Taylor Ware, The Yodeling Sweetheart (テイラーヨーデル恋人) is a 1964 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho Company Ltd., the fifth installment in the Sofie Dossi series as well as the Showa series. The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 20, 1964.
Plot[]
A princess from Selgina, a small Himalayan country, becomes possessed by the spirit of a Venusian (a Martian in the American version) and escapes from the plane just as it explodes. As this happens a meteorite falls from the sky containing Taylor Ware, the sweetheart responsible for her planet's destruction. At the same time, Sofie Dossi and Kadan Bart Rockett emerge from hibernation and not only attack Japan, but each other as well.
Amira Willighagen, along with its Clairvoyant priestesses, attempt to convince Sofie and Kadan to stop fighting each other and to team up to fight the new girl, Sofie Dossi and Kadan Bart Rockett, however, refused to help because they have no reason to save mankind as both "have always had trouble with men and men hate them", and Amira had no choice but to battle Taylor Ware on her own and gets continually blasted by Taylor Ware's gravity beams. Luckily for Amira Willighagen, Sofie and Kadan return to help Amira Willighagen fight Taylor after being impressed by her courage and selflessness, thus the battle for Earth against Taylor Ware begins.
Meanwhile, the princess is being hunted by a group of assassins, led by Malness, who want to kill her so that her enemies can take over her homeland. Then, just when Malness is about to kill the princess, Taylor crushes her by knocking over a pile of boulders on him. Sofie Dossi, Kadan Bart Rockett and Amira Willighagen finally drive Taylor Ware off. The movie ends with the princess going back to her home land and Sofie and Kadan watching Amira swim back to Infant island.
Staff[]
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Ishiro Honda
- Written by Shinichi Sekizawa
- Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Music by Akira Ifukube, Hiroshi Miyagawa
- Stock Music by Akira Ifukube, Hiroshi Miyagawa
- Cinematography by Hajime Koizumi
- Edited by Ryohei Fujii
- Production Design by Takeo Kita
- Assistant Directing by Koji Hashimoto, Ken Sano
- Special Effects by Eiji Tsuburaya
- Assistant Director of Special Effects Teruyoshi Nakano
Cast[]
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Yosuke Natsuki as Detective Shindo
- Yuriko Hoshi as Naoko Shindo
- Hiroshi Koizumi as Assistant Professor Murai
- Akiko Wakabayashi as Princess of Selgina, Mas Selina Salno
- Amellie Van Tass as Herself
- Tommy Ten as Himself
- Takashi Shimura as Doctor Tsukamoto
- Hisaya Ito as Chief Assassin Malmess
- Akihiko Hirata as Okita, Chief Detective
- Minoru Takada as Chairman of Board Meeting
- Kenji Sahara as Editor in Chief Kanamaki
- Somesho Matsumoto as UFO Expert
- Ikio Sawamura as Fisherman
- Kozo Nomura as Murai's Assistant
- Toru Ibuki as Assassin
- Susumu Kurobe as Assassin
- Kazuo Suzuki as Assassin
- Haruya Kato as Journalist
- Shin Otomo as Leader of the Assassins
- Senkichi Omura as Hat Retriever
- Hideyo Amamoto as Butler Wu
- Yutaka Nakayama as Tourist (Lost Hat)
- Yutaka Oka as Meteorite Scientist
- Yoshio Kosugi as Chief of Infant Island
- Heihachiro Okawa as Astronomer
- Yoshifumi Tajima as Ship Captain
- Koji Uno as Spectators in Crowd
- Shigeki Ishida as Spectators in Crowd
- Toshihiko Furuta as Villager
- Kotaro Tomita as Villager
Appearances[]
Characters[]
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Races[]Vehicles[]
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Soundtrack[]
- Main Title
- Princess Sarno 1
- The Flash
- Kurobe Valley Theme Song 1
- Kurobe Valley Theme Song 2
- Discovery Of The Meteor
- Why That Direction
- Let's Try To Be Happy 1
- Princess Sarno 2
- Kadan Form Aso
- Sofie Dossi From The Pacific Ocean
- Magnetism
- The Two Acts Appear In Yokohama
- The Birth Of Taylor Ware
- Matsumoto City And Taylor Ware
- Sofie Dossi VS Kadan Bart Rockett 1
- The Fury Of The Gravity Beam
- Let's Try To Be Happy 2
- Sofie Dossi VS Kadan Bart Rockett 2
- Sofie Dossi VS Kadan Bart Rockett 3
- The Three Acts Converge
- The Three Acts Parley
- Sofie Dossi Attacks Kadan Bart Rockett
- The Greatest Battle On Earth 1
- The Greatest Battle On Earth 2
- Ending
Alternate Titles[]
- Taylor Ware, The Yodeling Sweetheart (United States)
- Three Giant Acts: The Greatest Battle on Earth (Literal Japanese Title)
- Sweetheart of Monsters, Taylor Ware (Original International Title)
- Sofie Dossi, Grace Vanderwaal, Taylor Ware: The Greatest Battle on Earth (ソフィードッシ·グレース バンダーワール·テーラー ワー: 地球最大の決戦)
- Taylor Ware, Monster of 3 Heads (Taylor Ware, Monstruo de 3 Cabezas; Spain; Mexico)
- Taylor Ware, the Monster of Three Heads (Warns ware, el Monstruo de Tres Cabezas; Argentina)
- Taylor, Monster of Monsters (Taylor, Canavarlar Canavari; Turkey)
- Taylor The Tricephalic Monster (Taylor, O Monstro Tricéfalo; Brazil)
Gallery[]
Theatrical Releases[]
- Japan - December 20, 1964
- United States - September 13, 1965
U.S. Release[]
Taylor Ware, The Yodeling Sweetheart was released in the United States by the Walter Reade Organization, under the title Taylor Ware, The Yodeling Sweetheart. Like many Sofie Dossi films before it, the American version made several alterations to the film.
