Mothra (1961)

Directed by
 Budget

Mothra (also known as Mothra: Attacks Tokyo) is a 1961 Toho kaiju film,Directed by Ishirō Honda.

## Plot

in 1962,The Japanese freighter Daigen Genyomaru sank due to a typhoon. A crew member ashore at Infant Island, a hydrogen bomb test site in Lorishka, was rescued, but mysteriously no radiation damage was found. For the scoop interview, of Nitto newspaper reporter who infiltrated the hospital crew is housed Zen'ichiro Fukuda is a photographer Hanamura Michi together, Harada Dr. while be noted, that should be atomic and hydrogen bombs testing ground Infant Island to Know that there are natives.

later the giant monster mothra attacks tokyo trying to save her fariy's.

## Cast

* Frankie Sakai   as   Zenichiro "Snapping Turtle" Fukuda, journalist
* Hiroshi Koizumi   as   Dr. Shinichi Chujo, linguist
* Kyoko Kagawa   as   Michi Hanamura, photographer
* Ken Uehara   as   Dr. Harada, radiation specialist
* Yumi Ito, Emi Ito   as   Shobijin
* Jerry Ito   as   Clark Nelson, Rolisican businessman
* Takashi Shimura   as   News editor
* Akihiro Tayama   as   Shinji Chujo, Chujo's little brother
* Obel Wyatt   as   Dr. Roff
* Akihiko Hirata   as   Ship doctor
* Kawazu   as   General Seizaburo
* Yoshibumi Tajima   as   Military advisor
* Robert Dunham   as   Rolisican cop
* Harold Conway   as   Rolisican ambassador
* Kenji Sahara   as   Helicoptor pilot
* Akira Yamada, Takeo Nagashima, Arai Hayamizu   as   Infant Islanders
* Tetsu Nakamura, Akira Wakamatsu, Hiroshi Akitsu, Hiroshi Iwamoto, Toshio Miura, Osman Yusuf   as   Nelson's henchmen
* Yoshio Kosugi   as   Ship captain
* Ren Yamamoto, Haruya Kato, Ko Mishima, Rinsaku Ogata   as   Ship survivors
* Kazuo Imai   as   Announcer
* Wataru Omae, Kazuo Higata   as   Officials
* Shoichi Hirose, Toshihiko Furuta   as   Dam workers
* Koji Uno   as   Reporter
* Tadashi Okabe, Akio Kusama, Mitsuo Tsuda   as   Surveyors
* Mitsuo Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Satake   as   Police officers
* Hiroshi Sekita   as   Sekida, *Orion Maru* steering assistant

## Staff

* Directed by   Ishiro Honda
* Written by   Takehiro Fukunaga, Yoshie Hotta, Shinichiro Nakamura, Shinichi Sekizawa
* Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka
* Music by   Yuji Koseki
* Cinematography by   Hajime Koizumi
* Edited by   Kazuji Taira
* Production design by   Teruaki Abe, Takeo Kita, Akira Watanabe
* Special effects by   Eiji Tsuburaya

## Titles

* The Giant bug Monster, Mothra (大怪獣物 Daikaijūmono, first outline title)
* Mothra, The Giant Monster Attacks Tokyo (Original Japanese Alternate titleGiant Monster Mothra (大怪獣モスラ Daikaijū Mosura, production title)
* Mothra Threat to the World (Germany release title)
* Mothra the Indestructible (Mothra la indestructible; Mexico)
* Mothra, the Wild Goddess (Mothra, a Deusa Selvagem; Brazil)
* Mothra's Counterattack (Japanese title)
* The Tokyo Devil Mothra (Untold japanese title)
* MOTHRA (all Japanese and american posters title)

## Production

In addition, there are many ways to add depth to the screen, especially when a larva Mothra appears near Yokota base and pushes the Ome highway as it is to destroy the gas station, a road extending straight from the front of the screen to the back It was designed to emphasize perspective, by making the taper toward the back and making the telephone poles along the road gradually lower from the front to the back.

In addition, at that time , ahead of the Tokyo Olympics , extension and mutual entry work of subways and redevelopment work in front of major stations were underway around Tokyo, and some work was also underway in front of Shibuya station where larva Mothra attacks. , In the miniature in the play, this construction area has also been reproduced, and there are black and yellow two-color off-limits fences and warning signs near the tank corps. The shooting scene of the Self-Defense Force was also polite, expressing the difference in the explosive form on hit by changing the mix of gunpowder depending on the type of firearm that fired, such as tank gun, missile, recoilless gun.

