Another non-poster addition to the site, this is the original UK marketing campaign book and synopsis document for the sci-fi classic Tron. The campaign book was sent out to cinema managers, newspaper and magazine staff, and other entities who would have been involved in the marketing of the film back in 1982.

There are some truly great historic gems contained within the book and I’m sure it’ll bring back memories for many folks who were around at the time of the original release. Of particular note is the ‘tie-ins’ section that features several promotional products launched alongside the film. The central page (pictured to the left) is a suggestion of how an editor might layout an advertising campaign and features all manner of strange imagined adverts that have absolutely no link to a film like Tron whatsoever!

Also check out the merchandise section; it looks like Tron had some great swag launched along with it. The poster section shows the printed material that would have been available to cinema managers to display. I have the original UK quad for Tron, which can be viewed here.

I’ve also scanned the original synopsis brochure for the film.

A colourful montage on this Japanese poster for the release of Disney’s groundbreaking sci-fi film, Tron. Another title that was released in the incredible summer of 1982, which included Blade Runner, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and The Thing, the film follows the adventures of hacker Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) who finds himself broken down into data and absorbed into a 3D computer world of his own making. There he must join forces with his lover Yori and the titular Tron to battle the malevolent Master Control Program and liberate the system from its dictatorial grip, which is the only way Flynn can return to the real world.

The film features seminal use of computer graphics to depict the world inside the mainframe and, although the visuals date the film somewhat when viewed today, back in 1982 they wowed audiences worldwide and were instrumental in CGI’s rise to prominence in the years that followed.

Note that Japanese audiences would have been treated to a 70mm screening of the film. There is also a special B2 poster that was printed for the country that can be viewed here.

A unique and colourful montage by artist Tongdee features on this Thai poster for the release of Disney’s groundbreaking sci-fi film, Tron. Another title that was released in the incredible summer of 1982, which included Blade Runner, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and The Thing, the film follows the adventures of hacker Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) who finds himself broken down into data and absorbed into a 3D computer world of his own making. There he must join forces with his lover Yori and the titular Tron to battle the malevolent Master Control Program and liberate the system from its dictatorial grip, which is the only way Flynn can return to the real world.

The film features seminal use of computer graphics to depict the world inside the mainframe and, although the visuals date the film somewhat when viewed today, back in 1982 they wowed audiences worldwide and were instrumental in CGI’s rise to prominence in the years that followed.

Tongdee Panumas (he signs his posters with just his first name) was an incredibly prolific Thai film poster artist during the 70s, 80s and 90s but I’ve been unable to find out much about him, other than that he was born in 1947. If anyone has any more information please get in touch. A knowledgeable collector of Thai posters told me that the artists would rarely if ever see the film they were creating the poster for and would instead paint images based on still photos or posters from other countries. This led to some wild designs and even some artwork with characters and elements that didn’t even appear in the actual film!

Featuring the same artwork from the US one sheet, this is the Japanese B1 poster for one of the funniest films of all time, Airplane! The film was the creation of the celebrated writers Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker (collectively known as ZAZ) who had garnered critical acclaim for their small theatre productions as the Kentucky Fried Theatre, which they formed in 1971. The idea for the film was arrived at after the trio saw the 1957 disaster movie Zero Hour! and realised it had the perfect structure to be adapted into a comedy film. A script was written and completed in 1975 but the trio had little experience in filmmaking so it was shelved for a while as they pulled together a script based on their theatre sketches. This was filmed and released as The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1978, directed by John Landis. Ultimately it gave them the necessary experience to feel confident enough to direct Airplane!

As well as riffing on Zero Hour!, the film is a send-up of disaster movies of the seventies such as Airplane (1975) and takes place on board a stricken passenger jet. Robert Hays stars as Ted Striker, an ex-Navy pilot who was traumatised during the War and has a pathological fear of flying. Desperate to win back his ex-girlfriend Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty) Striker follows her onto a Trans American flight from Los Angeles to Chicago on which she is working as a flight attendant. Determined to speak to Elaine, he makes several attempts to get her attention but nothing works until food poisoning strikes both passengers and crew. Attention falls on Striker as the aircrafts best hope for survival and he must overcome his psychological aversion to sitting behind the controls.

In Airplane! the jokes come thick and fast and are both spoken and visual (sight gags). Several actors were playing against type, notably Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen. The latter’s career was to skyrocket following this film with starring roles in the ZAZ TV show Police Squad! as well as the trilogy of films based on the series, Naked Gun. Airplane! was both a critical and commercial success and would go on to earn over $83m on a $3.5m budget. It cemented ZAZ’s reputation as reliable comedy writers and directors and, as well as Police Squad! and Naked Gun, the 1980s and early 1990s saw the release of Top Secret!, Ruthless People and Hot Shots! (1 & Deux). Airplane! was also both multi-award winning and hugely influential on budding comedy performers and directors.

The artwork of the twisted plane featured on posters for the film across the world and was painted by the celebrated artist, filmmaker and author Robert Grossman. Born in New York City in 1940, he received his earliest training from his father who was a display painter. He would go on to study at Yale University and graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 1961. Two years later Grossman began a freelance career that would see him working for the next 50 years. His work has appeared over 500 times on the covers of various national publications such as Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone and Esquire. In addition to magazine and newspapers, his illustrations have also graced children’s books and record sleeves for the likes of Columbia and Warner Bros. The Airplane! illustration is one of his most famous pieces of work. As far as I can tell Grossman only worked on a painting for two other film posters during his career, both of which can be seen here. His official website is here and a gallery of his work can be seen here.

This is the original cinema program that was sold at Japanese screenings of George Miller’s unforgettable Mad Max 2 (AKA The Road Warrior). The first film in the post-apocalyptic franchise was released in Australia in 1979 and worldwide the following year, where it went on to gross over $100m. The original budget was around $400k so for decades it held the record for the most profitable film ever made. The US release had been relatively small in terms of the number of cinemas so the decision was taken to rename the sequel as The Road Warrior there. The UK, Japan and other countries received it as Mad Max 2.

The film ups the ante considerably from the first film and sees Max (Mel Gibson) roaming the desert in his black supercharged V8 special, mourning the death of his family and searching for fuel and food. After a chance encounter on the road he ends up at a compound full of fuel which is under siege by a gang of marauders, led by the masked madman Lord Humungus. Eventually Max is tasked with leading the group to safety via an armoured convoy, which includes armoured tankers. The chase is incredibly thrilling and one of the most memorable action sequences ever filmed. The 2015 quasi-sequel Fury Road dials up the action even more and was a welcome return to the world of Mad Max.

Note that this program features details about the production, the director and several of the actors. It also contains a poster with artwork by the late, great Noriyoshi Ohrai (see last picture). This is the only place that the artwork was available – no actual cinema-used poster was printed featuring the art. The regular Japanese B2 poster is a photographic montage, which is near enough the same as this program, that can be seen on this site here.

I visited an exhibition of Ohrai’s work in Japan in 2014 and a report can be seen here. Other posters I have by him can be seen here.