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97-575: Godzilla (1954) is often regarded as the first kaiju movie. When developing it, Honda and Tsuburaya drew inspiration from the character of King Kong , both in its influential 1933 film and in the conception of a giant monster, establishing it as a pivotal precursor in the evolution of the genre. During its formative years, kaiju movies were generally neglected by Japanese critics, who regarded them as "juvenile gimmick", according to authors Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski. Kaiju are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla , for example, serves as

194-544: A fictional dinosaur (animated by Ray Harryhausen ), which is released from its frozen, hibernating state by an atomic bomb test within the Arctic Circle . The American movie was released in Japan in 1954 under the title The Atomic Kaiju Appears , marking the first use of the genre's name in a film title. However, Godzilla , released in 1954, is commonly regarded as the first Japanese kaiju film. Tomoyuki Tanaka ,

291-555: A Japanese vessel is a direct reference to these events and had a strong impact on Japanese viewers, with the recent event still fresh in the mind of the public. Academics Anne Allison , Thomas Schnellbächer, and Steve Ryfle have said that Godzilla contains political and cultural undertones that can be attributed to what the Japanese had experienced in World War II and that Japanese audiences were able to connect emotionally to

388-511: A blistering sunburn on his back that left permanent scars. Toho had negotiated with the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to film scenes requiring the military and filmed target practices and drills for the film. Honda's team followed a convoy of JSDF vehicles for the convoy dispatch scene. Two thousand girls were used from an all-girls high school for the prayer-for-peace scene. The filmmakers had little co-operation from

485-596: A cue. Many of Ifukube's themes and motifs associated with Godzilla were introduced in the film, such as the March, the Horror theme, and the Requiem. The "Self Defense Force March" had become synonymous with Godzilla that Ifukube later referred to it as " Godzilla's theme ." Ifukube considered his music for the film his finest film score. During production, Mori devised promotional strategies to generate public interest such as

582-652: A decade old, while its script posed deliberately inflammatory questions about the balance of postwar power and the development of nuclear energy." Martin also commented on how the film's themes were omitted in the American version by stating, "Its thematic preoccupation with nuclear energy proved even less acceptable to the American distributors who, after buying the film, began an extensive reshoot and re-cut for Western markets." Personnel taken from The Criterion Collection . "[If] our hearts were not in it 100 percent it would not have worked. We wanted [the monster] to possess

679-501: A human ( suit actor ) to wear and act in. This was combined with the use of miniature models and scaled-down city sets to create the illusion of a giant creature in a city. Due to the extreme stiffness of the latex or rubber suits, filming would often be done at double speed, so that when the film was shown, the monster was smoother and slower than in the original shot. Kaiju films also used a form of puppetry interwoven between suitmation scenes for shots that were physically impossible for

776-466: A lasting impact and solidifying the figure of the giant monster as an essential component in genre cinematography. RKO Pictures later licensed the King Kong character to the Japanese studio Toho , resulting in the co-productions King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) and King Kong Escapes (1967), both directed by Ishirō Honda . Yoshirō Edamasa directed The Great Buddha Arrival in 1934. Although

873-527: A lighthouse. Kayama added his own critical stance on nuclear weapons by opening with a voice-over detailing and criticizing the 1952 and 1954 hydrogen bomb tests. This was followed by a montage of shots that included real footage of the Daigo Fukuryū Maru aftermath, its victims, and the paranoia that followed. Kayama also repurposed ideas from an early story he had written about a giant lizard that strolled on hind legs. Takeo Murata and Honda co-wrote

970-478: A merciless undertaker who broaches no deals." Regarding the film, Jacobson stated, "Honda's first Godzilla... is in line with these inwardly turned post-war films and perhaps the most brutally unforgiving of them. Shame-ridden self-flagellation was in order, and who better to supply the rubber-suited psychic punishment than the Rorschach -shaped big fella himself?" Tim Martin from The Daily Telegraph said that

1067-472: A metaphor for nuclear weapons , reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident. Other notable examples of kaiju characters include King Kong , Rodan , Mothra , King Ghidorah , and Gamera . The Japanese word kaijū originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in

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1164-450: A mushroom cloud; however, Abe was retained to help draw the film's storyboards. Toshimitsu and Watanabe decided to base Godzilla's design on dinosaurs and, by using dinosaur books and magazines as a reference, combined elements of a Tyrannosaurus , Iguanodon and the dorsal fins of a Stegosaurus . Despite wanting to use stop motion animation, Tsuburaya reluctantly settled on suitmation . Toshimitsu sculpted three clay models on which