This work is also made to the premiere publication date of July 30, there was a thing unwilling to synthetic cut feats supervision of Eiji Tsuburaya has carried out the editing of special effects scene, from time to time delivered to theaters manufacturing In order, it was said that there was a film replacement from the 4th, Akiko Nakano went to Shibuya Toho (where Mothra is rampaging) at that time, cut the film before the second screening and did this. there  .

### Change last scene

Originally, it was designed to include American scenes in a contract with a Columbia movie  , but Toho side unilaterally decided to bring the last "with a small beauty" due to budget and number of days. Nelson, who had fled to Minami Kyushu and Takachiho peak, was chased by Mothra, where Nelson died and became a big circle . Director Honda also doubted this change, but under the direction of Toho, who could not wait for a reply from the Columbia movie, he went to Kagoshima for two weeks and completed the shooting  . However, of course, the Colombian movie protested against this as a breach of contract, and was returned to the current version in which the adult mosquito emerged in the draft manuscript attacked the country of Lorishka, and was filmed again  . Honda testified that the photographic film in Kyushu was not developed  but Sakurajima is reflected in the departure scene of the Japan-Russia joint research team in the first half.

For the scenery cut of New Kirk City, using the library film of Toho in the United States and California, shooting of the main part and special effects scene was urgently taken. Despite the sudden change, the special effects staff responded to this with a spectacular special effects cut, such as producing large-scale urban miniatures in New Kirk city, breaking the show window with the wind pressure of Mothra and plunging the vehicle into the store ing. Director Honda says the budget was low and omissions resulted in this scene  .

Due to such circumstances, Yasuhisa Tsutsumi, whose appearance part was cut off, remains credited as the role of “ Kuchi ” in the poster at the time of release .

Honda's airport, which guides Mothra at the end, was taken at US Tachikawa base , Honda said.

Initially, the name of the city will be, but it was New wagon City is changed, it was at the time director assistant Hiroshi Haryu is Newark that was proposed and I think we can say, is the name of the city that actually exist in the United States Jerry It was corrected by New Kirk based on the indication from Ito  .

When shooting in Kyushu, the staff left the life-sized doll used for shooting in the scene where the bad guy fell at the crater of Takachiho peak , and the mountain climber discovered at a later date misunderstood as a suicide and reported to the police There is a riot that rescue teams are being driven out  .

Honda described the end of the last scene change in an essay that he later contributed to the science fiction movie club's magazine "MONSTERS"  .

## U.S. release

Columbia Pictures distributed Mothra in the United States in a double bill with The Three Stooges in Orbit. Columbia removed about ten minutes of footage from the Japanese version of the film, the longest omission being the removal of the second Shobijin song, "Daughters of Infant Island." The English dialogue was dubbed by Titra Sound Studios in New York under the direction of Lee Kresel. Infant Island is referred to as "Beiru Island" in the English script, and Fukuda's "Snapping Turtle" nickname was localized as "Bulldog."

Columbia initially released Mothra on home videocassette in 1984, with a hi-fi audio reissue following in 1986. The company renewed its rights to the film in 1987 and retains its North American distribution rights to this day. In 1988, home video rights were sublicensed to GoodTimes Entertainment, who issued the film on cheaper LP mode tape with the Columbia logo removed. In 1992, Columbia restored Mothra for cable broadcasts and later released this restoration, which differed in several regards from the original theatrical and television cut, through Columbia/TriStar Home Video in 1995. It later released the film on DVD through its parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2009 in a set with its two other Toho tokusatsu films, The H-Man and Battle in Outer Space. The U.S. version was again restored to a presentation almost identical to the original theatrical cut. This set also included the Japanese cut of the film, marking the first time it was available officially in North America. Mill Creek Entertainment sublicensed the film in 2019 and released it on a special SteelBook Blu-ray. This release also included both the Japanese and American cuts of the film.

## DVD

* Toho (2003)
* Madman (2010) (Unreleased)

## Gallery

original Japanese Film posteroriginal Japanese release poster