DEEP DIVE: Was King Ghidorah's Gold Color Inspired by an Animated Soviet Film?

Keiko Suzuki in January 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier this year, I was interviewed for a documentary (Keizo Murase: The Last Monster Maker) on the life and career of the legendary suitmaker Keizo Murase. While looking over some old notes in preparation for the interview, I found that I had uncovered some fascinating information several years before and never even realized it. Let's start with the source of this information: Keiko Suzuki.

Keiko Suzuki worked under Eiji Tsuburaya as his script supervisor from the late 1950s through most of the '60s. Born Keiko Hisamatsu, she would go on to marry future Tsuburaya Productions producer Kiyoshi Suzuki. Ms. Suzuki joined Tsuburaya's tokusatsu team on The Three Treasures (1959), which she remembered as the longest SFX shoot at Toho, spanning four months. She passed away on May 23, 2024.

Keiko Suzuki with Teruyoshi Nakano (left) and Takashi Naganuma in January 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On January 13, 2019, I spoke with Keiko Suzuki about several topics, one of which was her recollections of the creation of King Ghidorah. I knew that she and Mr. Murase had completely different memories of King Ghidorah's original color, so I wanted to get her take. Even though it wasn't a formal interview, I took contemporaneous notes on the discussion, which serve as the basis of the material below.

When Eiji Tsuburaya showed her the King Ghidorah suit painted blue for Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (1964), Ms. Suzuki was surprised to see it designed that way. The kaiju was supposed to be a space monster, yet it had been colored blue, which she didn't think was the right presentation.

Kin is the English word "gold" in Japanese. Ms. Suzuki pointed out that King Ghidorah was from Venus (Kinsei in Japanese) and that the Japanese word kin is even right there in its name, King Ghidorah. According to Ms. Suzuki, blue had already been used for the Yamata no Orochi in The Three Treasures (1959), so a new look was in order.

King Ghidorah heads on display in April 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

When Ms. Suzuki suggested to Tsuburaya that it should be gold, Tsuburaya apparently stopped what he was doing and left. Shortly thereafter, the suit was painted gold.  

Additionally, Ms. Suzuki revealed that she had been partially inspired by a Russian film she had seen with a golden bird and had the idea in mind to use that color for something eventually. While she didn't remember the name of the film, she remembered that the plot was based on Leo Tolstoy's short story "Ivan the Fool."

The movie that most closely matches Ms. Suzuki's description is The Hunchback Horse (1947), an animated Soviet movie that features a brightly-colored firebird. 

The firebird from the Soviet film The Hunchback Horse (1947).

Why did this tidbit fly right over my head? I'd read for years about how partial inspiration for King Ghidorah came from a 1956 Soviet flick that featured a three-headed dragon, so, without checking it out, I figured that must have been what she was talking about. (I mean, how many Russian movies could have influenced a Japanese monster?!) I'm glad I finally did my homework and ferreted this one out. Better late than never, as they say.

Of course, much of this depends on whose memories are more accurate. Both Keizo Murase and Keiko Suzuki have since passed away, and it's not very likely we'll ever get a definitive answer. Ms. Suzuki's memories are detailed and consistent, but Mr. Murase was probably in a better position than anyone else to know what King Ghidorah's original color was. I can't side with anyone in this dispute; all I can do is share what they have said.

PIGMON TURNS 70! Actor-Singer Hiroshi Chiba Celebrates His Birthday in Concert!

Hiroshi Chiba performs onstage. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Friday, September 18, I made my way to Yotsuya to attend a special birthday-themed concert held by Hiroshi Chiba. Of course, Chiba-san's actual birthday falls on September 19, but the big celebration took place the night before.

Mariko Matsuoka presents a birthday cake to Hiroshi Chiba. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Chiba-san (under the stage name Masahiro Oyake) played Pigmon as a suit actor in episode 37 of Ultraman (1966-67). He also appears in human form in episode 36 of the same series. In the movies, he played the main character Tetsugoro (who was performed by Hideki Takahashi) as a boy in the Nikkatsu actioner Family Crest: Man against Death (1969). Another role of his is in Tsugunobu Kotani's film F2 Grand Prix (1984), starring Ken Tanaka and Katsuhiko Sasaki.