1261-671: A mysterious giant animal starts destroying the city, until it is countered by a massive airstrike . It was based on a 1905 episode of McCay's comic strip series Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend . The 1925 film The Lost World (adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle 's 1912 novel of the same name ), featured many dinosaurs, including a brontosaurus that breaks loose in London and destroys Tower Bridge . The dinosaurs of The Lost World were animated by pioneering stop motion techniques by Willis H. O'Brien , who would some years later animate

1358-701: A neutral force of nature , but are more specifically preternatural creatures of divine power. They are not merely "big animals". Godzilla , for example, from its first appearance in the initial 1954 entry in the Godzilla franchise , has manifested all of these aspects. Other examples of kaiju include Rodan , Mothra , King Ghidorah , Anguirus , King Kong , Gamera , Gappa , Guilala , and Yonggary . There are also subcategories including Mecha Kaiju (Meka-Kaijū), featuring mechanical or cybernetic characters, including Moguera , Mechani-Kong , Mechagodzilla , and Gigan , which are an offshoot of kaiju . Likewise,

1455-514: A new splinter of the term, which quickly propagated through the popularity of superhero programs produced from the 1970s, forward. These kaijin possess rational thought and the power of speech, as do human beings. A successive kaijin menagerie, in diverse iterations, appeared over numerous series, most notably the Super Sentai programs premiering in 1975 (later carried over into Super Sentai ' s English iteration as Power Rangers in

1552-471: A passing train, Godzilla returns to the ocean. After consulting international experts, the Japan Self-Defense Forces construct a 30 meters (98 ft) tall and 50,000 volt electrified fence along the coast and deploy forces to kill Godzilla. Dismayed that there is no plan to study Godzilla for its resistance to radiation, Yamane returns home, where Emiko and Ogata await, hoping to get his consent for them to wed. When Ogata disagrees with Yamane, arguing that

1649-519: A producer for Toho Studios in Tokyo, needed a film to release after his previous project was halted. Seeing how well the Hollywood giant monster movie genre films King Kong and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms had done in Japanese box offices, and himself a fan of these films, he set out to make a new movie based on them and created Godzilla . Tanaka aimed to combine Hollywood giant monster movies with

1746-472: A radio play, Monster Godzilla ( 怪獣ゴジラ , Kaijū Gojira ) ; 11 episodes were produced based on the screenplay and were aired on Saturdays on the NHK radio network from July 17 to September 25, 1954. In an attempt to build mystery, Mori banned reporters from the set and kept the special effects techniques and other behind-the-scenes crafts secret. Nakajima's suit performance as Godzilla would not be revealed until

1843-486: A salvage ship captain. When a reporter arrives and asks to interview Serizawa, Emiko escorts the reporter to Serizawa's home. After Serizawa refuses to divulge his current work to the reporter, he gives Emiko a demonstration of his recent project on the condition that she must keep it a secret. The demonstration horrifies her and she leaves without mentioning the engagement. Shortly after she returns home, Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay and attacks Shinagawa . After attacking

1940-667: A stop-motion scene of Godzilla's tail destroying the Nichigeki Theater Building. The buildings' framework was made of thin wooden boards reinforced with a mixture of plaster and white chalk. Explosives were installed inside miniatures that were to be destroyed by Godzilla's atomic breath. Some were sprayed with gasoline to make them burn more easily; others included small cracks so they could crumble easily. Optical animation techniques were used for Godzilla's glowing dorsal fins by having hundreds of cells, which were drawn frame by frame. Haruo Nakajima perspired inside

2037-542: A strong metaphor for nuclear weapons. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka stated, "The theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the bomb. Mankind had created the bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind." Director Ishirō Honda filmed Godzilla's Tokyo rampage to mirror the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and stated, "If Godzilla had been a dinosaur or some other animal, he would have been killed by just one cannonball. But if he were equal to an atomic bomb, we wouldn't know what to do. So, I took

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2134-576: A suit interacts with miniature sets. Principal photography ran 51 days, and special effects photography ran 71 days. Godzilla premiered in Nagoya on October 27, 1954, and received a wide release in Japan on November 3. It was met with mixed reviews upon release but was a box-office success, winning the Japanese Movie Association Award for Best Special Effects. The film earned ¥183 million in distributor rentals , making it

2231-456: A tall tale and stated that she believed that Honda, Tanaka, and Tsuburaya gave "considerable thought" to the name of the monster: "the backstage boys at Toho loved to joke around with tall stories, but I don't believe that one." In 2003, a Japanese television special claimed to have identified the anonymous hulking Toho employee as Shiro Amikura, a Toho contract actor from the 1950s. The film's special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya. For

2328-415: Is a 1954 Japanese epic kaiju film directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda , with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya . Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. , it is the first film in the Godzilla franchise . The film stars Akira Takarada , Momoko Kōchi , Akihiko Hirata , and Takashi Shimura , with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla . In the film, Japan's authorities deal with

