The "Lost" Dub of KING KONG VS. GODZILLA

[GodzillaBurgh]

TheH-Man uploaded a trailer of KING KONG VS. GODZILLA... with DUBBED voices!?! No, not Universal's Americanized "dub" vesion, an actual dub of the trailer. This could be evidence of the first time Toho utilized a Hong Kong company to dub a Godzilla movie, therefore debunking GODZILLA VERSUS THE SEA MONSTER as the first to have "international dubs". But so far, there's nothing else of this dub's current whereabouts. It would be interesting to hear the full dub. What do you think?

[PRIMEVAL]

This is very intriguing... even has the original music, it sounds like. I wouldn't mind getting my hand on a copy if it ever comes out.

[GodzillaBurgh]

This is very intriguing... even has the original music, it sounds like. I wouldn't mind getting my hand on a copy if it ever comes out.

Exactly, this must be an attempt by Toho for western distribution and also tired of the American distributors butchering their films.

[Terasawa]

There's no real evidence that a full dub exists, though there are clues that don't amount to much on their own:

* An English version listed with other Toho international dubs in (at least) 1963 and 1968 Toho catalogs.

* This trailer, included on various Toho Video releases of the film.

* Evidently an English version played in Malaysia in 1980, though not much more is known about it.

By the way, this is likely a Tokyo-produced dub. Note that Tadao Takashima seems to be dubbed by William Ross.

Exactly, this must be an attempt by Toho for western distribution and also tired of the American distributors butchering their films.

Uh, I don't think so. Almost every Toho dub directly corresponds to its Japanese version (the only known exceptions being Prophecies of Nostradamus and Deathquake), and I'd bet that's the case if Toho commissioned its own dub of this film. There's nothing to suggest this was made in protest of changes made by American producers.

[GodzillaBurgh]

There's no real evidence that a full dub exists, though there are clues that don't amount to much on their own:

* An English version listed with other Toho international dubs in (at least) 1963 and 1968 Toho catalogs.

* This trailer, included on various Toho Video releases of the film.

* Evidently an English version played in Malaysia in 1980, though not much more is known about it.

By the way, this is likely a Tokyo-produced dub. Note that Tadao Takashima seems to be dubbed by William Ross.

Exactly, this must be an attempt by Toho for western distribution and also tired of the American distributors butchering their films.

Uh, I don't think so. Almost every Toho dub directly corresponds to its Japanese version (the only known exceptions being Prophecies of Nostradamus and Deathquake), and I'd bet that's the case if Toho commissioned its own dub of this film. There's nothing to suggest this was made in protest of changes made by American producers.

Oh, wow. This is very interesting.

[Bigdog]

This is very intriguing... even has the original music, it sounds like. I wouldn't mind getting my hand on a copy if it ever comes out.

The sound mixing sounds amateur ,and it's unfortunate some of it wasn't dubbed either. I hope the final film doesn't sound as bad if we do get a chance to see it. Part of me wonders if this is because of the Universal dub that we haven't seen this.

On another note, did Toho ever dub the original 1954 film or Raids Again? Now that would be just as interesting to see in all honesty.

[G-Matt]

On another note, did Toho ever dub the original 1954 film or Raids Again? Now that would be just as interesting to see in all honesty.

The answer is no for both films.

[Bigdog]

On another note, did Toho ever dub the original 1954 film or Raids Again? Now that would be just as interesting to see in all honesty.

The answer is no for both films.

Dang. And here I thought we'd hear someone say banana oil.*

*Obviously we still wouldn't if they did exist, but still. Banana oil.

[Terasawa]

There's a thread cataloging all the English versions of these movies. Some information is out of date, but I recommend checking it out. There's a reason it's stickied...

[F4ZaTE_X]

Whoops, wrong thread

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

I would buy this in a heartbeat if it does get released.

[GodzillaBurgh]

I would kill for the 4K KING KONG VS. GODZILLA.

[The Octopus]

^ Why? So you can see each and every carpet sample they used to stitch together Kong's costume?

[BooLugosi]

^ Why? So you can see each and every carpet sample they used to stitch together Kong's costume?

Idk about anyone else but that's probably one of the reasons I'd want a 4k release.

[Great Hierophant]

There's no real evidence that a full dub exists, though there are clues that don't amount to much on their own:

* An English version listed with other Toho international dubs in (at least) 1963 and 1968 Toho catalogs.

* This trailer, included on various Toho Video releases of the film.

* Evidently an English version played in Malaysia in 1980, though not much more is known about it.

By the way, this is likely a Tokyo-produced dub. Note that Tadao Takashima seems to be dubbed by William Ross.

Do other films like Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster, Frankenstein Conquers the World and Invasion of Astro Monster appear in the 1968 Toho Catalog? I don't believe any of them have an International version known to exist.

[UltramanGoji]

^ Why? So you can see each and every carpet sample they used to stitch together Kong's costume?

Or the fact that the current print for the Japanese version is absolutely shredded and awful looking.

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

^ Why? So you can see each and every carpet sample they used to stitch together Kong's costume?

Nothing quite like appreciating the c r a f t s m a n s h i p that occurred during Toho's G o l d e n A g e.

[Terasawa]

Do other films like Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster, Frankenstein Conquers the World and Invasion of Astro Monster appear in the 1968 Toho Catalog? I don't believe any of them have an International version known to exist.

Nope, but I also want to make a point to say that this list isn't definitive proof that a film was or wasn't dubbed by Toho. We can infer that the other films* are the export English versions produced by a Toho-contracted company. It's been speculated that the English versions of the Kong films might be their American versions. As I said, there's no evidence in this list or in any others I've seen that proves the existence of a second King Kong vs. Godzilla (or KKE) dub.

It should also be mentioned that the international version of Dogora existed by this point but it's not listed here. I don't know why it's excluded, but it could be that other sci-fi films that are excluded may have been dubbed as well.

* Export versions of Varan and The Last War have never turned up. The existence of a Toho TLW dub has been corroborated by one of its dubbers here.


Image by Baradagi from his collection.

[Great Hierophant]

What a fascinating list. Such a small sampling of the studio's output. I wonder if there is a second page for comedies, dramas and period pieces. Some of the titles listed under Action are not even in the Toho Kingdom's master list. Action seems to encompass gangster, spy and war films. The earliest titles on this list hail from 1960 or later with one exception from 1957 (Man in the Storm) and one from 1958 (Varan).

Perhaps for that run of films from 1964-65, the U.S. distributors in question could have had exclusive rights for a period of time and Toho did not consider it worth the effort to make a dub when they had no right to distribute. Given that none of the films mentioned above were hacked to pieces like King Kong vs. Godzilla, Toho may have felt comfortable using the U.S. dubs when the rights reverted back. We may never know.

[Magmavision2000]

if there's a fan-made dub I will download it in a millisecond. If there's not I will find a way to make my own