Godzilla vs. Frankenstein

Frankenstein vs. Godzilla (Furankenshutain tai Gojira) is the title to a canceled Japanese film from Toho Film Studios that would have featured their giant monster Godzilla and a giant version of the Frankenstein Monster that would have been released in 1964.

Background

King Kong vs. Frankenstein was a project originally conceived as a sequel to the 1933 film King Kong, with a treatment written by animator Willis O'Brien featuring King Kong battling a large monster created by Frankenstein's grandson in San Francisco.[1] John Beck (an independent producer) stole the story from Willis O'Brien and, since he could not find an American buyer for the story (which was fleshed out into a screenplay by George Worthing Yates and retitled King Kong vs. Prometheus), sold it to Toho Studios. Toho would replace the Frankenstein giant with their own monster Godzilla, altered the bulk of the storyline and filmed King Kong vs. Godzilla[2]

Toho had always been interested in the Frankenstein character, as the year previous they had planned to release a movie called Frankenstein vs. the Human Vapor (フランケンシュタイン対ガス人間 - Furankenshutain tai Gasu Ningen, literally Frankenstein vs. the Gas Human), a follow up to their 1960 movie The Human Vapor. Influenced by the concept of the giant Frankenstein monster from the King Kong vs. Frankenstein/King Kong vs. Prometheus story, Toho planned on making Frankenstein vs. Godzilla as a follow up to King Kong vs. Godzilla. Written in 1963 and planned for a 1964 release, the story dealt with the heart of the original Frankenstein monster becoming irradiated and growing into a Frankenstein-monster giant. Afraid the giant would start eating people, The JSDF would free Godzilla from an icy prison by the JSDF and goaded into a fight with the monster in hopes of killing him. Even though King Kong vs. Godzilla also featured Godzilla escaping from an iceberg - the iceberg he was trapped in at the end of Godzilla Raids Again - script writer Kaoru Mabuchi (a.k.a. Takeshi Kimura) thought with Godzilla disappearing into the ocean at the end of that film, that the idea of Godzilla becoming frozen in the North Sea into another icy prison could still work.[3] The story would end with Godzilla disappearing into a raging river flow, while the Frankenstein giant disappears into magma.

Toho thought the story would not make any sense because the JSDF are trying to get the villainous Godzilla to kill Frankenstein. Even if they were successful, they would create a larger problem for themselves. So the idea was dropped and Mothra, Toho's 2nd most famous giant monster asset, paired against Godzilla for the film Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964). Toho still used the Frankenstein giant idea in 1965, where the monster would be the main focus of the plot, and in the 2nd act, battle a new monster named Baragon in the film Frankenstein Conquers the World. This movie uses a lot of concept ideas as well as some of the same characters (such as Dr. Bowen) from the treatment for Frankenstein vs. Godzilla.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Steve Archer. Willis O'Brien: Special Effects Genius. Mcfarland, 1993.
  2. ↑ Willis O'Brien-Creator of the Impossible by Don Shay. Cinefex #7 R.B Graphics. 1982. pp. 69–70
  3. ↑ Steve Ryfle, Japan's Favourite Mon-Star, ECW Press, 1998, pp. 119–120

External links