Tomoyuki Tanaka

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Template:Infobox Director Tomoyuki Tanaka (田中 友幸,   Tanaka Tomoyuki) was a Japanese film producer, most famous for creating the Godzilla movies. He was born in Osaka, Japan on April 26, 1910, and died in Tokyo on April 2, 1997.

Soon after graduating from Kansai University in 1940, Tanaka joined Toho Studios. After four years with the company, he began producing his own films. In his 60-year career with Toho, Tanaka produced more than 200 films.

He is best known as the creator, along with director Ishirō Honda and special-effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, of Godzilla, the towering embodiment of post-World War II anxiety. Tanaka created Godzilla in 1954 in an effort to illustrate the terror Japanese felt after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The classic Godzilla would spawn a series of sequels, adding up to 29 films by 2016.

In addition to other sci-fi thrillers (often with the other three members of the Godzilla team: Honda and Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube) such as The Mysterians and Matango, Tanaka produced films directed by the acclaimed Akira Kurosawa. One of them, Kagemusha was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar and took the coveted Palme d'Or at Cannes, tying with All That Jazz.

He has a dedication to his death in the credits for TriStar Pictures' GODZILLA.

Kaiju Filmography

Producer

Real World
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