War II. He saw this as pointless fanaticism and wanted to embody this in the admiral whose nationalism blinds him. Instead of a dragon, Manda was envisioned as a giant rattlesnake. There is some debate as to whether Manda was always in the script (a snake monster doesn’t appear in the Undersea Kingdom) or whether the beast was added at Tomoyuki Tanaka’s insistence like he did with Maguma in Gorath (1962). Manda’s design was changed to resemble a Chinese dragon due to 1964 being the Year of the Dragon, and this was Toho’s New Year’s blockbuster. Many of the film’s most memorable elements weren’t added until the final draft, which was finished by September 1963. This includes the Mu attack launched from Mt. Fuji, the earthquake assault on Marunochi in Tokyo, and the Gotengo’s zero cannon. Sekizawa also hoped that Captain Jinguji would be played by Toshiro Mifune, though he know his hopes were in vain as Mifune was too expensive and tended to decline offers for giant monster films. Sekizawa originally wrote a scene in a late draft of the script where Jinguji learned of his daughter's kidnapping and was prepared to sacrifice her in order to save the world, which triggered an argument between Jinguji and Kosumi. This was cut by director Ishiro Honda because he saw the story as a parable of global problems rather than personal problems. The film was originally scheduled to show the Mu Empire also attacking New York City, but there wasn’t enough time due to the rushed shooting schedule. Another elaborate deleted scene is expressed in the film's storyboards and occurs as the characters arrive on Jinguji’s island. As they drive through the vast wasteland In the jeep, they are consumed by a black dust cloud. The jeep almost drives into a huge pit, with Makota saved by Susumu. Filming Shinichi Sekizawa originally wrote the character of Jinguji for Toshiro Mifune. However, no one approached the actor prior and by the time casting was underway Mifune was already tied up in rehearsals for what would be a 18 month shoot for Red Beard (1965). Ishiro Honda had no idea whom to cast as the Empress of Mu but met Tetsuko Kobayashi by chance, who was working on a TV show in Toho's lot. Honda found her to be "hard working and very energetic." Kobayashi also applied the Empress' makeup herself. Over 70,000,000