Mothra

Mothra was the third major addition to the Toho Studios' giant-monster stable after Godzilla and Rodan, and the first female beast in the series. The creature begins Ishiro Honda's entertaining film as a giant larva worshipped by island tribesmen and guarded by twin sisters (Emi and Yumi Ito) who stand only a few inches high. Eventually, the larva metamorphoses into a giant female moth and panic ensues as the creature attempts to regain her stolen egg and her tiny protectors. The usual pandemonium and destruction is tempered here by a softer edge which would come to dominate the genre for much of the decade.

Cast: Hiroshi Koizumi, Emi Ito, Yumi Ito, Akihiko Hirata, Shoichi Hirose, Toshihiko Furuta, Haruya Kato, Yoshio Kosugi, Kyoko Kagawa, Takashi Shimura, Yoshifumi Tajima, Robert Dunham, Frankie Sakai, Ken Uehara, Jerry Ito, Hiroshi Akitsu, Harold Conway, Kazuo Hinata, Kazuo Imai, Kôji Iwamoto, Seizaburô Kawazu, Akio Kusama, Mitsuo Matsumoto
Director: Ishirô Honda
Producer(s): Tomoyuki Tanaka