Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might

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Dragon Ball Z the Movie: The Tree of Might
Japanese box art
Directed by	Daisuke Nishio
Produced by	Chiaki Imada Tamio Kojima
Written by	Story: Akira Toriyama Screenplay: Takao Koyama
Starring	Masako Nozawa Naoki Tatsuta Hiromi Tsuru Mayumi Tanaka Toshio Furukawa Mayumi Sho Toru Furuya Naoko Watanabe Suzuoki Hirotaka Hiroko Emori Kohei Myauchi Kenji Utsumi Joji Yanami
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Release date(s)	July 7, 1990
Running time	61 min.
Language	Japanese/English

Dragon Ball Z the Movie: The Tree of Might, known in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Chikyū Marugoto Chōkessen (ドラゴンボールZ 地球まるごと超決戦, literally "Dragon Ball Z: Super Deciding Battle for the Entire Planet Earth"), is the third Dragon Ball Z movie. It was originally released in Japan on July 7, 1990 between episodes 54 and 55. It was translated into English by Funimation in 1998.

This movie, along with Dead Zone and The World's Strongest, was released in a DVD box set from Funimation on November 12, 2006. It was later released in a double feature DVD and Blu-Ray with Lord Slug.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Heroes 2.2 Villains 3 Major battles 4 Canonicity 5 Releases 6 Cast 7 Music 8 Trivia 9 See also 10 References

[edit] Plot

In this movie the Z Warriors face a new threat that starts with the burning of a forest in which Gohan and Krillin rescue a small dragon named Icarus. Although they are able to restore the forest to its previous state with the Dragon Balls, Icarus doesn't return and stays with Gohan, much to Chi-Chi's fury. Goku then finds a nearby cave to keep Icarus close to Gohan.

Later, the Earth is visited by an unfriendly group of aliens under the leadership of a Saiyan. Upon arriving, they plant a seed which grows the Tree of Might, a plant that sucks the life of the planet on which it was planted and leaves it a desert, in order to produce the Fruit of the Gods. The Z Warriors (Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu) investigate and try to destroy the Tree, but are unsuccessful. They are then confronted by the aliens (Deiz, Cacao, Razun, Lakasei, and Amond) whilst their leader watches from inside the spaceship.

During the ensuing battle, Chiaotzu is rescued by Gohan, who had just arrived, from Razun, and demonstrates his incredible fighting skills. He is then encountered by the aliens leader Turles, a Saiyan who bears a striking resemblance to Goku. Turles gives Gohan a choice to either join him or die. Gohan refuses to join Turles, and is saved in time thanks to the arrival of Piccolo. The rest of the Z Warriors start losing ground to the aliens, who end up knocking out most of them.

Using a dirty trick, Turles turns Gohan into a Great Ape and sets him on Goku who eventually manages to cut his son's tail off and restore him to normal. Cradling the little one in his arms, Gohan falls deep asleep while Goku threatens Turles. Angry and impressed at the same time, Turles sets his henchmen on Goku, who uses the Kaio-ken and makes quick work of them. Goku and Turles then fight, with Goku having the upper hand until Turles pushes his power further by eating a fruit from the Tree of Might. With his new power, Turles dominates Goku even when he uses the KaioKen x10 and beats him to the point that he is no longer able to fight.

Slowly recovering while Turles is distracted by the rest of the Z Warriors, who recover enough to create a diversion, Goku decides to use the Spirit Bomb. Unable to gather energy from living beings, Goku decides to use the stolen energy inside the Tree of Might itself. Eventually successful in creating the Spirit Bomb, Goku sees his opportunity, and fires it straight into Turles, who is carried up the trunk of the Tree of Might and is destroyed along with the Tree when the Spirit Bomb explodes. With the terror now over, Goku and the others return to their normal lives once again.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Heroes

