'' Godzilla '' series creator Tomoyuki Tanaka took charge of reviving the franchise in 1979 , Godzilla 's 25th anniversary , intending to return the series to its dark , anti-nuclear roots in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident . Hoping to win back adult audiences alienated by the fantastical approach to '' Godzilla '' films taken during the 1970s , Tanaka was further encouraged in his vision by the contemporary success of adult-oriented horror and science fiction movies like '' King Kong '' , '' Invasion of the Body Snatchers '' , '' Alien '' and '' The Thing '' . A draft story entitled '' The Resurrection of Godzilla '' was submitted by Akira Murao in 1980 , and had Godzilla pitted against a shape-shifting monster called Bakan in the backdrop of an illegal nuclear waste disposal site , though the project was cancelled due to budgetary concerns . In 1983 , American director Steve Miner proposed directing a '' Godzilla '' film at his own expense . Toho approved of the project , and Miner hired Fred Dekker to write the screenplay and paleosculptor Steve Czerkas to redesign the monster . The project was however hampered by Miner 's insistence on using prohibitively costly stop-motion animation and shooting the film in 3D , and was thus rejected by major American movie studios . Under pressure from a 10,000-member group of Japanese '' Godzilla '' fans calling themselves the " Godzilla Resurrection Committee " , Tanaka decided to helm a Japanese film for " strictly domestic consumption " to be released jointly alongside Miner 's movie
Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
The Return of Godzilla