Editing King Kong vs. Godzilla (section)

==Production==
===Crew===
{{Div col}}
* [[Ishirō Honda]]{{refn|Miscredited as "Inoshiro Honda" in the American version of the film.<ref name="Inoshiro">{{cite web|last=Nakajima|first=Shinsuke|url=http://ishirohonda.com/messages/staff/s0020_nakajima002.html|title=イシロウ、それともイノシロウ？|website=IshiroHonda.com|language=Japanese|date=May 7, 2013|access-date=April 3, 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513071240/http://ishirohonda.com/messages/staff/s0020_nakajima002.html|archive-date=May 13, 2021}}</ref>|group="note"}} – director
* [[Eiji Tsuburaya]] – special effects director
* Kōji Kajita – assistant director
* Toshio Takashima – lighting
* Takeo Kita – art director
* Teruaki Abe – art director
* [[Akira Watanabe (art director)|Akira Watanabe]] – special effects art director
* Kuichirō Kishida – special effects lighting
* Masao Fujiyoshi – sound recording
====American version====
* Thomas Montgomery – director
* [[John Beck (producer)|John Beck]] – producer
* Paul Mason – writer
* Bruce Howard – writer
* [[Peter Zinner]] – editorial and music supervision
{{Div col end}}
Personnel taken from ''Japan's Favorite Mon-Star''.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=353}}

===Conception===
[[File:KongvsFrank.jpg|thumb|left|A painting done by [[Willis H. O'Brien|Willis O'Brien]] for the proposed ''King Kong Meets Frankenstein''. The project evolved into ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'', with Godzilla replacing the giant Frankenstein's monster as King Kong's opponent.]]
''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' had its roots in an earlier concept for a new ''[[King Kong (franchise)|King Kong]]'' feature developed by [[Willis H. O'Brien|Willis O'Brien]], animator of the [[King Kong|original stop-motion Kong]]. Around 1960,{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=80}} O'Brien came up with a proposed treatment, ''King Kong Meets Frankenstein'',{{sfn|Cotta Vaz|2005|p=361}} where Kong would fight against a giant [[Frankenstein's monster]] in [[San Francisco]].{{sfn|Archer|1993|pp=80–83}} O'Brien took the project (which consisted of some concept art{{sfn|Ackerman|1966|pp=58-60}} and a screenplay treatment) to [[RKO]] to secure permission to use the King Kong character. During this time, the story was renamed ''King Kong vs. the Ginko''{{sfn|Glut|1973|pp=242-244}} when it was believed that Universal had the rights to the Frankenstein name. O'Brien was introduced to producer John Beck, who promised to find a studio to make the film (at this point, RKO was no longer a production company). Beck took the story treatment and hired [[George Worthing Yates]] to write the screenplay for the film. The story was slightly altered and the title changed to ''King Kong vs. Prometheus'', returning the name to the original Frankenstein concept (''The Modern Prometheus'' was the alternate title of the [[Frankenstein|original novel]]).{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=80}} The November 2, 1960 issue of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reported that Beck had even asked a filmmaker named Jerry Guran (a possible misspelling of filmmaker [[Nathan Juran]]'s pseudonym Jerry Juran) to direct the film.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|pp=80-81}} However, the cost of [[stop-motion animation]] discouraged potential studios from putting the film into production. After shopping the script around overseas, Beck eventually attracted the interest of the Japanese studio [[Toho]], which had long wanted to make a ''King Kong'' film.<ref name="Universal Blu-ray">{{cite web|title=KING KONG VS GODZILLA and KING KONG ESCAPES on Blu-ray from Universal|url=http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2014/02/07/king-kong-vs-godzilla-and-king-kong-escapes-on-blu-ray-from-universal/|archive-date=February 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208074816/http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2014/02/07/king-kong-vs-godzilla-and-king-kong-escapes-on-blu-ray-from-universal/|url-status=dead|access-date=April 3, 2022|website=SciFi Japan}}</ref>{{refn|According to special effects director [[Teruyoshi Nakano]], [[Tomoyuki Tanaka]] and [[Eiji Tsuburaya]] wanted to make a [[King Kong (franchise)|''King Kong'' film]] for Toho as early as 1954 because he was "world-famous".{{sfn|Homenick|Rainey|2005|pp=53-54}}|group="note"}} After purchasing the script, they decided to replace the giant Frankenstein's monster with [[Godzilla]] to be King Kong's opponent and would have [[Shinichi Sekizawa]] rewrite Yates' script.{{refn|The concept of a giant Frankenstein Monster would be used later by Toho in ''[[Frankenstein Conquers the World]]'' (1965) and its sequel ''[[The War of the Gargantuas]]'' (1966). O'Brien, however, was never credited for the concept.{{sfn|Morton|2005|p=131}}|group="note"}} The studio thought that it would be the perfect way to celebrate its 30th year in production.{{sfn|Keibunsha|2001|p=92}}{{sfn|Woods|2005|p=119}}{{sfn|Motoyama|Matsunomoto|Asai|Suzuki|2012|p=67}} It was one of five big banner releases for the company to celebrate the anniversary alongside ''[[Sanjuro]]'', ''[[Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki|Chūshingura]]'', ''[[A Wanderer's Notebook|Lonely Lane]]'', and ''Born in Sin''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=186}} John Beck's dealings with Willis O'Brien's project were done behind his back, and O'Brien was never credited for his idea.{{sfn|Shay|1982|pp=69-70}} O'Brien attempted to sue Beck, but lacked the money to do so, and on November 8, 1962, he died in his home in [[Los Angeles]] at the age of 76.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=81}} O'Brien's wife Darlyne later cited "the frustration of the ''King Kong vs. Frankenstein'' deal" as the cause of his death.{{sfn|Harryhausen|Dalton|2008|p=111}} [[Merian C. Cooper]], the producer and Co-Director of the 1933 ''King Kong'' film, was bitterly opposed to the project, stating in a letter addressed to his friend Douglas Burden, "I was indignant when some Japanese company made a belittling thing, to a creative mind, called ''King Kong vs. Godzilla''. I believe they even stooped so low as to use a man in a gorilla suit, which I have spoken out against so often in the early days of ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]''".<ref>L. Tom Perry Special Collections. [[Brigham Young University]]. Cooper Papers. Box MSS 2008 Box 8 Folder 6</ref> In 1963, he filed a lawsuit to enjoin distribution of the movie against John Beck, as well as Toho and Universal (the film's U.S. copyright holder) claiming that he outright owned the King Kong character, but the lawsuit never went through, as it turned out he was not Kong's sole legal owner as he had previously believed.{{sfn|Cotta Vaz|2005|pp=361–363}}

