Background and Trivia |
- Universal submitted the film to the US copyright office on July 2nd, 1963 with the registration number LP0000035483. The movie was submitted under its United States and international title of King Kong vs. Godzilla. The claim, which also mentions RKO General, Inc., was renewed on August 27th, 1991 by Universal.
- Due to the involvement of RKO, who licensed The Mysterians (1957) for US distribution, the American version of King Kong vs. Godzilla features stock footage segments from the 1957 movie.
- Director Ishiro Honda injured himself during the location shooting around Mount Fuji. Rushed to the hospital, where he was greeted by his wife, Kimi Honda, and assistant director Koji Hashimoto. Honda returned to work as quickly as he could, his neck bandaged and arm in a sling. This account is mentioned in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya allowed the suit actors to do much of their own choreography for their fight sequences. This fact is found in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- Actor Yu Fujiki has stated that it cost ¥80,000,000 yen to license King Kong from RKO for the production. This account is noted in the book Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo (ISBN: 0922915474).
- Ishiro Honda would often sit in on the recording sessions for the soundtracks for his films. He would claim, though, that he knew very little about music. However, during the recording sessions for this film, Akira Ifukube was noting that the Faro Island dance needed a bit more percussion after hearing it. Honda interjected, saying it was perfect the way it was, impressing Ifukube and also giving away his modesty over his musical knowledge. This story is found in the publication Age of the Gods (self-published)
- At the end of shooting, Toho gave both suit actros Haruo Nakajima and Shoichi Hirose each a ¥50,000 yen bonus. This was at a time when the average monthly salary was ¥20,000 yen. This detail is mentioned in the book Age of the Gods (self-published).
- To promote the film, Toho issued a bilingual release that included text that was meant to come from Godzilla and King Kong, talking to each other as fighters or wrestlers would before a match. Godzilla was quoted as saying: "seven years has passed since I rose from the bottom of the southern seas and raved about in Japan, leaving destruction behind wherever I crawled. It is most gratifying for me to have the privilege of seeing you again after breaking through an iceberg in the arctic ocean where I was buried. At the thought of my engagement with King Kong from America I feel my blood boil and flesh dance. I am now applying myself to vigorous training day and night to capture the world monster-championship from King Kong." In response King Kong said "I may be the stranger to the younger people here, but have quite a number of fighting adventures to my credit. I will fight to the last ditch in the forthcoming encounter with Mr. Godzilla, for my title is at stake… Hearing that the world-renowned special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya is to act as referee I am going to return to the screen in high spirits." Quoted in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- The original deal between Toho and producer John Beck gave Beck distribution rights for the US, Canada, Alaska, Israel and the UK. Noted in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- Paul Mason and Bruce Howard were hired as writers for the US version of the movie. The two were paid a total $3,500 for five weeks of work, and had the split that amount between themselves. However, the time spent on the writing was longer than anticipated. By the end Howard, due to the extra time, noted in an interview that he made "like $40 a week" but was "very excited about it because it was [his] first feature film assignment." Mentioned in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- The film editor of the American version, German born Peter Zinner, worked previously as a music editor on the American version of Varan (1958) as Varan the Unbelievable. He was paid $12,000 for his work on editing the movie and was told from higher up that they "didn't like the music" and wanted something more "Westernized". Noted in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
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