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Mothra
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that first appeared in the 1961 film '' Mothra'', produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, most often as a recurring character in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva (caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature fairies speaking on her behalf. Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture,'' Mothra'' (1961). Directed by Ishirō Honda. Toho the Earth'' Godzilla vs. Mothra'' (1992). Directed by Takao Okawara. Toho and Japan.'' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' (2001). Directed by Shusuke Kaneko. Toho. Mothra's design is influenced by silk worms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family Saturniidae. The character is often depicted hatching offspring (in some cases, twins) when approaching ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mothra Vs
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that first appeared in the 1961 film ''Mothra'', produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, most often as a recurring character in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva (caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature fairies speaking on her behalf. Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture,''Mothra'' (1961). Directed by Ishirō Honda. Toho the Earth''Godzilla vs. Mothra'' (1992). Directed by Takao Okawara. Toho and Japan.'' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' (2001). Directed by Shusuke Kaneko. Toho. Mothra's design is influenced by silk worms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family Saturniidae. The character is often depicted hatching offspring (in some cases, twins) when approaching death, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mothra (film)
is a 1961 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the first film in the ''Mothra'' franchise. The film stars Frankie Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyōko Kagawa, Jerry Ito, and The Peanuts. In 1960, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka hired Shin'ichirō Nakamura to write an original story for a new ''kaiju'' film. Co-written with Takehiko Fukunaga, and Yoshie Hotta, ''The Glowing Fairies and Mothra'' was serialized in a magazine in January 1961. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa later adapted the story into a screenplay, patterning his version after ''King Kong'' (1933) and ''Godzilla'' (1954). ''Mothra'' was theatrically released in Japan on July 30, 1961. An edited, English dubbed version was released theatrically in the United States on May 10, 1962 by Columbia Pictures. The titular monster, Mothra, would become Toho's second most popular ''kaiju'' character after Godzilla, appearing in eleve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla (franchise)
franchise is a Japanese media franchise created and owned by Toho, Toho Co., Ltd., centered on the fictional ''kaiju'' character Godzilla. It is the longest-running film franchise, having been in ongoing production from 1954, with several hiatuses of varying lengths. The film franchise consists of 38 films; 33 produced by Toho, one produced by TriStar Pictures, and four produced by Legendary Entertainment, Legendary Pictures. The first film, ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla'', was directed by Ishirō Honda and released by Toho in 1954. It became an influential classic of the genre. It featured political and social undertones relevant to Japan at the time. The original introduced an acclaimed music score by Akira Ifukube, reused in many later films. The 1954 film and its special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya are largely credited for establishing the template for ''tokusatsu'', a technique of practical special effects filmmaking that would become essential in Japan's film indust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer and distributor of many '' kaiju'' and ''tokusatsu'' films, the Chouseishin ''tokusatsu'' superhero television franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli, CoMix Wave Films, TMS Entertainment and OLM, Inc. All nine of the highest-grossing Japanese films are released by Toho. Other famous directors, including Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, also directed films for Toho. Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, who is featured in 32 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five because of the monsters' numerous appearances throughout the franchise, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involved in the pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaiju
is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monsters. The ''kaiju'' genre is a subgenre of ''tokusatsu'' entertainment. The 1954 film ''Godzilla'' is commonly regarded as the first ''kaiju'' film. ''Kaiju'' characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the '' Lucky Dragon 5'' incident. Other notable examples of ''kaiju'' characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Gamera. Etymology The Japanese word ''kaijū'' originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in the Chinese ''Classic of Mountains and Seas''. After ''sakoku'' had ended and Japan was opened to for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ishirō Honda
