How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ideas?

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The Godzilla Camp
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How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ideas?

Post by The Godzilla Camp »

I came to wondering - and apologies for this if a thread already was on but I did not see it - BUT - you know how Anguirus has the distinction being the very first Kaiju Monster foe Godzilla had to fight right? Well then I came to wondering whereas Rodan and Mosura in 1956 and 1961 respectively had their own spin-off and debut films made before they had a cross-over with Godzilla in 1964 - why didn't Toho consider a 'stand alone' film for Anguirus? Well at least in the Showa era? I mean they bothered with Varan in 1958 as Varan the Unbelievable and to a degree with the Moguera 1957 in the Mysterians and also Baragon in 1965's Frankenstein's Monster Conquer's the World ... but why not Anguirus? I mean many see Anguirus as the 'generic average' Kaiju Monster but he is a loyal and brave Kaiju Monster and he is one of Godzilla's loyal allies and with exception in 2004 - and an absence in the Heisei era ... any ideas?

Or what would you have made Anguirus do if he had his own feature film? Suppose in the Showa era? Would it be the same as in Godzilla Raids Again minus Godzilla 1955 of course? So Anguirus is supposedly 'discovered' hibernating in Siberia and devours and destroys towns and pretty much ends up rampaging Tokyo or Osaka and the conventional firepower can't stop him and hence the JSDF and JSDAF has to work out a way to kill him or contain him?

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gojira96
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by gojira96 »

Films such as Rodan and Mothra weren't spin-offs, they were stand alone films whose monsters later crossed over into the Godzilla series. Anguirus was always part of the Godzilla series so giving him a film on his own woudn't make any sense.

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by FalconZ »

What gojira96 said pretty much already answers your question, but I still believe he deserves waaaaaay more recognition and respect from Toho.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by szmigiel »

You have to remember Anguirus was a forgotten daikaiju for over a decade, like Varan, until Destroy All Monsters. They built a new suit, which ended up with a decent role in the fight. Probably do to the fight between him and King Ghidorah in DAM and the fact the suit was in good shape, he was a good choice to use in Godzilla Vs. Gigan since they could use stock footage. He was also a good choice to have disguised Mechagodzilla curb stomp since the suit was still holding up well and he was recent ally. Also by the mid 70's Toho had little faith that any other daikaiju could support a solo film. Godzilla and Gigan were added to Megalon since they didn't think it could stand on its own.

If they built a new suit for Varan instead, and Anguirus was just a small puppet on the sidelines during DAM things could have been a lot different.

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by kamilleblu »

^ Pretty much what he said. Anguirus just happened to be in the right place at the right time thanks to a new suit being built for him for DAM. In time where Toho was cutting corners due to an unfriendly industry, Anguirus got an opportunity to shine. The suits for Baragon, Gorosaurus, and Manda had fallen into disrepair. Rodan and Mothra would be used less because they required complicated wire work. Monsters don't last too long unless they receive great care.

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Space Hunter M »

he's a boring quadruped asshole

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Kaijugriffey »

Space Hunter M wrote:he's a boring quadruped asshole
I always get the impression that that factors less into some of the Toho decisions as "Which suits are clean and which ones fit the guys we've already hired?"

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Space Hunter M »

Kaijugriffey wrote:
Space Hunter M wrote:he's a boring quadruped asshole
I always get the impression that that factors less into some of the Toho decisions as "Which suits are clean and which ones fit the guys we've already hired?"
he's a boring quadruped asshole

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by edgaguirus »

Anguirus didn't get his/her own film because of the reasons above. Anguirus has always been seen as an enemy or allie to Godzilla, and was always stuck with sidekick status. Anguirus, unfortunately, never had the chance to helm a solo film.

