El artículo es muy bueno, así que pongan a prueba su inglés...

20,000 Tentacles under the see. Cephalopods in cinema

By Roland C. Anderson

This article originally appeared in Of Sea and Shore,

Octopuses and squids, usually of the giant variety, have long figured prominently in movies. They are usually portrayed as 'monsters of the deep' with insatiable appetites for human flesh, reaching gigantic proportions, able to drag down ships or submarines with ease, and use hardhat or SCUBA divers for appetizers or dessert. They frequently have a propensity for lurking in sunken ships, particularly guarding the treasure chest of gold or pearls we know all sunken ships have on board.

Early movies just assumed octopuses and squids were of gigantic proportions, capable of terrorizing whole cities and gulping people like popcorn. More modern movies, hopefully reflecting the sophistication of modern audiences, have to rely on radiation, genetic creation, or pollution to create hybrid monsters of the deep. A very few movies show cephalopods sympathetically.

After looking for cephalopods in about 200 movies on marine related subjects, I have found about 60 that have cephalopods in them, from 1916 to 1997. This list is by no means comprehensive, as I have had to rely primarily on films available on video or seen on TV. By perusing comprehensive movie guides, I have discovered another 5 or 10 that are possibilities for having cephalopods in them that I have been unable to obtain or rent.

While most cephalopod portrayals by Hollywood have been unsympathetic monsters, some cephalopods in movies have been used sympathetically for color or even humor. A prime example of this is Cannery Row, a movie near and dear to those from the Monterey Bay area. In this movie, Doc Ricketts is afflicted with a strange restlessness in the springtime. We all know what happens in the springtime to a young man's fancy, but as he seems somewhat obtuse, he ascribes this to a need to go collecting on the spring tides. He collects some octopus and decides to write a paper on 'Symptoms in Some Cephalopoda Approximating Apoplexy.' Unfortunately his research is ended prematurely by the untimely demise of his octopus during a party.

Other sympathetic portrayals include Dr. Doolittle in the movie of the same name getting directions to the Giant Pink Sea Snail from an octopus, psychedelic octopuses in Yellow Submarine, which oddly enough does not have the song 'Octopuses' Garden' in it, and a nice little octopus competing with Jacqueline Bisset as scenery in The Deep. An arguably sympathetic octopus forms the basis of an octopus cult in the James Bond movie Octopussy, where the character Octopussy, so-named because her father was an octopus expert, runs a jewel-smuggling operation from an island of women, all tattooed with a blue-ring octopus. Her pet octopus is portrayed in gigantic proportions (for a blue ring octopus) and although it kills someone in this movie, at least it is a bad guy.

For the most part octopuses and squids in movies have been portrayed as monsters in definitely an unsympathetic role. The early portrayal of this is in the 1939 movie Killers of the Sea, a pseudo-documentary narrated by Lowell Thomas about the exploits of Captain Casswell, a Florida town constable who supposedly kills the 'killers of the sea,' killers such as sharks who despoil the harvest of local fishermen. It is amazing to see how attitudes have changed since this movie was made, as in addition to sharks, Capt. Casswell also kills such 'killers' as porpoises, sea turtles and octopuses. One of his divers is attacked by an octopus while looking for gold in a sunken ship and Capt. Casswell has to dive down to save the man by stabbing the octopus in its 'one vulnerable spot, the ink sack'(!!).

In the 1943 film Reap the Wild Wind John Wayne meets his demise at the tentacles of a giant squid, one of the few times the Duke dies in a movie. In another John Wayne film, Wake of the Red Witch, the Duke battles a giant octopus guarding a chest of pearls and wins the acclaim of the natives the pearls belong to.

In Monster from the Ocean Floor, the famous (infamous?) Roger Corman's first film, a marine biologist enlists the talents of a submariner to pursue her prey, a giant squid.

Beneath the 12 Mile Reef again has a giant octopus attacking the hero, a very young Robert Wagner, who is harvesting sponges in the Florida keys. The hero finds a cave with many sponges in it guarded by a giant octopus. He stabs the octopus and kills it, while it bleeds red blood(!) (real octopuses have blue blood, based on copper).

