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Deleted Scenes
Mothra (1961)
| Saving
Shinji |
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With Professor Chujo's son, Shinji,
still kidnapped, Nelson attempts to flee with the
Shobijin in a small private plane, before it crashes
near a mountainside. Armed, Nelson and his entourage
trek up the mountain as Senichiro Fukuda and the
authorities give chase. They manage to secure Shinji
away from Nelson just as Mothra is seen flying in
the distance. |
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| Background |
The original climax for Mothra was entirely
different from what ended up in the final print.
Originally, Nelson and his group had planned to
kidnap Shinji Chujo for a longer period of time,
rather then leaving him tide up as they fled the
country. Instead, they took the small boy on a
private plan as they attempted to flee, only to
accidentally crash near a mountainside. Meanwhile,
the film's heroes are in close pursuit, having
brought along the authorities to help save the
boy. All of this takes place while Mothra is still
in its cocoon, meaning that Fukuda and the others
weren't originally planned to witness the birth
of Mothra's Imago form. Instead they give chase
to Nelson as Mothra breaks free after the Atomic
Ray Gun attack. She then immediately flies to
the mountainside after the Shobijin.
It's hard to say how much of the original climax
was finished before being cut, but there are a
number of black and white production stills showing
that the mountain chase sequence was filmed, at
least in part; however, nothing has been seen
of the story boarded sequence relating to the
plane crash that would have occurred just before
it. |
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| Mothra
Kills Nelson |
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As Nelson and his group are chased
up into the mountains, Mothra arrives to save the
Shobijin. Despite Nelson's efforts, the giant insect
manages to force him off a cliff where he plummets
to his death. |
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| Background |
The original end of the film had Mothra actually
sending Nelson off the mountain to his demise,
as she personally would have saved the Shobijin.
This scene, and a lot of events that led up to
it, where all eventually cut from the movie when
Columbia purchased some of the overseas distribution
rights. The extra money from this was used to
greatly increase the involvement of the Imago
form in the movie, making Nelson flee to the mythical
country of Rolisica so that Mothra can decimates
the city in her pursuit of the Shobijin. Consequently,
the entire climax had to be altered to fit, causing
for a huge change from the original story.
In terms of how much of it was filmed, it's hard
to say. There were certainly a number of black
and white production stills in existence that
relate to Nelson and his group gaping in horror
as Mothra approached them. In fact, the primary
poster for the film even features a shot of Nelson
screaming in terror, which was originally part
of this sequence. So it definitely seems that
the actor part was filmed, although it seems less
likely that the Mothra portion was ever completed.
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