Godzilla is Born

ゴジラ誕生

Godzilla is Born

田中友幸は水爆反対をテーマに掲げ、「ゴジラ」の寓意を以下のように説きました――水爆実験で甦った恐竜が東京を襲う。つまり人間が造りあげた水爆という文明の利器に、人間自身が、大都市東京が復讐されるのである。

Tomoyuki Tanaka, who took up the theme of anti-hydrogen bombs, explained the allegory of “Godzilla” as follows: A dinosaur resurrected by a hydrogen bomb test attacks Tokyo. In other words, humans themselves, the great city of Tokyo, are being avenged by the hydrogen bomb, a tool of modern civilization that humans have created.

本作の成功を左右する鍵となる特撮は円谷英二に託されました。円谷は米国映画「キング・コング」(1933)を観て特撮の魅力に取り憑かれて以来、その技術を熱心に研究していたのです。

The special effects, which were crucial to the success of this film, were entrusted to Eiji Tsuburaya. After becoming fascinated with special effects after watching the American film “King Kong” (1933), Tsuburaya began to study the technology diligently.

続いて田中は売れっ子の探偵小説家。香山滋に検討用台本を依頼。その台本をもとに本多猪四郎監督と脚本家の村田武雄が準備稿を仕上げ、いよいよ本格的に「ゴジラ」が動き始めます。

Next, Tanaka asked Shigeru Kayama, a popular detective novelist, to write a script for review. Based on that script, director Ishiro Honda and screenwriter Takeo Murata completed the preliminary draft, and finally “Godzilla” began to move forward in earnest.

ゴジラの造形

Godzilla’s Sculpture

まだ誰も見たことがない未知の怪物=ゴジラの最終的なデザインは、美術監督渡辺明が恐竜を参考にして描きました。渡辺のデザインを立体化したのは、彫刻家の利光貞三です。利光が制作したゴジラのひな形は、ゴジラが海中に棲むことから、全身を魚のウロコが覆っているもの、丸い粒状の突起があるものなどが作られ、最後にワニのような敵状のウロコを参考に、全身にヒダを付けて完成しました。

The final design of Godzilla, an unknown monster that no one has ever seen before, was drawn by art director Akira Watanabe, who used dinosaurs as a reference. Sculptor Teizo Tokimitsu brought Watanabe’s design to life. The prototype of Godzilla that Tokimitsu created had fish scales covering its entire body, as Godzilla lives in the sea, and round, granular protrusions. Finally, he added folds to the entire body, inspired by the scales of a crocodile-like foe.

円谷英二は当初「キング・コング」と同じ人形アニメーション―人形を少しずつ動かしてコマ撮りする手法を考えていましたが、時間的、費用的な制約から、人間がぬいぐるみの中に入って動く“着ぐるみ”での撮影を採用することにしました。

Eiji Tsuburaya initially considered using the same puppet animation technique as “King Kong,” in which a puppet would be moved bit by bit and filmed stop-motion, but due to time and financial constraints, he decided to film using “costumes,” in which a person would move inside a stuffed animal.

Captions

ゴジラが海底に積んでいたという設定から魚のウロコ状の表皮も検討された

Because Godzilla was said to have been lying on the ocean floor, fish-scale-like skin was also considered.

全身を覆う粒状突起の表皮
Granular epidermis covering entire body

完成目前のひな形
A template nearing completion

利光貞三(彫刻家) 1909-1982
Teizo Tokumitsu (sculptor) 1909-1982

(左)本多猪四郎監督 1911-1993
(Left) Director Ishiro Honda 1911-1993

(右)円谷英二特技監督1901-1970
(Right) Eiji Tsuburaya, special effects director 1901-1970

Source: 特撮のDNA Ueda