Editing Godzilla vs. Mothra (section)

==Production==
===Development===
The idea of a film featuring a revamped [[Mothra]] dated back to a screenplay written in 1990 by Kazuki Omori entitled ''Mothra vs. Bagan'', which revolved around a vengeful dragon called Bagan who sought to destroy humanity for its abuse of the Earth's resources, only to be defeated by Mothra, the goddess of peace. However, following the poor box office performance of ''[[Godzilla vs. Biollante]]'', the project was ultimately scrapped by Toho, under the assumption that Mothra was a character born purely out of Japanese culture, and thus would have been difficult to market overseas unlike the more internationally recognized [[Godzilla]].<ref name="kalat2010.2">{{cite book|last1=Kalat|first1=David|title=A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series|date=2010|publisher=McFarland & Co.|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-47-49-7|pages=179–183|edition=2nd}}</ref>

After the success of ''[[Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah]]'', producer [[Shōgo Tomiyama]] and ''Godzilla'' series creator [[Tomoyuki Tanaka]] proposed resurrecting [[King Ghidorah]] in a film entitled ''Ghidorah's Counterattack'', but relented when polls demonstrated that Mothra was more popular with women, which makes up a larger percentage of Japan's population compared to men. Tomiyama replaced Ōmori with [[Takao Okawara]] as director, but maintained Ōmori as screenwriter. Hoping to maintain as much of ''Mothra vs. Bagan'' as possible, Ōmori reconceptualized Bagan as Badora, a dark twin to Mothra. The character was later renamed Battra (a [[portmanteau]] of "battle" and "Mothra"), as the first name was disharmonious in Japanese. Tomiyama had intended to feature ''[[Mothra (film)|Mothra]]'' star [[Frankie Sakai]], but was unable to because of scheduling conflicts. The final battle between Godzilla, Mothra and Battra was originally meant to have a more elaborate conclusion; as in the final product, Godzilla would have been transported to sea, only to kill Battra and plunge into the ocean. However, the site of their fall would have been the submerged, [[Stonehenge]]-like ruins of the Cosmos civilization, which would have engulfed and trapped Godzilla with a forcefield activated by Mothra.<ref name="kalat2010.1"/>

[[Ishirō Honda]], director of the original ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]'' film and many others, visited the set shortly before dying.<ref name="kalat2010.1"/>

===Special effects===
Koichi Kawakita continued his theme of giving Godzilla's opponents the ability to metamorphose, and had initially intended to have Mothra killed off, only to be reborn as the cybernetic moth ''MechaMothra'', though this was scrapped early in production, thus making ''Godzilla vs. Mothra'' the first post-1984 ''Godzilla'' movie to not feature a [[mecha]] contraption. The underwater scenes were filmed through an aquarium filled with fish set between the performers and the camera. Kawakita's team constructed a new Godzilla suit from previously used molds,<ref name="kalat2010.1"/> though it was made slimmer than previous suits, the neck given more prominent ribbing, and the arrangement of the character's dorsal plates was changed so that the largest plate was placed on the middle of the back. The arms were more flexible at the biceps, and the face was given numerous cosmetic changes; the forehead was reduced and flattened, the teeth scaled down, and the eyes given a golden tint. The head was also electronically modified to allow more vertical mobility.<ref name="biondi">Robert Biondi, "The Evolution of Godzilla – G-Suit Variations Throughout the Monster King's Twenty One Films", ''G-FAN'' #16 (July/August 1995)</ref> Filming the Godzilla scenes was hampered when the suit previously used for ''Biollante'' and ''King Ghidorah'', which was needed for some stunt-work, was stolen from Toho studios, only to be recovered at [[Lake Okutama]] in bad condition.<ref name="kalat2010.1"/>

The remains of the suit were recycled for the first battle sequence.<ref name="biondi"/> Godzilla's roar was reverted to the high-pitched shriek from pre-1984 ''Godzilla'' films, while Battra's sound effects were recycled from those of [[Rodan]].<ref name="kalat2010.1"/> In designing Battra, which the script described as a "black Mothra", artist Shinji Nishikawa sought to distance its design from Mothra's by making its adult form more similar to its larval one than is the case with Mothra, and combining Mothra's two eyes into one.<ref name="nishikawa">David Milner, [http://www.davmil.org/www.kaijuconversations.com/nishikaw.htm "Shinji Nishikawa Interview"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005063113/http://www.davmil.org/www.kaijuconversations.com/nishikaw.htm |date=2016-10-05 }}, ''Kaiju Conversations'' (December 1995) davmil.org</ref>