Lookie what I found on You Tube...an old animated storyboard for the Gatch movie that wasn't meant to be...fun to watch...it shows the firebird in action! Animatic Storyboard

Thanks Springie! That was pretty cool. Too bad the footage I've seen from the movie trailers looked so badly like an old CGI game. :/

Neat! WHat a great find!

That is interesting. I loved stick-person Katse.

Cool! I rather like the "rough" look of it, though it's a bit hard to distinguish Ken from Joe -not always sure whose face is whose. Interesting that Katse sure look like he bites it there at the end -wondering now if this was a concept for the film's concluding fight and if Katse was meant to die in it.

Hahaha...Katse's like a roach...I'm sure he has his escape pod ready! LOL

If Imagi had an eye to a sequel, yes, no doubt he'd have somehow survived. I doubt they'd have wanted to use Gel Sadra...

Found some more...one is really long! Ersoz Jim Mitchell And this is another one that was brought to my attention quite a while ago...I just didn't see it in this thread (just click on the "Gotchaman Club" link): Jane Wu

Springie, those are great finds! I especially love the Jim Mitchell one. Sure, it's not the same as the original canon, but it still seems like a good story to me, and that's what's important. It makes me wish that they'd had a proper chance to bring this to life.

I agree-that Jim Mitchell one is really interesting! Funny thing, back around the time that bits of footage and some plot details about the Imagi movie were coming out -also about the time it was becoming clear that the movie would never actually be coming out- I was really not impressed by much of what I saw and what it seemed to me like they were doing with canon, and particularly with Joe (making a cliche "bad boy" street punk-type). But I must admit, seeing all these storyboard animations now really has me thinking that the movie could have been, despite changes to canon, good in a lot of ways. Thanks for posting these, Springie!

Wow, those are great. It makes me wish they had gone through with the film. Seeing the Ersoz one makes me wonder what they were trying to make of Katse - the way he could appear and disappear in a puff of smoke. And was the collar something that contained him in a solid "form"? Very interesting.

I hadn't seen the Mitchell one, thanks! Like lborgia I hadn't been at all impressed with what I'd seen of the trailers, etc., in part because it looked so "old 3D video game." Seeing the Mitchell one in particular makes me wish they had actually finished and released it. Might not be canon but it still might have been good! Dangit.

Very impressed by the Mitchell vid and the others...sigh...what could have been.

Katse actually competent and able to hold his own in a fight: yeah! More dangerous and terrifying. Why change Joe's father's name to Daniel?

Originally posted by UnpublishedWriter Katse actually competent and able to hold his own in a fight: yeah! More dangerous and terrifying.

Yeah, I found Katse competence refreshing as well as a bit terrifying in his 'alienness.' That whole living hologram scene was awesome.

Why change Joe's father's name to Daniel?

I dunno....small potatoes I guess, and as these are only test storyboards, they may not have really known.

I'm guessing they were playing down Joe's 'Italian' background and wanted something more generic for his father's name.

In watching the Jim Mitchell video, I found it interesting that when Joe is back at his apartment, and watching the news...the first lead story about Galactor has the evil doers attacking a school and killing five children.... Second bit of interest at the opening of the scene at the Utoland communications tower, the bottom-heavy aircraft that is pictured flying upward looks pretty much the same as the one the team is flying toward the beacon at the end. I really like little details like that.

Those are great finds, especially the Mitchell one! I too have somehow disliked the plot as it was turning out at the beginning, when the movie was still thought to be made, it seeming totally different from canon and giving some characters we're used to know such a different aspect! But, seeing these pieces makes me think that, at the end, I would have been more than intrigued to happily watch the movie, if ever it would have made it out in the light! k2p2 ... ITA with you in saying that little details like those make a difference!

They were all awesome to watch ... thanks for sharing, Springie! I agree with UW ... a competent Katse is a truly terrifying thought! Although, is it just me or was he channeling Maleficent in a lot of that? The "flame" look ... disappearing into smoke ... and then becoming what looked like a dragon ... not that I'm complaining .. the effect was totally cool and made him a truly worthy opponent for the team! The one storyline was interesting when Nambu (I think) was thrown into a jail cell ... who was the woman in there with him? So many questions and no answers over what might have been!

That was the re-imagined Dr. Nambu. I wonder who she was, also.

Honestly, I was thinking that woman was Katse in his female form ... shrug, I could be wrong though.

CD, that's as good a guess as mine.

Or we could really go out on a limb and consider whether this was the female Red Impulse - aka Ken's mother!

My husband noticed that Joe's mother heads to the bathroom before the explosion. He thought maybe that was her in the cell. Somehow I totally missed that, I need to go back and watch it again!

Any excuse, Chris?

IIRC, we see Joe's Mom run out and hear her get shot... doesn't mean she's dead, though.

Originally posted by ChrisW My husband noticed that Joe's mother heads to the bathroom before the explosion. He thought maybe that was her in the cell. Somehow I totally missed that, I need to go back and watch it again!

Where does she head to the bathroom? I rewatched it...and all I got was that she suspects who blew up the restaurant...but her husband confirms it, as though he might be expecting it.

The Mitchell one is very good; however its not the team. Its a bunch of kids who somehow have access to similar technology. (Even the OAV was credible as Gatch...)

Kena posted a link to more released footage from the now defunct Imagi Gatchaman movie on Facebook yesterday, and Wendy/Diinzumo posted this link today: Joe's Car Chase Scene It makes me sad...I had really high hopes for that movie...but it's nice to see more of what might have been...

Felix Ip also posted some additional concept art - the team in full t-shirts! Felix Ip Blogspot - GForce in TShirts

*sigh* Maybe we can take comfort in the thought that, in a parallel universe, there's a version of us discussing our favorite parts of this movie....

Nice! I like that the characters a recognizable to us, unlike in other versions we have seen.

Interesting! Thanks for sharing those! Being fairly new to Gatch, I've not seen any of those before. (Though obviously I'd heard there was supposed to be a movie a few years back which fell through, etc....)

I love Felix's artwork, although I think Joe's hair should have been lighter.

Thank you for the link to the footage Springie. And to the artwork Boekah. It is nice that we can still see new stuff come out from this unreleased film.

Wow, what a great car chase... Really too bad that this never came to fruition.