An untitled animated Godzilla film was planned for release in 1988, but was never produced.
History[]
In 1987, Variety reported that Henry G. Saperstein, head of UPA and a frequent collaborator with Toho on the Godzilla franchise, was currently planning production on an animated film featuring Godzilla to be released in 1988. Saperstein told the magazine that he was producing an animated film because a state-of-the-art live-action Godzilla film would cost $25,000,000 and be far too expensive.
Saperstein planned to maximize cost-effectiveness by performing pre-and post-production of the film in the United States and doing the animation in Japan. Saperstein also stated that he would be reassembling several of the UPA animators and crew who had worked on UPA's Oscar-winning cartoons in the 1950s. Isao Matsuoka, the president of Toho at the time, told Variety that in addition to Saperstein's animated film, the script for a new live-action Godzilla film, which would ultimately be Godzilla vs. Biollante, was being written and was planned for a 1988 release as well.
For whatever reason, Saperstein's film never materialized and was never mentioned again.[1] Saperstein would go on to head the negotiations with Hollywood executives that would lead to Sony Pictures Entertainment acquiring the rights to produce an American Godzilla film in 1992.
Trivia[]
- This film would have been the second animated feature based on the Godzilla franchise to be produced by Henry G. Saperstein, after The Godzilla Power Hour.
- Despite being scrapped, an animated Godzilla film was released three decades later, which turns out to be a trilogy: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater.
References[]
- ↑ "First I've ever heard of this." Tumblr. Retrieved June 18, 2017
