American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) was an American film distributor that distributed several Toho films to American theaters. The company was founded in 1954 as American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff.[1] The company primarily released low-budget films as double features from the 1950s through the 1970s, including many of Roger Corman's films. AIP formed its own television production and distribution company, American International Television (AITV), in 1964,[2] which released five of the eight films in the Showa Gamera series and many other kaiju films to American television. The company went defunct in 1979 and was acquired by Filmways, which was itself purchased a year later by Orion Pictures.[3] Most of AIP's library is now owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which purchased Orion in 1997.[4]
Selected releases
- Reptilicus (1963)
- Atragon (1964)
- Godzilla vs. the Thing (1964)
- Attack of the Mushroom People (TV 1965)[5]
- Dagora, the Space Monster (TV 1965)[5]
- Frankenstein Conquers the World (1966)
- Majin, the Monster of Terror (TV 1967)[5]
- Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (TV 1967)[5]
- War of the Monsters (TV 1967)[5]
- Return of the Giant Monsters (TV 1968)[5]
- Warning from Space (TV 1968)[6][7][note 1]
- The X from Outer Space (TV 1968)[5]
- Destroy All Monsters (1969)
- Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (TV 1969)[8]
- Attack of the Monsters (TV 1970)[5]
- Destroy All Planets (TV 1970)[5]
- Gamera vs. Monster X (TV 1970)[5]
- Magic Serpent (TV 1970)[5]
- Return of Giant Majin (TV 1970)[5]
- Voyage Into Space (TV 1970)[5]
- Yongary, Monster from the Deep (TV 1970)[5]
- Yog, Monster from Space (1971)
- Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1972)
Trivia
- AIP's version of Mothra vs. Godzilla and a reconstruction of its version of Frankenstein vs. Baragon were released to DVD by Simitar Entertainment and Classic Media, and Media Blasters, respectively. The company's versions of Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Hedorah have long been replaced on home video by Toho-commissioned international English dubs and the original Japanese versions. However, Media Blasters released Destroy All Monsters with the AIP version included to DVD and Blu-ray in 2011, only for both of these releases to be pulled from circulation due to a dispute with Toho over other bonus features that were also included.
- The AITV versions of the Showa Gamera films remained unreleased on home video until the early 2000s, when companies like Alpha Video and Sinister Cinema brought them to DVD, using 16mm prints in the public domain. Shout! Factory's DVDs included all but War of the Monsters, while Arrow Video's Gamera: The Complete Collection included remastered versions from MGM's library.
Notes
- ↑ Warning from Space was initially Americanized and released to television in the United States by Four Star International in 1964. It was subsequently released by American International Television beginning in 1968.
References
This is a list of references for American International Pictures. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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Bibliography
- Craig, Rob (2019). American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 9781476666310.
- Heffernan, Kevin (2004). Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953–1968. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822332152.
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