2425-451: Is also destroyed, with one survivor. Fishing catches mysteriously drop to zero, blamed by an elder on the ancient sea creature known as " Godzilla ". Reporters arrive on Odo Island to further investigate. A villager tells one of the reporters that something in the sea is ruining the fishing. That evening, a storm strikes the island, destroying the reporters' helicopter, and Godzilla, briefly seen, destroys 17 homes and kills nine people and 20 of

2522-578: Is one of the earliest tokusatsu movies, which is exemplified by kaiju movies. He was an early pioneer of Japanese cinema who trained many outstanding directors and cinematographers including Eiji Tsuburaya . Edamasa was born in Kushima, Saeki, Hiroshima Prefecture (present-day Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima ). In 1910, he began working in the film industry when he was hired by Yoshizawa Shōten . He later worked as an operator also for Fukuhōdō , Tōyō Shōkai and Tenkatsu Nippori . He made his debut as

2619-711: The Japanese occupation of Indonesia , and Yoshiko Yamaguchi as his half-Indonesian love interest. However, anti-Japanese sentiment in Indonesia put political pressure on the government to deny visas for Japanese filmmakers. The film was to be co-produced with Perfini , filmed on location in Jakarta in color, a first for a major Toho production, and was to open markets for Japanese films in Southeast Asia. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka flew to Jakarta to renegotiate with

2716-596: The eighth-highest-grossing Japanese film of that year . In 1956, a heavily-re-edited "Americanized" version, titled Godzilla, King of the Monsters! , was released in the United States. The film spawned a multimedia franchise that was recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-running film franchise in history. The character Godzilla has since become an international popular culture icon. The film and Tsuburaya have been largely credited for establishing

2813-408: The "G" of the title stood for "Giant." Nakajima confirmed that Toho held a contest to name the monster. The monster was eventually named Gojira . One explanation that is chalked up to legend is that a hulking Toho Studios employee's physical attributes led him to be nicknamed Gojira . In a 1998 BBC documentary on Godzilla, Kimi Honda, the widow of the director, dismissed the employee-name story as

2910-495: The 1954 film remained unavailable officially in the United States until 2004. To coincide with the film's 50th anniversary, art-house distributor Rialto Pictures gave the film a traveling tour-style limited release, coast-to-coast, across the United States, on May 7, 2004. It ran uncut with English subtitles until December 19, 2004. The film never played on more than six screens at any given point during its limited release. The film played in roughly sixty theaters and cities across

3007-401: The 1960s. However, Godzilla's image was widely publicized. Godzilla's image was added to the company stationery, cut-out pictures and posters were displayed in theaters and stores, large advertisement balloons were flown to major Japanese cities, and a Godzilla doll was mounted onto a truck and driven around Tokyo. The film's theatrical trailer debuted in theaters on October 20, 1954. Godzilla

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3104-461: The 1990s). This created yet another splinter, as the kaijin of Super Sentai have since evolved to feature unique forms and attributes (e.g., gigantism ), existing somewhere between kaijin and kaiju . Daikaijū ( 大怪獣 ) literally translates as "giant kaiju " or "great kaiju ". This hyperbolic term was used to denote greatness of the subject kaiju , the prefix dai- emphasizing great size, power, and/or status. The first known appearance of

3201-522: The Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas . There are no traditional depictions of kaijū or kaijū -like creatures among the yōkai of Japanese folklore , although it is possible to find megafauna in their mythology (e.g., Japanese dragons ). After sakoku ended and Japan was opened to foreign relations in the mid-19th century, the term kaijū came to be used to express concepts from paleontology and legendary creatures from around

3298-512: The Indonesian government but was unsuccessful. On the flight back to Japan, he conceived the idea for a giant monster film, inspired by the 1953 film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident, which happened in March 1954. The film's opening sequence is a direct reference to the incident. Tanaka felt the film had potential because nuclear fears were generating news and monster films were becoming popular because of

3395-454: The JSDF and had to rely on World War II stock footage , provided by the Japanese military, for certain scenes. The stock footage was sourced from 16 mm prints. Honda's team spent 51 days shooting the film. The film's score was composed by Akira Ifukube . After meeting with Tomoyuki Tanaka , Eiji Tsuburaya , and Ishirō Honda , Ifukube enthusiastically accepted the job. After learning that

3492-615: The Japanese version was theatrically released in West Germany on April 10, 1956, as Godzilla . That version removes the Japanese Diet argument, the acknowledgment of Godzilla as a "child of the H-bomb," references to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and an altered translation of the mother holding her children. From 1955 to the 1960s, Godzilla played in theaters catering to Japanese-Americans in predominantly Japanese neighborhoods in

