History Trivia / TheReturnOfGodzilla

* OldShame: The infamous sorrowful scream Godzilla lets out in the alternate mix of the film's ending seems to be this in Toho's eyes, as they've never released the "B" mix officially since the '80s and have had the scream in particular excluded from dubs that originally used it.

** Subverted, and a good thing too. Originally, New World reportedly planned to re-write the dialogue in order to turn the film into a tongue-in-cheek comedy (à la What's Up, Tiger Lily?), but this plan was reportedly scrapped because Raymond Burr expressed displeasure at the idea, taking the idea of Godzilla as a nuclear metaphor seriously. The only dialogue left over from that script was "That's quite an urban renewal program they've got going over there", said by Major [=McDonough=].

* UncreditedRole: Continuing the tradition of the past films, no credits are included for the dub actors. Unlike much of the past films however, the actors have been identified and most of their roles have similarly been confirmed through behind-the-scenes interviews[[note]]The cast includes Creator/TonyPlana as Goro, Lara Cody as Naoko, Andy Goldberg as Hiroshi, and Paul Wilson as Professor Hayashida; with most of the incidentals voiced by [=SuperLoopers=] founder Dee Marcus, Gregory Snegoff and Ed and Linda Cook.[[/note]]

* AwesomeDearBoy: For the American cut, Raymond Burr was more than happy to reprise his role from [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956 the American cut of the original]] which had been one of his favorite projects due to his respect for the [[Film/Godzilla1954 original Godzilla]] as dark, serious allegory for nuclear weapons. He was thus appalled by the American studio wanting to turn this film, that in the original Japanese cut was revisiting those dark and haunting roots, into more of a comedy and [[WagTheDirector told them that if they tried]] then [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he would walk]].

* AwesomeDearBoy: For the American cut, Raymond Burr was more than happy to reprise his role from [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956 the American cut of the original]] which had been one of his favorite projects due to his respect for the [[Film/Godzilla1954 original Godzilla]] as dark, serious allegory for nuclear weapons. He was thus appalled by the American studio wanting to turn this film, that was revisiting those dark and haunting roots in the original Japanese cut, into more of a comedy and [[WagTheDirector told them that if they tried]] then [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he would walk]].

* AwesomeDearBoy: For the American cut, Raymond Burr was more than happy to reprise his role from [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956 the American cut of the original]] which had been one of his favorite projects due to his respect for the [[Film/Godzilla1954 original Godzilla]] as dark, serious allegory for nuclear weapons. He was thus appalled by the American studio wanting to turn this film, that was revisiting those dark and haunting roots in the original Japanese cut, into more of a comedy and [[WagTheDirector told them that if they tried then he would walk]].

* AwesomeDearBoy: For the American cut, Raymond Burr was more than happy to reprise his role from the American cut of the original which had been one of his favorite projects due to respecting Godzilla as an allegory for nuclear weapons. He was thus appalled by the American studio wanting to turn this film, that was revisiting those dark and haunting roots in the original Japanese cut, into more of a comedy and [[WagTheDirector told them that if they tried then he would walk]].

* ExecutiveMeddling: Subverted, and a good thing too. Originally, New World reportedly planned to re-write the dialogue in order to turn the film into a tongue-in-cheek comedy (à la What's Up, Tiger Lily?), but this plan was reportedly scrapped because Raymond Burr expressed displeasure at the idea, taking the idea of Godzilla as a nuclear metaphor seriously. The only dialogue left over from that script was "That's quite an urban renewal program they've got going over there", said by Major [=McDonough=].
** EnforcedMethodActing: At the same time, Raymond Burr was not amused with the line while the scene was being shot. This was actually confirmed. It is often rumored his reaction to the line in the film is genuine.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Akihiko Hirata, the recurring actor in the Godzilla series, was to portray Professor Hayashida. Unfortunately, he died before production, being replaced by Yosuke Natsuki. Kenpachiro Satsuma plays Godzilla for the first time because of the previous stuntman decided not to wear the suit.

