General Information

Movie Premiere & Promotion

The movie premiered as part of the 1991 Summer “Toei Anime Fair” (東映アニメフェア; Tōei Anime Fea) on 20 July 1991, along with two other movies from the Magical Taluluto and Dragon Quest series. The event originated from the “Toei Manga Festival” that was established by Toei in 1969 as a way to showcase their popular children’s series as theatrical films during seasonal breaks in the school year. In Japan, almost all schools below the university level run a three-term school year (trimester system) with a vacation period of several weeks to a month at the end of each trimester: spring vacation, summer vacation, and winter vacation. The movies were screened together back-to-back in various cities across Japan, with a typical total running time of roughly three hours. Most festivals would last roughly one month, or as long as the seasonal vacation allowed. Tickets could be purchased at the theater, or discount tickets could be purchased in advance which covered the cost of admission, as well as a bonus item such as a promotional pamphlet describing the featured movies, and various other special presents, such as posters, paper hats, cards, and toys. Additional items, including the official theatrical pamphlet and a variety of other commemorative goods, were available for purchase at cinemas or by mail during this period.

Home Video Release

Up until the Dragon Box DVD sets began being released in the early 2000s, the only Dragon Ball properties released to home video in Japan were the original seventeen theatrical films, most of which were available on VHS, LaserDisc, and 8mm film reels. These home video releases were a luxury for most fans, as they came at a rather high price point for the time. They were later re-released in the late-1990s to replace the then out-of-print VHS tapes with a lower price point and slightly alternate covers.

After releasing the entirety of the three Dragon Ball TV series, Toei released their fifth and final “Dragon Box”, which was entitled “Dragon Box The Movies”. The Dragon Box contained all seventeen original Dragon Ball movies presented in their theatrical 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. As a special bonus for the movie’s first DVD release, Toei dug through their vaults and included some of the movie’s original promotional material.

News Flash (特報) Running Time: 41 seconds

Following the “Dragon Box”, Toei began releasing each movie individually on DVD. To help promote the sale of movie individual discs, Shueisha handed out a free promotional DVD highlighting the releases at Jump Festa 2009. The DVD contained promotional trailers for each movie which were narrated by veteran Dragon Ball cast member Shigeru Chiba, the voice of such notable characters as Pilaf, Garlic Jr. (TV series), and Raditz. More information about the promotional DVD is available in our “Home Video Guide”.

In July 2018, the original seventeen theatrical films were released on Japanese Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming services. The addition of the movies themselves was heavily promoted throughout social media, however it was not announced or promoted at the time that they were actually new, high-definition remasters of the films scanned, and subsequently remastered, from the original film negatives. Shortly thereafter on 09 August 2018, Toei Animation formally announced the release of these newly-remastered versions of the movies across eight Blu-ray volumes. All non-credit versions of the opening and endings included with the release are up-converts of those originally included on the original LaserDisc releases and all bonus promotional materials (trailers, digests, etc.) are presented in their original standard definition format as included in the Dragon Box release.

Movie Synopsis

Off in the depths of space Coola watches on as his brother, Freeza, destroys the Planet Vegeta, along with the entire Saiyan race. However, Coola’s henchmen notice a Saiyan space pod with a baby has escaped, but Coola doesn’t feel it’s necessary to pick up his brother’s messes. Years later, Coola learns of his brothers demise at the hands of a Saiyan from Earth and orders his henchmen to track him down.

Back on Earth, Goku, Gohan, Kuririn, and Oolong venture out into the wilderness on a camping trip, when they unexpectedly feel an abnormal presence nearby. The Coola Armored Squad suddenly appears at the camp site and easily downs Gohan and Kuririn. Goku, who had been off catching dinner, quickly returns to help them, but is too late. He challenges the armored squad and is holding his own against the three of them, but takes an attack head-on from Coola in order to protect Gohan. Goku’s body limply falls from sky into the nearby waterfall, but Coola knows that he isn’t dead and quickly orders his men to find him immediately.

Goku and the others find themselves hiding out in a nearby cave trying to treat Goku’s wounds, but they are quite severe. Gohan sees an opening and decides to head to Karin Tower on Hire Dragon to get some senzu in order to heal his father. However he is spotted by the armored squad on his way back and is in dire straits when Piccolo arrives on the scene. Piccolo’s power quickly overwhelms Dore and Neiz, and he is handily beating Sauzer until Coola shows up to challenge the Namekian. Meanwhile, Gohan manages to make it back to the cave, but unbeknownst to him he has been followed by Sauzer, who burns the senzu. Luckily Gohan manages to feed Goku the last remaining senzu.

After a short barrage of attacks, Sauzer decides it’s time to finish off Gohan and Kuririn, when his scouter suddenly detects a rapidly rising power. The senzu has revived Goku, who becomes extremely angry at seeing his friends attacked, and he quickly blows away Sauzer with merely his aura. Goku and Coola begin their one-on-one battle, and at first it appears Goku has the upper hand, until Coola decides it’s time to transform into his final form. Coola’s increased power pushes Goku’s limits up against the wall, when a golden aura surrounds him… He has finally transformed into a Super Saiyan! Goku quickly begins to overwhelm Coola, who is amazed by his awesome power.

