Crew •
Shigeo Tanaka – director •
Noriaki Yuasa – special effects director • Kazufumi Fujii – special effects • Atsuji Shibata – production designer • Yonejiro Saito – planning • Yukio Okumura – audio recording • Masao Segawa – assistant director • Yoshizo Numata – production manager • Hiroshi Yamaguchi – art director • Akira Inoue – art director
Development Due to the commercial success of
Gamera, the Giant Monster, the follow-up,
Gamera vs. Barugon, had an expanded budget that effects director
Noriaki Yuasa stated was ¥80 million. Producer and studio head
Masaichi Nagata promoted the film into an A-list production, assigning acclaimed director
Shigeo Tanaka and acclaimed composer Chuji Kinoshita to the film. Yuasa, director of the previous
Gamera film, was demoted to special effects director for
Gamera vs. Barugon, despite the previous film being a financial success. Despite his demotion, Yuasa later stated that he had a father/son relationship with Tanaka. Yuasa recalled that Daiei wanted to target the film to an adult audience, stating, "I thought that mixing melodrama and monsters was difficult to do." With the film being produced as an A-list production, Nagata chose
Kojiro Hongo for the lead after wanting him to headline a film for some time, despite Hongo's uncertainty. Hongo felt "stuck" with performing in the film and initially attempted to drop out by faking an illness, which caused production to delay for a month. Upon learning that the production manager and section manager were coming to see him, Hongo placed blood-stained tissues in the trash and pretended to have chills, which convinced the managers and agreed to wait for his recovery, to Hongo's dismay. Hongo did not read the script after receiving it, believing that little acting was involved due to Yuasa telling him where the monsters would be placed. However, Hongo was unaware there were two directors: one for special effects and one for acting scenes. Years later, Hongo admitted to being grateful and proud to have been involved with the
Gamera and
Daimajin films. A scene that featured Osamu Abe's character slipping on a banana peel was cut to remove the comedic tone of the scene. Principal photography for the drama scenes directed by Tanaka began on February 20, 1966, and wrapped on April 5, 1966.
Writing Screenwriter Niisan Takahashi was told to write a "lavish spectacle" and to treat the monster elements seriously. The film was originally developed as
Gamera vs. the Ice Giants, which featured humanoid ice monsters bringing forth a new ice age on the world until Gamera returns to challenge them. The story outline was written by Yunosaburo Saito. This version began with volcanic eruptions and flying saucer sightings. The volcanic ash pollutes the atmosphere and ushers in a new ice age. Mankind learns that ice aliens are responsible for the eruptions. The aliens are described as hideous with their skeletons and organs transparent through their icy bodies. The aliens drop nuclear bombs into additional volcanoes to further
xenoform the planet and enslave humanity. Gamera is freed from the Z-Plan rocket and returns to Earth as a battle breaks between humans and the aliens. The film's plot was also influenced by the 1936 French film
They Were Five, as Takahashi was a fan of it. Takahashi was inspired by the
Jötnar from Norse mythology and the snow giants from
The Conquest of the Pole, however, the ice creatures were redeveloped into Barugon. However, the ice giant idea was later redeveloped into
Daimajin, dropping the ice element in favor of stone. Barugon's name was contracted from "Baru" (an aboriginal word for "crocodile's ancestor") and "Gon", derived from the English word for "dragon". The original screenplay had ideas and scene that were altered in the final film. The following are the noted differences. Barugon's back horns emitted different colors. The re-cap from the film's opening was added during post-production for audiences who had not seen the previous film. The script opened with Keisuke Hirata flying a Cessna with his instructor over Osaka, only to lose control due to radio interference. The scene then cuts to outer space where the Z-Plan rocket carrying Gamera nearly collides with a meteorite. Mission control manages to avoid a collision; however, the altered trajectory turns the rocket back to Earth and frees Gamera upon entering the Earth's atmosphere. Gamera's attack on Kurobe Dam intercut with Keisuke on the Cessna. The establishing shot of women practicing
koto was not in the script. The dancing female natives were originally topless. The quicksand scene was not featured in the script. The script featured a discussion between Keisuke and Onodera regarding bringing Kawajiri's bones back to Japan, with Onodera insisting there was no time. A scene from the script featured Onodera making his getaway at night by hijacking Dr. Matsushita's jeep. The script had Gamera flying over Onodera's ship in Kobe Bay, triggering the opal to glow. In his haste to see Gamera, Onodera kicks over the infrared lamp towards his coat pocket holding the opal. When Keisuke and Karen arrive in Japan, the dialogue remains the same as in the final film, but the script had Keisuke panicking and Karen unveil the diamond at this stage. Onodera learns about the diamond through a radio report while still tied up, as his mistress was not part of the script. In the original ending, in response to Keisuke saying he has nothing anymore, Karen asks if he has abandoned his dream of owning his own air service.
Special effects The special effects were directed by Noriaki Yuasa. Yonesaburo Tsukiji, the effects director of the previous film, did not return due to leaving Daiei to form his own company. Yuasa began filming the effects on January 22, 1966, beginning with the Kurobe Dam attack scene. Effects photography wrapped on April 3, 1966, with the Lake Iwa battle. Effects filming lasted 73 days. Barugon's demise was originally intended to be filmed on the last day of production on April 2, 1966, however, the Barugon suit would not sink and delayed production for a full day. Suit creator Ryosaku Takayama (suit creator for the
Ultraman series) removed the suit's head from the body, which allowed the prop to sink and complete production. Equis Productions, led by Masao Yagi and his family, created the film's scorpion props and the monster suits based on Akira Inoue's production designs. The Barugon suit was constructed by Takayama and detailed by the Yagi brothers. After returning to Tokyo, Takayama worked in Equis’ workshop to build full scale suits and miniatures of both monsters and a gimmick version of Barugon capable of spraying mist from its tongue. Takayama was assisted by Keisu Murase from Equis. Teruo Aragaki (suit performer for the
Ultraman series) was sent to Daiei to perform in the Gamera suit. While no documents have been released revealing the Barugon suit performer, Japanese fantasy expert August Ragone deduced that it may have been Umenosuke Izumi, due to Izumi being Aragaki's second and assuming the Gamera role in later films. Effects engineer Hideo Arikawa supervised the operation of wire-operated props, miniatures, pyrotechnics, and the scorpion props. Due to his father's acquaintance with
Eiji Tsuburaya, Yuasa was able to pull resources from
Tsuburaya Productions for the film's effects. At times, Yuasa was forced to change set ups for effects shots when Tanaka would change his mind at the last minute. Yuasa protested to the studio chief after discovering that some of his effects footage was being cut from the assembly, stating, "I'm the director of special effects! Don't change this cut!" The shrieking sounds for the cave bats were originally produced for the rat creatures for the unproduced film
Nezura. Yuasa noted Barugon's birth scene as the scene he "liked best". Additional wires were added to Barugon's head, as the motor inside made it heavy and difficult to lift with a single wire. It took Yuasa and his effects crew all night to film the shots with Barugon passing over a building with people projected inside and the freezing of Osaka, an effect that was deemed expensive. For scenes with Gamera breathing fire, Aragaki was not inside and the suit was held by wires. Propane and gasoline were used for the flames. Wire operations were tasked to effects engineer Haruo Sekia, who found the job difficult due to 20 wires being used during the Iwa battle scene and the materials used to make the suits making them heavy when absorbing water. ==English versions==