Compiled by Janet Hamilton
From the OrigamiUSA Newsletter Issue 63, Fall 1998
Have you always thought of origami as a quiet and sedate hobby? Think again! Origami has lately been adding excitement and suspense to popular TV action and drama series. Check out the following sightings, as reported by members of the origami-l email list.
In "The Marshall" on ABC, the bad guys’ hide-out had several origami models decorating the walls, including an eagle, a crane, and what looked like some form of primate in the 4 seconds it was on the screen (model made by Joseph Wu).
In an episode of "The X-Files" called "Born Again", originally broadcast in the US on 4/29/94, a policeman plans to fold all the animals in the Noah's ark picture on his wall, but he is murdered and reincarnated as an 8-year old girl. The fact that the girl knew how to fold complex models was a clue to help them believe that she was the reincarnation of the murdered policeman. He was killed before he got to the giraffe, the last animal he was to fold. The girl then folded the giraffe, left it on the doorstep of the policeman's widow, rang the doorbell and ran off, leaving the widow to find the origami model. Agent Scully explains the models as "Origami, an obscure art of paper folding". [This episode of the X-files was also broadcast in Japan. Maekawa-san says they are KAWAI Toyoaki's models.]
In the pilot of the TV show "The Pretender" on 9/19/96, Jarod pretends to be a doctor in order to help a paralyzed boy, whose spinal cord was severed during an operation, learn the truth about his injury. A figure of Onesius, the Greek god of retribution, was folded by Steve Matheson. Onesius (actually the product of the scriptwriter's imagination) is an Icarus type figure with downswept wings. The design (with some alterations) is by Gabriel Alvarez from “El Libro de las Parajitas de Papel”. Since then, paper airplanes were used on one show, and another episode had paper clocks.
Origami models were used in the 3/5/86 episode of the TV show "The Equalizer" called “Breakpoint”. While McCall is standing in for the father of the bride at a wedding reception, the party is crashed by terrorists and several members are held hostage.
In “The Awakening”, the first episode of the series "Dark Skies" shown 9/21/96, there is an object shaped like a diamond which unfolds in mid air to a triangle shape, then refolds into the diamond. A technical wonder or a case of Alien Origami?
A mysterious villain left his "silver crane" calling card on the "General Hospital" soap opera on July 8, 1997. The origami was tied to a murder mystery. The episode on 7/9/97 showed a frog made out of silver foil held by an unknown person and a private detective tells another person that a folded gum wrapper was found at the murder scene. Many people reported this sighting - General Hospital seems to have an origami following!
In the TV-series "Millennium", season 1, episode 22 called 'Paper Dove', the daughter of the main character receives a paper dove which is shown again later, but I won't spoil the plot by telling you where. Details are available from http://homepages.force9.net/sheamus/millennium/episodes/guide.htm.
On the 5/3/98 episode of "Abarenbo Shogun VIII" episode #17, origami turned out to be a part of the plot. Following a rash of fires that leave several children orphaned,, the Shogun (Yoshimune, the 8th Tokugawa Shogun) receives a folded paper crane stained with blood in the box of appeals to the Shogun. One of the orphaned children, Osaki, is continually folding cranes. Others are shown playing with waterbombs/balloons.) The Shogun and his friends discover that the villains want to build brothels and have been buying up land. Ofuji is folding cranes when the bad guys come to try to make her sell her property. When she is killed for refusing to sell, her blood splashes one of the cranes. The murderers set fire to the building to cover up their crime, but Ofuji's daughter Osaki discovers the scene and escapes. She puts the crane in the box of appeals with the help of the other orphaned children. By the end of the program, the bad guys are dead and Iroha tenement is to be rebuilt specifically for the orphaned children. The Shogun receives a flood of origami cranes in the appeals box as a thank you from the children.