The Godzilla vs Destoroyah Script

7.27.2023

There are few Godzilla collectibles I value more than movie props. My most cherished items are Godzilla scripts. I’ve been fortunate to have found a few. The few I have, I love. One is signed by the director and cinematographer and some are reprints. Scripts are hard to come by and are very expensive. Only a few scripts have been reprinted for fans and collectors. Small replica blank notebooks bearing select script covers have been released and are available at the Godzilla Store and online. I’m elated to know that a special edition reprint of the King Kong vs Godzilla (1962) script will be available to collectors of the Godzilla & Toho Tokusatsu Mook series (ゴジラ＆東宝特撮 OFFICIAL MOOK). Original Godzilla scripts can be found on exhibit at various Godzilla events around Japan, such as the Godzilla Showa Base exhibit in Ario Yao in 2019 where I saw a set of scripts.

A few days ago I added the shooting script from Godzilla vs Destoroyah (1995), the final installment in the Heisei series in which Godzilla dies. It has not been my favorite 90s film for that reason. So in the past I didn’t go out of my way to acquire related collectibles. But the script was an irresistible piece of history just like my acquisition of a Toho special newsflash promotional Betamax video for the film that I found in 2022. Now with the script in hand I’m invested and drawn into the final chapter of the series in new ways. I want to explore the story’s development and examine the plot’s connective tissue in greater detail.

The Godzilla vs Destoroyah cover is deep red like that of Godzilla (1984). But unlike predecessors it reproduces the original Godzilla comic book art of American artist Arthur Adams from the Dark Horse Comics Godzilla Color Special (1992), translated into Japanese in 1993.¹ Godzilla, crouched over, emerges from the sea holding the oxygen destroyer in his claws. The title art is set at the top to the right with “Final Manuscript,” Toho copyright and the date June 30, 1995.

A script (台本 だいほん daikon), screenplay (脚本 きゃくほん kyaduhon), or scenario (シナリオ) is the blueprint and DNA for a film. They are *legs” that take the film wherever they are facing. Because of their great importance to directors, performers, staff, etc., scripts must be accurate and concise.² Godzilla scripts are an invitation behind the scenes of movie production into the minds of producers, directors, screenwriters and characters. Collecting scripts is like asking a movie for its autograph. Delving into these Japanese scripts is like an archaeology dig, where a page with their scenes is a tell. I approach scripts like studying ancient Hebrew and Greek biblical manuscripts in seminary. The lines are priceless artifacts revealing the screenwriter’s essential story. Studying a movie’s plot development sometimes recover details loss in editing that shed light on confusion movie moments.

Scripts are not polished publications but rather works in progress to be marked up as needed. Godzilla scripts have histories of revision usually stated on the cover. Most covers are very scant and provide the most minimal but essential information. Showa script covers were typically off-white bearing large movie titles art in color with the Toho logo, date and description set off to the side or below. The Heisei script covers come in an assortment of colors (eg, black, blue, pale green, teal, red) in addition to off-white. Each stage in development of a script is indicated on the script, sometimes assisted by a different cover color (eg, blue, red and black covers of Godzilla 1984). Final scripts are usually marked with “final manuscript” (決定稿 けっていこう kettiko) within a thin rule box. Heisei scripts after Biollante (1989) have illustrated covers featuring Godzilla’s adversaries.

In the publication of Godzilla vs Destoroyah Completion (ゴジラvsデストロイア コンプリーション) in 2017 by Hobby Japan, the initial plots, proposals, and revised scripts were unveiled for the first time. The first proposal was “Godzilla vs Ghost Godzilla”『ゴジラvsゴーストゴジラ』by Producer Shogo Toyama. Although Godzilla’s body was physically destroyed by the oxygen destroyer in 1954, his life force remained at the bottom of Tokyo Bay as bioenergy that eventually gathered over the next 40 years. The energy mass began to search for a physical body and consciousness. This wandering Ghost Godzilla has the anger and pain of the original Godzilla. He hates Tokyo and the people. Like a demon he is intelligent but invisible to human eyes. The ghost finds a body in Little Godzilla. He measures 80 meters with long gangs. His special abilities transcend the laws of physics and include teleportation, levitation, spewing ectoplasm to clone itself, and possession of another’s body. He transforms into Little Godzilla when in danger. He hates the light and is limited to the area where the first Godzilla attacked. Godzilla fights him to recapture Little Godzilla. Ghost Godzilla fights Godzilla to become “an invisible God of Destruction.”³

