Creator of Monsters – Tomoyuki Tanaka, The Father of Godzilla
Godzilla, or better known as Gojira in Japan, shook the world literally and figurately when it lumbered onto the streets of Tokyo in 1954 in its debut film.
The now legendary skyscraper-sized dinosaur would go on to be a Japanese national treasure, with countless sequels, merchandise and spin-offs, and still to this day is still getting reboots, blessing our screens with his carnage and our ears with his iconic roar. It leaves us wondering if Tomoyuki Tanaka, co-creator of Godzilla, knew what he was about to unleash on the world when he conceptualized the destroyer of worlds.
Tomoyuki Tanaka, a film producer with a wide catalogue of films under his belt but most famous for Godzilla, was looking for a new project when his initial film was canceled. Given the popularity of films such as King Kong, Tanaka thought one day as he was flying over the Sea what would happen if an amphibious monster would emerge out of nowhere. This would spawn the concept of Godzilla. Although this time, the Monster would act as a metaphor for the tragedy of Hiroshima in World War II; a prehistoric beast mutated and awoken from radioactive activity.
Originally, Godzilla was actually going to be a whale / Gorilla hybrid, playing on the King Kong theme, although was later scrapped and he became the mash-up of multiple dinosaurs we all know and love. Gojira is in fact a portmanteau of “Gorilla” and “Whale”. \
Tanaka would submit the idea but it was quickly disregarded, as when drawn by an artist the original design would look too humanoid. It would not be until sculptor, Teizo Toshimitsu and art director, Akira Watanabe came up with the idea of merging different Dinosaurs together that the now iconic design would come to life.
Although unfortunately not with us anymore, having passed in 1997 at the age of 86, the wake of Tanaka’s legacy still echoes in the form of Godzilla’s menacing roar. He will never be forgotten as long as Godzilla continues to crash through buildings, shoot radioactive beams, and stomp his way down high streets.
