Actor 'Tsuchiya, Yoshio (I)' was offered the lead role but turned it down instead opting to play the Mysterian leader. An early concept of Mogera was of a four footed mecha, more along the lines of a mole. The name "Mogera" was based on the Japanese word for "mole" ("mogura"). Mogera was not in the original script, but was added at the insistence of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka who felt the movie needed a giant monster. U.S. press material issued at the time of the fil ...[Read Story ]