The Walt Disney filming of the Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea pits Capt. Nemo's killer submarine against a giant somewhat-realistic squid. Capt. Nemo himself almost gets bitten by the squid's beak, but is saved at the last moment by Ned Land. The special effects are good in this movie; the squid is at least realistic, if far too big. Real giant squids of the genus Architeuthis are not large enough to be a threat to ships or submarines.

Another movie with good special effects was Ray Harryhausen's movie It Came from Beneath the Sea. Ray Harryhausen was responsible for the special effects in some of the Sinbad movies (you may remember the famous fighting skeletons). In more recent movies the monster cephalopods are usually caused by radiation; such was the case in It Came from Beneath the Sea, where a behemoth octopus carries down freighters and terrorizes San Francisco by tearing down the Golden Gate bridge and wreaking havoc on the waterfront. The heroes destroy it with a special atomic torpedo.

Cephalopods play lesser roles in several other movies of this time period. In Lord of the Rings, a rather disappointing adaptation of Tolkien's Ring cycle, a monster in a lake has definite cephalopodan characteristics. It has also been argued that the Martians in War of the Worlds were inspired by cephalopods (I'll reserve judgment on this). The Incredible Mr. Limpet has Don Knotts changing into a fish and battling an octopus in one scene, and several TV shows have been made into movies or videos that feature cephalopods, namely Aquaman and Squiddly Diddly, both Hanna Barbara productions.

In A Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea divers are attacked by a giant squid while attempting to tap into the trans-Atlantic telephone cable. In addition to spearing the squid twice they stab it and poke it with a underwater flare to dispatch it. Their submarine 'Seaview' is also attacked by a giant octopus, which they discourage by electrifying the hull of the submarine.

Bride of the Monster is one of the classically awful films from Edward D. Wood Jr. who also brought us what is probably the worst film of all time: Plan 9 from Outer Space. Bride of the Monster ranks right up there with Plan 9 in awfulness, so bad it's funny. Bela Lugosi in his last speaking role is the mad scientist doing radiation research experiments in order to create a superman. He is also the guardian of a monster octopus which is able to live in lakes(!) and disposes of Lugosi's enemies. Of course Lugosi meets his demise at the hands, or rather tentacles, of his own creation, as both he and his monster get conveniently struck by lightning at the end, as an onlooker proclaims the classic line 'he tampered in God's domain!'

Tentacles is one of the few cephalopod movies with big name stars in it: John Huston, Shelley Winters, and Henry Fonda. It is still a really bad movie, but not bad enough to be funny; it takes itself too seriously. A giant octopus is created by pollution which dislikes radio waves. It homes in on them and destroys the source. This time the menace is destroyed by the pet killer whales of the protagonist marine biologist.

The 'devilfish' in the movie of the same name is a genetically-created monster used to 'protect' the beaches (for the Mob), which has the strength and jaws of a shark, the tentacles and jet propulsion of an octopus, and the intelligence of a dolphin. It is dispatched by burning.

Octaman is one of the unintentionally funniest of this lot of cephalopod films. Scientists on the west coast of Mexico are studying a new small species of octopus (which lives in lakes!), possibly a hybrid from radiation. They have large eyes and make a loud keening sound. Of course big brother 'Octaman' comes to the rescue of its little buddies being 'tortured' by the nasty scientists, and the movie goes downhill from there. 'Octaman,' the monster, is really most amazing, having arms that can pierce human bodies, an amazing sucker mouth lined with teeth, compound eyes(!), and, like many other movie monsters, makes a roaring sound as it attacks people. Also, like many other movie monsters, it has an affection for the heroine of the movie, just like Fay Wray or Jessica Lange in King Kong. After various skirmishes and fatalities this monster is again relegated to the supposed depths of the lakes.

Unfortunately, with the exception of Cannery Row and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, most of these movies are pretty bad, and some of them are downright awful (which albeit gives them a certain appeal!), but we have yet to view an accurate and sympathetic portrayal of a realistic giant octopus or squid on the screen.

