Sad news this weekend. Actor, writer, director and producer Zalman King died on Friday 3rd February 2012. To the Irwin Allen universe, he is best known for his role as the feisty young man, Nick, in the Land of the Giants episode The Lost Ones.
Revelation Films are putting together a Land of the Giants complete collection DVD set for the UK (PAL, Region 2) with both seasons and a new limited edition set of four collectible art cards. The set is due to be released on Monday 5th March 2012.
Box art is courtesy of Revelation Films
Also in the pipeline for later in the month, 26th March 2012, is a UK complete four season collection box set for Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea featuring a new booklet about the show.
Not only does the Land of the Giants theme feature in the Boxing Day airing of the new Stephen Fry and Christopher Eccleston version of The Borrowers, but we’ve also spotted recent television commercials using the giant and little people concept.
Alan Carr’s New Year Spectacular for Channel 4 this year is being promoted in advance with a giant Alan Carr standing by Big Ben.
You can also see the little people theme being used in quit smoking campaign commercials.
Land of the Giants just got a mention on the BBC Breakfast Show during a discussion on the new adaptation of The Borrowers, 7.30pm on Monday 26 December on BBC1. The 90 minute movie stars Stephen Fry and the effects look excellent and the little people proportions and ideas are very reminiscent of Land of the Giants.
They have definitely “borrowed” some ideas from Land of the Giants, see picture in following article:
FabGearUSA have very kindly donated six prizes for the IANN Christmas 2011 competition. Click here or on the image below to enter the competition. Entries must reach us by Sunday 11th December 2011.
As we head towards December and the shops are full of Christmas themes, we’re all getting regular reminders that we need to start thinking about Christmas gifts for friends and family. So, as we’ve done before, we’ll have a look around for ideas for presents suitable for Irwin Allen fans. We start here with a stocking filler idea for Land of the Giants. FabGearUSA are selling the Spindrift Patch and Keyring set that first came out with the US DVD box set in 2007. You can now purchase this item on its own and it is a perfect stocking filler.
The cast of The Poseidon Adventure (Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley, Eric Shea, and Pamela Sue Martin) will be joining the Land of the Giants cast at the Hollywood Show Vegas on Saturday 19 November 2011. Also attending are Land of the Giants guest stars Celeste Yarnall (The Golden Cage) and Bruce Dern (Wild Journey), plus Voyage Movie star Barbara Eden, Mike Lookinland (The Towering Inferno), Lawrence Montaigne (guest in The Time Tunnel), Felix Silla (stuntman on The Towering Inferno), Barbara Luna (Five Weeks in a Balloon), and Vitina Marcus (The Lost World and Lost in Space).
IANN is running a new Irwin Allen competition. Competition closes on 10th November 2011:
Click here for details on how to enter the Irwin Allen Competition
First Prize: UK DVD for Season Two of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Second Prize: Promotional Time Tunnel T Shirt (size XL)
Third Prize: 8 Irwin Allen movie photos including 2 from Towering Inferno, 2 from The Swarm, 2 from When Time Ran Out, 1 from The Story of Mankind (of Chico Marx) and 1 from The Big Circus
Fourth Prize: Fan produced Giants patch, 2 Giants photos, 1960′s Stefan Arngrim photo, and a Stefan Arngrim postcard from his appearance in Switch
Fifth Prize: British 1998 Lost in Space postcard, Colour 10×8 of Mark and Marta, and 3 small photos
Sixth Prize: Original publicity photo from The Night the Bridge Fell Down and Alice in Wonderland, plus a 10×8 of Desi Arnaz Jr. (star of The Night the Bridge Fell Down)
Several Irwin Allen stars will be appearing at 8-9 October 2011 Hollywood Show. These include Deanna Lund, Lee Meriwether, Francine York, Yvonne Craig, Malachi Throne, Victor Lundin, William Smith (Code Red), Carol Channing (Alice in Wonderland), Eric Shea (The Poseidon Adventure), Frankie Avalon (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, 1961 movie) and Sherry Jackson (Lost in Space, Where Danger Lives). For full details, please visit the Hollywood Show web site.
We hear that the Seattle Science Fiction Hall of Fame is currently undergoing renovation and that none of the Irwin Allen or sci-fi TV/movie exhibits are on show at the moment apart from temporary Battlestar Galactica and Avatar exhibitions.
So don’t make the trip up to Seattle to see the Irwin Allen items at the present time. Their web site says the renovation work continues until the summer of 2012, and we do not know what will be on show after that. If we hear any further news we will post details on our sites.