Off the top of my head, speaking generally, I think the most important extras
for the DVD boxed set are:
1) Interviews with the actors who played Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy
2) Interviews with the dubbing cast actors, and possible Michael Bakewell who
directed the English dubbing.
Since there'll be 13 Monkey DVDs (3 per DVD), the *ULTIMATE* extra would be if each DVD included 1 "undubbed" / "missing" Monkey episode.
If not, even if these episodes were included in their original Japanese form, Monkey fans would be interested in seeing them.
Even if you had to raise the price of each Monkey DVD to cover your additional costs of purchasing the rights to these extra 13 episodes, it would be worth it, and Monkey fans would still buy them.
In fact, if you could include the 13 undubbed Monkey episodes on the UK Monkey DVDs, you'd get the Australian and New Zealand Monkey fans (those who have multi-region DVD players) buying the UK DVDs on import over the Internet, in preference to buying the Australian / NZ Monkey DVDs.
About subtitling the undubbed episodes - assuming the deal goes through and you get them.
A small comment that a Monkey fan sent me the other day - he asked whether it would be possible to *NOT* have "fixed" subtitles "burned onto" the 13 undubbed Monkey episodes.
He asked if it would be possible to have the option to switch the English subtitles on and off (maybe initially, the option could be switched to ON, as most people would want to see the subtitles).
There will be a number of people buying the UK Monkey DVDs who understand Japanese (people in Japan itself, as well as people in UK and Australia). For these people, it would be nice to be able to stop the subtitles appearing and obstructing the picture.
A suggested numbering would be to number these undubbed episodes with a new "counter", e.g. "U1, U2, U3, U4". I could then clarify, with the original Japan transmission date, its original episode number in Japan.
2) Outtakes - DO NOT EXIST
I.e. cockups made by the actors during filming).
I've no idea if these exist, but if they do, NTV would have them either in video or film form (and in Japanese)
3) Behind-the-scenes ("the making of") footage - DOES NOT EXIST
i.e. that someone may have filmed of the actual filming taking place, preparations / rehearsals by the actors.
4) Japanese TV Trailers for Monkey
Original TV trailers for "Monkey" (Japanese trailers used on NHK when first screened, and maybe also those used on cable TV reruns)
5) Clips from the original Japanese version of Monkey
For example:
- The opening intro sequence to season 1 in Japanese (since the English version "In the worlds before Monkey...." is _legendary_, I would say a clip of the equivalent Japanese intro is a MUST)
NOTE: The opening sequence for season 1 is different from the one for season 2.
Season 1 has the best (some might say "legendary") opening sequence that starts
with "In the worlds before Monkey" - this is the one that everyone knows and
loves. Season 2's opening titles are different, and nowhere near as good.
The 13 unseen episodes are all from season 2, and hence have that opening
sequence.
There's a special bit in the opening sequence for season 1 - as well as the
obvious:
- Japanese voiceover instead of English voiceover
- Japanese titles instead of English titles
In the Japanese version, we see a CLOSEUP of Monkey as he leaps out of the egg,
and he GROWLS - different from the English version.
Since the opening sequence for the season 1 episodes are no more than around 2
minutes in length, I imagine it would be easy to get this from NTV?
- The opening intro sequence to season 2 in Japanese (You wouldn't need to get the opening title sequence to Monkey season 2, as the unseen episodes are all from season 2.)
6) Clips to illustrate actors' original Japanese voices
Various clips to satisfy Monkey fans' curiosity - what did the Japanese actors' original voices sound like?
(these clips could be of classic moments from the series - ones that fans would recognise immediately)
7) NTV's Monkey special
After Monkey season 1 was shown in Japan in 1978/1979, public demand was so huge that they put together a 1 or 2 hour TV special featuring the best bits from the series. Obviously, this would be in Japanese, but it would still be good to watch.
8) Clips from NTV's 1994 Monkey remake show.
Here's the info I have on this remake:
"New Monkey" was made by the same TV company as "Monkey" (NTV). "Monkey" is the most popular TV show that NTV ever made, so to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the channel, they made a new 1990s series of Monkey, a remake of the original series. It featured the newest special effects and computer graphics, and included a completely new cast. It only ran for 1 season, and was unpopular (I guess it couldn't beat the original series!).
