FAQ

Three models were created before construction began on the first suit. Since nothing like this had been attempted before, the first suit served as an experimental prototype. A body cavity of wires, bamboo, an cushioning was created for the actor inside. With the body formed, a solid block of industrial latex (suit actor Nakajima reports the material was of a concrete mixture) was melted by hand and layered to form the skin. Details on the skin were individuality placed to cover the entire body.

When the actors first attempted to move inside the suit, they proceeded a short distance before collapsing. The suit had solidified like a statute and weighed in excess of 230 lbs. This required a second suit to be constructed.

Intended to be more flexible, the new suit was made out of urethane stuffed with bamboo and wiring. The skin was formed using a liquid plastic. At just over 200 lbs, the new suit was relatively lighter than the prototype. The second suit would be the one used the most in filming with the first suit being cut in half so it could be used for close ups of the monster's feet. The only way to enter the suit was through an opening in the back, hidden by the monster's back plates. This was held by rings attached onto hooks. Overhead studio lights and the suit's weight would cause temperature inside to rise up to 140 °F.

Suit actors Nakajima and Tezuka would routinely pass out inside the suit and could only stand to be inside for a few minutes. The suit's inner lining would scrape on the actors' skin and their sweat would cover up the holes made in the neck for them to see. When filming scenes of destruction, the suit actors had to move at a quicker pace because the footage was filmed with an over-cranked camera. When played back, the footage would be slowed down giving a sense of mass. The actors would lose weight and risk injury inside the suit.

The two original Godzilla suits used for this film have often been characterized as brown, however the staff confirmed that the suits were grey in color. Contrary to popular belief, Godzilla was never green.

Toho had released the original Godzilla in a limited release to Japanese-American theaters. Very few people were aware that there was a director's cut of the first Godzilla film.

It wasn't until the 1980s that the original Japanese version began showing at underground art-house theaters in honor of the passing of Takashi Shimura. By the 90s, United Productions held the rights to various Godzilla films and had entered into talks with Criterion to release them on LaserDisc. These plans fell trough and the rights were obtained by Classic Media who would only release the edited American cut.

It wasn't until the 50th anniversary re-release by Rialto Pictures that the original uncut Godzilla was made readily available. Classic Media would release the original Japanese version on DVD for the first time before Criterion would finally obtain the rights and release the film on Blu-ray and subsequently include the rest of the Showa era in the collection.

A popular misconception is that Godzilla breathes fire. In the original film Godzilla's breath weapon is known as Incandescent Light and takes the form of a stream of misty, superheated radioactive vapor. In the subsequent sequels, Godzilla's breath weapon would evolve into the Atomic Breath, which is a focused beam of atomic energy that is typically blue in coloration.

This misconception like arrises from film posters, such as the one for the American version of the film. The few instances of Godzilla actually breathing fire only occur in the Marvel comics adaptation and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

The staff set out to recreate Tokyo at a 1/25 scale, paying special attention to make the miniatures exact replicas of the actual locations. WWII firebombing meant that there were few noticeable landmarks left in Tokyo and very few of significant size. This resulted in Godzilla having a height of 50m (160 ft). Originally the staff had asked to use the actual blueprints of the real buildings, but their requests were denied. Instead they designed their own blueprints and made the miniatures out of wood, cement, plaster, and glass.

To create a better sense of scale, the staff constructed the miniatures on raised sets so the camera could be placed at a lower angle. To create destruction, the staff strategically precut the miniatures so they would be weak enough to collapse. Explosives and gasoline was also used to burn down the sets. If a shot did not go as planned then the staff would have to rebuild the entire miniature and, in one occasion, the entire Tokyo set. Suit actor Nakajima mentioned how he felt nervous among the miniatures since a single building cost more than his entire salary.

All of the miniature vehicles were custom built out of cast iron and designed to weight to them. The staff recreated real military vehicles, specifically "M24 Chaffee Tank", the "F86F Saber Jet", and the "Sikorsky H-19". The vehicles were manipulated on piano wires. Vegetation was made using pine trees and tied up plant roots. Other shots of Godzilla in the city were created using compositing.

The name Gojira (Godzilla) is a conjoining of two Japanese words, gorira (gorilla) and kujira (whale). Toho chose to translate the name as "Godzilla" for English releases of the film.

Various versions of Godzilla have been made. The first is the original Japanese version, released in 1954, which runs for 96 minutes. The second is Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the American version released in 1956. This cut of the film removed a sizable amount of footage and added new footage of Canadian actor Raymond Burr, in addition to dubbing most of the existing scenes into English. It runs 80 minutes.

Another version of the film was released in France under the title of Godzilla: Le Monstre de L'Océan Pacifique. This 1957 French version combined elements from the original Japanese version with the American re-cut. Another version is alleged to have been released in the Philippines as Tokyo 1960. Like the American edit, this version is said to have inserted Filipino actors into the film.

Another version, nicknamed Cozzilla, is the Italian version released in 1977. This version, using the American cut as a starting point, further changed the movie's content by adding stock footage from WWII newsreels, other movies, and actual footage of atomic bomb victims. The dialogue was dubbed into Italian, and a new synth soundtrack was included. This version is also colorized, while the other versions are in black and white. Originally it ran 106 minutes, but the only copies of it known to still exist are recordings from a shortened TV version which runs 88 minutes.