If there was, I'd imagine this. Scientist go to an island to investigate elevated carbon emissions. They find a landscape with red water and holes, along with Anguirus. Some of the scientist are killed by some unknown force, and Anguirus is blamed. Anguirus soon leaves the island and arrives in Japan. As the military deals with Anguirus, red water appears in Japan not far from Anguirus' location. The scientist discover Anguirus isn't to blame, but a huge worm like creature with poison breath. Fossils reveal that these worm like creatures and Anguiruses lived together as natural foes. The two monsters soon come together and fight for domination of Japan. Anguirus would win.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Kaijugriffey »

edgaguirus wrote:Anguirus didn't get his/her own film because of the reasons above. Anguirus has always been seen as an enemy or allie to Godzilla, and was always stuck with sidekick status. Anguirus, unfortunately, never had the chance to helm a solo film.

If there was, I'd imagine this. Scientist go to an island to investigate elevated carbon emissions. They find a landscape with red water and holes, along with Anguirus. Some of the scientist are killed by some unknown force, and Anguirus is blamed. Anguirus soon leaves the island and arrives in Japan. As the military deals with Anguirus, red water appears in Japan not far from Anguirus' location. The scientist discover Anguirus isn't to blame, but a huge worm like creature with poison breath. Fossils reveal that these worm like creatures and Anguiruses lived together as natural foes. The two monsters soon come together and fight for domination of Japan. Anguirus would win.
I may be reading too much into it, but I always got the impression from some of the production stories that the regular suit actors, particularly Toho regular Haruo Nakajima, tended to prefer the Baragon suit when forced to crawl around on all fours. So that may have played into things a bit. The Anguirus suit always looks like a pain to wear. I mean it looks great to us, but the poor guy inside it is pretty much limited to crawling or standing in a really awkward uncomfortable position for the duration. Plus the Anguirus head has got to be a great weight on his neck with the more extended snout. I'm thinking our favorite Godzilla sidekick was not the fav of the paid performers.

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Tohosaurus »

Most of what I'd say has already been said. But in addition, I'd point out that despite numerous appearances over the years, there's still not much significance to Anguirus' character that really supports its own film. But then again, maybe it'd work as a versus film in some way.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by FalconZ »

Space Hunter M wrote:he's a boring quadruped asshole
Not really, but OK.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by g2vd »

FalconZ wrote:
Space Hunter M wrote:he's a boring quadruped asshole
Not really, but OK.
he's a boring quadruped asshole


On topic: the reason being is that Angurius wasn't that popular, Rodan and Mothra both had debut films which later crossed into Godzilla after that Rodan never got a stand alone movie ever again and he is part of Toho's big 5, meaning Toho sees Rodan as not being enough to carry a film at least compared to their big star Godzilla. while Toho may have done original Kaiju films outside of Godzilla after this they were originals, that had never been seen and thus had the potential of being either box office hits or flops Toho saw Angurius as a Kaiju that wouldn't be popular enough for a stand alone movie.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Godzillian »

Space Hunter M wrote:
Kaijugriffey wrote:
Space Hunter M wrote:he's a boring quadruped asshole
I always get the impression that that factors less into some of the Toho decisions as "Which suits are clean and which ones fit the guys we've already hired?"
he's a boring quadruped asshole
Good argument
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Noble Saber »

FalconZ wrote:
Space Hunter M wrote:he's a boring quadruped asshole
Not really, but OK.
Hook, line, and sinker.

The first reply in this thread sums it up pretty good. Besides, if he did get his spin-off film, he'd still lose against the enemy. :P

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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by Godzillian »

2004Zilla wrote:
FalconZ wrote:
Space Hunter M wrote:he's a boring quadruped asshole
Not really, but OK.
Hook, line, and sinker.

The first reply in this thread sums it up pretty good. Besides, if he did get his spin-off film, he'd still lose against the enemy. :P
They could make a kaiu movie with him similar to roxy with him as the underdog ;)
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by edgaguirus »

If I've learned anything from Toho flicks, it's that they usually find someway to get the end they want. If they wanted Anguirus to win, they'd make it happen.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by djkgoji »

The original question has pretty much been answered, but I have some ideas on how an Anguirus spin-off series might have worked had it ever happened.

