King Kong vs. Godzilla - built around a preposterous battle between the huge ape King Kong and the fire-breathing dinosaur Gojira -- marked the beginning of Toho Studios aiming their monster films at children rather than general audiences. Director
Ishiro Honda stages the battle scenes atop Mt. Fuji for laughs, as the two lovable beasts play ball with a large boulder and generally behave like professional wrestlers horsing around for the camera. Persistent rumors claim that there exist two different endings to this film, with Godzilla winning in the Japanese version and Kong prevailing in the American print. These rumors are incorrect, as Kong wins in both versions. Gojira survived to battle Mothra the following year in
Mosura Tai Gojira, while the Asian Kong returned in
King Kong No Gyakushu (1967).
