Monster of the Day #953

Updated on July 21, 2014 By Ken Begg 19 Comments


Here’s an interesting one. In 1978, Toho and Hammer quite nearly made a coproduction about the Loch Ness Monster. Toho announced it, and they got as far as making up the prop, the poster art and announcing some of the talent, such as Bryon Forbes for director. Then Hammer’s funding fell through and the project collapsed, sadly.

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  • Gamera977

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Toho and Hammer- Loch Ness Monster- it would have been epic!!! Thanks for the downer on this rainy Monday Ken!

  • As I hear it (and I don’t have the book I read it in near to verify), Hammer would make up these cool posters for possible movies (for instance Pterodactyls v. Zeppelins) then shop around for potential investors. This was one of the ones that came the closest to getting done, and seeing the Nessie Prop makes me wish it had.

    Another similar project (and again I could be misremembering what I read) was a remake for King Kong. They even had some stop motion animation done that ultimately ended up in a car commercial.

  • Scopi314

    Just to be clear, though, that’s not the prop from the proposed movie. That’s the dragon from from the much later fairy tale movie Princess from the Moon.

  • Actually, it’s both! According to Wikizilla special effects director reused it for Princess from the Moon. Which is great; I’d hate to think such a neat looking monster never made it to the screens.

  • If you look up “King Kong Volkswagen Commercial” on Youtube it pops right up (or, again, what I think is the Hammer Kong). My advise, though, is not doing it. After the Dino De Larentus and Jackson versions it kind of hurts the heart seeing what might have been.

  • bgbear_rnh

    All that destruction from a log floating in the lake.

  • Scopi314

    That’s a common rumor, but it’s almost certainly not true. For one thing, the gap between the movies is too long: 1979 (at the latest) and 1987. Any prop in storage that long would deteriorate, especially considering the way Toho stored props. Secondly, look at it. That’s not a 1970s level of detail, especially from Toho. That was clearly made after Toho re-established its effects department for Return of Godzilla. And thirdly, there were two dragon props (one mechanical, one hand puppet) in Princess from the Moon, so using an old one would just make it more complicated to make the other one match it.

  • sandra

    Pterodactyls Vs Zepplins would have been so much fun !

  • Eric Hinkle

    Rats, it would have been great to see this movie. I imagine the climax would have involved Nessie being taken to Edinburgh, breaking free, and tearing the city apart.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Wikizilla? I think I need to go looking for this.

  • Wait a second wait a second. Are you telling me something I read on the internet isn’t true? I have to sit down, and I’m already sitting down.

    Seriously, though, without better sources I’ll concede the point. I’d find it strange, though, if the original Nessie prop wasn’t used in some Toho production another.

  • Flangepart

    And all the scot’s accents both fair and foul! If only Jimmy Doonan coulda been there…
    My choice, get it to eat a giant Haggis full of Scots Whisky, then when it passes out from in a drunken stupor, set it on fire where it burns with a blue alcohol flame, while the pipes play a durge for the lost Whisky.

  • Eric Hinkle

    To think that the world was cheated of this sight.

  • Rock Baker

    The King Kong commercial for the Volkswagon 411 came about under different circumstances. David Allen was working for a commercial company and the studio let the talent involved work on their own projects after hours, thus creating material for promotional reels they could show to potential clients. Allen did a short clip re-creating a segment of the climax from KING KONG and it was used for the promo reel. Volkswagon saw the clip and Allen was commissioned to work on the advertisement for the 411.

    They went all-out in filming the commercial. Rick Baker (no relation) provided the insert scenes of Kong’s hands, and Fay Wray’s daughter played the girl Kong is carrying. No one really knows why, but the commercial was pulled after a very short run. It was seen by enough people, though, to become the stuff of legend.

  • Oh good. I’m batting 0 for 2 so far today.

  • Scopi314

    The problem is that the rumor that a prop from Nessie was used in Princess from the Moon has led to the assumption that a prop was created for Nessie in the first place. It wasn’t. There is a piece of concept art done for Nessie you can find on the web, showing what the monster would have looked like, but that’s as far as it got. This reminded me that there’s a picture caption in The Pictorial History of Godzilla 2 I need to get translated, which will probably settle the rumor once and for all. I just have to find a forum where someone will do that.

  • Petoht

    That’s a pretty cool looking prop, there.

  • The Rev.

    Yeah, that’s great stuff. This Princess of the Moon movie has escaped my attention until now. I shall have to find it ASAP.

    It’ll help get my mind off never getting that Nessie movie, or the one with pterodactyls and airships.

  • Gamera977

    Lol, at least it’s not a small model submarine with a dinosaur head and neck attached shot with a close up lens. (the infamous surgeon’s photo)