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.

Three Toho Alumni: The Greatest Battle on Earth!

Teruyoshi Nakano. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Sunday, January 13, saw a great Toho SFX event with three alumni from the Showa era: Teruyoshi Nakano, Keiko Suzuki, and Takashi Naganuma.

All three guests were a lot of fun to hang out with. Naganuma-san brought his trademark humor to the proceedings and kept me laughing most of the time I was around him.

I was grateful for the opportunity to ask SFX script supervisor Keiko Suzuki a few questions about her Toho work. I learned quite a bit of new details about the making of a few Godzilla and other Showa-era SFX films. Quite enlightening!

Last but not least was Teruyoshi Nakano. What else can I say about the Toho SFX legend that hasn't been already said? Let's do it again soon!

Celebrating the End of the Year!

Sadao Iizuka. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday night, December 22, I attended a special birthday celebration for former Toho optical effects master Sadao Iizuka.

Iizuka-san is a gentleman I've blogged about before, but his history with Toho makes him a true VIP in the world of tokusatsu.

Keiko Suzuki. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Also on hand was former Toho SFX script supervisor Keiko Suzuki (born Keiko Hisamatsu). Her career at Toho dates back to the late '50s (!), and it came to a close about 10 years later. It's always nice to see Suzuki-san at these events.

But wait ... I saw Iizuka-san again today for an end-of-the-year party! It's a rare treat to see such a legend in person on back-to-back days, but when you get an opportunity, take it!

See you all next year!

A Rare Look at King Kong vs. Godzilla!

Keiko Suzuki. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today offered a unique look at the making of a Toho classic. Former Toho SFX scripter Keiko Suzuki (born Keiko Hisamatsu) gave a presentation about the making of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), featuring a rare look at the script and storyboard drawings. One thing that was interesting to see was that the English-language lines spoken by the Western actors in the submarine set were handwritten in the script in English, and they were essentially verbatim as they appear in the film. 

As handwritten in the script, the helicopter pilot's line, "Look there," was sans "Al." So was "Al" an ad lib? I guess we'll never know, but it wasn't in the script presented today. Moreover, I got to see the storyboards for the deleted scene in which Godzilla approaches the giant Byakue Dai-Kannon statue in Gunma Prefecture. There were two storyboard illustrations, and it didn't seem like much more to the scene than that.

Overall, it was a very fun afternoon, and it was quite amusing to see the various illustrations of Kong and Godzilla in storyboard form. If only there could be events like this for all Toho movies!

SIXTY YEARS OF VARAN! Celebrating Toho's Underappreciated Giant Monster!

Teruyoshi Nakano, Shigemitsu Taguchi, and Keiko Suzuki pose for pictures. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, July 7, I was privileged to attend a rare screening of a 35mm print of Varan the Unbelievable (1958), which turns 60 this year. The print itself had obviously seen better days, as it was rather scratched up and jumpy. But given that I'd never seen a film print of the Japanese version before, it was nonetheless great to see.

Scripter Keiko Suzuki holds up her King Kong vs. Godzilla shooting script while Shigemitsu Taguchi looks on. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The event also celebrated SFX director Eiji Tsuburaya's birthday, so a few of his colleagues and contemporaries were on hand for the event. Keiko Suzuki was Toho's SFX scripter who worked alongside Eiji Tsuburaya for Toho's special effects spectaculars from the late 1950s through the end of the '60s. She brought her script for King Kong vs. Godzilla, which contained storyboard images used during the shooting. That certainly made the audience take notice!

Also in attendance was Tsuburaya Productions scriptwriter Shigemitsu Taguchi, who is best known for his work writing episodes of the '70s Ultra-shows. He has also just written a book about Eiji Tsuburaya.

SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Making his triumphant return was none other than SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano, who hadn't attended such an event in a few months. The audience was quite pleased to see Nakano-san again, who hasn't seemed to have lost a step.

After the movie, it was dinnertime! The conversation with Nakano-san was quite enlightening, as it always is. As hard as it is to see, Nakano-san once again confirmed that "about 30" octopuses were used in King Kong vs Godzilla. He first mentioned this figure in my 2004 interview with him, and he said it again at an event in 2012. Given the possibility of translation errors, and since a much smaller number of octopuses has been reported elsewhere in English, I couldn't be quite sure. But he reiterated that number last night. And who would know better than Nakano-san himself?

Of his '70s films, he named Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) as his favorite. Most Americans would probably name Terror of Mechagodzilla as their favorite.

Suffice it to say, it was another great event, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the legacy of Eiji Tsuburaya. Can't wait to do it all over again!

Frankenstein Conquers the World

Toho scripter Keiko Hisamatsu remembers the making of Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965). Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier today, I attended a special event with former Toho scripter Keiko Hisamatsu (whose married name is Keiko Suzuki), the theme of which was the making of Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965). The event featured a detailed breakdown of the script featuring the notes Hisamatsu-san took during the production, as well as storyboard sketches of the SFX scenes.

Sadao Iizuka. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Sadao Iizuka was on hand as a surprise guest. He occasionally threw in his two cents during the proceedings, which was an unexpected bonus.

It was a fun event featuring two great luminaries from Toho Studios. And I certainly learned quite a bit about FCTW. Can't wait to attend the next one!

TOHO ALUMS ASSEMBLE! Showa Scripter and Model Maker Team Up for a Great Event!

Toho scripter Keiko Hisamatsu. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Last night (December 16), I joined a dinner event with two Toho alumni, both of whom I'd met before. One was Takashi Naganuma, a Toho SFX staffer whom I've blogged about numerous times. The other was someone I hadn't written about here, even though I met her at an event with Sadao Iizuka about two years ago.

That person was Keiko Hisamatsu (now Keiko Suzuki), a Toho scripter (on the SFX side) who began her career at Toho with Battle in Outer Space (1959) and worked on numerous tokusastu productions throughout the '60s. While her entry on the Toho site states that she worked all the way up until Yog Monster from Space (1970), Hisamatsu-san denied that, stating that her final film was Admiral Yamamoto (1968).

Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Of course, Naganuma-san was there, too, and he was great fun to hang out with, as usual. The Toho talk was quite limited, and we spent most of our time talking about more mundane things like cell phones (seriously). I guess you had to be there.

And that's it. It was a lot of fun, naturally, and the folks there (including the special guests) couldn't have been any nicer. I wouldn't have it any other way.