TOMOYUKI TANAKA
Name: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Born: 26 April 1910
Died: 2 April 1997
Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, most
famous for creating the Godzilla movies. He was born in Osaka, Japan on April 26,
1910, and died in Tokyo on April 2, 1997.
Soon after graduating from Kansai University in 1940, Tanaka joined Toho Studios.
After four years with the company, he began producing his own films. In his 60-year
career with Toho, Tanaka produced more than 200 films.
He is best known as the creator, with storyteller Shigeru Kayama, director
Ishir Honda and special-effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, of Godzilla, the
towering embodiment of post-World War II anxiety. Tanaka created Godzilla in
1954 in an effort to illlustrate the terror Japanese felt after the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The classic Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1954;
released in the U.S. in 1956) would spawn a series of sequels, adding up to 28
films by 2004.
In addition to other sci-fi thrillers (often with the other three members of the
Godzilla team: Honda and Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube) such as The
Mysterians (1957) and Matango (1963), Tanaka produced films directed by the
acclaimed Akira Kurosawa. Their film Kagemusha (1980) was nominated for a Best
Foreign Film Oscar and took the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
He has a dedication to his death in the remake of Godzilla.
Name: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Born: 26 April 1910
Died: 2 April 1997
Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, most
famous for creating the Godzilla movies. He was born in Osaka, Japan on April 26,
1910, and died in Tokyo on April 2, 1997.
Soon after graduating from Kansai University in 1940, Tanaka joined Toho Studios.
After four years with the company, he began producing his own films. In his 60-year
career with Toho, Tanaka produced more than 200 films.
He is best known as the creator, with storyteller Shigeru Kayama, director
Ishir Honda and special-effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, of Godzilla, the
towering embodiment of post-World War II anxiety. Tanaka created Godzilla in
1954 in an effort to illlustrate the terror Japanese felt after the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The classic Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1954;
released in the U.S. in 1956) would spawn a series of sequels, adding up to 28
films by 2004.
In addition to other sci-fi thrillers (often with the other three members of the
Godzilla team: Honda and Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube) such as The
Mysterians (1957) and Matango (1963), Tanaka produced films directed by the
acclaimed Akira Kurosawa. Their film Kagemusha (1980) was nominated for a Best
Foreign Film Oscar and took the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
He has a dedication to his death in the remake of Godzilla.