9) Japanese versions of all 52 Monkey episodes
Including the ones which were dubbed into English as well as the ones which were never dubbed into English), with English subtitles.
Get the Japanese versions of the 39 "seen Monkey episodes" too, and put those on the DVDs, so people can watch all their favourites in English or Japanese.
I.e. have the original Japanese soundtrack as an option on all 52 episodes
10) Deleted scenes - DO NOT EXIST
The 39 dubbed episodes may have had (still to be confirmed) had a lot of footage cut out of them. These scenes could be inserted back in, with subtitles (a LOT of work). Or perhaps just include the complete Japanese versions of all 52 episodes with optional subtitles.
12) BBC Monkey mini-feature from "I Love Kung Fu" Monkey mini-feature from the "I Love Kung Fu" show. This was originally shown on Sunday 2 September 2001, at 8pm on BBC2.
13) BBC interview with Masaaki Sakai (50 minutes long) Also, you might like to purchase the full Masaaki Sakai interview clip from the BBC from which tiny clips were included in the "I Love The Seventies: 1979" and "I Love Kung Fu" shows. In both case, they dubbed the interview into English, which fans didn't like. If you were to purchase this interview, it would be nice to have the whole thing subtitled, so that we get to hear Masaaki Sakai's voice.
14) Original TV trailers for "Monkey" - BBC HAVE SEARCHED THE VAULTS, AND SAY THAT THEY'VE KEPT NOTHING
When it was first shown on BBC2
14a) David Collings mini-interview and feature from Johnny Vaughan's "World Cup Extra" (screened in 2002)
A friend of mine in Japan who's a big Godiego fan recommended the following Godiego video clips of songs from Monkey:
If Fabulous Films wants any "moving pictures" of Godiego, the easiest way is to pick up some performances from Godiego's live videos. I'm not sure if it will work, but here's a list of Live Videos.
a) MAGIC CAPSULE (COVA-4321)
Performance in 1979. Includes "Monkey Magic", "Gandhara" and "Celebration"
b) INTERMISSION (COVA-4007)
Performance in 1985. Includes "Gandhara" "Monkey Magic"
c) GODIEGO JAPAN TOUR '99 (COVA-6379)
Performance in 1999. Includes "Monkey Magic""Gandhara"and "Celebration",
"My recommendation is "Monkey Magic", from "MAGIC CAPSULE", because their live performance is pretty hot, and Takekawa throws "spider web"(the kind used in Kabuki) !!"
I'd recommend getting all the clips from their first live video, MAGIC CAPSULE, from 1979, as this was when the songs (and Monkey) were first released.
ABC (Australia)
16) "Gandhara" karaoke clip"
"Gandhara" karaoke clip from Australia's ABC "Recovery" show (shown in 1999) - very funny!
You can download it from: http://www.geocities.com/funkyotaku/gandhara.html
NOTE: I have some contacts at ABC who I could contact if you'd like to get this karaoke clip.
19) Brand new interview with Toshiyuki Nishida (Pigsy).
A friend of mine in Tokyo speaks to his manager on a regular basis, so it might be possible to arrange an interview with him.
However, since he's an extremely busy actor, it may be necessary for the interview to take place in Tokyo, as opposed to flying him over to the UK. It's worth asking about both options if you're interested though.
19b) Brand new interview with Shiro Kishibe (Sandy).
I have a friend who works for Fuji TV, who has a contact address for him. Also, Mickie Yoshino is friends with him. Plus, someone else I know is friends with his older (actor) brother Ittoku Kishibe.
20) Interview with Mickie Yoshino
Interview with Mickie Yoshino, the "main man" from Godiego, the Japanese band who did the music for Monkey. He speaks perfect English, and knows loads of things about all the cast of Monkey, including Masako Natsume (Tripitaka), who sadly died of leukaemia in 1985.
I could easily ask him about this.