Then Kazuki Omori proposed “Godzilla vs Godzilla” with a plot based on Toyama’s proposal. “The ghost of the original Godzilla transforms into Aurora Godzilla and fuses with Little Godzilla. The last part is about a fierce battle between Little Godzilla, who was resurrected with plutonium, and Crystal Godzilla, which is a combination of the first Godzilla’s bones and the life force energy of the first Godzilla, and the biggest feature is that only various Godzilla characters appear.”⁴

Concept art of Barubaroi’s resembling Destoroyah (Source: Wikizilla)

Then Hideki Oka sent his proposal “Godzilla vs Barubaroi [Barbarian]” 『ゴジラvsバルバロイ』along with illustrations drawnly Kaoru Kamikiku to Director Kawakita.⁵ At the end of 1994, six days after the proposal for “Godzilla vs. Barubaroi” was written, Toho Visual Arts made significant decisions during a meeting for “Godzilla 7” (12/29/1994): 1) Godzilla would die at the beginning of the story and lead to the revenge of Little Godzilla 2) G-Force; 3) Little Godzilla grows into a new generation of Godzilla; 4) Set in the cities around the world with Tokyo as the stage of the ultimate last battle with the death of Godzilla, where Little Godzilla grows; and 5) The final battle against a new monster and a third guest monster. The producers wanted Godzilla to battle an opponent with visual impact.⁶

Following, the “Godzilla vs Destoroyah” scenario was developed (3/4/1995). At this stage, the characters that appeared in the main story were solidified. Director Okawara and Director Kawakita met and revised the proposal organizing the flow of the stories of two monsters. They added Godzilla’s attack on Hong Kong, the reappearance of Hamaoka nuclear power plant from 1984, the absorption of carbon dioxide by Godzilla from the destroyed Destoroyah, the dissolution of Tokyo Tower and the Diet building, the birth of Destoroyah by promoting the growth of OD substances, and and the development of the anti-oxygen destroyer. Most of which did not appear in the finished work.⁷

The first draft, “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” Review Draft (4/28/1994, 92 pages), was produced in which the storyline was formed. A month later the preliminary manuscript, “Godzilla vs Destoroyah” Preparatory Draft (5/27/1995, 103 pages), was completed. The main scenes not carried over was Godzilla’s attack on the submarine Nautilus off the coast of Taiwan, G-Force Apache helicopters attacking Godzilla with cadmium bullets off the coast of Okinawa, and the confrontation between Junior and Destoroyah at Shinagawa Station.⁸

And finally, the shooting script (『ゴジラvsデストロイア』改訂台本) emerged. This is the final draft finished by Kazuki Omori and Director Okawara. “A revised script is a script in which the director and others make new changes to the completed script with the permission of the producer.” It is the closest to the finished work. Inserted at this time was the special forces confrontation of the infant Destoroyah and the patrol car attacked by the infant Destoroyah. This script had not been published until the release of Godzilla vs Destoroyah Completion in 2017. ⁹

When the script arrived in the mail. I found my two favorite scenes: 1) When Kenkichi Yamane says, “Meltdown!”「メルトダウン!」when Godzilla’s temperature finally reaches 1200°C; 2) The final scene when Junior, having absorbed all the radiation, emerges as the new Godzilla. Junior becomes stronger than his predecessor with no trace of being a dinosaur. And the last line of the script is the question, “Is he an enemy or an ally of mankind?”「やつは、人類の敵か味方か。」

My script included two stapled photocopies of Cast 2-3 (人−２、人－３) and Cast 6-7 (人－６d、人－７) with actors and actresses written where there were none. Such an addition evidences the use of this script by someone on movie set and in production.

Finding the Godzilla vs Destoroyah script for sale was a surprise. The price was very good in comparison to the few others available. The condition is excellent. It was well kept. I never dreamt of having Godzilla scripts. They are those special movie memorabilia that standout in a collection.