On the remote Faro Island, a young native boy
named Chikiro was told to procure some narcotic
berry juice in order to assist the treatment of
Kinsaburo Furue. The boy rushed across the rocky
shore and made his way into a relatively large,
grassy hut. In the distance behind him, his mother
called out as she searched for her child. Little
did either the boy or his mother know that something
else was approaching the hut. The slithering sounds
of a giant octopus slowly became audible as it
appeared from behind a small hill. Inside the
hut, Chikiro's mother located and reprimanded
the boy, but the terrifying sight of the collapsing
roof completely shifted her attention. The giant
octopus had climbed onto the hut, seeking the
berry juice inside.
Several hundred meters away, the Faro Island
natives and the members of the TTV expedition
came to learn of the awful situation. The islanders
grabbed their spears, as Osamu Sakurai grabbed
his firearm. The natives arrived on the scene
and tossed their spears as Osamu fired upon the
gigantic octopus. As the humans continued their
campaign against the monster, Chikiro and his
mother escaped the collapsing hut. Suddenly, a
primal roar was heard... King Kong, the legendary
ape, appeared behind a towering fence. He ripped
the wooden gateway apart and threw the detached
pieces at the octopus. The great ape approached
the creature and lifted it, only to have the abomination
latch onto its head. King Kong finally threw the
octopus to the ground, and it slithered away as
the gargantuan gorilla threw two boulders at its
head. The defeated creature retreated toward the
shore, and likely to the sea from whence it came.
Powers / Weapons
Constricting Tentacles
The Giant Octopus has eight arms, each lined with strong suction cups to help the creature hold its prey.
When King Kong attempted to attack the mammoth cephalopod, the Giant Octopus latched onto Kong's face. The giant ape had to use considerable strength to dislodge the octopus, throwing it to the ground afterwards.
Background and Trivia
As is common with multi-generation kaiju, most sources list the Giant Octopuses as having the same stats. In fact, the Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (ISBN: 4091014704) is one of the few sources that lists out the stats for the Giant Octopus that appears in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). In this instance, the kaiju is 30 meters in length and only 600 tons. In contrast to the second generation, the first is very light. It's hard to say how large it is in contrast, since one gives the size in length and the other in height. As a side note, one 2005 publication, Godzilla: Toho Giant Monster Picture Encyclopedia (ISBN: 4092800525), does merge the stats for the two. It gives the Giant Octopus a length of 30 meters, like the first, but a mass of 20,000 tons, like the second.
The effect work for the Giant Octopus was a combination of using real life octopuses mixed with props and also some minor claymation. The real octopuses have a bulk of the screen time in the movie, either filmed directly or using super imposition techniques while objects were placed on top of them, such as thrown boulders or spears. The props were primarily used for segments that involved having King Kong in the same shot, such as when Kong throws the gate at the octopus or when the cephalopod latches onto Kong. An exception is the sequence that features a close-up of King Kong's face while a real octopus' tentacles move on top of it. The final technique, claymation, is used only via one of the tentacles as it picks up a Faro Island native and swings them around.
The special effects crew got the real live octopuses and brought them to a beach near Tokyo for filming. At the beach, the crew created the models needed for the Faro island sequence and then attempted to film the cephalopods. Unfortunately, the octopuses were not cooperative, even when using sticks or hot air to try to move them in the manner the crew needed. Eventually the miniatures were packed up and filming was finished at the studio. According to Teruyoshi Nakano, special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya ate one of the octopuses after shooting was finished, as noted in the publication Japan's Favorite Mon-Star.
A lot of footage of the Giant Octopus was reused later as stock footage for Eiji Tsuburaya's Tsuburaya Productions on the show Ultra Q in 1966. The reused scenes, primarily of the real life octopus footage, were converted to black and white and cropped to a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The footage is a place holder for the monster Suda in the episode Rage of the South Sea.
Attacking a cargo ship
among the darkness and fog, the Giant Octopus sought
to feed its insatiable hunger. Its meal was
cut short however. Rising too from the thrashing
waters, a towering green beast took hold of
the multi-limbed adversary. Gaira, the green
gargantua, born from the cells of Frankenstein
himself, was attacking the beast that had killed
its father. The slimy behemoth was completely
overpowered by the giant's omnipotent strength.
With little care, Gaira hurled the tentacle
kaiju away. The vicious Gargantua sent the octopus
into retreat, back into the black and safe confines
of the ocean's depths.
Powers / Weapons
Constricting Tentacles
The huge cephalopod is equipped with eight arms, each appendage featuring numerous suction cups that help it to hold its foe in place.
The Giant Octopus used its tentacles to try and search the deck of the fishing vessel for food. When the green gargantua emerged, the appendages were used to latch on and attack Gaira. The assault was unsuccessful, as Gaira was able to use his strength to dislodge and throw the cephalopod.
Background and Trivia
This version of the Giant Octopus was modeled by Murase Tsugizo along with the brothers Yasuei Yagi and Kanju Yagi.
The second generation of the Giant Octopus first appeared in a cut scene from Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965). This cut scene, which was not featured in theatrical prints in Japan or the United States, has appeared on numerous home video releases and television broadcasts in Japan. For a description for his role in this sequence:
Screaming his victory to the countryside, Frankenstein
cast down the freshly killed Baragon into the
valley below. However the humanoid kaiju's triumph
would be short lived. Hearing a horrible sucking-like noise, Frankenstein turned and looked on
as an enormous octopus shambled over the rocky
landscape. How or why the cephalopod demon was
so far inland completely baffled the crowds of
surviving humans that looked on, as the two monsters
prepared to lock in battle.
The human behemoth
wasted no time and rushed to meet the sea beast
head on. He first tried hurling rocks, but these
had little effect against the octopus' muscled
hide. Frankenstein next moved to combat his opponent at close range,
a move that would cost the giant in the end. Unable
to cope against the kraken like beast's many limbs,
Frankenstein found himself being dragged to a
nearby cliff. Onlookers watched in complete disbelief
and horror, when both monsters fell into the sea.
On land Frankenstein might have had a chance,
but in the sea he was completely helpless. Against
an animal born from the sea, it wasn't long before
he was dragged down into the cold depths, screaming
his death cries into the waves.
The giant octopus would resurface for human
eyes a year later. Attacking a fishing boat
among the darkness and fog, the creature sought
to feed its insatiable hunger. Its meal was
cut short however. Rising too from the thrashing
waters, a towering green beast took hold of
the multi-limbed adversary. Gaira, the green
gargantua, born from the cells of Frankenstein
himself, was attacking the beast that had killed
its father. The slimy behemoth was completely
overpowered by the giant's omnipotent strength.
With little care, Gaira hurled the tentacle
kaiju away. The vicious Gargantua sent the octopus
into retreat, back into the black and safe confines
of the ocean's depths.
According to Teruyoshi Nakano, who was the assistant special effects director on Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965), the scene with the Giant Octopus was created after principal photography on the 1965 film had already been completed. The running time for the production was several minutes shorter than the American distributor had wanted and an extension to the climax involving the mammoth cephalopod was added to the film. This fact is found in the 1997 publication Age of the Gods (self-published).
The prop created for the second generation of the Giant Octopus was later reused in Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra Q show in 1966. Appearing in the episode Rage of the South Sea, it was used to represent the monster Suda which also featured stock footage of the King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) version of the character.