• Goku
• Gohan
• Piccolo
• Krillin
• Yamcha
• Tien
• Chiaotzu

[edit] Villains

• Turles
• Rasin
• Lakasei
• Daiz
• Cacao
• Amond

[edit] Major battles

• Tien & Chaozu Vs. Razun & Lakasei
• Krillin Vs. Amond
• Yamcha Vs. Cacao
• Goku Vs. Daiz & Cacao
• Gohan Vs. Lakasei
• Great Ape Gohan Vs. Goku
• Great Ape Gohan Vs. Turles
• Goku Vs. Amond, Deiz, Cacao, Razun & Lakasei
• Piccolo Vs. Turles
• Goku Vs. Turles
• Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chaozu Vs. Turlus
• Goku Vs. Turles

[edit] Canonicity

As with many Dragon Ball Z movies, this movie was intended as an alternate scenario for the series. This movie was probably intended as an alternate battle from the battle with Vegeta and Nappa, as the theme of Saiyans is carried into this movie. It may also take place in an alternate time line where Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu all survived the Nappa/Vegeta encounter and the trip to Namek never took place.

The movie may be placed in the three years the Z Warriors are training to prepare for the Androids. In that case, however, there would be some minor inconsistencies, such as Goku not turning Super Saiyan when it was needed, and Gohan not knowing Icarus, which had already appeared in the Garlic Jr. Saga. Yamcha's hair is too long (it was cut around his ears during the Trunks Saga), Vegeta is nowhere to be seen, and Goku is wearing the wrong gi.

[edit] Releases

The movie was originally released on both VHS and Laserdisc in Japan. They were in a 16:9 format, cropped from it's original 4:3 format. It was then released later in Japan as part of the well-known Dragon Box sets, remastered from it's original film masters and in a 16:9 anamorphic widescreen format. There was much controversy from fans over the decision to crop the movies from it's original 4:3 format. The controversy died down when Toei announced that the films were originally animated for widescreen viewing. The boxed set was released (containing all four Dragon Ball and all thirteen Dragon Ball Z movies) with great critical and audience reception.

In the United States, it was released in March 17, 1998, after the release of the first movie, Dead Zone, and shortly before the release of the second movie, The World's Strongest, by Funimation and Pioneer, in VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD. The three movies were uncut, and contained both the Ocean Group dub and the original Japanese dub. They were also released for the first time in a 4:3 format.^[1] The three movies were re-released together by Pioneer on October 9, 2001, in a three-movie boxset, called "Dragon Ball Z - Movie Boxed Set".^[2]

After Funimation acquired the exclusive DVD rights for the first three movies from Pioneer in 2004, it released The Tree of Might again in November 14, 2006, along with the Dead Zone and The World's Strongest movies, in a "First Strike" DVD boxset.^[3]. It contained a brand-new in-house dub and the original Japanese dub.

Funimation re-released this film in September 16, 2008, alongside the fourth movie, Lord Slug, digitally remastered and in a 16:9 format, as a "Double Feature" DVD.^[4]

[edit] Cast

Character Name	Voice Actor (Japanese / Toei Animation)	Voice Actor (English / Ocean Group)	Voice Actor (English / Funimation)
Goku	Masako Nozawa	Ian James Corlett (TV) Peter Kelamis (VHS/DVD)	Sean Schemmel
Gohan	Masako Nozawa	Saffron Henderson	Stephanie Nadolny
Yamcha	Toru Furuya	Ted Cole	Christopher Sabat
Tien	Hirotaka Suzuoki	Matt Smith	John Burgmeier
Chiaotzu	Hiroko Emori	Cathy Weseluck	Monika Antonelli
Krillin	Mayumi Tanaka	Terry Klassen	Sonny Strait
Piccolo	Toshio Furukawa	Scott McNeil	Christopher Sabat
Master Roshi	Kōhei Miyauchi	Ian James Corlett (TV) Dave Ward (VHS/DVD)	Mike McFarland
Bulma	Hiromi Tsuru	Lalainia Lindbjerg	Tiffany Vollmer
Chi-Chi	Mayumi Shō	Laara Sadiq	Cynthia Cranz
Oolong	Naoki Tatsuta	Alec Willows (TV) Scott McNeil (VHS/DVD)	Bradford Jackson
Puar	Naoko Watanabe	Cathy Weseluck	Monika Antonelli
King Kai	Joji Yanami	Dave Ward	Sean Schemmel
Shenron	Kenji Utsumi	Don Brown	Christopher Sabat
Rasin	Kenji Utsumi	Ward Perry	Robert McCollum
Lakasei	Kenji Utsumi	Don Brown	Robert McCollum
Daiz	Yûji Machi	Scott McNeil	Mark Lancaster
Cacao	Shinobu Satouchi	Don Brown	Jeff Johnson
Amond	Banjou Ginga	Alec Willows	Paul Slavens
Turles	Masako Nozawa	Ted Cole	Chris Patton
Narrator	Jōji Yanami	Doc Harris	Kyle Hebert

