(First Aired: October 23, 1966)
Screenplay by: Mamoru Sasaki
Directed by: Akio Jissoji
A group of children are showing off their monster drawings at school, and among them is a simplistic, white, larva-like creature named Gavadon, which the kids mock for being pathetic. Gavadon’s saddened artist, Mushiba, goes to his favorite hangout spot — a concrete pipe yard – where he doodles his monster on one of the pipes before leaving to join his friends. Meanwhile, Science Patrol receives a call from the Tokyo Space Ray Research Center about never-seen-before cosmic rays. Back at the pipeyard, the kids return to find Mushiba’s Gavadon dozing in enormous physical form. Things get stranger when the drawing on the pipe turns out to be missing, despite the mean, old pipeyard owner seeing it just moments before and dragging the kids over to show it.
Science Patrol is later called in as the sight of the sleeping Gavadon frightens the populace. Gavadon takes no interest in the humans though, wandering into a trainyard to flee from the attacking Jet V-TOL and find a place to snooze. That evening, the JSDF has gathered around Gavadon, who is now sleeping soundly. Then Gavadon vanishes in thin air as the sun finally disappears over the horizon. Back at HQ, it is reported by Paris HQ that similar phenomena occurred in Switzerland and South Africa. Studies of the cosmic rays reveal that when it mixes with those of the sun, 2D objects become 3D, meaning Gavadon's appearance was really Mushiba's drawing come to life!
Back with Mushiba and his friends, the children are awed by the sight of Gavadon the drawing becoming Gavadon the monster. So they decide to give Mushiba’s creature a makeover to make it less of a sleepyhead and more of a ferocious beast. They color in the creature and give it four legs, a sail fin, a more defined head before the pipeyard owner returns to chase them off. Meanwhile, Science Patrol is concerned that the monster will return, but Ide suggests they should not attack the creature to see if it will remain asleep all day. The team decides that it might be worth a try.
The next morning, the kids sneak into the pipeyard and spy the Gavadon drawing coming to super-sized life. Gavadon lumbers to Tokyo, but instead of demolishing it, the monster naps in the middle of the streets. While everyone is scared out of the city by Gavadon’s appearance, Gavadon spends the entire day snoring in the streets until vanishing at twilight. Back at HQ, Science Patrol has decided that, despite Gavadon’s peaceful nature, they need to get rid of it as its presence is keeping anything from being done in Tokyo, effectively bringing the economy to a halt. Back with the children, they're very disappointed to learn that their fiercer-looking monster is no less dangerous than its predecessor, but accept it for what it is before being chased away by the pipeyard owner again.
The next day, Gavadon stops at a creek running by the pipeyard to sleep while the JSDF moves in for an assault. Gavadon does not retaliate against the barrage of firepower, so it crawls away to a nearby canal. Science Patrol moves in, but the children loudly protest against the assault on Gavadon, ignoring Science Patrol’s demands for them to move away. Hayata steps into the river towards them to physically drag them off, but he is swept off his feet. Struggling underneath the flow, he pulls out the Beta Capsule and transforms into Ultraman! Ultraman moves in to wrestle Gavadon while the children continue to loudly beg for him not to kill Gavadon. Science Patrol keeps the kids away from the fight, and Ultraman, having overheard their pleas, lifts the monster and flies to space with it.
That night, the children watch the stars forlornly, wondering about Gavadon's fate. Then Ultraman’s voice rings through the sky. He tells them that he has turned Gavadon into a constellation — the most eternal of art — and every night on July 7, Gavadon's constellation will appear in the sky for them to see. The following day, every child in Tokyo is doodling their own chalk drawings in hopes that it will come to life, and although the mysterious cosmic rays are gone for now, Muramatsu is quite frightened by the possibility of the appearance of an army of living drawings in Tokyo!
This Episode Contains Examples Of:
- Stellification: In the end, Ultraman turns Gavadon into a constellation after the children who helped bring the creature to life beg him not to kill it, as the Kaiju was peaceful and didn't hurt anyone.
