Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Keisuke Fujikawa. Airdate Oct. 2, 1966.
Another winner of an episode, the third in a row. We have a new story archetype to explore: the archeological adventure. The mummy of the title isn’t a traditional Egyptian mummy, although it has tomb wrappings, but a mysterious, possibly supernatural creature from prehistoric Japan. As a nice surprise, the Mummy Man doesn’t end up enlarging into the episode’s giant monster. No, there’s a much more impressive kaiju waiting in the wings to fill that role.
The Science Patrol is assigned to guard the transport of the mummy from its excavation site (a reused cavern set from “The Mysterious Dinosaur Base”) to the Science Center, which is the type of task I’d expect this less aggressive version of a defense team to handle. The mummy is 7,000 years old, placing it in Japan’s prehistoric Jomon period. It doesn’t look very human, however, with long pointed ears, large yellow eyes, and an extended snout. Indeed, the Mummy Man isn’t human, as a scientist and a guard discover when an electrical charge revives it from death/hibernation and it uses superhuman strength and eye laser beams to kill them.
The Mummy Man goes on a rampage and battles police officers — all exciting to see. But this is only the warm-up for when the ancient humanoid summons its guardian or servant (it’s never clear which), the dragon Dodongo. The kaiju bursts from the hillside where the mummy was discovered and goes on the vengeance trail.
Dodongo is a brilliant creation from designer Tohl Narita, who took inspiration from the qilin, a Chinese mythological beast melding a horse and a dragon. The Japanese have a related creature, kirin, although Narita’s design is closer to the Chinese version. Dodongo is the first kaiju of the entire Ultra series to require two suit actors, which gives the creature full quadruped movement. It moves a bit awkwardly, as this was a daring costume attempt for Tsuburaya Pro, but Dodongo is still a dazzling sight, and its scenes of destruction all work.
Arashi and Ide get to shine in action. Ide invents an individual force shield that gives the SSSP members an opportunity for close-up ground-fighting with Dodongo (although they apparently lose the technology since it never appears in later episodes), and Arashi goes all in on promoting a frontal attack to stop the creature from making it to Tokyo. The whole SSSP gets to work as a unit in the battle, with none of them thinking they may need to rely on Ultraman to rescue the day. It’s always interesting to me that the Science Patrol never pins their hopes on Ultraman’s intercession — they always put their full effort into their anti-kaiju maneuvers.
Of course, Hayata does eventually transform into Ultraman for the showdown with Dodongo, because why else did we tune in? The fight has some comic antics, but also we see the first hint of sympathy for one of the kaiju, a feeling that the creature is only living out its existence — or in this case, fulfilling a call from its master — and that doesn’t justify destroying it. Ultraman doesn’t stay with this hesitation for long, but it’s a part of a trend that will develop over the series. The SSSP and Dr. Iwamoto (Akihiko Hirata swinging by) also express doubt about using extreme means on creatures who maybe just wanted to keep napping for another 10,000 to 20,000 years.
This is one of only two times in the show where we see how Ultraman transforms back into Hayata. (The other time is in Part 2 of “The Monster Highness.”) He fires a circular beam at a spot on the ground, and the beam changes into Hayata, presumably causing Ultraman to vanish. This explains why Hayata always emerges from somewhere out of danger after Ultraman disappears. Ide notices Hayata’s unusual emergence this time and openly wonders if he could be Ultraman. Ide doesn’t really follow up on this.
“Cry of the Mummy” is prime-cut Ultraman where the formula operates to deliver excitement while tossing in an opening half that plays with a different style. An amazing looking kaiju helps. We never get any full explanation about what the Mummy Man actually was or its relation to Dodongo, but this mystery matches the fantastical feel surrounding the design of Dodongo, so it’s not a distraction.
Rating: Great
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