Nick Roy

1 week ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With Rebirth of Mothra being a success, a sequel was greenlit. Toho, not wanting to compete with Kadokawa’s Gamera trilogy, decided to make their next film more child friendly. It was also decided to turn up the environmentalist themes from the last movie, along with a plot involving an ancient civilization and new monsters. Shinji Nishikawa was in charge of monster design, mainly working in design elements from fish and dragons.

1 week ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the end of the Heisei Godzilla series and with Tristar working to make their own Godzilla films, Toho was left without a monster star. However, Toho turned to their audiences, finding that Mothra appealed heavily to women and girls, and decided that Mothra should star in the next few movies Toho would make. They also wanted to appeal to children, so the tone would be lighter as well.

1 week ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

As mentioned in other reviews, a rights deal was made between Toho and Tristar so that America could begin making Godzilla movies. Not wanting to compete with what would become blockbuster movies, Toho decided that they would end the Heisei Godzilla series, and that they would do it in a spectacular way, killing off this version of Godzilla. The process of creating the final monster Godzilla would fight was long and filled with cut monsters.

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the failure of Orochi, the Eight-Headed Serpent, Toho wanted something that could attract a large audience back to Godzilla. This initially started as Emperor Ghidorah, which was then changed into Astro Godzilla due to the popularity of Super Mechagodzilla. This theme of space would then change Astro Godzilla to SpaceGodzilla, who’d become the new draw of the film. Minoru Yoshida was put in charge of designing SpaceGodzilla, as he’d previously worked on Battra and Mechagodzilla II.

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the concept of remaking Toho’s classic tokusatsu being a massive success, Toho decided to take a risk on something larger. Shogo Tomiyama, a producer for Toho, wanted a remake of the epic film The Three Treasures, which told of Japan’s founding and culturally important treasures. Shogo wanted a more fantastical version of events, aiming for more mythology and fantasy. Takao Okawara was chosen as the director, having previously directed both Godzilla vs Mothra and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II.