[edit] Music

• Opening Theme (OP)
  1. "Cha-La Head-Cha-La"
     • Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
       • Song Lyrics

• Ending Theme (ED)
  1. "Marugoto"; まるごと (The Whole World)
     • Lyrics: Dai Satō, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama & Ammy
       • Song Lyrics

[edit] Trivia

• The animation in the opening theme is part of the movie itself, as it shows the gathering of the Dragon Balls to restore the forest by the Z Warriors.
• This is the first Dragon Ball Z movie to feature a Saiyan as a villian.
• In the Ocean dub and Japanese version, first mentions of Frieza are made preluding to later fight with Frieza in the television series.
• This is the first movie where a character's origin differs from their origin in the anime. Icarus appeared in the anime (even if it was filler) but as Tree of Might couldn't have happened in the timeline, Gohan must have met Icarus in the anime in a different way, possibly after the fight with Frieza. Some fans theorize that Gohan was simply pretending to not know Icarus to avoid getting into trouble with his mother.
• It's essentially impossible to tell if Turles' henchmen really did die, or were just knocked out. The appearance of some of them in Fusion Reborn seems to confirm their deaths, however.
• The power levels reported by Turles' scouter are: Gohan - 10.000; Piccolo - 18.000; Goku - 30.000. They are a lot higher than the power levels reported by Vegeta's scouter in the Vegeta Saga (see List of power levels).
• The Tree of Might is also seen in Sailor Moon and called Makaiju. The Makaiju was the tree that Alan and Ann were born of and wanted to protect via using the energy obtained from civilians by Cardians. It appeared in the middle of the night in the form of a meteorite which crashed in Tokyo.
• In the edited dub of this movie, Turles' hands holding Gohan's eyes open are moved to Gohan's shoulders, despite the fact that his hands were clearly visible on Gohan's face in Rock the Dragon.
• The Rock the Dragon opening for the series used footage mostly from this movie.
• In the edited Funimation dub, the scene where Gohan is falling nude is edited using digital light covering him up. The scene where Icarus wakes up a nude Gohan is edited using a digital bush, also covering Gohan.
• This is the second longest movie in the series (61 minutes long).
• In one scene of the movie, there is a Ferris Wheel that says D.B.Z.
• The way the fruits are eaten resemble the story of Adam and Eve who were said to eat fruits from a tree that would make them god-like. Only it turned out to make them worse. This movie seems to contrast that story as instead the fruits made the consumer more powerful; what Adam and Eve's were said to do.
• This is the first movie to have more than 3 Henchmen working for one villain

[edit] See also

• List of films

[edit] References

Dragon Ball films
Dragon Ball adaptations
Theatrical films	Curse of the Blood Rubies • Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle • Mystical Adventure • The Path to Power
Dragon Ball Z adaptations
Theatrical films	Dead Zone • The World's Strongest • The Tree of Might • Lord Slug • Cooler's Revenge • The Return of Cooler • Super Android 13! • Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan • Bojack Unbound • Broly - Second Coming • Bio-Broly • Fusion Reborn • Wrath of the Dragon
Television specials	Bardock - The Father of Goku • The History of Trunks
OVAs	Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku • Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
Dragon Ball GT adaptations
Television specials	A Hero's Legacy
Other adaptations
Live-action films	Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins • Dragonball: Evolution