, dammit).

A lot of online articles are making it sound like the original movie will only be available as part of various expensive combo packages with the sequel, but that's not the case.  TRON - The Original Classic will also be available individually, as a Blu-Ray/DVD pack.

This remastered, 1080p HD edition will also include the following bonus materials:  An audio commentary, Photo Tronology (BD-exclusive), and featurettes on The TRON Phenomenon, The Making of TRON, Development, Digital Imagery, Music, Publicity Gallery, Deleted Scenes, Design, Storyboards, etc. 

The disc is available for pre-order now, of course: Tron: The Original Classic (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

December's Space Babe: Cindy Morgan

December's Space Babe is the lovely Cindy Morgan, who played the dual roles of Yori and Lora in 1982's TRON. With TRON Legacy coming to theaters this month, I started thinking about re-watching the original, and was reminded of Morgan and just how appealing she was. This sexy cyber blonde appeared with Tron himself, Bruce Boxlietner, in the same year's CBS adventure series Bring 'Em Back Alive, as well as Caddyshack, and numerous TV guest roles.

Her official website.

THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (1978) Theatrical Posters

 

 

I can't claim that Disney's 1978 kiddie comedy, The Cat From Outer Space, is one of my favorite 70s sci-fi flicks, because it isn't. In fact, the last time I watched it, a few years ago, I fell asleep. But, it is a nostalgic favorite of my wife's and it is clearly the studio's reaction to the popularity of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind - two more-or-less adult films that, nonetheless, were hugely popular with kids and sold lots of merchandise - from the previous year, so it does fit in here at Space: 1970.

And, hey, Roddy McDowell was in it.

THE SOUNDS OF OUTERSPACE (1979?) Record Album

Here's a cool oddity that I recently discovered: a sound effects LP from Walt Disney Studios/Disneyland Records featuring laser blasts, explosions, spaceship engines, etc. From the appearance of the Black Hole robots on the cover art, I presume this came out around the time of that movie, but the rest of the album artwork is generic space opera stuff.

If you're interested, you can download the album here or here.

Disclaimer: These links aren't mine, I didn't upload this album, and take no responsibility for it. I'm just posting the links for informational purposes.