In 1954, Ishirô Honda's Godzilla was a huge commercial success for Japan's Toho studios, prompting them to produce more films in what has become one of the most popular and iconic cult film franchises ever created. In 1955, Toho followed-up the success of Godzilla with the first sequel, Godzilla Raids Again, directed by Motoyoshi Oda. Seven years later, Ishirô Honda returned to the franchise, directing the next four films (he directed eight Godzilla films in all), including two films that feature Godzilla in a showdown with two other iconic movie monsters: 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)--the latter Godzilla opponent making its debut in Mothra (1961), also directed by Ishirô Honda and the start of another popular Kaiju franchise for Toho.

Each Godzilla film features serious political and moral themes that unfortunately often get lost today because of the campy visual and special effects. In the case of Mothra vs. Godzilla, audiences are warned of the potential destruction of humanity at the hands of greed, nuclear war and immorality--a potent lesson to be learned in the years following the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War.

While many of Toho's early kaiju films, including the Godzilla and Mothra series, are suitable for general audiences by today's standards, that was not always the case. During the pre-production of Mothra vs. Godzilla, Toho made it abundantly clear that they wanted to make a film that would appeal to everyone, including children. Director Ishirô Honda agreed with the need to widen the appeal for general audiences, particularly with the increasing competition for theatrical films from the rising popularity of televisions in the home.

For his fourth outing as the terrorizing Godzilla, Haruo Nakajima, who played the role in 12 films from 1954 to 1972, worked with special effects artist and costume designer Teizo Toshimitsu to construct a new Godzilla suit that was much lighter and allowed for more movement than previous iterations of the costume. In addition to Nakajima's work as Godzilla, the special effects team also created elaborate motorized puppets for both Godzilla and Mothra. Nakajima was a master props performer and a staple of many Kaiju films, including his performances in Rodan (1956), as Moguera in The Mysterians (1957), Mothra and King Kong in King Kong Escapes (1967). In 1972, Nakajima put on the Godzilla suit one last time for Godzilla vs. Gigan, retiring shortly thereafter.

A month after Mothra vs. Godzilla premiered in Japan, producer Henry G. Saperstein, who owned United Productions of America, purchased both the theatrical and television distribution rights to the film. Saperstein then promptly sold the rights to American International Pictures and the film premiered under the title Godzilla vs. the Thing-- the film title changed in an effort to drum up publicity and audience excitement for Godzilla's mystery opponent. Many of the Kaiju films, including the first Godzilla film, were heavily edited for American audiences with added footage and were also dubbed in English. In the case of Mothra vs. Godzilla, Toho shot extra footage solely for American distribution, but overall very few changes were made from the original version of the film. While there is certainly some historical value, nostalgia and curious interest in these edited and dubbed versions, in recent years focus has been put back on the original, un-cut releases of these movies with several home video distributors and reparatory theatres making those versions accessible to modern audiences.

Director: Ishirô Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka and Sanezumi Fujimoto
Screenplay: Shin'ichi Sekizawa
Cinematography: Hajime Koizumi
Editing: Ryôhei Fujii
Special effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Music: Akira Ifukube
Cast: Akira Takarada (Ichiro Sakai), Yuriko Hoshi (Junko Nakanishi), Hiroshi Koizumi (Professor Miura), Yû Fujiki (Jiro Nakamura), Kenji Sahara (Jiro Torahata), Emi Itô (Shobijin), Yumi Itô (Shobijin), Yoshifumi Tajima (Kumayama), Jun Tazaki (Murata) and Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla).
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References
The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography by Stuart Galbraith, IV

By Jill Blake