'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' Director on Creating Those Iconic Kaiju Sounds

One of the most important, but often overlooked elements of the original Godzilla franchise is the sound. Almost as iconic as the design of the monster itself, Godzilla's prominent roar is one of the most memorable and recognizable sounds in movie history. This is the same case for the other Kaiju as well, and these Kaiju sounds is something Godzilla: King of the Monsters will be paying attention to.

Speaking with ComicBook.com during a recent press event, director Michael Dougherty talked about how he wanted to incorporate new sounds but still allow each Kaiju to have a distinct voice, "Yeah, I think you should be able to close your eyes and listen to the creatures and be able to identify them without having any visual whatsoever. Because the sounds of the creatures, not the visuals, are so distinct."

Approaching the new Kaiju sounds, "so what I did, is I gave a super cut of all the creature noises from the original films, to the sound designers, and said start here, and then start layering and playing, but they have to be as distinct as the original sound...even our previous animations, Godora, Rodan, Mothra, have the beginnings of some of those sounds."

When shooting, the Kaiju sounds even influenced actors on set, "[When] we've been shooting on set, my sound mixer, Whit, created this massive speaker system I call the Emouth. I've got an iPad in the tent, and I've been playing monster noises. So any scene that involves our cast running and screaming in terror, and there is a lot of them, I've been running and playing creature noises. It really ups their performance. Something pops when they hear the noises."

After a new, but familiar roar for the Monsterverse's version of Godzilla was established in the first film, Dougherty notes how he plans keep that in tact but change the approach for the new additions, "I thought they did a great job with Godzilla's roar in the first movie, so I'm not going to push them to get it even closer to the original, even more, but all of the other creatures will have some semblance of their own original screeches."

Every aspect of Godzilla: King of the Monsters is being combed through with a fine tooth comb, so fans will have a lot to look forward to this Spring. Directed by Michael Dougherty, Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, Bradley Whitford, among many other talents. The film is currently scheduled to hit theaters May 31 with Godzilla vs. Kong scheduled for a 2020 release after.

The synopsis for Godzilla: King of the Monsters reads as such, "The new story follows the heroic efforts of the cryptozoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient superspecies, thought to be mere myths, rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity's very existence hanging in the balance."

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