In a last ditch effort Coola fires a gigantic energy blast at Goku, but Goku forces it back at him, knocking him into the sun. Everything seems to have returned to normal, when Sauzer suddenly appears before our bewilder heroes. All seems hopeless, but out of nowhere a Makankōsappō suddenly hits Sauzer, putting him down for good. Gohan looks around to see who it was, but no one is there. Once again, peaceful times have returned to the Earth.

Movie Characters & Items

The following original character profiles were translated from Daizenshuu 6, along with exclusive supplemental information published in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1991 #25. Additional character design comments from the movie’s character designer, Minoru Maeda, have also been included as published in the “Design Lab” section of the “Dragon Box The Movies” Dragon Book.

• Coola (クウラ; kūra)
  The older brother of Freeza, who brags that he is the strongest in the universe. He has the same appearance as Freeza’s strongest form, but Coola can transform one more time than his younger brother!!

  Toriyama-sensei drew all the enemy characters, such as Coola and Neiz, up to and including a height-comparison chart. They even came with colors, so there was no need to change them. There would be no point in changing them. (laughs) It made it a breeze being the one making them, so I was grateful.
   — Minoru Maeda

• Sauzer (サウザー; sauzā)
  Birthplace: Planet Coola No. 98 (formerly “Planet Brench”)
  The leader of the Armored Squad. For his special attack, he can fire his ki from five fingers and concentrate it on his right hand, forming an energy hand blade.
• Neiz (ネイズ; neizu)
  Birthplace: Planet Coola No. 6 (formerly “Planet Zolt”)
  He has a weird, amphibian-like appearance, and when he’s about to be hit by an attack, he’ll pull his head into his body like a turtle. His weapon is an electric wave.
• Dore (ドーレ; dōre)
  Birthplace: Planet Coola No. 256 (formerly “Planet Bepper”)
  A strongman-type warrior who specializes in powerful attacks. He’s normally composed, but he quickly gets hot-headed when provoked.

Movie Notes

• While Akira Toriyama had provided some basic character designs for the previous movies, this marked the first time that he had fully designed all of the main characters. He provided fully colored designs for Coola, including his additional transformation, his Armored Squad, and Son Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation, along with a height comparison chart.
• As part of the movie’s promotion, an exclusive spread for Coola’s Armored Squad was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1991 #25, just two months before the movie premiered. This spread featured background information about each character, including origin stories, names of their home planets, and their respective battle powers, along with their original character designs by author Akira Toriyama. Unfortunately, this background information has never been made available outside of this Jump issue.
• Daizenshuu 6 classifies this movie as an event that fits within the continuity of the original story, explaining:
  

  In the movie Kame-Sen’nin says, “Ever since Goku returned from Planet Namek…” From this we can be sure that this is an event during the three years from when Trunks appeared to the arrival of the artificial humans.
   — “Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 6: Movies & TV Specials” (p. 78)

• Although this movie was presented in a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio in theaters, it was actually animated in a 4:3 fullscreen format. In fact, when the movie was initially released in 1992 on VHS and LaserDisc, it was presented in this 4:3 fullscreen format. However, the “Dragon Box The Movies” release would later drop this format, instead presenting all of the movies in their original widescreen theatrical format. Overall, this movie has been released to the home market on VHS, LaserDisc, 8mm film reel, DVD, and Blu-ray.
• The movie was eventually adapted and released by Shueisha as a film animation comic in March 1992, and subsequently re-released under Shueisha’s “Jump Remix” line in July 2004.

Name Puns

• While it is a commonly held belief that Coola’s name is merely based on a “cooler”, the “’92 Memorial” section of Daizenshuu 6 recounts the name pun’s actual origination:
  

  You’d normally think that since his younger brother is Freeza (freezer) that his name would be Coola (cooler), but it’s not that simple. The truth is that it involves the Shizuoka dialect. The producer Mr. Morishita, who is from Shizuoka, was worried that “Cooler” would be too direct, and remembered that in the dialect of his hometown you’d say “meshi demo kūra” [sort of equivalent to “Let’s chow down”] when eating. Because of this, they used the Shizuoka dialect… and so they decided on the name Coola!! To think that it was so complicated a process…
   — “Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 6: Movies & TV Specials” (p. 86)

• The “Animation’s Gleanings” section of the Supplemental Daizenshuu lists the name puns for Coola’s Armored Squad, all of which are based on condiments.

  Sauzer — based on “Thousand Island Dressing”:

  サウザー (sa·u·za·a)  ›  サウザンドアイランド (sa·u·za·n·do a·i·ra·n·do)

  Dore — based on “dressing”:

  ドーレ (do·o·re)  ›  ドレッシング (do·re·s·shi·n·gu)

  Neiz — based on “mayonnaise”:

  ネイズ (ne·i·zu)  ›  マヨネーズ (ma·yo·ne·e·zu)

Movie Credits

All credits listed below are as originally presented in the theatrical film. All original credit errors have been corrected to maintain accurate spellings throughout the site. For more information and a complete listing of the series staff, visit the Production Guide.

Cast Credits

The cast credits are traditionally listed in order of character importance within the series or episode. For more detailed information about the series cast, visit the Cast Guide.

Opening Credits

Ending Credits

おわり

The End

© TOEI ANIMATION STUDIO 1991