MOVIES WITH CEPHALOPODS IN THEM

Animal World (1956). This documentary is an anthropomorphic look at animal activities, including an octopus/moray fight (also seen in Devil Monster). Notable for Ray Harryhausen's special effects (dinosaurs). Animalympics (1979). Animated. The 'Calamari Brothers' man a sled in this spoof of Olympic events. Aquaman (1985). Cartoon compilation, 'Onslaught of the Octomen.' Batman (1966). Adam West, Burgess Meredith. In this first campy movie, a bad guy is catapulted into the arms of an (unseen) exploding octopus. Beneath the 12 Mile Reef (1953). Robert Wagner, Gilbert Roland. An octopus attacks a hard-hat sponge diver. The Beast. (1996). William Petersen, Karen Sillas. Book and screenplay by Peter Benchley, this is a blatant rip-off of his Jaws, except the 'beast' is a giant squid. Not bad special effects, but story is impossible. Beast from 20000 Fathoms (1953). Paul Christian, Paula Raymond. A professor in a diving bell witnesses a fight between an octopus and a shark, just before the 'beast' gets him. This is the same scene as in Incredible Petrified World, The Sea Around Us, and Omoo, Omoo. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowell. While traveling in an animated sequence beneath the sea, they see an octopuses dealing cards and playing drums. This is a pleasant Disney comedy/musical. Beyond the Sea (1933). Ralph Bellamy, Fay Wray. Underwater octopus fight to the death. Blue Lagoon (1980). Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins. An octopus is part of the underwater scenery in an otherwise awful movie. Bride of the Monster (1955). Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson. An octopus kills for a mad scientist. Guess who the mad scientist is! Bullshot (1983). Alan Shearman, Diz White. An intelligent trained(!) giant octopus threatens a super hero. Cannery Row (1982). Nick Nolte, Debra Winger. Doc's octopus meets a sad end. Dangerous When Wet (1953). Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas. Esther trains to swim the English Channel, and dreams of swimming with cartoon characters Tom and Jerry, pursued by a menacing octopus. Deadly Jaws (1974). Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo. This dreadful movie has an octopus attacking treasure divers, who blow it up with dynamite. The Deep (1977). Nick Nolte, Jacqueline Bisset. An octopus during the credits provides scenery. Devilfish (1984). Michael Sopkin, Valentine Monnier. A monster that is part shark, part octopus, and part dolphin kills for the mob. This is an incredibly bad movie! Devil Monster (1946). Barry Norton, Blanche Mahaffey. In pursuit of a shipwrecked sailor, Norton sees an octopus battle in a lagoon. The 'devil monster' refers to an attacking man-eating manta ray! This may be the worst movie of all time. Don't Give Up the Ship (1959). Jerry Lewis, Dina Merrill. Lewis loses a warship(!) and looks for it underwater, where he gets attacked by an octopus, in this fair slapstick comedy. Dr. Doolittle (1967). Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar. Dr. Doolittle gets directions from an octopus. Dr. Who - 'The Power of Kroll.' (1978). Tom Baker. A giant squid threatens a protein refinery. Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958). Lubor Tolos, Arnost Navratil. A giant octopus battles divers in this loose adaptation of Verne story. Very interesting special effects. The Fellowship of the Ring in Lord of the Rings (2002), a huge octopodan monster that attacks the just outside the gate to Mordor. High Spirits (1988). Steve Guttenburg, Darryl Hannah. A giant ghost octopus (but called a 'squid') briefly captures a boy. This romantic ghost story is better than it has been rated. The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964). Don Knotts, Jack Weston. Don Knotts, reincarnated as a fish, battles an octopus. Incredible Petrified World (1958). John Carradine, Allen Windsor. Four divers descend in a diving bell and find a boring underwater world in a boring movie. There is an octopus/shark fight during the narration of the introduction. Isle of Fury (1936). Humprey Bogart, Margaret Lindsay. Bogart finds a giant octopus is limiting his pearl harvest. It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955). Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue. A giant octopus terrorizes San Francisco and tears down the Golden Gate Bridge. Ray Harryhausen special effects. Billy Bond write that this ws the best giant octopus ever. The guy who did the animation, Ray Harryhausen, had to build a model with six arms - eight were too expensive. So that would be a Sextapus? - JW Jabberjaws (1976). Cartoon compilation. Jaws 3 (1983). Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong. A mechanical octopus 'attacks' guests at an aqua park before the featured shark attack. Joe vs the Volcano (1990). Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan. Hanks gets a facial using an octopus. This is a very pleasant comedy. Killers of the Sea (1939). Lowell Thomas, Wallace Caswell. Capt. Casswell takes off his pants to battle sea 'killers.' Very funny. The Kindred (1987). Rod Steiger, Kim Hunter. Octopus blood and human blood mix to form monster hybrids. Very violent, very bad. King Kong vs Godzilla (1963). Michael Keith, James Yugi. Before the 'clash of the titans,' King Kong dispatches a giant octopus that attacks a native village. The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949). Jane Wyman, Dennis Morgan. An octopus jams the treads of an 'underwater tractor' in Long Island Sound. Nice comedy. The Little Mermaid (1978). Cartoon. Japanese. The evil sea witch's castle is guarded by a giant squid which attacks the title character. The Little Mermaid (1989). Cartoon. Ursula, the wicked sea witch, is a squid(!) in this delightful Disney cartoon. Lord of the Rings (1978). Disappointing cartoon; a cephalopod in a lake guards the entrance to Mordor. The Lost Continent (1968). Eric Porter, Hildegarg Knef. A giant octopus attacks a ship stranded in man-eating sargassum weeds(!!). The Magic Voyage of Sinbad (1952). Sergei Stolyarov, Anna Larionova. Sinbad sees a dancing octopus while visiting Neptune under the sea. This is a poorly-dubbed Russian movie. Mediterraneo 1991. Diego Abatantuono, Claudio Bigagli. Prostitute beats an octopus against the paving stones to tenderize it. Pleasant comedy about Italians stranded on Greek island. Men in Black (1997). Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones. This popular black comedy features the stars fighting illegal aliens hiding on planet Earth. Smith gets beat up by an octopoid alien defending its young. Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). Anne Kimball, Stuart Wade. Biologists battle a giant one-eyed octopus on Mexico coast with a tiny submarine! Mysterious Island (1929). Lionel Barrymore, Lloyd Hughes. This movie has a complicated plot of a Nemo-like character who invents a submarine during a civil war and encounters strange underwater beings who command an octopus to attack him. Part silent, part talky. Mysterious Island (1961). Michael Craig, Gary Merrill. Captain Nemo's new friends battle a giant chambered nautilus (or maybe it's an ammonite?). The Navigator (1924). Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire. Hard-hat diver Keaton finds himself in dire straits when his air hose is cut and an octopus attacks him at the same time. Night Tide (1963). Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson. A sailor, in love with a carnival mermaid, dreams of an octopus. Mood piece, better than it sounds. Octaman (1971). Pier Angeli, Jeff Morrow. He has compound eyes and a toothed sucker mouth! Omoo, Omoo, The Shark God (1949). Ron Randell, Devera Burton. Oh no, oh no, it's as bad as it sounds! Sailors see octopus/shark fight from the deck of a ship! Pearl of the South Pacific 1955. Dennis Morgan, Virginia Mayo. Rare black pearls are stored underwater by natives in a lagoon guarded by a giant octopus. Potboiler. Penguin Pool Murder 1932. Edna May Oliver, James Gleason. A crawling octopus denotes the passing of time in this murder mystery that takes place in the New York Aquarium. Planeta Burg (aka: Planet of Storms)(1962). Russian high angst, as three spaceships visit Venus. One crashes, second goes to recover, third worries in orbit. Second crew discovers underwater civilization and bearded octopus. Robot 'Robert!' Popeye (1980). Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall. Non-stop action drives this classic tale of the spinach eater. An octopus threatens Olive Oyl and Sweetpea, but guess who saves the day! Predators of the Sea (1977). This compilation of a Bill Burrud series has good octopus scenes and natural history. Reap the Wild Wind (1942). John Wayne, Paulette Goddard. Diver Duke succumbs to a giant squid. Road to Bali (1952). Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour. Hope battles a giant squid to get a treasure chest. The Sea Around Us (1953). This horrible Irwin Allen production of Rachel Carson's book glorifies whaling!! It has the same octopus/shark fight seen in other movies of the time. Sea Raiders (1941). Billy Halop, Huntz Hall. Good-hearted juvenile delinquents get into trouble with the inventor of a new boat, including an octopus fight, in this 12 part serial. The Sharkfighters (1956). Vicror Mature, Karen Steele. An octopus named 'Farragut' contributes ink to a possible shark repellant sought by Navy researchers. Sh! The Octopus (1938). Allen Jenkins, Hugh Herbert. Detectives, looking for the long arms of the mob 'octopus,' encounter the real thing. Good comedy with a trick ending. Squiddly Diddly (1965). Cartoon compilation. Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948). Johnny Weismuller, Linda Christian. Tarzan exposes high priest as a fake, saves Christian and fights an octopus to get pearls. Weismuller's last outing as Tarzan. Tentacles (1977). John Huston, Shelley Winters, Henry Fonda. Huston and Fonda cannot save this movie trash about giant octopus. Thunderball (1965). Sean Connery, Claudine Auger. A small octopus settles onto a dead man in an underwater fight scene. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916). Alan Holubar, Matt Moore. This silent version deviates from Jules Verne's novel. It contains elements of the later Mysterious Island and has a bizarre plot twist at its finale. An octopus attacks some divers. Interesting for early underwater action and photography. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Kirk Douglas, James Mason. Capt. Nemo battles a giant squid. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997). Michael Caine, Patrick Dempsey. This TV version is truly awful. Bad acting, bad special effects. The submarine is attacked by a giant octopus that is never really seen. Skip this and watch the Disney version. Note that there is another TV version of Verne's novel that also came out in 1997 that doesn't have either a giant squid or octopus! Underwater City (1962). William Lundigan, Julia Adams. An effort to build a submarine metroplis is sunk by wooden acting and a boring script. A woman diver is threatened by a giant octopus while she is stuck in underwater quicksand(!), but the woman and the octopus are never seen in the same scene. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961). Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lorre. A giant squid attacks divers and a giant octopus attacks a submarine. Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968). Mamie Van Doren, Mary Marr. Planeta Burg with added footage of Van Doren, but same story and same bearded octopus. The plot line flows better than in P.O.S. or V.T.A.P.P. (see below). Voyage to a Prehistoric Planet (1965). Basil Rathbone, Faith Domergue. Space explorers, while exploring underwater on Venus, come upon a bearded octopus. Wake of the Red Witch (1948). John Wayne, Gail Russell. The Duke battles octopus for chest of pearls. Warlords of Atlantis (1978). Doug McClure, Cyd Charisse. Giant octopus aids and protects Atlanteans. War of the Gargantuans (1967). Russ Tamblyn, Kumi Mizuno. A giant green-hued monster man attacks a giant octopus which is molesting a Japanese freighter, which in turn is sunk by the gargantuan. Ugh. Wet Gold (1984). Brooke Shields, Burgess Meredith. Good underwater scenery (including octopus) can't help Brooke keep her men or her gold. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd. Octopus bartender serves up drinks in 'Toon Town. Yellow Submarine (1968). Animated. The Beatles. Psychedelic octopuses but no 'Octpuses' Garden.' Yog, Monster from Space (1970). Akira Kubo, Atsuko Takahashi. A giant cuttlefish (but called an octopus) is made into an unstoppable killing machine by an alien intelligence from outer