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda entered the Japanese film industry in 1934, working as the third assistant director on Sotoji Kimura's ''The Elderly Commoner's Life Study''. After 15 years of working on numerous films as an assistant director, he made his directorial debut with the short documentary film ''Ise-Shima'' (1949). Honda's first feature film, ''Aoi Shinju, The Blue Pearl'' (1952), was a critical success in Japan at the time and would lead him to direct three subsequent drama films. In 1954, Honda directed and co-wrote ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla'', which became a box office success in Japan, and was nominated for two Japanese Movie Association awards. Because of the film's commercial success in Japan, it spawned a Godzilla (franchise), multimedia franchise, re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haruo Nakajima
was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''Godzilla'' (1954) until ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in '' kaiju'' films, including ''Mothra'' and ''The War of the Gargantuas'' and also appeared in a minor role in the Akira Kurosawa film '' Seven Samurai''. Career Nakajima was born in Yamagata. His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1952 film '' Sword for Hire''. He began his career as a stunt actor in samurai films and he acted in a small role in the 1954 film '' Seven Samurai'', portraying a bandit slain by master swordsman Kyūzo (Seiji Miyaguchi). He was considered by many to be the best suit actor in the long history of the Godzilla franchise. At the time, Toho's visual effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya considered him completely invaluable, and he was employed to essay the roles of most of the '' kaiju'' (Japanese monsters) during his career as a suit a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katsumi Tezuka
was a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing monsters in several Toho science fiction and horror films directed by Ishirō Honda. Career Tezuka was born in Tokyo, Japan. His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1940 film ''Haruyo Izuko''. He played a number of monster roles as an assistant to Haruo Nakajima was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''Godzilla'' (1954) until ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in '' kaiju'' films, including ''Mothra .... Filmography Film References Sources * * External links * * Year of birth missing Year of death missing Japanese male film actors {{Japan-film-actor-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produced by Toho, four American films and numerous video games, novels, comic books and television shows. Godzilla has been dubbed the "King of the Monsters", a phrase first used in ''Godzilla, King of the Monsters!'' (1956)'','' the Americanized version of the original film. Godzilla is an enormous, destructive, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the '' Lucky Dragon 5'' incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. Others have suggested that Godzilla is a metaphor for the United States, a giant beast woken from its slumber which then takes terrible vengeance on Japan. As the film series expan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shusuke Kaneko
is a Japanese filmmaker. Life and career Shūsuke Kaneko was born in Tokyo on June 8, 1955. According to the biography on his official website Kaneko was interested in science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films, from a young age. He became involved in amateur film making in his teen years, but majored in education when he attended Tokyo Gakugei University. After graduation, he found a job at the major Japanese movie studio Nikkatsu. By 1982 he was a screenwriter and assistant director for Nikkatsu's ''Roman Porno'' film series. He made his debut as a director with Nikkatsu in February 1984 with ''Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging'', part of a long-running Nikkatsu series based on the works of erotic novelist Kōichirō Uno. That work along with two other ''Roman Porno'' films he directed for Nikkatsu that year, and , won him the Best New Director award at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival. The next year, his manga-based April 1985 movie for Nikkatsu, '' Minna Agecha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla Vs
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produced by Toho, four American films and numerous video games, novels, comic books and television shows. Godzilla has been dubbed the "King of the Monsters", a phrase first used in ''Godzilla, King of the Monsters!'' (1956)'','' the Americanized version of the original film. Godzilla is an enormous, destructive, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the '' Lucky Dragon 5'' incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. Others have suggested that Godzilla is a metaphor for the United States, a giant beast woken from its slumber which then takes terrible vengeance on Japan. As the film series expan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takao Okawara
is a Japanese film director, writer, and producer. Biography Most famous for his entries in the Heisei ''Godzilla'' series, Takao Okawara joined Tōhō in 1973, but would not get his first shot in the director's chair until 1980, when he joined Akira Kurosawa and Ishirō Honda on the film ''Kagemusha'' (1980). Four years later, he worked as an assistant director for the first ''Godzilla'' film of the Heisei series: ''The Return of Godzilla'' (1984). Okawara debuted as primary director seven years later on the film ''Reiko, the Psyche Resurrected'' (1991), which he also wrote. His most notable credit is perhaps the crafting the most profitable ''Godzilla'' film, ''Godzilla vs. Mothra is a 1992 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Kazuki Ōmori, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 19th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and is the fourth film in the ...'', in 1992. The director stated that his work o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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