Tomoyuki Tanaka was the creator of Godzilla and producer of 22 Godzilla films. He also produced such kaiju classics as Rodan, Mothra 1961, Varan, King Kong Escapes, Frankenstein Conquers the World, The Mysterians, and over 230 more films!
Tomoyuki Tanaka was born in Osaka on April 16, 1910. He graduated from the Business School of Kansai University and shortly after joined an Osaka acting troupe called the New Theater Movement. In 1940, Mr. Tanaka joined the Taisho Film Company. The following year, Taisho merged with Toho Studios, paving the way for his entry into Toho's Tokyo film department. With the help of his friend Iwao Mori, Mr. Tanaka eventually became producer at Toho Studios after a successful period as a cameraman. In 1945, just before the end of the war, he produced his first film "Until the Day of Victory" as well as three other films during the same year. After the war and until 1948, Tanaka made five more films with Toho, but after a falling out with the studio brass he quit the company. For a while, he worked with Kajiro Yamamoto's Film Acting Group. By 1951, he had produced nine more films, most of them dramas directed by Senkichi Yamaguchi and starring Toshiro Mifune. He returned to Toho Studios in 1952, producing Farewell Rabaul the following year with Eiji Tsuburaya and Ishiro Honda, the first film on which the three men worked together.
In 1954, Tanaka came up with the idea for Godzilla which turned out to be an unexpectedly big hit and gave international notoriety to Toho special effects films. During the 50's he produced many Akira Kurosawa and Hiroshi Inagaki films while also promoting Japanese films overseas. Tanaka was responsible for introducing many new actors and directors during this period. In 1971, he became president of Toho Eizo and subsequently gained the same title in Toho Eiga in 1975. In 1981, he was bestowed with the Kun Santo Tanho Award. Despite his advanced age and physical infirmity, he still served as executive director on the new Godzilla series.
It was Tomoyuki Tanaka, executive producer at Toho, who was personally responsible for creating Godzilla. Tanaka revealed the unusual origin of his idea in a magazine interview during the late 80's: "I was up against a deadline when I first thought of Godzilla, and I made it up all at the last minute. At that time, Toho was collaborating with Indonesia to make a blockbuster film to be called Beyond the Glory". This film was going to be Toho's premiere release for the year. Ryo Ikebe and Toshiko Yamaguchi were to be the stars, but they couldn't get a visa from the Indonesian government. So the film was canceled. It was easy to say that the film was just canceled, but now I had to come up with something big enough to replace it. On the plane ride back to Tokyo, I was so desperate and I was sweating the whole time." After arriving in Japan, Tanaka went to his special effects department. "I asked special effects expert Eiji Tsuburaya, who I knew wanted to make a movie about a giant octopus in the Indian Ocean, to make ten or so models, about 2 meters tall, all in clay. We picked one from that." Tanaka went on to describe how the monster had to be frightening, yet it had to have some kind of likable part to it. For this reason it was based on a dinosaur, so the monster would not be so horrible that kids who would see it would not be afraid to go to the bathroom at night. Tanaka's concept was that the monster was awakened, not appearing on his own, and it merely moved about... so the monster itself was a victim and not really a villain. Elaborating on the film's success, Tanaka noted, "It wasn't just a monster which was destroying things... it had a background of being created by radiation. It was good timing. After Godzilla was finished, movie journalists gave it a lot of negative reviews, so I was really worried about it," related Tanaka. "So on opening day I went to Shibuya. What I saw there was a line as long as a snake, so inside I thought 'Alright!' I knew it was the line to see Godzilla, but I couldn't resist asking people what they were standing in line for. Over 9,691,000 people went to see it, and next to King Kong vs Godzilla (11,200,000), it was the most popular box office of all Godzilla movies."
Unlike producers in America, Tanaka was not too hands-on in the production end aside from taking an active involvement in budgeting. However, he was the driving force behind monster films being made and as such he often got his way when suggesting story ideas or refinements to scripts. Tanaka came up with the concept for Godzilla`s Revenge as a quick, very inexpensive film which would utilize extensive stock footage. Despite giving the OK to turn Godzilla into a hero monster, Tanaka was appalled at the outcome of Godzilla vs the Smog Monster, the film having been completed while Tanaka was away from the studio due to illness. Tanaka himself developed the basic story for Godzilla (1984), and he also sponsored several different Godzilla story contests over the years to solicit ideas for films. Often Tanaka would visit the set to watch filming of both drama and special effects, though in recent years he had been forced to limit such visits due to his deteriorating health. He also hired an assistant producer in 1989, Shogo Tomiyama (now chief producer of the Godzilla films), due to his health. Tanaka had a strong appreciation for the talents of Akira Ifukube (whom he felt understood monster films better than anyone) and he worked relentlessly to convince the maestro to work on recent films, especially after allowing Kazuki Omori to select his own composer for Godzilla vs Biollante, a decision which he later stated was his own mistake. Tomoyuki Tanaka died on April 2, 1997. Slightly over 2 years after his creation died in Godzilla vs. Destroyah.
All of the people who worked with Mr. Tanaka speak very well of him and consider him a legend in his time.
Filmography
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1954)
Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
Rodan (1956)
The Mysterians (1957)
Varan (1958)
Mothra (1961)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Gorath (1962)
Atragon (1963)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965)
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966)
War of the Gargantuas (1966)
Son of Godzilla (1967)
King Kong Escapes (1967)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)
Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975)
The Return of Godzilla (1984)
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II (1993)
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995)
PLUS MANY MORE!!!