3589-566: The Odo Island scenes, which used 50 Toho extras, and Honda's team established their base in the town of Toba. Local villagers were also used as extras for the Odo Island scenes. The dance ritual scene was filmed on location in Mie Prefecture, with local villagers performing as the dancers. The cast and crew commuted every morning by boat to Toba, Mie , and worked under harsh weather temperatures. Honda worked shirtless and so suffered

3686-619: The United States during its 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 -month release. In October 2005, the British Film Institute theatrically released the Japanese version in the United Kingdom . On April 18, 2014, Rialto re-released the film in the United States, coast-to-coast, using another limited-style traveling tour. That coincided with Godzilla's 60th anniversary but also celebrated the American Godzilla film, which

3783-608: The United States. In the summer of 1982, an English-subtitled version was shown at film festivals and art house cinemas in New York, Chicago, and other U.S. cities, including The Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago , where it was screened in late August of that year. Later that year, the film was re-released theatrically in Japan on November 21, to commemorate Toho's 50th anniversary. Since its release,

3880-537: The best known Seijin in the genre can be found in the Ultra Series , such as Alien Baltan from Ultraman , a race of cicada-like aliens who have gone on to become one of the franchise's most enduring and recurring characters other than the Ultras themselves. Toho has produced a variety of kaiju films over the years (many of which feature Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra), but other Japanese studios contributed to

3977-505: The best window into post-war attitudes towards nuclear power we've got—as seen from the perspective of its greatest victims." Terrence Rafferty from The New York Times said Godzilla was "an obvious gigantic, unsubtle, grimly purposeful metaphor for the atomic bomb" and felt the film was "extraordinarily solemn, full of earnest discussions". Mark Jacobson from the website of New York magazine said that Godzilla "transcends humanist prattle. Very few constructs have so perfectly embodied

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4074-416: The characteristics of an atomic bomb and applied them to Godzilla." On March 1, 1954, just a few months before the film was made, the Japanese fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryū Maru ("Lucky Dragon No. 5") had been showered with radioactive fallout from the U.S. military's 15-megaton " Castle Bravo " hydrogen bomb test at nearby Bikini Atoll . The boat's catch was contaminated, spurring a panic in Japan about

4171-446: The collective subcategory Ultra-Kaiju (Urutora-Kaijū) is a separate strata of kaijū that specifically originates in the long-running Ultra Series franchise but can also be referred to simply by kaijū . As a noun , kaijū is an invariant , as both the singular and the plural expressions are identical. ( 怪人 lit. "Strange person") refers to distorted human beings or humanoid-like creatures. The origin of kaijin goes back to

4268-526: The course of 10 years. Science fiction films lacked respect from film critics so Honda, Tanaka, and Tsuburaya agreed on depicting a monster attack as if it were a real event, with the serious tone of a documentary. Tsuburaya submitted an outline of his own that was written three years before Godzilla and featured a giant octopus attacking ships in the Indian Ocean. In May 1954, Tanaka hired sci-fi writer Shigeru Kayama  [ ja ] to write

4365-422: The current staff and infrastructure at Toho. Settling on suitmation and miniature effects, Tsuburaya and his crew scouted the locations that Godzilla was to destroy and was nearly arrested after a security guard overheard their plans for destruction but were released after they showed the police their Toho business cards. Kintaro Makino, the chief of miniature construction, was given blueprints by Akira Watanabe for

4462-562: The danger of the monster. Meanwhile, 17 ships are lost at sea. Ten frigates are dispatched to attempt to kill the monster using depth charges . The mission disappoints Yamane, who wants Godzilla to be studied. When Godzilla survives the attack, officials appeal to Yamane for ideas to kill the monster, but Yamane tells them that Godzilla is unkillable, having survived H-bomb testing, and must be studied. Yamane's daughter, Emiko, decides to break off her arranged engagement to Yamane's colleague, Daisuke Serizawa, because of her love for Hideto Ogata,

4559-501: The device, the world's superpowers will surely force him to construct more Oxygen Destroyers for use as a superweapon . After watching a program displaying the nation's current tragedy, Serizawa finally accepts their pleas. As Serizawa burns his notes, Emiko breaks down crying. A navy ship takes Ogata and Serizawa to plant the device in Tokyo Bay. After finding Godzilla, Serizawa activates the device and cuts off his air support, taking

4656-484: The early 20th Century Japanese literature, starting with Edogawa Rampo 's 1936 novel, The Fiend with Twenty Faces . The story introduced Edogawa's master detective, Kogoro Akechi 's arch-nemesis, the eponymous "Fiend", a mysterious master of disguise, whose real face was unknown; the Moriarty to Akechi's Sherlock . Catching the public's imagination, many such literary and movie (and later television) villains took on