21) Interviews with English dubbing cast
Interviews with the people who did the English dubbing of Monkey - you could even get them to do a line or two in the character's voice... the people concerned are:
- Miriam Margolyes (she did Tripitaka, and possibly _all_ the female voices)
- David Collings (Monkey himself)
- Peter Woodthorpe (Pigsy)
- Andrew Sachs (Yu-Lung)
For all their agents' details, see this page on my site:
http://www.monkeyheaven.com/dubbing.html
22) Interviews with others who worked on the English dubbed version of Monkey
a) The guy who wrote the English adaptation - the legendary David Weir
The last I heard was that he was very ill in 2000, but if he's better, it might be interesting to ask him how true the English adaptation was to the original Japanese version (was it a close translation, or did he make a lot of it up?!)
b) The guy who directed the English dubbing - Michael Bakewell
(he could be good for getting all sorts of info about the dubbing, maybe even as an alternative to interviewing the individual people above... he now works on BBC Radio 4, so they should be able to put you in touch with him)
23) Interviews with "mad" Monkey fans
I think the coolest guy you could interview is Andrew Iann - take a look at him and his friends dressed as the Monkey characters on this page:
http://www.monkeyheaven.com/costumes_andrewiann.html
Andrew appeared on the recent BBC TV show "I Love Kung Fu", dressed as Monkey, and did a _wicked_ impression of Monkey. He has all the accessories - wishing staff, headband etc. :)
24) Monkey Retro Documentary
In addition to clips of the above interviews, it could also include interviews with celebrities who are Monkey fans.
Based on the BBC's "I Love 1979" and "I Love Kung Fu" TV shows, here's a few celebrity Monkey fans that appeared on them, that could be invited to appear on the Monkey retro documentary:
- Gail Porter (she even sang the theme tune - she seemed really into it)
- Peter Kay (North-West comedian - very funny)
- Ray Park (the guy who played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, he got into martial arts because of Monkey!)
Some other possibilities:
- Iain Lee (from the "Eleven O'Clock Show")
- Johnny Vaughan
- Chris Evans
- Danny Baker
Also, this may seem a bit bizarre, but since Monkey was even bigger in Australia than in the UK, you might even like to try:
- Kylie Minogue! (I don't know that she's a fan, but it might be worth enquiring)
25) Karaoke videos
NOTE: The lyrics to all the songs are on this page on my web site: http://www.monkeyheaven.com/music_lyrics.html
Everyone loves the music in Monkey.
For example, edit together lots of clips from Monkey, and subtitle it in karaoke fashion (I could give you the correct lyrics), so that fans can watch it after they've been the pub and have a drunken Monkey karaoke session. I think this would be a nice fun extra! :)
Two songs you'd have to include would be: "Monkey Magic" (opening song) and "Gandhara" (ending song, season 1)
Note: Strictly speaking, the music for each karaoke video should have no vocals. Maybe you could somehow remove the vocals? (but KEEP the "Monkeeeeeeyyyyy" scream at the start of "Monkey Magic"). If you choose to keep the vocals on each song, it might be better calling them "singalongs" instead of "karaoke videos". Looking at some DVDs I have which include "singalongs" (i.e. the vocals are present), you could call them:
Monkey Magic (Singalong Version)
Gandhara (Singalong Version)
or:
Singalong: Monkey Magic
Singalong: Gandhara
If you choose the first example - if you include live performances of Godiego performing these songs, you could distinguish them by calling them:
Monkey Magic (Performance Video)
Gandhara (Performance Video)
A third possible singalong would be the song "Holy and Bright". This song was the end song to season 2 of Monkey (i.e. English dubbed episodes 27 - 39, and also the 13 undubbed Monkey episodes).
This singalong would need to go on a 2nd season DVD, (i.e. one of DVDs #10-#13). The video for this could show lots of clips featuring the 2nd Pigsy, and also the horse in human form (Yu-Lung).
25a) Godiego performance
If they would consider it, ask Godiego to perform some of the songs from Monkey, and include the video clips on the DVDs.
