Mothra (1996)

*Not to be confused with Mothra (1961).*

 Directed by
Yoshihiro Yoneda (main story)
 Produced by
 Music by
 Budget

Mothra (also known as Mothra: The Guardian of Earth) is a 1996 toho kaiju film, Directed by Okihiro Yoneda The first in the 1990's mothra film series.

## Plot

A huge fossil was found at a construction site in Monbetsu, Hokkaido. Yuichi Goto, the site director, brought back the fossilized coat of arms as a souvenir for his daughter, Wakaba. However, long ago, it was a seal in which the fairy Elias trapped the space monster Desgidra. Knowing that the seal has been broken, Mol and Lola on Infant Island head to Japan to prevent the resurrection of Desgidra. Meanwhile, their two older sisters, the witch Berbera, were also aiming for Japan with their minions Garugaru in order to make Desgidra his servant. After learning that Wakaba has a coat of arms, Mol and his friends fight with Berbera, who has come a little earlier, with the cooperation of Taiki, who has used courage and wisdom to protect his sister, Wakaba, and his mother, Makiko. Will be defeated by. Following Berbera heading to the construction site, the fairies flew to Hokkaido with the Gotos. However, by the time it was too late, Berbera had awakened Desgidra and had revived it. Mol and Lola, who thought that only the guardian god Mothra could defeat Desgidra, summoned Mothra from Infant Island. However, Mothra, who had just laid an egg, was forced to struggle in front of the ferocious Desgidra. At that time, Mol and Lola felt the eggs hatch on the distant Infant Island. The newborn larva Mothra was about to cross the sea to help her parent Mothra. Upon arriving in Japan, the larva Mothra bravely headed for Desgidra to save the crisis of its parent Mothra. However, the undergrown larva Mothra was not the enemy of Desgidra. The parent Mothra, who protects the larva Mothra, dies. The larva Mothra made a cocoon on Yakushima to be reborn and grew into an adult. Desgidra also grew and the two fought a fierce battle, but Mothra succeeded in defeating Desgidra through the prayers of Mol and Lora, who believe in the power of Mothra, and the Goto family who wish for peace on Earth. .. Mol and Lola, who regained the coat of arms from Berbera, once again sealed Desgidra deep underground. Mothra revives the green on the land abandoned by the battle, and along with Mol and Lola.

## Cast

* Sayaka Yamaguchi   as   Lora
* Megumi Kobayashi   as   Moll
* Aki Hano   as   Belvera
* Kazuki Futami   as   Taiki Goto
* Maya Fujisawa   as   Wakaba Goto
* Hitomi Takahashi   as   Makiko Goto
* Kenjiro Nashimoto   as   Yuichi Goto
* Nagare Hagiwara   as   Yoshinori Tagawa
* Hiroko Tanaka   as   Madoka Shiraishi
* Kyokei Arakawa   as   Masayuki Kichijoji
* Akira Terao   as   a Doctor
* Sudo Mariko   as   Stewardess

## Staff

* Directed by   Okihiro Yoneda
* Written by   Masumi Suetani, Tomoyuki Tanaka (characters)
* Produced by   Hiroaki Kitayama, Shogo Tomiyama
* Music by   Toshiyuki Watanabe, Akiko Yano
* Cinematography by   Yoshinori Sekiguchi
* Edited by   Nobuo Ogawa
* Production design by   Kyoko Heya
* Assistant directing by   Kunio Miyoshi
* Special effects by   Koichi Kawakita, Kenji Suzuki
* "Mothra's Song" Composed by   Yuji Koseki

## Titles

* Mothra (Mosura; Literal Japanese Title)
* Mothra The Guardian of Earth (Original Japanese Title)
* Mothra: The Queen of Monsters (Japanese VHS and Laserdisc title)
* Mothra: The Seal of the Elias (Mothra: Das Siegel der Elias; Germany)

## U.S. release

Rebirth of Mothra was dubbed into English by Omni Productions of Hong Kong in late 1997. In the U.S., this English version of the film released on VHS and DVD by Columbia TriStar Home Video in 2000, with the DVD packaging the film with Rebirth of Mothra II. It made its cable TV premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel on May 31, 2003, the same day as the other two films in the trilogy. All three films were included in a 2014 Sony Blu-ray set, which finally made the Japanese language track available in the U.S.

## Overview

Unlike the movie "Mothra" released in 1961, this series is a juvenile movie that eliminates elements such as so-called monster movie city ​​destruction, battle between humans and monsters, science fiction examination, etc. as a family movie with a strong fantasy element Produced  . It is based on the Shiretoko national forest logging problem that occurred in 1987  and has a strong social theme, such as ordinary citizens taking responsibility for environmental destruction and the media appealing for environmental protection being egoist. Completed as a work. In addition, family ties drawn through the hero family, Mothra parents and children, and Elias sisters are also themes throughout the series.

Initially , Mamoru Hosho and Ms. Kobayashi were scheduled to play the role of Lola , and the members had gathered in the production announcement, but Houshou dropped out due to illness, and Kobayashi played the role of Mole and Sayaka Yamaguchi cast the role of Lora. It was supposed to be done  .

The set of the wilderness of Hokkaido, where Mothra and Desguidra confront each other, was assembled on the 9th stage of Toho Studio  . A river that circulates water is set up by a pump, and stones in the riverbed are washed away by water such as Kapok , so the real thing was used  . Natural grass was used for the plains, but because the eggs of the attached hills hatched due to the heat of the lights, there was a hill notice paper in the studio  . The set of Infant Island altar and Yakushima was built in the 10th stage, and the set of the dam that collapsed was set up in the large pool  .

vs Compared to the Godzilla series, the scale of monsters and costumes has been enlarged (1/50 → 1/25 is standardized) as the monster settings are made smaller.

Toshiyuki Watanabe, who was in charge of music, worked on the music for the special effects work for the first time in this work  . Watanabe states that while he was aware of Akira Ifukube 's tradition , he chose music that emphasized the melody of Hollywood movies because the style was different from conventional works  .

Distribution income is 1.15 billion yen. In response to this favorable reception, the series will be made public for the next three years.

## DVD

**TriStar** DVD (2000)

* Region: 1
* Discs: 1
* Audio: English (2.0 Mono)
* Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
* Special Features: None
* Notes: Packaged with *Rebirth of Mothra II*.

**Toho** DVD (2006, 2013, 2015)

* Region: 2
* Discs: 1
* Audio: Japanese
* Subts: Japanese
* Special Features: Audio commentary by director Okihiro Yoneda and cinematographer Yoshinori Sekiguchi, scans of the theatrical pamphlet, making-of featurette, trailers and TV spots, booklet

**Toho** Blu-ray (2017)

* Region: A/1
* Discs: 3
* Audio: Japanese
* Subtitles: Japanese
* Special Features: Audio commentary by director Okihiro Yoneda and cinematographer Yoshinori Sekiguchi, scans of the theatrical pamphlet, making-of featurette, trailers and TV spots, booklet, image gallery
* Notes: Packaged with Rebirth of Mothra II and Rebirth of Mothra III.