Editing Son of Godzilla (section)

==Production==
===Writing===
For the second ''Godzilla'' film in a row, Toho produced an island themed adventure with a smaller budget than most of their monster films from this time period.{{sfn|Kabushiki|1993|p=62}} While the a-list crew of talent was hired to work on that year's ''[[King Kong Escapes]]'', ([[Ishirō Honda]], [[Eiji Tsuburaya]], and [[Akira Ifukube]]), the second string crew of cheaper talent was once again tapped to work on this project as they had done with ''[[Ebirah, Horror of the Deep]]''. This included [[Jun Fukuda]] (director), Sadamasa Arikawa (special effects), and Masaru Sato (composer).  This was the first film where Arikawa was officially listed as the director of Special Effects,{{sfn|Kabushiki|1993|p=63}} although he did receive some supervision from Tsuburaya when he was available.{{sfn|Kabushiki|1993|p=63}}

The early draft of the film, done by Kazue Shiba, titled Two Godzilla's: Japan S.O.S. (2つのゴジラ：日本S.O.S.!, Gojira: Tsu no Nihon S.O.S.!). The overall plot is the same but Kumonga and the Kamacuras are not in the story.

[[File:sonofG.jpg|thumb|Sadamasa Arikawa gives instructions to Marchan the Dwarf (Minilla). "Marchan the Dwarf" was hired to play the character partially for his ability to perform athletic rolls and flips inside the thick rubber suit.]]

===Filming===
Filming took place in [[Guam]]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.guampedia.com/filmmaking/| title = » Filmmaking| date = 29 September 2009}}</ref> and areas in Japan including Gotemba, Lake Yamana, the Fuji Five Lakes region, and Oshima.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tohokingdom.com/movies/son_of_godzilla.htm|title=Son of Godzilla|publisher=TohoKingdom.com|access-date=October 22, 2020}}</ref>

Toho wanted to create a baby Godzilla to appeal to the "date crowd" (a genre of films that were very popular among young couples during this time period), with the idea that girls would like a "cute" baby monster.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Complete Godzilla Chronology 1954-2004|first1=August|last1=Ragone|first2=Bob|last2=Eggleton|magazine=[[Famous Monsters of Filmland]]|issue=274|publisher=Movieland Classics LLC.|date=2014|page=23}}</ref> For the idea behind [[Minilla]], Fukuda stated, "We wanted to take a new approach, so we gave Godzilla a child. We thought it would be a little strange if we gave Godzilla a daughter, so instead we gave him a son".{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=141}} Fukuda also wanted to portray the monsters almost as people<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Twenty-five Years with Godzilla|first=Ed|last=Godziszewski|magazine=[[Fangoria]]|issue=1|publisher=O'Quinn Studios Inc|date=1979|page=38}}</ref> in regards to the father-son relationship between Godzilla and Minilla, as Fukuda stated "We focused on the relationship between Godzilla and his son throughout the course of ''Son of Godzilla''.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=141}}

At the time, Sekizawa was already tired of writing the series and likely complained that he had run out of ideas for further monster movies, and director Jun Fukuda heartily agreed. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka then proposed the idea of introducing a son to Godzilla.

The budget for the film was 260,000,000 yen. When Son of Godzilla was released on December 16, 1967 in Japan, it sold 2,480,000 tickets. When the film was re-issued on August 1, 1973, it received 610,000 attendees, adding up to a rough attendance total of 3,090,000.

===Special effects===
The Godzilla suit built for this film was the biggest in terms of size and girth.{{sfn|Kaneko|Nakajima|1983|p=101}} This was done in order to give Godzilla a "paternal" appearance and to give a parent-like stature in contrast next to Minilla.{{sfn|Kabushiki|1993|p=64}} Because of the size of the suit, seasoned Godzilla suit actor [[Haruo Nakajima]] was only hired to play Godzilla in two scenes because the suit was much too big for him to wear.<ref>''Haruo Nakajima Monster Photo Book''(中島春雄怪獣写真集). Yuizumi Publishing. 2014. Pg.264</ref> The smaller suit he had worn for the films ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep'' and ''[[Invasion of Astro-Monster]]'' was used for these sequences.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=142}} The much larger Seji Onaka instead played Godzilla in the film, although he was replaced midway through filming by Hiroshi Sekita after he broke his fingers.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=143}}

Minilla was designed to incorporate features of not only a baby Godzilla but a human baby was well.{{sfn|Kabushiki|1993|p=64}} Minilla's face was patterned after the character Chibita from the popular manga ''[[Osomatsu-kun]]'' published by Shogakukan in Weekly Shonen Saturday at the time. "Marchan the Dwarf" was hired to play the character due to his ability to play-act and to give the character a childlike ambiance. He was also hired because of his ability to perform athletic rolls and flips inside the thick rubber suit.{{sfn|Kabushiki|1993|p=64}}

Outside of the two monster suits, various marionettes and puppets were used to portray the Island's gigantic inhabitants. The various giant preying mantises known as [[Kamacuras]] and the huge spider Kumonga.{{sfn|Kaneko|Nakajima|1983|p=76}}{{sfn|Kaneko|Nakajima|1983|p=77}} Arikawa would usually have 20 puppeteers at a time working on the various marionettes.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=143}} The massive Kumonga puppet needed 2 to 3 people at a time to operate each leg.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=143}}

Styrofoam and paraffin were used for the snow falling on Solgell Island.

===Deleted scenes===
Many scenes were shot but deleted showing Godzilla being mean or harsh to Minilla. One sequence shows Godzilla leaving Minilla behind on the freezing Sollgel Island and making it to shore before turning back was cut from the final film's ending.<ref name="1954-1999">{{cite book|title=Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works|date=1 January 2000|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|isbn=978-4091014702|pages=122, 207}}</ref> A portion of this sequence has been preserved in both the trailer and an outtake reel included with the Godzilla Final Box DVD collection as supplemental material. More deleted footage included Godzilla expecting the newborn Minilla to get up and walk after the Kamacuras have been defeated. Another featured Godzilla head-butting Minilla to make him stop following Saeko. One scene included Minilla being able to fire his own type of atomic breath during his fight with Kamacuras. However, in the final film, the smoke rings and his Godzilla breath were utilized instead. It is unknown who was responsible for these bits being deleted, but it was possibly Tsuburaya since he would not have allowed time and resources to be wasted shooting each such scenes if he was not okay with them in the first place.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}