Mothra

Name The name is the suffixation of "-ra" to the English word "moth"; since the Japanese language does not have dental fricatives, it is approximated "Mosura" in Japanese. The "ra" suffix follows the precedent set by Godzilla (Gojira), which in turn is derived from , which serves to indicate the character's enormous size. Dican International Pictures entitled the movie Godzilla vs. the Thing, probably to avoid legal action from Columbia Pictures, which had released the original Mothra. Development Mothra was first conceived in the January 1961 serial The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by authors Shinichiro Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga and Yoshie Hotta, who had been commissioned by Toho to write the outline of a future film. The character was further developed by Shinichi Sekizawa, whose experiences of starving in the South Pacific islands during World War II prompted him to envision a movie featuring an island where mysterious events occurred. In her 1961 debut, Mothra's adult form consisted of a wire-operated mechanical puppet, while the larva was a suitmation puppet operated by six stuntmen crawling in single file. In Mothra vs. Godzilla three years later, the adult Mothra puppet was modified with radio-controlled legs, while the larvae were portrayed via a combination of motor-driven props and hand puppets. The larval Mothra featured in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster remained largely unchanged from its previous appearance, though the color of its eyes was changed from blue to red. The adult Mothra prop featured in Mothra vs. Godzilla was reused in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, though previous heavy use had dulled its colors, frayed the fur on the head and damaged the wings. During the early Heisei era of Godzilla films, which ignored the continuity established in pre-1984 movies, several attempts were made to develop a Mothra standalone feature. Akira Murao wrote a screenplay in 1990 entitled Mothra vs. Bagan, which revolved around a shape-shifting dragon called Bagan who sought to destroy humanity for its abuse of the Earth's resources, only to be defeated by Mothra, the god of peace. The screenplay was revised by Kazuki Ōmori after the release of Godzilla vs. Biollante, though the project was ultimately scrapped by Toho, due to the poor box office performance of Godzilla vs. Biollante, as well as the assumption that Mothra was a character born purely out of Japanese culture and thus would have been difficult to market overseas, unlike the more internationally recognized Godzilla. With the success of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Toho sought to continue the series' newfound profitability by reintroducing familiar monsters rather than inventing new ones. Mothra was chosen as Godzilla's next antagonist on account of the character's popularity with women, who constituted the majority of cinemagoers at the time. Special effects head Koichi Kawakita co-wrote a screenplay entitled Godzilla vs. Gigamoth in 1991, which would have pitted Mothra against Godzilla and an irradiated Mothra doppelganger called Gigamoth, though this was rejected early on and replaced with the final plotline that was seen in the film Godzilla vs. Mothra. Kawakita's depiction of Mothra's adult form was given the ability to fire energy beams, which were rendered via optical effects, and the pollen dust emitted from its wings were given a sparkling effect not seen in prior movies. During the character's transformation from larva to adult, it was initially planned to have Mothra's unfolding wings rendered through CGI, though this was scrapped on account of it not looking "sensitive" enough. Although the movie was a financial success, the Mothra props were criticized by several authors, who noted that the adult Mothra's brighter colors made it look like a "plush toy" and that its wings flapped less gracefully than in previous incarnations, as they were made of heavy cloth. The Mothra puppet's immobile chicken-like feet and the lack of undulation in the larva prop's movements were also commented on as being inferior to the effects seen in 1960s Mothra movies. Criticism was also leveled at Mothra's altered origin story, which portrayed her as an extraterrestrial, thus dampening the character's motivation for protecting Earth. The character's newfound popularity nevertheless prompted Toho to produce Rebirth of Mothra in 1996. For Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, director Shūsuke Kaneko had originally planned on using Anguirus as one of Godzilla's antagonists, but was pressured by Toho chairman Isao Matsuoka to use the more recognizable and profitable Mothra, as the previous film in the franchise, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, which featured an original and unfamiliar antagonist, was a box office and critical failure. For 2003's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., special effects director Eiichi Asada sought to model Mothra directly on her appearance in the original 1961 film and to keep optical effects to a minimum. As with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah, the adult Mothra was given mobile legs, though they were made to constantly move, as it was felt that the prop stopped looking realistic once they became immobile. Creature designer Shinichi Wakasa had initially wanted Mothra's wings to have the angular design seen in Rebirth of Mothra II, though the prop was ultimately given the wing shape seen in the 1960s movies. In addition, Mothra's twin larvae, one male and one female, were given nicknames by the staff on set - the male, who can be distinguished by his longer tusks and spikes, was nicknamed Taro, while the female was nicknamed Hanako. Mothra's fairies }} Mothra is usually accompanied by tiny twin female fairies, which Shinichi Sekizawa termed , meaning "little beauties". The original draft for Mothra called for four fairies, though Sekizawa reduced the number to two, as twins were comparatively rare in Japan, thus adding to the characters' mystique. Toho also sought to reinforce its links with Columbia Pictures, by featuring the singing duo the Peanuts, who had been popularized in America by Columbia Records. Yūji Koseki composed the song Mosura no uta ("Song of Mothra") for the fairies to sing when summoning Mothra. The song was originally sung in Indonesian, but there is also a later version, set to the same tune, sung in Japanese: The Peanuts were given an additional song in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster entitled "Cry for Happiness", composed by Hiroshi Miyagawa. The Peanuts did not reprise their role in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and were replaced by the singing duo Pair Bambi. In Godzilla vs. Mothra, the fairies are renamed the and are played by Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa. This casting move was criticized by Godzilla historian Steve Ryfle, who lamented the fact that the two actresses were not identical and that their singing voices were "paper thin." According to Takao Okawara, the Cosmos scenes were among the hardest scenes he had ever filmed, as the actresses had to synchronize their movements without looking at each other. In the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, Mothra's fairies are called the which consist of Moll, Lora, and their estranged sister Belvera. Moll and Lora contrast with prior adaptations because they possess separate personalities and rarely act in unison. Megumi Kobayashi was cast as Moll for all three films, Sayaka Yamaguchi as Lora for the first two films, Misato Tate as Lora for the third film and Aki Hano as Belvera for all three films. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack does not feature Mothra's fairies, but they are however given a nod in the form of a pair of twin girls wearing white clothes during the scene where Mothra flies over Tokyo. They are played by sisters Ai and Aki Maeda. In the anime trilogy directed by Gen Urobuchi, the fairies are human-sized sisters named Maina and Miana. Their people are the , descendants of humans that evolved through Mothra's influence with both telepathy and an immunity to the assimilative properties of nanometal. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it's revealed that Monarch researcher Dr. Ilene Chen (played by Zhang Ziyi) has an identical twin sister named Dr. Ling Chen, who is also in Monarch and is present at Mothra's hatching. The Chens are part of a family which appears to consist almost entirely of pairs of identical twin sisters, two of whom are shown visiting Infant Island (Mothra's traditional home) in 1961. The film's director and co-screenwriter, Michael Dougherty, confirmed the twins to be an updated version of the fairies, explaining, "It was important to me to find ways to modernize the ideas that [Mothra] has followers. Modernize the priestesses. [There] are still certain realms of believability to keep in take. You have to ease people into the more fantastical aspects." He noted that the twins were a "perfect example" of humans and monsters cooperating and forming a "symbiotic relationship with each other", saying, “The twins are an example of a very successful, long relationship...so I wanted to make sure that we found some way to incorporate them, even if it was a little bit of an Easter egg.” ==Character biography==