How did the actors open the monsters' mouths?

[Destoroyah of Worlds]

How did showa era actors open the mouths of monsters when they roared? Or body parts like King Ceasar's ears?

In the Muppets, Jim Henson had the actors for taller characters like sweetums and big bird keep one of their hands in characters mouth when they had them open their mouths. But that doesn't seem to be the case in Godzilla movies, as the monsters will often clench both of their hands when they roar.

[Terasawa]

I think they were controlled hydraulically by another member of the special effects staff. That might not be true for the earliest costumes but certainly so by the Heisei era.

[DirektorSplennic]

I've always wondered this for the showa films. I've always imagined that it was some sort of pully/chinstrap thing that when the actor opened their mouth the suits mouth would open. I have no idea how that would work.

[Terasawa]

Here's a pretty definitive answer from Ed Godziszewski's The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla:

The head of the monster is mounted on a brace atop the actor's head, this structure serving as home to radio controlled mechanics which have been devised over time... The first two Godzilla suits were completely manual in operation, the mouth being controlled by a cable that was attached to a pair of bicycle handles which were pulled by the actor inside. Starting in the 60's, the jaws of the monsters became radio controlled, and more recently have been activated by pressurized gas which is stored where the tail joins the body. Movable eyelids and lights were also added to the eyes at this time, while radio controlled movable eyes were utilized starting with Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster. Operationally, suits remained the same until 1984 when a mechanism was added to the head which would allow the upper lip to snarl... Radio controlled mechanics were added to tilt the head up and down for Godzilla vs. Mothra [1992], and in Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla the suit finally gained the ability to rotate its head left and right. A battery for powering the radio controlled features is sometimes stored in the area joining the tail and body. Recently, suits have also been powered from without, electrical cables being run outside the zipper, down one leg, and across the floor of the stage, the wire usually well hidden on screen.

Included in the text are a couple of pictures to illustrate his points, including one shot of the Shodai (54) Goji costume's mouth ajar just enough to show the jaw cable. Unfortunately I can't get any pics from the book at present, and I wasn't able to find the same pictures online.

[DirektorSplennic]

The first two Godzilla suits were completely manual in operation, the mouth being controlled by a cable that was attached to a pair of bicycle handles which were pulled by the actor inside.

Included in the text are a couple of pictures to illustrate his points, including one shot of the Shodai (54) Goji costume's mouth ajar just enough to show the jaw cable. Unfortunately I can't get any pics from the book at present, and I wasn't able to find the same pictures online.

I KNEW IT! I was right all along and they called me crazy!

Seriously though I need to see that shot.

[GigaBowserG]

Was this the one?

[Terasawa]

That's the one, all right. Thanks!

[Destoroyah of Worlds]

I knew the mouth and body parts were mouth controlled in the Millennium series. Didn't think that was the case in Showa.

You really have to respect how innovative Toho is with practical effects...

[edgaguirus]

Sometimes the simplest solution is the most effective.

[DragonZord13]

Yet despite this the monsters rarely blink. It seems like eyelid movement did not happen much in the G films.

[LockBite]

I’m still confused. How were the mouths operated?

[GojiDog]

When I was a kid, I saw a special of how Big Bird was brought to life on Sesame Street where Carroll Spinney would be wearing the costume, and he'd basically have one arm up in Big Bird's head, while his head was lower in the body with a little TV monitor inside to help him guide his movements properly.

Because of this, I legit thought this was how Godzilla and similar monsters were handled back in the old days. Boy was I wrong, lol.

[Gigantis]

Dang they were controlled by cable's? That's impressive!