===Themes===
Director Ishirō Honda wanted the theme of the movie to be a satire of the television industry in Japan. In April 1962, TV networks and their various sponsors started producing outrageous programming and publicity stunts to grab audiences' attention after two elderly viewers reportedly died at home while watching a violent wrestling match on TV.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=185}} The various rating wars between the networks and banal programming that followed this event caused widespread debate over how TV would affect Japanese culture with [[Sōichi Ōya]] stating TV was creating "a nation of 100 million idiots".{{sfn|Chun|2006|p=3}} Honda stated "People were making a big deal out of ratings, but my own view of TV shows was that they did not take the viewer seriously, that they took the audience for granted...so I decided to show that through my movie"{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=185}} and "the reason I showed the monster battle through the prism of a ratings war was to depict the reality of the times".{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=187}} Honda addressed this by having a pharmaceutical company sponsor a TV show and going to extremes for a publicity stunt for ratings by capturing a giant monster stating "All a medicine company would have to do is just produce good medicines you know? But the company doesn't think that way. They think they will get ahead of their competitors if they use a monster to promote their product."{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=82}} Honda would work with screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa on developing the story stating that "Back then Sekizawa was working on pop songs and TV shows so he really had a clear insight into television".{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=187}}

===Filming===
Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya was planning on working on other projects at this point in time such as a new version of a fairy tale film script called ''[[The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter|Princess Kaguya]]'', but he postponed those to work on this project with Toho instead since he was such a huge fan of King Kong.{{sfn|Ichikawa|1996|pp=48-53}} He stated in an early 1960s interview with the [[Mainichi Shimbun|Mainichi Newspaper]], "But my movie company has produced a very interesting script that combined King Kong and Godzilla, so I couldn't help working on this instead of my other fantasy films. The script is special to me; it makes me emotional because it was ''King Kong'' that got me interested in the world of special photographic techniques when I saw it in 1933."{{sfn|Takeuchi|1991|pp=56-57}}

