Fumio Tanaka

Fumio Tanaka Born September 22, 1941 Tokyo, Japan Died April 12, 2009 (aged 67) Occupation Film producer, writer First work Resurrection of the Beast (1969) Notable work The Return of Godzilla (1984)

Fumio Tanaka (田中 文雄,   Tanaka Fumio), also known by the pen names Mitsuru Takihara (滝原 満,   Takihara Mitsuru) and Keiichiro Kusanagi (草薙 圭一郎,   Kusanagi Keiichirō), was a Japanese film producer and novelist best recognized for his science-fiction and horror films. Joining Toho in 1964, he produced his first film, the crime drama Resurrection of the Beast, in 1969. His career in film went on to span two decades across three companies: Toho until 1974, Toho Eizo until 1975, and Toho Pictures into the mid-1980s.

Tanaka co-produced three films with Toho hitmaker Tomoyuki Tanaka in 1970: the cofeatures The Vampire Doll and Terror in the Streets, and the company's first kaiju film since the death of special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, Space Amoeba. He would go on to develop two follow-ups to The Vampire Doll, titled Lake of Dracula (1971) and Evil of Dracula (1974), rounding out the "Bloodthirsty Trilogy." His other work included ESPY (1974), a long-shelved supernatural action film which was revived to capitalize on a growing Japanese interest in the occult, and The War in Space (1977), a space opera in the vein of that year's Star Wars. After assisting with two more tokusatsu films in 1984, Tanaka became a professional novelist, writing in a variety of genres.

Tanaka would cross paths with Toho again in 1991, writing a novelization of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. He passed away at the age of 67 on April 12, 2009, due to a cerebral hemorrhage.

Selected filmography

Executive producer

• Space Amoeba (1970) [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]
• ESPY (1974) [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]
• The War in Space (1977) [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]

Associate producer

• Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984) [with Shiro Fujiwara]
• The Return of Godzilla (1984)

Audio commentary

• Space Amoeba (1970) [2004 Toho DVD]

Selected bibliography

• Novel: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) - Author
• Lairs of the Hidden Gods: The Modern Era (2002) - Author ["Secrets of the Abyss"]

External links

• Interview by David Milner and Guy Tucker (March 1995)

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