How The Indonesian Government Unintentionally Gave Birth To Godzilla
According to the lore of Ishiro Honda's original Godzilla film "Gojira" (1954), the title monster came into being as the direct result of nuclear tests held in out in the Pacific. An unseen ancient sea creature was exposed to radiation from said tests, causing it to mutate into a 130-meter-tall amphibious dinosaur-like behemoth that climbs out of the ocean and lays waste to cities in Japan. It crushed buildings underfoot and can breathe clouds of destructive radiation. Nothing seems to be able to stop it.
"Gojira" was partially inspired by the real-life Daigo Fukuryu Maru disaster, an even in which a Japanese fishing vessel was exposed to nuclear radiation during the United States' Castle Bravo H-bomb tests. One of the sailors died, the rest of the crew was sick, and the Japanese public became concerned that the fish may have been tainted. Nuclear fears were justifiably high in 1954, making Honda's film incredibly timely. In subsequent sequels, Godzilla's origins have changed multiple times, fundamentally altering his status as a symbol for nuclear fear, but for decades, Godzilla persisted as the echo of the damage the United States did to Japan during World War II.
It seems that Godzilla's origins, however, were also born from a much drier, more bureaucratic source: the need to fill out a film schedule. According to a special issue of LIFE Magazine all about Godzilla published in 2019, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka conceived of "Godzilla" after another picture fell through. Tanaka was working on a film called "In the Shadow of Glory," a massive historical war epic that Japan was to shoot in conjunction with the government of Indonesia. When Indonesia withdrew their aid, Tanaka was in a lurch.
Luckily, he remembered a recent American monster movie, and felt he could do something similar at Toho.
In the Shadow of Honor gave way to Godzilla
"In the Shadow of Glory" aka "Shadow of Honor" (depending on the translation), was all ready to go in the early months of 1954. Tanaka had flown to Jakarta to discuss filming details with Indonesian officials, and everything seemed to be moving forward. "Glory" was to star the well-known actor Ryo Ikebe and singer Yoshiko Yamaguchi (later a member of Japan's House of Councillors as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party). They were to play the two lovers in an epic romance set in Indonesia during the Japanese Occupation (1942 to 1945) when Indonesia was still called the Dutch East Indies. It was to be a big-budget production, filmed in color (a first for Toho), and be shown throughout Southeast Asia.
The Indonesian War of Independence ended in 1949, however, and relations between the country and Japan became strained throughout the early 1950s. Tanaka may have been focused on making an epic cross-country romance, but Indonesia decided that they didn't want to collaborate; tensions were too high and political tempers were boiling. At the last minute, then, Indonesia pulled out on "In the Shadow of Glory," and Tanaka was left holding the bag. He had a big hole in the production schedule and an un-allocated budget.
Tanaka claims the idea for Godzilla came to him while he was flying back to Japan from Jakarta after the deal fell apart. "It was easy to say that the film was just canceled," he said, "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 was sweating the whole time."
Tanaka claims to have been looking out the window at the Pacific Ocean, when the "Eureka" moment hit.
The Japanese version of 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'
Tanaka also happened to be thinking of a recent 1953 American hit film called "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms," a film about a dinosaur released from a frozen prison in the polar ice cap, freed by a nuclear test. It's also worth noting that the celebrated 1933 monster classic "King Kong" had just be re-released for its 20th anniversary, raking in a huge amount of money for its studio. With a bunch of money in his lap, and a big hole to fill on Toho's schedule, Tanaka is reported to have said "The thesis was very simple. [...] What if a dinosaur sleeping in the Southern Hemisphere had been awakened and transformed into a giant by the Bomb? What if it attacked Tokyo?" This was a quote from William Tsutsui's 2004 biography "Godzilla on My Mind."
According to Ishiro Honda, however, the "Gojira" screenplay had already been written when Tanaka claims to have had his "bolt from the blue" moment, so Tanaka could have been playfully fibbing, or merely exaggerating his "Eureka" moment.
What we do know for sure is that "In the Shadow of Glory" was indeed in production when the Indonesian government pulled the plug. It's more likely that "Gojira" was floating through the studio at about the same time, and locked into the now-open spot on Toho's schedule by mere happenstance.
It was a lucky happenstance, however, as Godzilla movies are still being made to this day. Everyone won.