** Additionally, Godzilla originally was going to have a monster opponent to fight in the movie; a shape-shifting creature called Bagan. After individually fighting each of Bagan's separate three forms (the ape-like Enjin, the dragon-like Doragon; and the sea monster Mizu), he'd fight a chimeric final form of the beast before killing it. Presumably Bagan was removed to make the movie more in line with the 1954 film, and focus more on Godzilla. Even then, Bagan was not thrown out. He was to face off with Mothra in the 1990 film ''Mothra vs Bagan'', before finally appearing in the SNES game ''VideoGame/SuperGodzilla'' as the final boss.

** As mentioned a few times, New World wanted Creator/RaymondBurr not only to reprise his role from ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956'', but that the film would be LighterAndSofter. Ray ''did not like this idea'', since he took Creator/IshiroHonda's Godzilla's nuclear metaphor very seriously, and refused any funny lines. Only one line was saved, but the look Ray gave when Godzilla is on a rampage suggests he broke character and didn't like it.
*** Burr also absolutely refused to take part in the film's product placement for Dr Pepper. Whats funny is that, according to one of the crew members (in a story recounted in the book 'Japan's Favorite Mon-star'), he never actually SAID he wouldn't; when he was asked, Burr simply gave the executive [[DeathGlare a long, cold stare]] until the poor guy sheepishly backed away in fear.

* NamesTheSame: Raymond Burr plays a character named Creator/SteveMartin although it's actually averted in Godzilla 1985. Only audiences who've seen ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956'' would know his name. By all reports, Raymond Burr's character was only referred to as "Mr. Martin" specifically to avoid pointing out this trope (It was ok in the 1956 film since the comedian had yet to enter show business).

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For the longest time, this was ''the'' hardest to find Godzilla movie. Thanks in part to licensing conflicts with the American cut, no other company was allowed to release the film on DVD in the US, not even the original Japanese release. It wasn’t until ''2016'', around the time ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' came out in Japan, when Kraken Releasing finally got the rights to the movie and released it on DVD and Blu-ray for fans to finally obtain in their collection.[[note]] To put that in perspective, ''Destroy All Monsters'', ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'' and ''Godzilla vs. Biollante'', which also suffered from KeepCirculatingTheTapes in the past, got their own DVD and Blu-ray release in late 2011/2012.[[/note]]

** The sole circulated widescreen copies of ''1985'' are recordings of the mid-2000s Monsters HD version.
*** Though the International dub would eventually be released alongside the Kraken Blu-ray, it was a 5.1 Surround Sound mix. The original mono mix of the dub unfortunately went unincluded as well.

*** Burr also absolutely refused to take part in the film's product placement for Dr Pepper. Whats funny is that, according to one of the crew members (in a story recounted in the book 'Japan's Favorite Mon-star'), he never actually SAID he wouldn't; when he was asked, Burr simply gave the executive a long, cold stare until the poor guy sheepishly backed away in fear.

* CreatorBacklash: Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka originally wanted Creator/IshiroHonda to direct this film, only for Honda himself to decline due to how Godzilla was portrayed in the Showa series. Plus, he wanted the series to be laid to rest after the death of Special Effects creator Eiji Tsuburaya.

* AccidentallyCorrectZoology: Godzilla is attracted to the calls of birds because, as a dinosaur himself, he is related to them, something which is addressed in the movie itself. Keep in mind this was done in a time when the link between birds and dinosaurs was still a very hotly debated topic in science and paleontology. Nowadays, the main scientific consensus is that birds are the current generation of dinosaurs, descended from those who survived the Cretaceous extinction event.

* AccidentallyCorrectZoology: Godzilla is attracted to the calls of birds because, as a dinosaur himself, he is related to them, something which is addressed in the movie itself. Keep in mind this was done in a time when the link between birds and dinosaurs was still a very hotly debated topic in science and paleontology. Nowadays, the main scientific concensus is that birds are the last remaining dinosaurs on our planet.

