yen was spent on the construction of sets and props for the film. By Toho standards, this was a large sum although less than recent productions such as Gorath (1962). The film's production schedule was shorter than usual, with production beginning September 5, 1963, targeted for a December release of that same year. This resulted in effects director Eiji Tsuburaya scaling back some effects. Honda originally wanted to show towns and residual areas for the Mu Empire but did not have enough money in the budget. The film became the 13th highest grossing domestic film of the year, grossing 175 million yen. Special effects Five models of the Gotengo were built for the film with steel hulls for supporting their internal mechanisms. All at various scales, the largest was 4.5 meters (15 feet long), manufactured by an actual ship-building company for the price of 1,500,000 yen. This version was fully operational with wings, fins, gun turrets, the bridge, and the drill all movable by remote radio control devices built into the hull. This model was large enough for a technician to lie inside the hull and manually operate some of the ships movable parts. Other models of the Gotengo were built to lengths of 3 meters (1/50) scale, 2 meters (1/75) scale, 1-meter (1/150) scale, and 30 cm (1/500) scale. Altogether, two models of each of these scales were built except for the 30 cm version, of which five were built. The 30 cm model was used mainly in water tank shots to depict the Gotengo cruising on the surface of the sea. A small mechanical arm was attached to the ship beneath the water line, providing the ship mobility from outside the camera’s vantage point. The film’s highlight is the trial run of the Gotengo. Using an indoor water tank with a miniature shore line placed in front of a huge curved backdrop painting, the scene was shot in three different cuts, each of which used a different scale miniature sub. The initial scene showing the Gotengo surfacing was done by Eiji Tsuburaya without any composition. The five-meter model was used to express the illusion of mass as the ship rises. From the water tank. The model was attached to an underwater crane that forced the ship through to the surface of the pool. High-speed photography was employed with the camera cranking at 10 times normal speed. As the