Early drafts of the script were sent back with notes from the studio asking that the monster antics be made as "funny as possible".{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=188}} This comical approach was embraced by Tsuburaya, who wanted to appeal to children's sensibilities and broaden the genre's audience.{{sfn|Kabuki|1993|pp=115–123}} Much of the monster battle was filmed to contain a great deal of humor but the approach was not favoured by most of the effects crew, who "couldn't believe" some of the things Tsuburaya asked them to do, such as Kong and Godzilla volleying a giant boulder back and forth. With the exception of the next film, ''[[Mothra vs. Godzilla]]'', this film began the trend to portray Godzilla and the monsters with more and more anthropomorphism as the series progressed, to appeal more to younger children. Ishirō Honda was not a fan of the dumbing down of the monsters.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=82}} Years later, Honda stated in an interview. "I don't think a monster should ever be a comical character," and "The public is more entertained when the great King Kong strikes fear into the hearts of the little characters."{{sfn|Honda|Yamamoto|Masuda|2010|pp=62-63}} The decision was also taken to shoot the film in a (2.35:1) scope ratio ([[TohoScope]]) and to film in color (Eastman Color), marking both monsters' first widescreen and color portrayals.{{sfn|Gakken Graphic Books|1996|pp=24-25}}

Toho originally planned to shoot the film on location in [[Sri Lanka]], but abandoned the idea after being forced to pay RKO roughly {{¥|80 million}} ($220,000) for the rights to the King Kong character, which forced the company to scale down their original production costs.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1998|p=86}}{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=186}} The bulk of the film was shot on the Japanese island of [[Izu Ōshima]] instead.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1998|p=86}} The movie's production budget came out to {{¥|150 million}}{{sfn|Takeuchi|2000|p=27}} ({{US$|{{#expr:150000000/360 round -4}}|long=no}}).<ref name="currency">{{cite web |title=Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.FCRF?end=1971&locations=JP&start=1960 |website=[[World Bank]] |access-date=May 29, 2020}}</ref>

Suit actors [[Shoichi Hirose]] (as King Kong) and [[Haruo Nakajima]] (as Godzilla) were given mostly free rein by Tsuburaya to choreograph their own moves. The men would rehearse for hours and would base their moves on those of professional wrestling (a sport that was growing in popularity in Japan),{{sfn|Ragone|2014|p=70}} in particular the moves of [[Toyonobori]].{{sfn|Cirronella|2013|p=68}}

During pre-production, Tsuburaya toyed with the idea of using Willis O'Brien's [[stop-motion]] technique instead of the [[suitmation]] process used in the first two ''Godzilla'' films, but budgetary concerns prevented him from using the process, and the more cost-efficient suitmation was used instead. However, some brief stop-motion was used in a couple of quick sequences. Two of these sequences were animated by Minoru Nakano.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1998|p=87}}

[[File:kkvsgfilming.jpg|thumb|right|Eiji Tsuburaya directs Shoichi Hirose (in the King Kong suit) and Haruo Nakajima (in the Godzilla suit) on the Mount Fuji set during filming.]]

A brand new Godzilla suit was designed for this film and some slight alterations were done to its overall appearance. These alterations included the removal of its tiny ears, three toes on each foot rather than four, enlarged central dorsal fins, and a bulkier body. These new features gave Godzilla a more reptilian/dinosaurian appearance.{{sfn|Yamada|Motoyama|Tsuchiya|1994|p=72}} Outside of the suit, a meter-high model and a small puppet were also built. Another puppet (from the waist up) was also designed that had a nozzle in the mouth to spray out liquid mist simulating Godzilla's atomic breath. However the shots in the film where this prop was employed (far away shots of Godzilla breathing its atomic breath during its attack on the Arctic Military base) were ultimately cut from the film.{{sfn|Kaneko|Nakajima|1983|p=103}} These cut scenes can be seen in the Japanese theatrical trailer.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=84}} Finally, a separate prop of Godzilla's tail was also built for close-up practical shots when its tail would be used (such as the scene where Godzilla trips Kong with its tail). The tail prop would be swung offscreen by a [[stagehand]].{{sfn|Kaneko|Nakajima|1983|p=103}}