As some have noted, Anguirus become popular only after a new suit was built for him for DAM and he played such a big role in the fight against KingGhidorah. Working then from the assumption that any spin-off centering around him would have happened after that movie, it's likely he would have become Toho's surrogate Gamera, to compete directly with the Daiei films of the period. He probably would have been given some sort of beam weapon or other power to make him more formidable, and would have faced off against a series of increasingly more fantastic evil monsters, most of which likely would have come from space.

Basically, he would have split time and resources with Godzilla, with each getting a new film every other year until the box office for one or the other or both completely dried up. The Anguirus films probably would have been broader and aimed more specifically at luring small children away from the TV and into theaters, while the Godzilla series probably would have stayed slightly closer to the more serious tone of its earlier entries. While Godzilla would have probably fought Hedorah and MechaGodzilla and likely at least one monster not conceived of in our reality, Anguirus would probably have been the one battling against Gigan, Megalon, and maybe even King Seesar (with some version of Jet Jaguar appearing somewhere along the way). Hard to say where Titanosaurus might have ended up, if he was ever created at all.

Assuming also that this Anguirus spin-off series came hot on the heels of DAM, it's likely other tokusatsu films of the period would either have never come to fruition, or have been retooled to be part of one of Toho's two flagship franchises.

All Monsters Attack in its current form wouldn't have worked with Anguirus as the main star, but the basic idea could have been reworked as the launching point for the Anguirus series. This likely would have meant dropping many of the less beloved aspects of the film (re: talking Minilla) and making it a somewhat more traditional fantasy film. Again, slightly more akin to the Gamera films.

Space Amoeba might also have been a nice Anguirus vehicle, or perhaps a quick & relatively inexpensive Godzilla film. As I've discussed in other threads, just have the film's protagonist kaiju attracted to the island along with the human characters & let the monster mayhem commence.

The odd man out here is Latitude Zero, which might well have still gone forward as is. It's fun, though, to imagine it reworked as a kaiju eiga vehicle - a sort of proto-ROM 2 that actually gets the whole idea right.

Unlikely Submersion of Japan or The War in Space would have been affected much by the advent of an Anguirus spin-off, since both were part of genre cycles started by the runaway global success of American films. If the Anguirus films proved popular enough, it's possible one or both of the kaiju franchises could have gone on a bit longer in the '70s. But it's still likely that both would have been shelved by 1977, Star Wars and more than a decade of Kyodai and Sentai hero TV shows having basically made the theatrical giant monster film impractical from a cost standpoint and thus temporarily obsolete.

The last side effect of an Anguirus series in the late '60s and early '70s is that he probably would have been popular enough with filmgoers who grew up during that time & their children that he would have been a shoe-in for a return during the Heisei Godzilla series. Following the relative box office disappointment of Godzilla Vs. Biollante, Toho was certainly looking for any hook they could find to sell the next Godzilla picture, and history shows that the most reliable hook was resurrecting a well-known classic kaiju. So it's likely Godzilla Vs. Mothra or Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 2 would have been followed by Godzilla Vs. Anguirus.

That's how I imagine an Anguirus spin-off series playing out, had such a thing ever happened. In some ways, I sort of wish it had.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by JVM »

^ That's a very thoughtfully written examination of a possible Angurius subfranchise.

I've always wondered why old Angy seems less popular in Japan than the U. S. but I imagine that's a big factor.
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Re: How Come Anguirus did not get his own spin-off film? Ide

Post by djkgoji »

JVM wrote:^ That's a very thoughtfully written examination of a possible Angurius subfranchise.
Thanks! I keep waiting for the day when I'm too grown-up to fritter away hours of my life imagining what I would do if I could go back in time and take over Toho during one period or another, but to date that day hasn't come. ;)
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