Buckle your seatbelts for a ride through space-time to the mind-blowing depths of the...
These scans are from a three decade old movie pamphlet for the 1980 Disney SFxtravaganza "The Black Hole." It seems almost quaint by American standards, but even today you can still purchase movie pamphlets for films at the concession stands of Japanese theaters. In addition to the usual photo stills and actor bios, many include original content such as essays from film critics or genre experts. They've lost some of their meaning in the era of the always-on Internet connection. But back in the day, these slick little mini-magazines represented prime hunting ground in the never-ending otaku quest for trivia.
The Black Hole's pamphlet is a classic example of the artform. Famed Gunpla box-art illustrator Yuji Kaida was hired to create a series of beautiful, hand-drawn cutaway illustrations of the Cygnus, V.I.N.cent, and Maximilian. They're complemented by obsessively detailed run-downs of their inner workings and even equations describing every aspect of their fictional existences. You were undoubtedly dying to know that both V.I.N.cent and Maximilian possess 64-bit computers with a whopping three gigabytes of memory each -- which probably isn't even sufficient space to store the Blu-ray edition of the film.
Thanks to Roger H. for giving me the pamphlet, way back when!
that is really quite cool... I got the dvd for a couple of bucks some years back figuring my kids would sit through it w/ me...
they were so board they got up and did other things. It's a cool idea but doesn't stand up to time. 3gigs of ram? That would have been an astonishing amount at the time. Back when most people had never used or seen a PC.
Posted by: arthurfrdent | June 19, 2011 at 12:03 AM
They didn't even use "giga," but rather "three billion bytes" to describe it. One of my other favorite parts of these diagrams are the descriptions of mechanical computer interfaces. Antigravity, check -- but no WiFi!?
Posted by: MattAlt | June 19, 2011 at 01:45 PM
Haha, I was thinking about that movie program recently. I just put this up, scan from a story book:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogerharkavy/5829371535/
Posted by: Roger | June 20, 2011 at 01:17 PM
Holey cow, that's nice! I'll have to try to find a copy of that. Always loved that film. (I've even got the Anchor Bay boxed set.) Matt, could I bug you for a shot of the cover, so I know what to look for?
Posted by: AcroRay | June 21, 2011 at 06:54 AM
Just uploaded it! Click on the hyperlinked "Black Hole's pamphlet" text at the beginning of the second paragraph.
Posted by: MattAlt | June 21, 2011 at 09:08 AM
Ray, it's a movie program, and I got the one I gave Matt from Video Daikaiju (http://www.videodaikaiju.com/) - they probably have more or can get one for you.
Posted by: Roger | June 26, 2011 at 09:09 AM
What a great find! Brings back memories.
Posted by: Allen | July 11, 2011 at 06:00 AM
This is VERY cool. I'm going to pass this along to my father (he directed TBH)... thanks for sharing it.
Posted by: Garrett Nelson | July 27, 2011 at 05:15 PM
Hey, Matt! I was wondering if you knew where I could get a translation of the cutaways in the Black Hole program? I actually built a full size V.I.N.CENT. replica, I photoshoped it into a background of the Cygnus, it's my Facebook avatar.
Posted by: Bill Morris | April 05, 2012 at 10:04 AM
I can give you one of VINCENT right now. They are, starting at top right and going down clockwise:
Magnetic Head Protector
Sensor
Voice Recognition Device
Memory
Battery
Telepathy Receiver
Sub-manipulator
Antigravity Hovering Device
Condensor Block
Main Manipulator/ Computer Interface
Californium Reactor
Hovering Unit Extension Shaft
Graphic Display
Status Indicator
Laser Gun
Laser Amplifier Unit
System Indicator
Drill Arm
Transmittter
Voice Generator
Image Processor
Computer
Posted by: MattAlt | April 11, 2012 at 08:36 AM