Mariko Matsuoka and actress Nikki Morita (right) look on as Hiroshi Chiba blows out the candles on his birthday cake. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Chiba-san also played Yasohachi Yamagishi in a series of Nikkatsu films based on the risque Go Nagai manga called Harenchi Gakuen ("Shameless School"), namely: Harenchi Gakuen: Shintai Kensa no Maki (1970), Harenchi Gakuen: Tackle Kiss no Maki (1970), and Shin Harenchi Gakuen (1971).

With Mariko Matsuoka.

His best-known role (in Japan, at least) would have to be his appearances as a regular on the massively popular TV series G-Men '75 (1975-82), playing Detective Akio Taguchi from 1979 through 1981. In fact, about halfway through a concert, a salaryman who probably already had a bit too much to drink, entered the venue and shouted to Chiba-san, who was onstage, how much he loved Chiba-san on G-Men '75. Later on, when Chiba-san was singing, he started waving around several pieces of paper that, near as I could tell, were printouts that featured images from the show on them. Kinda amusing but reallllllly weird.

By far, the highlight of the evening for me was running into Mariko Matsuoka again. When she saw me, she exclaimed how surprised she was to see me and gave me a big hug. I came prepared and brought my Kamen Rider Amazon (1974-75) Blu-ray set, and an Ultraman Leo (1974-75) booklet, to get signed.

Of course, Matsuoka-san plays android girl Carolyn in episode 24 of Ultraman Leo, Ritsuko Okamura in Kamen Rider Amazon, Misaki Minekawa in episode 29 of Akumaizer 3 (1975-76), episode 32 of UFO Great War Fight! Red Tiger (1978), and Jun in episode 37 of Kyoryu Sentai Koseidon (1978-79). She also appears in the Fumio Ishimori-penned Shochiku film Frozen River (1976) as Harumi Hayata.

We live about a train station apart and discussed getting together in the future. Looking forward to that!

Congrats to Hiroshi "Pigmon" Chiba on turning the big 7-0!

CHALK TALK! A New Q&A in a New Venue!

Garry Chalk in 2013. Photo via Wikipedia.

An interview with actor Garry Chalk that Jacob Dow and I conducted via Zoom in May 2026 is now available to read on Toho Kingdom. Not only is Mr. Chalk one of the most prolific animation voice actors working today; he also had a small role in Legendary Pictures' Godzilla (2014), working alongside Bryan Cranston, which is naturally a topic we covered in the Q&A. 

Be sure to check it out today!

Sing Out, Louise-san!

Yumi Yoshiyuki. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, September 12, I attended an event in which actress-director Yumi Yoshiyuki sang a few songs, karaoke-style. Yoshiyuki-san reached out to me the other day and wanted to know if I could attend. Since I had nothing else going on, I decided to stop by and say hello.

Yoshiyuki-san has directed numerous pink eiga since the 1990s but has also appeared onscreen herself in countless roles, including director Akio Jissoji's adaptation of an Edogawa Rampo story, Murder on D Street (1998), for which she won the Best Supporting Actress Award from the Yokohama Film Festival for her portrayal of Tokiko Sunaga, as well as playing Noriko Murakami in Takashi Shimizu's V-cinema horror classic Ju-On: The Curse (2000). She can also be seen in episode 40 of Ultraman Tiga (1996-97) and episode 37 of Ultraman Dyna (1997-98).

After seeing Yoshiyuki-san's performance, we hung out for a good while, talking about her work with Akio Jissoji and a number of other topics. It was quite enlightening, but ultimately I had to cut it short and leave a bit early. But I'm looking forward to doing it again!

Seeing 'Frankenstein Conquers the World' and 'War of the Gargantuas' As They Were Meant to Be Seen!

Inside the Shin Bungeiza theater. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Thursday, September 10, I saw Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) in 35mm at the Shin Bungeiza theater in Ikebukuro. Then, on Friday, September 11, I took in a screening of The War of the Gargantuas (1966), which was also presented in 35mm, at the same venue.

