Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Lore & Background

The film was developed as a co-production with Rankin/Bass featuring King Kong, but the partnership fell through when Rankin/Bass insisted on directors Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya, while Toho wanted Jun Fukuda and Sadamasa Arikawa. Toho liked the script enough to substitute Godzilla for King Kong and release it as a New Year's blockbuster. The screenplay was written by Shinichi Sekizawa, and little was changed from the Kong version, with Godzilla displaying a Kong-inspired interest in the native girl Daiyo.

Reader's Guide

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep marks a shift in the Godzilla series, moving the setting to a Pacific island rather than Japan, a choice repeated only in Son of Godzilla (1967). The film introduced Ebirah, a giant lobster-like creature, and featured Mothra in her adult winged form. Director Jun Fukuda disliked the film, calling it 'an old wound.' The underwater sequences were filmed in a soundstage aquarium, with actor Haruo Nakajima wearing a wet suit under the Godzilla suit for a week of water filming. The film was released directly to television in the United States in 1968 as Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.

Did You Know?

• The film was originally intended to star King Kong, but the character was replaced by Godzilla after Rankin/Bass dropped out of the co-production.
• Director Jun Fukuda selected composer Masaru Sato to give the film a different touch from Ishiro Honda's films, over producer Tomoyuki Tanaka's objections.
• Actress Kumi Mizuno replaced Noriko Takahashi as Daiyo after Takahashi fell ill with appendicitis during production.
• Godzilla's helicopter spin of Ebirah was actually filmed and appears in the final movie.