4753-408: The effects footage to sync with the live-action footage, Honda and Tsuburaya would develop plans early during development and briefly meet prior to the day's shoot. Kajita would shuttle Tsuburaya to Honda's set to observe how a scene was being shot and where the actors were being positioned. Kajita also ushered Honda to the effects stage to observe how Tsuburaya was shooting certain effects. Honda edited

4850-414: The ending clipped off and processed through an electronic reverb unit. However, Ifukube told Cult Movies that the footsteps were created using a primitive amplifier that made a loud clap when struck. The optical recording equipment contained four audio tracks: one for principal dialogue, one for background chatter, ambient noises, tanks, planes, and one for the roars and footsteps. An independent audio track

4947-471: The film could have served as a cultural coping method to help the people of Japan move on from the events of the war. Brian Merchant from Motherboard called the film "a bleak, powerful metaphor for nuclear power that still endures today," and on its themes, he stated: "It's an unflinchingly bleak, deceptively powerful film about coping with and taking responsibility for the incomprehensible, man-made tragedy. Specifically, nuclear tragedies. It's arguably

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5044-478: The film's anti-nuclear themes. Several other directors passed on the project, feeling the idea was "stupid," but Honda accepted the assignment because of his interest in science and "unusual things" and stated, "I had no problem taking it seriously." It was during the production of Godzilla that Honda worked with assistant director Kōji Kajita for the first time. Afterwards, Kajita would go on to collaborate with Honda as his chief assistant director for 17 films over

5141-455: The film's optical effects. Half of the 400 hired staff were mostly part-timers with little to no experience. An early version of Godzilla's full reveal was filmed that featured Godzilla, via hand-operated puppet, devouring a cow. Sadamasa Arikawa thought the scene was too gruesome and convinced Tsuburaya to refilm it. Optical effects were utilized for Godzilla's footprints on the beach by painting them onto glass and inserting them into an area of

5238-413: The film. The technique would be adopted by Toho as a standard method in creating monster roars in the following years. There are conflicting reports as to how Godzilla's footsteps were created. One claim states that they were created with a knotted rope hitting a kettle drum that was recorded and processed through an echo box. Some Japanese texts claim that the footsteps were sourced from an explosion with

5335-412: The final cut, as very few scenes were considered usable. Tezuka filled in for Nakajima when he was unavailable or needed relief from the physically demanding role. Godzilla's name was also a source of consternation for the filmmakers. Because the monster had no name, the first draft of the film was not called Gojira but rather titled G , also known as Kaihatsu keikaku G (" Development Plan G "), but

5432-457: The financial success of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the 1952 re-release of King Kong , the latter of which earned more money than previous releases. During his flight, Tanaka wrote an outline with the working title The Giant Monster from 20,000 Miles Beneath the Sea ( 海底二万哩から来た大怪獣 , Kaitei Niman Mairu kara kita Daikaijū ) and pitched it to executive producer Iwao Mori. Mori approved

5529-417: The first costume fitting, Nakajima fell down inside the suit since it had been created by using heavy latex and inflexible materials. This first version of the suit was cut into two and used for scenes requiring only partial shots of Godzilla or close-ups, with the lower half fitted with rope suspenders for Nakajima to wear. For full-body shots, a second identical suit was created, which was made lighter than

5626-483: The first suit, but Nakajima could still be inside for only three minutes before passing out. Nakajima lost 20 pounds during the production of the film. Nakajima would go on to portray Godzilla and other monsters until his retirement in 1972. Tezuka filmed scenes in the Godzilla suit, but his older body made him unable to fully commit to the physical demands required by the role. As a result, few of his scenes made it to

5723-480: The genre by producing films and shows of their own: Daiei Film ( Kadokawa Pictures ), Tsuburaya Productions , and Shochiku and Nikkatsu Studios. Eiji Tsuburaya , who was in charge of the special effects for Godzilla , developed a technique to animate the kaiju that became known colloquially as " suitmation ". Where Western monster movies often used stop motion to animate the monsters, Tsubaraya decided to attempt to create suits, called " creature suits ", for

5820-468: The giant gorilla-like creature breaking loose in New York City in the 1933 film King Kong . The enormous success of King Kong can be seen as the definitive breakthrough of monster movies . This influential achievement of King Kong paved the way for the emergence of the giant monster genre, serving as a blueprint for future kaiju productions. Its success reverberated in the film industry, leaving

5917-445: The live-action footage, and he left blank leaders for Tsuburaya to insert the effects footage. At times, Honda had to cut out certain effects footage. Tsuburaya disapproved of these decisions because Honda's cuts did not match the effects; however, Honda had the final say in those matters. Tsuburaya originally wanted to use stop motion for the film's special effects but realized that it would have taken seven years to complete based on

