Godzilla had been well on his way to becoming a children's icon starting around the release of Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), with Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966) doing even more to soften the Big G's image so he could appear less threatening. Director Jun Fukuda, who helmed that entry, clearly had no qualms with making the big brute more loveable. Fukuda's next foray into the series would make Godzilla his least intimidating incarnation yet by giving him a son. Minya, or Minilla (a portmanteau or Mini-Godzilla), is easily one of the most divisive kaiju to appear in the films. You either love him or absolutely hate everything about him. In some ways, he is the Jar Jar of this universe - bumbling, well-meaning, always annoying no matter what he's doing, slightly cute, slightly revolting. The series certainly lost an appreciable amount of credibility by so blatantly pandering to kids. But at this point, kaiju films were losing their luster in theaters, so Toho really had no other option but to try marketing to an undiscerning crowd. There needed to be some kind of shake-up to the series, which was part of the reason director Jun Fukuda and composer Masaru Satoh were brought on board. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka wanted to see how another creative team could handle bringing Godzilla to life. The two films Fukuda made before director Ishiro Honda and composer Akira Ifukube were brought back (for yet another "final" film) are unique in their own right in many ways. Each takes place on an island locale, the human drama is small in scale and surprisingly engaging, and Godzilla takes on a much more protective role. While it's hard to argue the quality didn't dip after Honda's run with the series, fans can readily admit Fukuda's entries are a lot of fun to watch.
A team of scientists on a small island have been working tirelessly to conduct weather experiments designed to help cultivate currently unusable lands so that food can be harvested for the ever-expanding world population. They are alone aside from a handful of massive 7-foot-tall praying mantises. A nosy reporter shows up one day (that's some real dedication, btw) and annoys some of the men, but he's allowed to stay and become the cook after proving himself useful. The group performs an experiment that goes awry, causing a radioactive fallout to cover the island. It also causes the mantises, known as Kamacuras, to grow to an even larger size. The men follow the Kamacuras' to find them digging an egg out of a pile of rubble, eventually cracking it open to reveal a giant turkey, er, Minya, Godzilla's son. The Kamacuras' are just about ready to have a meal of Minya when Big Daddy G shows up and promptly exterminates two of the three bugs. Their other buddy wisely retreats. Now that they can spend some quality time together, Godzilla teaches his son the art of being a monster, including how to blow fire. Except Minya can only blow smoke rings unless under heavy stress, like when daddy accidentally steps on his tail. When Reiko, a native girl, mistakenly wakes up Kumonga, the giant spider, Minya comes to her aid as best he can before getting wrapped up in webbing. And his cries can only mean one thing - Big G is gonna have to step in and save the day. Which he does because that's what he always does. Meanwhile, the scientists figure out a way to make their experiment go off without a hitch just as they escape the island, covering it in a thick layer of snow that blankets a now-hibernating Godzilla and son.
Part of what makes this entry an easy watch is the return of some of the series' familiar faces. Akihiko Hirata returns, this time in the role of a benevolent scientist; and Akira Kubo, one of our lead astronauts from Invasion of Astro-Monster is back, this time as the unflappable reporter whose curiosity vexes some of the men. Even as a kid, I remember the films having a comfortable feeling because I kept seeing the same faces pop up in all the Showa entries. Hirata's presence always lends an air of gravitas to these productions, whereas Kubo brings with him a sense of wonder and confidence.
I really dug the island setting Fukuda employed for this film and its predecessor. Godzilla has stomped the hell out of Tokyo and every other coastal city by now, so why not see how he fares on one of the many islands out in the Pacific? The change of scenery gives the Big G some new grounds to literally stomp upon, as well as explaining how he comes across many of his opponents - they live there. But it isn't just the island alone that makes these installments fun; it's also Masaru Satoh's jazzy, atypical scores. His work on Son of Godzilla is very similar to his last effort, losing the pomp & circumstance of Ifukube's deadly serious scores in favor of what feels like a fun tropical romp with our favorite giant lizard.
Minya. Minilla. Godzilla's seed. When I was a kid, I assumed there was some Mama Godzilla out there somewhere, and that maybe she'd show up at the end of the film or something. When that didn't happen after a few viewings (kids sometimes think movies might end differently upon subsequent viewings; I know I did) I just figured Godzilla must be some asexual reptile that made his own egg. Maybe it got lonely being out there, with nothing to do but smash Tokyo and eat villagers. Regardless of his reasoning, he made a son. Minya looks like a buttered turkey when he hatches, so it's no wonder Kamacuras wanted to have a bite. Luckily, he's able to grow very quickly... and then just stop. Honestly, he grows to around 1/3 of Godzilla's size in no time, but when we see him again 32 years later in Destroy All Monsters he's still the same little shit. He can't even breathe fire any better. He's not intolerable or anything, but he also ain't exactly cute. Mostly, he just wanders around, gets fascinated by girls, and causes just enough mischief that Godzilla has to be roused from his slumber to whoop some ass. He only appears in 3 out of 28 films in the series, and considering Godzilla's new-found status as friend to children everywhere, it was a smart PR move to have him baby-up.
New attitude, new look. Godzilla was bound to get an updated visage once again, especially with this entry's special effects being handled primarily by Sadamasa Arikawa, with pioneer Eiji Tsuburaya only listed as a supervisor. The alterations this time around were much more severe, with Godzilla's head in particular being remolded to look more human and less reptile. His eyes have been enlarged even further, his dorsal fins are rounded and less severe, the tail shortened, and his nose made more snub. Fittingly, he does have a more fatherly appearance than ever before. Kids may have dug the design, but it's a far cry from the apex looks provided in the early '60s. This suit was dubbed MusukoGoji, and it would appear later on in Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) during the water scenes.
The new monsters this time around have never been fan favorites. Kamacuras, a praying mantis, and Kumonga, the spider. Both monsters would eventually go on to be "featured" in Godzilla: Final Wars as alien-controlled opponents. I use "featured" in quotes because anyone who has seen that film knows each battle lasts about as long as it took to write this sentence. Godzilla has fought insects many times throughout the series, and he's scheduled to do so again with the new film coming this year. Insects are known for their ruthlessness in nature, so they make good opponents for their natural enemy - a lizard. Kamacuras doesn't have much of an attack ability, which explains how Godzilla destroyed two of them in record time. At least Kumonga can shoot webs, similar to Mothra in larva form, but that shit doesn't hold up too well to fire. And Godzilla has plenty of that.
The American version of Son of Godzilla doesn't deviate too much from the Japanese version. The major difference being that the opening pre-credit sequence featuring an airplane almost running into a seafaring Godzilla is cut. A couple of monster's get new names, too - Kamacuras is referred to as Gimantis, and Kumonga is rechristened Spiga. The American version bypassed theaters, instead premiering on TV in 1969.
Tomoyuki Tanaka must have sensed that Godzilla was getting a bit too soft (plus box office returns were getting low), causing him to bring back the dream team of director Ishiro Honda and composer Akira Ifukube for what was intended to be Godzill'a cinematic farewell, Destory All Monsters (1968). But we all know that just wasn't true...
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