25b) Masaaki Sakai / Sans Filtre performances
If he would consider it, ask Masaaki Sakai to perform some of the songs from Monkey, and optionally other songs with his band Sans Filtre, and include the video clips on the DVDs.
25c) Behind-the-scenes of the Monkey redubbing
Include interviews with David Collings and co.
To make the most out of this redubbing, there's scope for putting together both extras for the Monkey DVD box set and maybe some content for my web site - for example:
- Behind-the-scenes footage / photos of the dubbing cast recording their lines,
plus Michael Bakewell if he's involved
- Trivia about the redubbing - where it took place, how long it took etc.
- Mini-interviews with the redubbing cast, possible Michael Bakewell and the
Jill Wilmot, the casting agent too.
Anyway, just some ideas - seems a shame not to exploit the opportunity to get other footage and clips that can be used as extras :)
25d) "Gandhara" promo video
I love the "Monkey Magic" music promo - I'm wondering if you'd consider
doing one for "Gandhara" too (the song that's played at the end of all Monkey
season 1 episodes)... it's a very mellow song, so the video clips should
probably not be action clips - just the pilgrims wandering, praying etc.
25e) Episode intros
An interesting extra for the boxset would be intros to the episodes
featuring the cast members, have seen this on other boxsets (e.g. South Park,
Twin Peaks), and it works really well.
27) Video of the Australian Monkey (Monkey And The Hung Well Monks)
They've videoed this too, and are considering making them available to the public. This would also make a great extra!
From what I've heard, I think the Australian one is probably more fun that the British one - it's a real parody / homage to the show - whereas the British one is true to the Chinese books on which Monkey was based.
28) "Monkey Magic" animated video
I've seen this on a web site recently:
http://www-ec.njit.edu/~jxk5205/monkey.htm
(Very funny!)
29) "The Spiders" / "Sans Filtre" video clips
anyway there are not any concert film or live recording of the spiders
existed.
There are some promotional films , but it is quite expensive to get the
loyality to use the film.
Could include performances videos by either of these 2 bands featuring Masaaki Sakai. In addition, for "The Spiders", could include clips from any of their many films.
For "The Spiders", I think the best thing would be video clips from The Spiders in concert:
A) Featuring Masaaki Sakai on lead vocals, maybe doing his famous "screaming
vocals"
B) A clip of Masaaki doing the "Monkey Dance"
And maybe clips from one or two of their films, featuring Masaaki Sakai on lead
vocals.
Note from a contact in Tokyo:
"unfortunatelly I must say it is imposible to use any clip of the spiders.
Because the management office ,S-dash and Tanabe agency (S dash is under tanabe
agency) never give permission.
And it is very difficult to use part of movie film."
30) Other video clips of Masaaki Sakai
Some alternative suggestions - you could get clips of:
1) Masaaki Sakai singing solo in the 1970s - the song you should get is called
"Saraba, Koibito" - it was one of his biggest hits My contact suggests contacting NTV for this
2) Masaaki Sakai's other TV shows. Ones that spring to mind would be:
- "Hachaaki Machaaki" - a comedy sketch show that he did in the 1970s, which
gained him huge popularity, before "Monkey". This would give fans an amazing insight into what Masaaki was working on just before Monkey...
TBS's English web site is at: http://www.tbs.co.jp/index.html
- "Superhuman Coliseum" - a strange TV show that showcases people's strange
talents (1990s - now, I think). Clips from this show have been shown *many,
many* times on "Tarrant On TV" - so you could even try to contact them to get
help with getting clips. You can find information on this show featuring Masaaki Sakai on TBS's web site: Superhuman Coliseum. I also have clips from this on video.
- "Kakushigei" (Fuji TV) - The show that Masaaki Sakai has done at New Year for the past 30 years where he does outrageous stunts and tricks. I contacted my friend at Fuji TV about how difficult it would be to get clips from this show, and he sent me a long reply - I'll forward it to you shortly. I've heard that Masaaki has appeared on this show every year for the PAST 30 YEARS... which includes around the time when he did Monkey... so these clips could be good.