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6014-537: The live-action footage. Special effects photography lasted for 71 days. On the first day of filming, Honda addressed a crew of 30 to read the script and to leave the project if they did not feel convinced since he wanted to work only with those who had confidence in him and the film. Most of the film was shot in the Toho lot. Honda's team also filmed on location in the Shima Peninsula in Mie Prefecture to film

6111-506: The maimed and the dead, with some survivors suffering from radiation sickness . Distraught by the devastation, Emiko tells Ogata about Serizawa's research, a weapon called the "Oxygen Destroyer", which disintegrates oxygen atoms and causes organisms to asphyxiate , then dissolve, leaving nothing behind. Emiko and Ogata go to Serizawa to convince him to use the Oxygen Destroyer but he initially refuses, explaining that if he uses

6208-449: The main character was a monster, Ifukube said, "I couldn't sit still when I heard that in this movie the main character was a reptile that would be rampaging through the city." Ifukube was not shown the final film and had only a week to compose his music. Within that time, he was shown only a model of Godzilla and the screenplay. Tsuburaya briefly showed Ifukube some footage but with the effects missing and Tsuburaya attempted to describe how

6305-536: The mantle of kaijin . To be clear, kaijin is not an offshoot of kaiju . The first-ever kaijin that appeared on film was The Great Buddha Arrival a lost film, made in 1934. After the Pacific War , the term was modernized when it was adopted to describe the bizarre, genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced evil humanoid spawn conceived for the Kamen Rider Series in 1971. This created

6402-468: The miniatures and assigned 30 to 40 workers from the carpentry department to build them, which took a month to build the scaled-down version of Ginza . Most of the miniatures were built at a 1:25 scale, but the Diet Building was scaled down to a 1:33 scale to look smaller than Godzilla. It proved to be too expensive to use stop-motion extensively throughout the picture, but the final film included

6499-400: The monster be gorilla-like or whale-like in design because of the name "Gojira", a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla ( ゴリラ , gorira ) and whale ( クジラ , kujira ) , but he eventually settled on a dinosaur-like design. Kazuyoshi Abe was hired earlier to design Godzilla, but his ideas were later rejected since Godzilla looked too humanoid and mammalian, with a head shaped like

6596-503: The monster. They theorized that the viewers saw Godzilla as a victim and felt that the creature's backstory reminded them of their experiences in World War II. The academics have also claimed that as the atomic bomb testing that woke Godzilla was carried out by the United States, the film can in a way be seen to blame the United States for the problems and struggles that Japan experienced after World War II had ended. They also felt that

6693-482: The opening because he felt it was inappropriate to use the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident and wanted to depict Godzilla as an invisible fear. A novel , written by Kayama, was published on October 25, 1954, by Iwaya Shoten as Monster Godzilla ( 怪獣ゴジラ , Kaijū Gojira ) . Godzilla was designed by Teizō Toshimitsu and Akira Watanabe under Eiji Tsuburaya's supervision. Early on, Tanaka contemplated having

6790-412: The original 1954 film was "a far cry from its B-movie successors. It was a sober allegory of a film with ambitions as large as its thrice-normal budget, designed to shock and horrify an adult audience. Its roster of frightening images—cities in flames, overstuffed hospitals, irradiated children—would have been all too familiar to cinema-goers for whom memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still less than

6887-564: The original film is now lost, stills of the film have survived, and it is one of the earliest examples of a kaiju film in Japanese cinematic history. The 1934 film presumably influenced the production of the Ultraman franchise. Ray Bradbury 's short story published in the Saturday Evening Post, June 23, 1951 " The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms " served as the basis for the film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), featuring

6984-403: The overriding fears of a particular era. He is the symbol of a world gone wrong, a work of man that once created cannot be taken back or deleted. He rears up out of the sea as a creature of no particular belief system, apart from even the most elastic version of evolution and taxonomy, a reptilian id that lives inside the deepest recesses of the collective unconscious that cannot be reasoned with,

7081-481: The production classified status and ordered Tanaka to minimize his attention on other films and mainly focus on Project G . Toho originally intended for Senkichi Taniguchi to direct the film, as he was originally attached to direct In the Shadow of Glory . However, Taniguchi declined the assignment. Honda was not Toho's first choice for the film's director, but his wartime experience made him an ideal candidate for

7178-460: The project in mid–April 1954 after special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya agreed to do the film's effects and confirmed that the film was financially feasible. Mori also felt the project was perfect as a vehicle for Tsuburaya and to test the storyboarding system that he instituted at the time. Mori also approved Tanaka's choice to have Ishirō Honda direct the film and shortened the title of the production to Project G (G for Giant), as well as giving

