Random Musings and Factoids Thread

[Logan268]

Oh where do I even begin with musings and factoids? Oh I know!
In relation to Mothra 1961, The novel that came before it has a completely different ending but I won't spoil it. And speaking of alternate endings, supposedly the original ending of Mothra aka Nelson getting a wing to the face that knocks him off the cliff was filmed first and filming lasted 2 weeks before Columbia came a knocking and the ending was changed. Also I've read that all of the scenes set in that temple were possibly the last to be shot.

[Terasawa]

And speaking of alternate endings, supposedly the original ending of Mothra aka Nelson getting a wing to the face that knocks him off the cliff was filmed first and filming lasted 2 weeks before Columbia came a knocking and the ending was changed.

Variety, April 19, 1961 (for reference, Mothra didn't open in Japan for another approx. three-and-a-half months):



The character portraits on the primary Japanese poster are taken from stills shot at the time of the filming of the original ending.

November 3 is the date Toho acknowledges as Godzilla's birthday, but the 1954 film actually opened first in Nagoya & Gifu on October 27. November 3 was the date it opened in Tokyo and most other Toho theaters, but some regions didn't get it until November 23rd.

[Joseph Goodman]

A card trick brings The Mysterians to the US (Variety, April 30, 1958):



I'm a little skeptical of the veracity of this anecdote...

[Gigantis]

I just realized that Godzilla, a monster that hails from Japan, is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. And King Kong, the actual monster who came from Hollywood and has been around longer than Godzilla, is apparently not.

[Jermobooka]

I just realized that Godzilla, a monster that hails from Japan, is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. And King Kong, the actual monster who came from Hollywood and has been around longer than Godzilla, is apparently not.

based hollywood

[LSD Jellyfish]

I just realized that Godzilla, a monster that hails from Japan, is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. And King Kong, the actual monster who came from Hollywood and has been around longer than Godzilla, is apparently not.

How is King Kong, whose original film can be considered one of the earliest block busters and major motion pictures, not on The Hollywood Walk of Fame?

[Gigantis]

How is King Kong, whose original film can be considered one of the earliest block busters and major motion pictures, not on The Hollywood Walk of Fame?

IDK, but at this point, he's gonna get on their later than freaking Magic Johnson has at this point.

I'd argue there's actually a lot of fictional characters that deserve a place on the Walk of Fame that haven't gotten there yet. Popeye, Daffy Duck, SpongeBob, Goofy, Superman, Spider-Man.. pretty much any big comic book hero actually.

[edgaguirus]

I don't see how Kong doesn't have a star. If Tinkerbell, whose been in far less films, has one, then Kong should logically have one.

[Legion1979]

I just realized that Godzilla, a monster that hails from Japan, is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. And King Kong, the actual monster who came from Hollywood and has been around longer than Godzilla, is apparently not.

Didn't Toho PAY to get Godzilla a star. Isn't that how it really works?

[Gigantis]

I just realized that Godzilla, a monster that hails from Japan, is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. And King Kong, the actual monster who came from Hollywood and has been around longer than Godzilla, is apparently not.

Didn't Toho PAY to get Godzilla a star. Isn't that how it really works?

Yeah, you have to pay 50,000 dollars to get a spot on the Walk of Fame i believe.

Still, Universal never thought of getting some of their cash together and give one of their mainstream characters and full blown pop culture icon a spot? IDK, that just seems weird to me.

[eabaker]

King Kong creator Meriam C. Cooper in on the walk of fame, as is star Fay Wray.

The same is true of Carl Laemmle, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and many other notable figures associated with the classic Universal Horror films.

What's unfortunate to me is that it's "Godzilla" who got a star, rather than Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, or Tomoyuki Tanaka.

[Terasawa]

Maybe the most important U.S. engagement for any Toho film...



But at least the distributor's heart was in the right place, err, kinda.

[JAGzilla]

Not exclusively Toho related, but just a random observation that occurred to me this morning... Little boy characters are of course notoriously ubiquitous in this genre, but so far as I can remember, Gamera vs. Guiron is the only Showa kaiju film to prominently feature a little girl character. For anyone unfamiliar, Akio's little sister has a subplot in which she tries unsuccessfully to convince the relevant adult authorities that Akio and his friend were taken away by a spaceship they found in the woods. I can't think of any other pre-Heisei movie where a girl gets an actual role. Ichiro's friend from the beginning of Godzilla's Revenge would be the next most prominent, but she was only in one scene IIRC. There are a few movies I haven't seen yet, so maybe those are other exceptions.

This isn't exactly surprising given that boys were always squarely the primary audience for this stuff, but it does (potentially) give Gamera vs. Guiron a little bit of significance and uniqueness.

[Legion1979]

Most prominent would actually be Gamera vs Zigra. Helen is the main character. A little girl is also in Gamera vs Jiger too.

[JAGzilla]

Huh. Even with the reminder, I have no memory at all of either of them. Clearly those two movies are due for a rewatch; I've only seen them once apiece, in 2014 or '15, and neither stuck with me in much detail. Good to know GvG wasn't a total outlier, anyway.

[Terasawa]

Gappa also has a young girl in a role roughly equivalent to Tomoko's in Gamera vs. Guiron. I think that was the first kaiju movie with a girl in a notable role, although Toho's Invisible Man (1954, and not a kaiju movie) had a girl in a small but central role.

[edgaguirus]

Godzilla wise, Miki is the first major girl character in the film franchise. Next would be the daughter in G vs M, and then Jia in G vs K.

[eabaker]

Godzilla wise, Miki is the first major girl character in the film franchise. Next would be the daughter in G vs M, and then Jia in G vs K.

I'm not even a fan of the movie, but I can't sit idly by and allow this Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla erasure to occur.

[mikelcho]

King Kong creator Meriam C. Cooper in on the walk of fame, as is star Fay Wray.

The same is true of Carl Laemmle, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and many other notable figures associated with the classic Universal Horror films.

What's unfortunate to me is that it's "Godzilla" who got a star, rather than Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, or Tomoyuki Tanaka.

Alvin and the Chipmunks, the greatest rock and roll group who never lived, also got a star, I found out recently.

[Legion1979]

Godzilla wise, Miki is the first major girl character in the film franchise. Next would be the daughter in G vs M, and then Jia in G vs K.

I'm not even a fan of the movie, but I can't sit idly by and allow this Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla erasure to occur.

Also, define "major". What about Katsura for example? There are several female characters in the 60s films that are far more important than Miki is in several of the movies in which she appears.