Sadamasa Arikawa (who worked with Tsuburaya) said that the sculptors had a hard time coming up with a King Kong suit that appeased Tsuburaya.{{sfn|Kabuki|1993|pp=115–123}} The first suit was rejected for being too fat with long legs giving Kong what the crew considered an almost cute look.{{sfn|Kabuki|1993|pp=115–123}} A few other designs were done before Tsuburaya would approve the final look that was ultimately used in the film. The suit's body design was a team effort by brothers Koei Yagi and Kanji Yagi and was covered with expensive yak hair, which Eizō Kaimai hand-dyed brown.{{sfn|Motoyama|Matsunomoto|Asai|Suzuki|2012|pp=66-69}} Because RKO instructed that the face must be different from the original's design, sculptor Teizō Toshimitsu based Kong's face on the [[Japanese macaque]] rather than a gorilla, and designed two separate masks.{{sfn|Motoyama|Matsunomoto|Asai|Suzuki|2012|pp=66-69}} As well, two separate pairs of arms were also created. One pair were extended arms operated by poles inside the suit to give Kong a gorilla-like illusion, while the other pair were at normal arms-length and featured gloves that were used for scenes that required Kong to grab items and wrestle with Godzilla.{{sfn|Yamada|1995|p=48}} Suit actor Hirose was sewn into the suit in order to hide the zipper. This would force him to be trapped inside the suit for large amounts of time and would cause him much physical discomfort. In the scene where Kong drinks the berry juice and falls asleep, he was trapped in the suit for three hours. Besides the suit with the two separate arm attachments, a meter-high model and a puppet of Kong (used for closeups) were also built.{{sfn|Kaneko|Nakajima|1983|p=67}}{{sfn|Kishikawa|1994|p=62}} As well, a huge prop of Kong's hand was built for the scene where he grabs [[Mie Hama]] (Fumiko) and carries her off.{{sfn|Kishikawa|1994|p=63}}{{sfn|Gakken Graphic Books|1996|p=25}}{{sfn|Mamiya|2000|p=90}}

For the attack of the giant octopus, four live octopuses were used.{{sfn|Morton|2005|p=126}} They were forced to move among the miniature huts by having hot air blown onto them. After the filming of that scene was finished, three of the four octopuses were released. The fourth became special effects director Tsuburaya's dinner.{{sfn|Morton|2005|p=126}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Iwasa|first=Yoichi|title=『ゴジラvsコング』の原点『キングコング対ゴジラ』撮影秘話……敵の大ダコはその日のスタッフの夕食になっていた|url=https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/46517?page=2|website=Bunshun.jp|date=July 2, 2021 |publisher=[[Shūkan Bunshun]]|page=2|language=Japanese|access-date=July 18, 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103080725/https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/46517?page=2|archive-date=January 3, 2022}}</ref> These sequences were filmed on a miniature set outdoors on the [[Miura Peninsula|Miura Coast]],{{sfn|Kishikawa|2020|p=2}}{{sfn|Keibunsha|2001|p=93}}{{sfn|Tanaka|1983|p=235}} According to assistant special effects cinematographer [[Kōichi Kawakita]], the crew had difficulty getting the live octopuses to move.{{sfn|Motoyama|Matsunomoto|Asai|Suzuki|2012|p=69}} Along with the live animals, two rubber octopus puppets were built, with the larger one being covered with plastic wrap to simulate mucous. Some stop-motion tentacles were also created for the scene where the octopus grabs a native and tosses him.{{sfn|Yamada|1995|p=48}}{{sfn|Morton|2005|p=126}} These sequences were shot indoors at Toho's studios.{{sfn|Kishikawa|2020|p=2}}

The special effects crew filmed a sequence in which Godzilla rampages through [[Takasaki]], [[Gunma Prefecture]], and destroys the [[Takasaki Byakue Dai-Kannon|Takasaki Kannon Statue]], but this scene was cut from the final film.{{sfn|Yosensha|2011|pp=40-41}}{{sfn|Futabasha|2016|p=182}} Despite this scene being cut, Godzilla is still said to have passed through Takasaki in the film.{{sfn|Takeuchi|2002|p=86}}

Since King Kong was seen as the bigger draw{{sfn|Ryfle|2016|p=36}} and Godzilla was still considered a 'villain' at this point in the series, the decision was made to not only give King Kong top billing but also to present him as the winner of the climactic fight. While the ending of the film does look somewhat ambiguous, Toho confirmed that King Kong was indeed the winner in their 1962–63 English-language film program ''Toho Films Vol. 8'',{{sfn|Toho|1963|p=9}} which states in the film's plot synopsis, "''A spectacular duel is arranged on the summit of Mt. Fuji and King Kong is victorious. But after he has won...''"{{sfn|Toho|1963|p=9}} While producer [[Tomoyuki Tanaka]] stated in his 1983 and 1984 books, ''The Complete History of Toho Special Effects Movies'', and ''Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction'' that he believed the battle ended in a draw,{{sfn|Tanaka|1983|p=56}}{{sfn|Tanaka|1984|p=70}} Toho still maintains that Kong was the victor on their global website in 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.toho.website/movies/3/index.html|title=King Kong vs. Godzilla|publisher=[[Toho]]|access-date=April 19, 2022|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104190952/https://www.toho.website/movies/3/index.html|archive-date=November 4, 2020}}</ref>