7275-486: The re-emerged Japanese fears of atomic weapons that arose from the Daigo Fukuryū Maru fishing boat incident; and so he put a team together and created the concept of a giant radioactive creature emerging from the depths of the ocean, a creature that would become the monster Godzilla. Godzilla initially had commercial success in Japan, inspiring other kaiju movies. The term kaijū translates literally as "strange beast". Kaiju can be antagonistic , protagonistic , or

7372-484: The safety of eating fish, and the crew was sickened, with one crew member eventually dying from radiation sickness. The event led to the emergence of a large and enduring anti-nuclear movement that gathered 30 million signatures on an anti-nuclear petition by August 1955 and eventually became institutionalized as the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs . The film's opening scene of Godzilla destroying

7469-577: The scene would unfold. Ifukube recalled, "I was very confused. So I tried to make music that would remind you of something enormous." Ifukube used low-pitch brass and string instruments. It was Honda's idea to make Godzilla roar, despite the fact that reptiles do not have vocal cords. Shimonaga and Minawa were originally tasked with creating the roar, but Ifukube became involved after taking an interest in creating sound effects. Ifukube and Honda discussed what type of sounds were going to be used in certain scenes and other details concerning sounds. Minawa went to

7566-564: The screenplay in three weeks and confined themselves in a Japanese inn in Tokyo's Shibuya ward. On writing the script, Murata stated, "Director Honda and I...racked our brains to make Mr. Kayama's original treatment into a full, working vision." Murata said that Tsuburaya and Tanaka pitched their ideas as well. Tanaka requested that they do not spend too much money, but Tsuburaya encouraged them to "do whatever it takes to make it work." Murata and Honda redeveloped key characters and elements by adding Emiko's love triangle. In Kayama's story, Serizawa

7663-408: The secret of the Oxygen Destroyer to his grave. Godzilla is destroyed, but many mourn Serizawa's death. Yamane believes that if nuclear weapons testing continues, another Godzilla may rise in the future. Cast taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-Star , except where cited otherwise. In the film, Godzilla symbolizes nuclear holocaust from Japan's perspective and has since been culturally identified as

7760-458: The story. Only 50 pages long and written in 11 days, Kayama's treatment depicted Dr. Yamane wearing dark shades, a cape, and living in a European-style house from which he emerged only at night. Godzilla was portrayed as more animal-like by coming ashore to feed on animals, with an ostensibly gorilla-like interest in females. Kayama's story also featured less destruction and borrowed a scene from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms by having Godzilla attack

7857-417: The sudden appearance of a giant monster, whose attacks trigger fears of nuclear holocaust in post-war Japan . Godzilla entered production after a Japanese-Indonesian co-production collapsed. Tsuburaya originally proposed for a giant octopus before the filmmakers decided on a dinosaur -inspired creature. Godzilla pioneered a form of special effects called suitmation in which a stunt performer wearing

7954-461: The suit actor to perform. From the 1998 release of Godzilla , American-produced kaiju films strayed from suitmation to computer-generated imagery (CGI). In Japan, CGI and stop-motion have been increasingly used for certain special sequences and monsters, but suitmation has been used for an overwhelming majority of kaiju films produced in Japan of all eras. Godzilla (1954 film) Godzilla ( Japanese : ゴジラ , Hepburn : Gojira )

8051-531: The suit so much that the Yagi brothers had to dry out the cotton lining every morning and sometimes reline the interior of the suit and repair damages. The typhoon waves were created by stagehands who overturned barrels of water into a water tank where the miniature Odo Island shoreline was built. Multiple composition shots were used for the Odo Island scenes. Most of the Odo Island scenes were filmed near rice fields. Toho hired en masse part-time employees to work on

8148-497: The suit would be based. The first two were rejected, but the third was approved by Tsuburaya, Tanaka, and Honda. The Godzilla suit was constructed by Kanju Yagi, Yasuei Yagi, and Eizo Kaimai, who used thin bamboo sticks and wire to build a frame for the interior of the suit and added metal mesh and cushioning over it to bolster its structure and finally applied coats of latex. Coats of molten rubber were additionally applied, followed by carved indentations and strips of latex glued onto

8245-418: The surface of the suit to create Godzilla's scaly hide. This first version of the suit weighed 100 kilograms (220 pounds). For close-ups, Toshimitsu created a smaller-scale, mechanical, hand-operated puppet that sprayed streams of mist from its mouth to act as Godzilla's atomic breath. Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka were chosen to perform in the Godzilla suit because of their strength and endurance. At

8342-504: The template for tokusatsu media. The film received reappraisal in later years and has since been regarded as one of the best monster films ever made . The film was followed by the sequel Godzilla Raids Again , released on April 24, 1955. When the Japanese freighter Eiko-maru is destroyed near Odo Island, another ship—the Bingo-maru —is sent to investigate, only to meet the same fate with few survivors. A fishing boat from Odo