The print for FCTW in particular was incredible; there was a barely a noticeable flaw. WOTG, on the other hand, had its share of scratches and imperfections but was still duly impressive. It was certainly a cool double feature, even if it took place on separate days.

For the last 15 or so years, I've been somewhat perplexed by the fact that FCTW is often cited by tokusatsu fans as one of the best kaiju movies of the Showa era. I mean, I like it, too, but it's always felt more like a dress rehearsal for WOTG to me than anything else. It's just missing that certain something to push it over the top. It's hard not to come away with the distinct impression that Nick Adams was more enthusiastic about making the film than everybody else was.  

It doesn't help matters that Baragon is a JTTS whose sole purpose is to get beaten up by Frankenstein and make him look good. The monster scenes are a bit underwhelming.

I first saw FCTW in the spring of 1994 when it aired in TNT's 100% Weird late-night programming block. Even though I had mostly stopped watching Godzilla and other giant monster movies at this point, I was still looking for movies like this -- especially Destroy All Monsters (1968), the holiest of holy grails -- to air on cable TV.

I set my VCR to record it (since it was airing overnight) and probably watched it the next day. My reaction wasn't very strong; I thought it was fine but quickly moved on to other things. It wouldn't be until we discovered DAM and the post-Biollante Heisei movies later that year that we really got back into tokusatsu in a big way.

The version of FCTW I saw used the giant-octopus ending, which is notable. It's not the first time I've seen this cut theatrically in Japan, so I wonder if the original version has now been officially supplanted. I do prefer the original ending, and I think the giant-octopus ending is best left as a curiosity than the actual conclusion of the film, but it is what it is, and things are as they are.

I first saw WOTG when I was about eight years old on Super Scary Saturday, and I've loved it ever since. The battle between the Gargantuas is much more compelling than the one in the previous film, as Sanda and Gaira are not only more evenly matched, but we also know why they're fighting, apart from the fact that they're huge monsters, and that's just what huge monsters do. 

For all the criticism he gets, I don't think Russ Tamblyn is that bad in the role of Dr. Paul Stewart. His character as written doesn't have much going on in the first place, and his performance more or less suits the part of a slightly awkward scientist who was probably too devoted to his work to have much of a social life.

Contrast that with Nick Adams' acting choices in FCTW as Dr. James Bowen, which sort of make you wonder how such a happenin' hodad who gives a too-cool-for-school finger point to bid farewell to Yoshio Tsuchiya's character ever had the patience to earn his seven Ph.D.s from the University of Higher Learning.  

The only real downside to the WOTG screening is that it wasn't the UPA release, which is definitive for me. That dub is one of the best of all time.

Overall, it was a fun couple of nights at the flicks, and I had a blast. Let's do it again soon!

Visiting Back in Town Now That I'm Back in Town!

Masamitsu Tayama in concert. Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

On Friday, September 4, I visited the nightclub Back in Town for the first time in a couple of years to see the performance of Masamitsu Tayama, who is always a joy to see. 

I brought my Mothra (1961) steelbook for Tayama-san to sign. I'm not a big fan of steelbooks, but you work with what you've got. 

It was lovely to see Tayama-san and his wife, Yoko, again. Right before I left the venue, Yoko arranged for the group of regulars to pose for a group photo, which we did. She sent it to me after the show, and it turned out really well!

There really isn't much else to say -- there wasn't a dinner afterward or anything like that, so it was all pretty brief. But I never miss a chance to see Tayama-san in concert.

A Dramatic Performance in a Cool Costume!

Masanori Machida. Photo by Brett Homenick.

He looks familiar, doesn't he? Yes, it's Sunday, August 30, which means it was time to see Masanori Machida perform another dramatic reading, this time in a fun costume!

I'm always happy to come out to support Machida-san's shows, and it's even better to spend a few moments with him afterward.

It sure has helped me regain that old feeling before I left Tokyo two years ago. Many thanks to Machida-san!