Eiji Tsuburaya

1901–1970 · 日本,京都府

Biography

Eiji Tsuburaya ranks alongside Willis H. O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen as one of the great visionary SFX masters of twentieth-century fantasy cinema. Best remembered as the amazing special effects genius behind the "Godzilla" series of monster films commencing in 1954, he also contributed effects to a host of other Japanese monster / fantasy / science fiction / drama / propaganda films for over four decades. Eiji Tsuburaya had a keen interest in the cinema from a young age, and legend has it that he acquired a second-hand movie projector when he was only ten years old, and pulled it apart and put it back together with relative ease. He began work as a cinematographer in Kyoto around 1919 and then enhanced his skills to include camera work throughout the 1920s, at which time his eye for detail was in high demand from many studios. Around 1938, he became head of Special Visual Techniques at Toho Studios, and during the Second World War, he was involved in the production of several Japanese propaganda films. He went freelance after the war, and in 1954 he collaborated with director Ishirô Honda on the monster epic Gojira (1954) (aka "Godzilla"). The film was an enormous hit in Japan, and additional scenes were filmed with US actor Raymond Burr and then inserted strategically to give the movie western appeal. "Godzilla, King Of The Monsters" was then released in the USA to strong box office takings, and Godzilla has since appeared in over two dozen films spanning over fifty years, becoming a key cult icon of Japanese culture!! The incredibly talented Tsuburaya went on to be the SFX director behind dozens of Japanese monster & science fiction classics including Sora no daikiju Radon (1956) (aka "Rodan"), Bijo to ekitai ningen (1958) (aka "The H-Man"), Densô ningen (1960) (aka "The Telegian"), Mosura (1961) (aka "Mothra"), Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) (aka "King Kong versus Godzilla"), Varan the Unbelievable (1962), Matango (1963), Furankenshutain tai chitei kaiju Baragon (1965) (aka "Frankenstein Conquers the World"), and Kaiju soshingeki (1968) (aka "Destroy All Monsters" ). Tsuburaya had also established his own production company in 1963 (Tsuburaya Productions), creators of the highly popular "Ultraman" character, and subsequent TV shows and films. On January 25, 1970, while vacationing in Shizuoka Prefecture, Tsuburaya suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack. His incredible film & SFX production company is still active today under the guidance of his grandson, Kazuo Tsuburaya.

Visual effects 70

1970s

1977
Godzilla
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
57
1970
Space Amoeba
Special Effects Supervisor
57

1960s

1969
All Monsters Attack
Special Effects Supervisor
41
Crazy Big Explosion
Visual Effects
1968
Destroy All Monsters
Special Effects Supervisor
70
1967
Son of Godzilla
Special Effects Supervisor
57
King Kong Escapes
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
1966
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
Special Effects Supervisor
59
The War of the Gargantuas
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
62
Adventure in Kigan Castle
Visual Effects Director
1965
Invasion of Astro-Monster
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
60
Frankenstein Conquers the World
Visual Effects Director
58
None But the Brave
Visual Effects Director
64
1964
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
69
Dogora
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
Mothra vs. Godzilla
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
73
Whirlwind
Visual Effects Director
1963
Samurai Pirate
Visual Effects Director
Matango
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
65
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
54
Siege of Fort Bismarck
Visual Effects Director
Attack Squadron
Visual Effects Director
1962
Varan the Unbelievable
Visual Effects
45
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
61
Gorath
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
1961
The Last War
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
Mothra
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
71
Daredevil in the Castle
Special Effects Supervisor
1960
The Human Vapor
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
65
The Storm of the Pacific
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
The Secret of the Telegian
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
61

1950s

1959
Battle in Outer Space
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
57
Submarine I-57 Will Not Surrender
Special Effects Supervisor
Gigantis, the Fire Monster
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
The Adventures of Sun Wu Kung
Visual Effects Director
1958
The Hidden Fortress
Visual Effects
85
Varan
Visual Effects Director
The Tale of the White Serpent
Visual Effects
64
The H-Man
Visual Effects Director
59
Song for a Bride
Visual Effects
1957
The Mysterians
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
Tokyo 1960
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
Rodan! The Flying Monster
Visual Effects Director
Half Human: The Story of the Abominable Snowman
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
Godzilla, the Monster of the Pacific Ocean
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
The Paradise Island Story
Visual Effects
Throne of Blood
Visual Effects
84
1956
Rodan
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
66
The Legend of the White Serpent
Visual Effects, Visual Effects Director
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
68
1955
Marital Relations
Visual Effects
Beast Man Snow Man
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
Godzilla Raids Again
Visual Effects Director
59
1954
Invisible Man
Visual Effects Director
Godzilla
Visual Effects Director, Visual Effects
80
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Visual Effects
76
Farewell Rabaul
Visual Effects Director
1953
The Eagle of the Pacific
Visual Effects Director
Brilliant! The First Detective: Zenigata Heiji in His Youth
Visual Effects
1951
The Lady of Musashino
Visual Effects
69