8439-773: The term daikaiju in the 20th Century was in the publicity materials for the original 1954 release of Godzilla . Specifically, in the subtitle on the original movie poster, Suibaku Daikaiju Eiga ( 水爆大怪獣映画 ), lit. "H-Bomb Giant Monster Movie". Gamera, the Giant Monster , the first film of the Gamera franchise in 1965, also utilized the term where the Japanese title of the film is Daikaijū Gamera ( 大怪獣ガメラ ). Seijin ( 星人 lit. "star people"), appears within Japanese words for extraterrestrial aliens, such as Kaseijin ( 火星人 ), which means " Martian ". Aliens can also be called uchūjin ( 宇宙人 ) which means "spacemen". Among

8536-489: The terrifying characteristics of an atomic bomb. This was our approach, without any reservations." – Honda on his and the crew's vision for the film. In 1954, Toho originally planned to produce In the Shadow of Glory ( 栄光のかげに , Eikō no Kage ni ) , a Japanese-Indonesian co-production that would have starred Ryō Ikebe as a former Japanese soldier who was stationed in the Dutch East Indies during

8633-408: The threat that Godzilla poses outweighs any potential benefits from studying the monster, Yamane tells him to leave. Godzilla resurfaces and breaks through the fence to Tokyo with its atomic breath, unleashing more destruction across the city. Further attempts to kill the monster with tanks and fighter jets fail and Godzilla returns to the ocean. The day after, hospitals and shelters are crowded with

8730-399: The villagers rush to see the monster, retreating after seeing that it is a giant dinosaur . Yamane presents his findings in Tokyo, estimating that Godzilla is 50 meters (160 ft) tall and has evolved from an ancient sea creature becoming a terrestrial creature. He concludes that Godzilla has been disturbed by underwater hydrogen bomb testing. Debate ensues about notifying the public about

8827-402: The villagers' livestock. Odo residents travel to Tokyo to demand disaster relief. The villagers' and reporters' evidence describes damage consistent with something large crushing the village. The government sends paleontologist Kyohei Yamane to lead an investigation on the island, where giant radioactive footprints and a trilobite are discovered. The village alarm bell is rung and Yamane and

8924-538: The world. For example, the extinct Ceratosaurus -like cryptid featured in The Monster of "Partridge Creek" (1908) by French writer Georges Dupuy was referred to as kaijū . It is worthy to note that in the Meiji era , Jules Verne ’s works were introduced to the Japanese public, achieving great success around 1890. Genre elements were present at the end of Winsor McCay 's 1921 animated short The Pet in which

9021-485: The zoo and recorded various animal roars and played them back at certain speeds. However, the sounds proved unsatisfactory and went unused. Ifukube borrowed a contrabass from the Japan Art University's music department and created Godzilla's roar by loosening the strings and rubbing them with a leather glove. The sound was recorded and played at a reduced speed, which achieved the effect of the roar used in

9118-525: Was depicted as merely a colleague of Dr. Yamane's. Godzilla's full appearance was to be revealed during the Odo Island hurricane, but Honda and Murata opted to show parts of the creature as the film built up to his full reveal. Honda and Murata also introduced the characters Hagiwara and Dr. Tanabe in their draft, but the role of Shinkichi, who had a substantial role in Kayama's story, was cut down. Honda toned down much of Kayama's political criticism, especially

9215-438: Was first released in Nagoya on October 27, 1954, and released nationwide on November 3, 1954. At the time of the film's release, it set a new opening day record for any Toho film by selling 33,000 tickets at Toho's cinemas in Tokyo and selling out at Nichigeki Theater. As a result, Toho's CEO personally called Honda to congratulate him. Honda's wife, Kimi, commented "That sort of thing didn't usually happen." An 84-minute cut of

9312-521: Was released that same year. To avoid confusion with the Hollywood feature, the Rialto release was subtitled The Japanese Original . It was screened in 66 theaters in 64 cities from April 18 to October 31, 2014. Yoshir%C5%8D Edamasa Yoshirō Edamasa ( 枝正 義郎 , Edamasa Yoshirō , 22 September 1888 – 8 September 1944) was a Japanese film director best known for Sakamoto Ryoma (1928) and The Great Buddha Arrival (1934). The latter film

9409-488: Was used to prevent bleeding over other audio. The music and sound effects of Godzilla's rampage were recorded live simultaneously. While Ifukube conducted the NHK Philharmonic orchestra, foley artists watched Godzilla's rampage projected on a screen and used tin, concrete debris, wood, and other equipment to simulate sounds that would sync with the footage. A new take would be needed if the foley artist had missed

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