* NamesTheSame: Raymond Burr plays a character named Creator/SteveMartin although it's actually averted in Godzilla 1985. Only audiences who've seen ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956'' would know his name. By all reports, Raymond Burr's character was only referred to as "Mr. Martin" specifically to avoid pointing out this trope (It was ok in the 1956 film since the comedian wasn't a big name then).

** Additionally, Godzilla originally was going to have a monster opponent to fight in the movie; a shape-shifting creature called Bagan. After individually fighting each of Bagan's separate three forms (the ape-like Enjin, the dragon-like Doragon; and the sea monster Mizu), he'd fight a chimeric final form of the beast before killing it. Presumably Bagan was removed to make the movie more in line with the 1954 film, and focus more on Godzilla. Even then, Bagan was not thrown out. He was to face off with Mothra in the 1990 film ''Mothra vs Bagan'', before finally appearing in the SNES game VideoGame/{{SuperGodzilla}} as the final boss. WebAnimation/{{TohoKingdomToons}} also features him as a Hispanic womanizer.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For the longest time, this was ''the'' hardest to find Godzilla movie. Thanks in part to licensing conflicts with the American cut, no other company was allowed to release the film on DVD in the US, not even the original Japanese release. It wasn’t until ''2016'', around the time ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' came out in Japan, when Kraken Releasing finally released the film on DVD and Blu-ray for fans to finally obtain in their collection.[[note]] To put that in perspective, ''Destroy All Monsters'', ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'' and ''Godzilla vs. Biollante'', which also suffered from KeepCirculatingTheTapes in the past, got their own DVD and Blu-ray release years before this film did.[[/note]]

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For the longest time, this was ''the'' hardest to find Godzilla movie. Thanks in part to licensing conflicts with the American cut, no other company was allowed to release the film on DVD in the US, not even the original Japanese release. It wasn’t until ''2016'', around the time ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' came out in Japan, when Kraken Releasing finally released the film on DVD and Blu-ray for fans to finally obtain in their ole toon.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For the longest time, this was ''the'' hardest to find Godzilla movie. Thanks in part to licensing conflicts with the American cut, no other company was allowed to release the film on DVD, not even the original Japanese release. It wasn’t until ''2016'', around the time ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' came out in Japan, when Kraken Releasing finally released the film on DVD and Blu-ray for fans to finally obtain in their ole toon.

** Finally averted, with Kraken Releasing finally acquiring the rights to Return of Godzilla and will be releasing it on DVD and Blu-Ray. Sadly, Godzilla 1985 is still in the dark.
*** The original mono version of the international dub unfortunately went unincluded as well.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Both the American version and an uncut International dub have yet to be officially released on any sort of digital medium.

** Akira Ifukube was considered to be the composer for the film, but he had the same sentiment as Honda. He also said "I do not make music for 80 metered monsters". He would eventually join the Heisei series and compose for ''Film/GodzillaVsKingGhidorah''.
*** However, it was later clarified that this claim was an urban legend, and the actual reason Ifukube turned down the film was simply that he was concentrating on his main venture of teaching composition at the Tokyo music college.

** As mentioned a few times, New World wanted Creator/RaymondBurr not only to reprise his from ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956'', but that the film would be LighterAndSofter. Ray ''did not like this idea'', since he took Creator/IshiroHonda's Godzilla as a nuclear metaphor very seriously, and refused any funny lines. Only one line was saved, but the look Ray gave when Godzilla is on a rampage suggests he broke character and didn't like it.

** As mentioned on above CreatorBacklash, Tomoyuki wanted Creator/IshiroHonda to direct this film, but he declined because he did not like how Godzilla was previously portrayed not taking his nuclear metaphor seriously. Ironic, considering taking said metaphor seriously is exactly how Godzilla was portrayed in this film.