But wait, if you order now you get MORE really bad cephalopod movies

Mike Bianco wrote in with the following additions - note that some of these are not movies but are from TV shows. I send Mike's addition to RA and some of his comments are included below in green. DEEP RISING (1998) This movie is about tentacle creatures that are hunting crooks who have highjacked a huge oceanliner. The mother of these tentacle creatures is a MONSTER sized Octopus with sharp teeth!!! GAMERA VS VIRAS (1968) Also known as DESTROY ALL PLANETS the giant turtle monster GAMERA battles the pet monster of aliens who want to rule the world. The monster is a giant white squid creature called VIRAS. Gamera vs Outer Space Monster Viras is pretty good. OCTOPUSSY (1983) The women OCTOPUSSY has a pet blue-ringed octopus which bites the face off a bad guy!! Octopussy was deleted from the original article by the editor. THE LUCY SHOW (1964) In this episode (title ??) Lucy has a nightmare where she meets an octopus along with a mummy,dracula etc all while she is visiting a spooky castle. OCTOPUS (2000) This movie features a giant OCTOPUS which hunts down an American navy sub. A sequel called OCTOPUS 2 is due out in 2002. Octopus (2000) is incredibly bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't put too many exclamation points after that!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAYWATCH(1992) The episode was called TENTACLES. It was a two-parter but the octopus was only featured in episode 1. A huge octopus lives in a grotto where he munches on surfboards. Some of the baywatch babes and hunks go to explore the grotto and are attacked! GAPPA THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTER (1967) This Japanese movie also known as MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET features two giant bird like dinosaurs who are searching for their baby kidnapped and brought to TOKYO by explorers. In the scene where they rise out of TOKYO BAY the mother is holding a dead giant OCTOPUS in her mouth and it's dislodged after the army tanks start blasting her. FLASH GORDON This was from the original serials from 1936. The serials were later called FLASH GORDON SPACE SOLDIERS and when released on video as a complete movie it was retitled FLASH GORDON ROCKETSHIP. The serial's originally ran 13 chapters and the octopus was featured in CHAPTER 4 "BATTLING THE SEA BEAST" FLASH battles a giant horned octopus in an underwater dungeon. GAMERA SUPER MONSTER (1980) This was the last of the original GAMERA movies and it's basically 98% STOCK FOOTAGE!! Gamera battles all his old foes (in stock footage) and this contains the battle GAMERA had with VIRAS in "GAMERA VS VIRAS" FLESH GORDON MEETS THE COSMIC CHEERLEADERS (1989) In this sequel to the classic Flash Gordon pornographic spoof FLESH GORDON, There is a scene where the damsel in distress is menaced by a rubbery Octopus-type creature with a long tongue called the OCTOPUSSY-EATER!! PERVERTED STORIES #25 (2000) In the episode titled IT CAME FROM THE DEEP a women ventures at night to a forbidden swamp where she's attacked by a giant octopus! Needless to say triple-penatration is the result. FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (1965) This movie features a giant JAPANESE FRANKENSTEIN who battles a huge lizard called BARAGON. It has nothing to do with an octopus right? WRONG!!! In the original ending (which was cut) after killing Baragon, Frankenstein is attacked by a GIANT OCTOPUS (the same one from WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS and KING KONG VS GODZILLA) Called a GIANT DEVILFISH, this cephalopod crawls out of the forest(!!!) and battles Frank eventually dragging him into a lake and drowning him!! ULTRA Q (1965) A very cool show (unfortunately never released outside of JAPAN.) It was made by the same group responsible for the GODZILLA movies. It was like GODZILLA meets the X-files as a crew of explorers research weird and strange phenomena the occurs around JAPAN. Most episodes feature Giant monsters and invading aliens. Well in the episode FURY OF THE SOUTH SEAS the crew investigate COMPASS ISLAND where the natives worship SUDAR (a giant octopus) who crawls ashore and menaces them from time to time as well as sink ships. It was utilised by the same OCTOPUS prop from the Godzilla movies mainly the TOHO film FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD. THE GOONIES (1985) In the scene where the children treasure hunters (The Goonies) are crossing through a grotto to get to the pirate ship, a huge Octopus attacks them. For some reason this scene is cut out of most of the television airings! RETURN TO NEVERLAND (2002) Instead of a crocodile this time Captain Hook's nemesis is a huge orange octopus which attacks his ship from time to time. Also a cool stopmotion commercial was made for a JAPANESE noodle company called CUP A NOODLE where natives are chasing a giant octopus who hides behind a rock and then re-emerges as a giant squid who then chases the natives. This commercial was for the SEAFOOD flavour of the product. It can be found on the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC video "THE SEARCH FOR THE GIANT SQUID". Also the film ED WOOD starring Johnny Depp shows the filming of BRIDE OF THE MONSTER where MARTIN LANDEAU (playing as BELA LUGOSI) battles the giant octopus from that movie) Why did cephalopods have it in for John Wayne? In REAP THE WILD WIND, he's killed by a giant squid. In WAKE OF THE RED WITCH, he battles a giant octopus. (Thanks to Billy Bond for that one). Feb 2002