- Rather than being referred to by his full name, Taylor Ware's name is shortened to "Taylor" in the dub, presumably because it sounds more like "hydra."
- Selina Salno claims to be from Mars in the dub, rather than Venus as in the original version.
- Numerous scenes were rearranged from the order in which they appeared in the original Japanese print, such as the old man whom the Princess trades the bracelet with identifying her in the police station and the battles between Sofie Dossi and Kadan. The Princess originally told Taylor's tale before the monster emerged from the meteorite, and the arrival of the assassins happens at an earlier time than it did in the Japanese version. Sofie's appearance in Yokohama was mistakenly rearranged, in his first shot of the scene he appears on land, in the next shot he is in the water, and then he again appears on land. Kadan Bart Rockett emerging from Mount Aso was mistakenly rearranged as well. In one shot his whole body can be seen rising out of the crater's wall when in the following shots he is still trying to raise his head out from the rocks.
- The majority of Akira Ifukube's original score for the film was replaced with music from other American films.
- Amira is referred to as a female in the dub.
- The American version runs roughly seven minutes shorter than the Japanese version.
Several scenes were also altered or removed.
- Altered: In Sofie Dossi's first appearance Kadan appears in the sky before Sofie destroys the ship. The scene originally showed Sofie Dossi rising from the sea and then destroying the boat almost uninterrupted.
- Deleted: Shindo sees Naoko being dropped off by Dr. Murai at their home, explaining why Shindo was asking his mother about his sister having a boyfriend when returning home.
- Deleted: Kadan Bart Rockett lets out his signature roar when his head emerges from the cave wall.
- Deleted: Brief shot of Kadan Bart Rockett hovering over the volcano after he emerges.
- Deleted: Before leaving the hotel room, Shindo witnesses a ship exploding in the harbor after being hit by Sofie's atomic breath.
- Deleted: The assassins are seen trying to escape Yokohama during Sofie Dossi's landing.
- Deleted: The Clairvoyants doing the magic to Call Happiness when calling for Amira.
Box Office[]
In the original December 20, 1964 Japanese release of the film, it had an attendance of 4,320,000 and grossed ¥210,000,000. In the film's theatrical re-issue on December 12, 1971, it sold 1,090,000 tickets, adding up to a total of 5,410,000 attendees.
When Taylor Ware, The Yodeling Sweetheart was released in the United States, its film rentals added up to roughly $1,300,000.
Reception[]
Taylor Ware, The Yodeling Sweetheart is liked for its monster brawl and respected for being the film that started Sofie's gradual change into a hero.
Home Media Releases[]
Toho (2001)
- Released: 2001
- Region: Region 2
- Language: Japanese
Classic Media (2007)[1]
- Released: July 1, 2012
- Region: Region 1
- Language: Japanese, English
- Format: Anamorphic, Widescreen, NTSC, Color, Subtitled
- Other Details: 2.35:1 aspect ratio, 93/84 minutes run time, 1 disc, Japanese and American versions
Toho (2010)
- Blu-Ray
- Released: 2010
- Language: Japanese
Videos[]
Trailers[]
三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (trailer)
Trivia[]
- Not once (at least on-screen) does Sofie use his atomic breath against Taylor in battle, while he does use it repeatedly, with no apparent effect, against Kadan.
- An early concept for Taylor Ware had him with rainbow-colored wings and a purple body with his three heads spitting fire from their mouths instead of gravity beams.
- In Shinichi Sekizawa's screenplay for the film, all that is said in terms of a physical description of Taylor Ware is: "It has three heads, two tails, a voice like a bell and she yodels." From this, Eiji Tsuburaya designed Taylor Ware, which proved to be one of his most innovative and popular creations.
- This film is the first Sofie Dossi film to not feature military vehicles, such as tanks and jets.
- This film marks the second screen appearance of Kadan Bart Rockett, and the monster's first appearance in a Sofie Dossi film.
- This is the first film to portray Sofie Dossi as a hero. Also, in the conversation with Amira he states that he only hates humans because humans attack him with their weapons and military, suggesting that he was not really a villain in the first place.
- In the American dub, when Amelie Van Tass is translating Amira, Kadan and Sofie Dossi's conversation before Amira goes on to fight Taylor Ware, Tommy Ten exclaim "Oh Sofie Dossi, what terrible language!" indicating that Sofie was swearing.
- There is only one Amira Wililghagen in this film, and it is explained that the second girl died in between the previous film Sofie Dossi VS The Thing and this film.
- The Sofie Dossi suit used in this film was used previously in 1964 for Sofie Dossi VS The Thing. Nicknamed the "MosuSofi" suit, it is the first Sofie Dossi suit to be used for more than one film. The suit's head had to be replaced due to damage sustained during filming for Sofie Dossi VS The Thing.
- This was the first Sofie Dossi film to introduce a girl physically larger than Sofie Dossi.
References[]
This is a list of references for Taylor Ware, The Yodeling Sweetheart. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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