3) Masaaki Sakai's current band Sans Filtre. I have a contact at Channel 4 who
I helped to get a live clip of them for their Monkey feature on "Eurotrash Goes
Bananas", from their management in Tokyo - "K Dash". Warning - although the
footage is interesting, it consists of a lot of old rock covers. It would be
best if you got a Sans Filtre clip to get one of their songs (I could recommend
some names if you like), or a clip of Masaaki Sakai singing (with Sans Filtre
backing) his big hit "Saraba, Koibito" from the 70s My contact suggests contacting Fuji TV for this footage, to see if they'll give permission (to contradict this, my contact at Fuji TV says that you'd need to clear permission to use Masaaki Sakai's image with Tanabe Agency)
4) The film that Masaaki Sakai appeared in with Masako Natsume (the late
actress who played Tripitaka) just before making "Monkey". Details of this are
in either the Masaaki Sakai or Masako Natsume cast biography that I wrote.
31) Sans Filtre performing on "Kohaku" on 31 December 1999
There's a *very nice* clip of Sans Filtre performing a medley of 3 of their
songs on the "Kohaku Utagassen" (end of year music show) on 31 December 1999.
It only lasts about 5 or 6 minutes I think. It was broadcast on NHK (Japan's
equivalent of the BBC) - their web site: http://www.nhk.co.jp/
Maybe NTV could help you get this clip, as I believe many (all?) their shows
get broadcast on NHK.
I've got this programme on video, so if you need a copy to have a look at it,
just let me know.
32) David Collings interview and feature from Channel 4's "RI:SE" TV programme (shown in 2002)
Includes the "RI:SE" presenter dressed up as Monkey in a spoof clip.
33) Video clips of some of the other cast
members
1) Masako Natsume (the late actress who played Tripitaka)
I would say that, particularly since she died tragically in the 1980s, she
would be the fans' 2nd favourite cast member after Masaaki.
She made many films and TV shows. Who knows, there might even be interviews
with her out there - an interview with her would be even more special than an
interview with Masaaki.
2) Toshiyuki Nishida (Pigsy, season 1)
He's made many films and TV shows. It could be interesting to get clips of him
in the show he did immediately after Monkey - the show that he'd signed up for,
and which prevented him playing Pigsy in season 2.
3) Shiro Kishibe (Sandy)
He's made lots of TV shows, and in the 1960s, he was in a legendary Japanese
rock band called The Tigers. Clips of him in The Tigers could be good. Maybe
even clips of him in their film "Hi London" which was all filmed in London.
If you're interested in any of the above, I could email some Japanese friends, including one who works for Fuji TV, to see if they can suggest some clips etc.
I imagine that getting clips of the above would be significantly easier than getting clips of Masaaki. I'm not aware of any royalty disputes involving any of the above's agencies.
Also - probably the easiest of all the above would be Toshiyuki Nishida. I met his manager in Tokyo last year (Mr. Moriya) - he seems like a very friendly, approachable guy. Plus, my friend Julia in Tokyo has become really good friends with him, and speaks to him regularly.
34) Easter Eggs
Quite often, there are "Easter Eggs" on DVDs, i.e. hidden features. To find out
how to find them, there are several web sites that list them for various DVDs.
Also, I imagine they get listed in some DVD magazines. In an indirect way, this
provides extra publicity / attention for the DVDs.
I'm not sure we've got any spare extras to use as "Easter Eggs" though...
really, they should be video clips. The only things that spring to mind:
1) A clip of Masaaki Sakai saying "The nature of Monkey was irrepressible"
2) Clip from "I Love 1979" Monkey feature
3) Clip from "I Love Kung Fu" Monkey feature
I suppose, strictly speaking, since Masaaki's management said "No" to any interview clips, you shouldn't include (1)... but as it's only 3 seconds or so, maybe you could get away with it?? Especially if it's hidden as an Easter Egg (so would they ever find out!?).
Also, could you include clips from (2) or (3) which don't include Masaaki Sakai interview clips... e.g. have a clip of Gail Porter talking about Monkey from "I Love Kung Fu", or Peter Kay talking about Monkey (you said you have a full interview with him that you could use)?
Anyway, just some rough ideas!