Monster Movie of the Week: Mothra (1961)

Warning: Staring at Japanese movie posters for extended periods may induce a seizure.

MOTHRA (1961)

Director: Ichiro Honda

Genre: Daikaiju eiga

THE MOVIE

Mothra ushered in a short-lived Golden Age of 1960’s kaiju filmmaking in which the norm became high production values and colorful visuals before the genre sank into camp and kiddie nonsense . Mothra is the best of the three non-Godzilla kaiju movies produced by Toho in the wake of Godzilla Raids Again and also introduced us to one of Toho’s most iconic and popular monsters. Mothra has been featured in more Toho movies than any other monster save the big guy himself and is even popular enough to have starred in her own trilogy of kids films in the 1990’s. Her popularity (particularly with the ladies) has caused her to be plugged into numerous Godzilla movies in which she was not originally slated to appear. She’s one of the few female Japanese giant monsters and one of the only ones that is consistently benevolent and she’s the only kaiju with a catchy theme song sung by a pair of mini-twins.

Mothra's story borrows heavily from King Kong and deals with a joint expedition between Japan and a fictitious country (that strongly resembles the U.S.) to the mysterious Infant Island that is home to a tribe of natives and also the site of atomic testing. Once on the island, one of the Japanese expedition members is saved by a pair of tiny singing twins. The twins are stolen from the island by an unscrupulous member of the foreign party and put in a musical revue a la Kong's Broadway show. My question is: how the hell are you supposed to see them from the audience? I don’t think a stage show is quite the right venue for six inch singing twins. And how did they get them to rehearse elaborate musical numbers?

Anyhoo, the twins launch into their chart-topper “Mo-su-ra” and a giant silkworm hatches from a pastel colored egg and swims towards Tokyo, impervious to all weapons. The larva climbs up Tokyo Tower and breaks it in half before spinning a silken cocoon. What hatches is perhaps the most improbable of a giant monster designs: a big pretty butterfly. Perhaps the Japanese Defense Force would have fared better against her if they had built a giant net. So, Mo-su-ra follows the twins to New Kirk City (NKC!) and eventually reclaims her twins (does she swallow them? I’m not clear on where they “boarded”) after blowing stuff around with her wings.

Why even have a Tokyo Tower?

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

It takes a real man to be a Mothra fan. Her femininity, her colorful appearance, her harmonizing sidekicks all elicit a derisive reaction from kaiju mandom. I mean, a guy can get away with wearing a Godzilla t-shirt, no problem but if you walk around with a Mothra shirt you better watch your back. If you are not entirely comfortable with your masculinity, the idea of a giant ass-kicking psychedelic butterfly nature goddess may be somewhat disturbing for you. Although the somewhat fecal appearance of the larva will be good for a chuckle from the guys.

The effects in Mothra are surprisingly good for the time and are certainly better than any of Toho’s prior kaiju movies. I am very surprised and happy to say that there is very little Rodanitis present in the flying sequences. Mothra’s wings move in a very realistic and even elegant way. The wirework and other mechanisms are for the most part well-concealed. I can only speculate that more of the budget was devoted to the flying sequences since there were only two creatures to design for this one.

MONSTERS PRESENT

Mothra in both her larval and adult form.

DVD AVAILABILITY

This one’s a little hard to get. I managed to buy a copy of the Japanese version from ultramanstuff.com. There’s not much else on the disc and the video is not excellent but at least it’s the Japanese version. As with the other disc I bought from them it took a long time and a couple of check up emails before I got my disc but I got it. I don’t know what changes or cuts were made to the American version.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

The larva’s attack on Tokyo Tower.

SEQUELS

Some say the world will end in fire others...by giant stuffed animals.

Mothra is featured in quite a few of the Godzilla movies but as far as I know the only true sequel is Godzilla X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003) which directly refers to the original Mothra movie and even features one of the actors reprising his Mothra role some forty years later, which is kind of cool.

SEE ALSO

Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964) Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) Rebirth of Mothra I-III (1996) Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)