11 Fascinating Insights About The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

In 1953, horror enthusiasts were thrilled as a massive, city-crushing creature emerged from the ocean depths. And no, it wasn’t called 'Godzilla.' This terror was known as the Rhedosaurus, and it made its debut in one of the most groundbreaking science fiction films of all time: The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.

The film was a monumental success at the box office, sparking the 'creature feature' craze that captivated audiences throughout the 1950s. Additionally, it marked the debut of special effects genius Ray Harryhausen, whose stunning creations forever transformed the film industry. So, grab your diving gear and join us in honoring this monumental classic.

1. THE MOVIE WAS LOOSELY INSPIRED BY A RAY BRADBURY STORY.

It all began with a roar. One evening, while living near Santa Monica Bay, the renowned sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury was jolted from his sleep by the blaring sound of a foghorn. Inspired by the haunting noise, he quickly set to work on a short story about a lovelorn sea creature. Titled The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (which was later renamed The Foghorn), the story was published in The Saturday Evening Post on June 23, 1951.

Around the same time, Mutual Films was putting together a script for a new action-packed monster movie. The final version would bear striking similarities to a certain Saturday Evening Post story. For example, both versions feature a sequence where a prehistoric giant demolishes a lighthouse. Some sources claim that Mutual had already started its work on the marine creature film when co-founder Jack Dietz stumbled upon Bradbury’s story in the Post. Allegedly, he contacted Bradbury immediately and acquired the rights to the tale.

However, Bradbury’s version of the behind-the-scenes events tells a different story. The other co-founder of Mutual Films was Hal Chester. In his later years, Bradbury claimed that when a draft of what would become Beast was prepared, Chester asked him to review it. “I pointed out the similarities between it and my short story,” Bradbury recalled. “Chester turned pale, his jaw dropped when I pointed out that his monster was my monster. He looked as though he’d been caught red-handed.”

Regardless, Bradbury received a $2000 check and a mention in the opening credits of the film.

2. JACK DIETZ CONSIDERED CASTING A REAL REPTILE.

Interestingly, the man responsible for the creature effects in Beast had been close friends with Bradbury since their teen years. A stop-motion animator by profession, Ray Harryhausen spent much of his early career working on short films and cartoons. His first major foray into feature-length films came in 1949, when he partnered with Willis O’Brien—the genius behind the original King Kong—to animate the giant ape for RKO Pictures’s Mighty Joe Young.

In 1952, Harryhausen received a pivotal opportunity. Upon hearing about Mutual’s plans for a new sea monster movie, he quickly approached Jack Dietz to offer his services. Initially, Dietz had considered using either a man in a suit or a live alligator for the creature in Beast. However, Harryhausen persuaded him to go in a different direction. “I… excitedly described the advantages of stop-motion model animation, assuring him that any vision he had could be realized through this technique,” Harryhausen wrote in his autobiography, Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life. Impressed, Dietz entrusted him with the monumental task of bringing the titular creature to life on screen.

3. THE BEAST UNDERWENT MULTIPLE DESIGN CHANGES.

“I had to design a mythical dinosaur,” Harryhausen reminisced. In his early sketches, the creature featured pointy ears, a sharp beak, and webbed, human-like hands. Another concept showed the beast with what Harryhausen described as “a somewhat round head.” Disappointed with this particular look, he replaced it with a new skull inspired by that of a Tyrannosaurus rex. The creature was also given a unique, four-legged posture to avoid resembling a “typical” carnivorous dinosaur.

By the way, there's a long-running fan theory about the name of this fictional creature. In the film, the monster is called the “Rhedosaurus.” You might notice that the first two letters of its name spell out the animator’s initials. Was this intentional? Harryhausen didn’t think so. “I have no idea where the name came from,” he explained in an interview with Empire in 2012. “People say it’s based on my initials, but I don’t believe that’s the case.”

4. STOCK FOOTAGE FROM SHE (1935) WAS INCLUDED IN THE AVALANCHE SCENE.

The film begins with an H-Bomb detonation conducted above the Arctic Circle. The resulting explosion inadvertently frees the Rhedosaurus from a glacier where it has been trapped for millions of years. After the blast, the newly revived monster causes an avalanche as it stumbles through the snow. Some of the footage from this scene is featured in the trailer above. These particular shots were borrowed from She, a legendary cold-weather fantasy produced by Merian C. Cooper, the creator of King Kong. A devoted admirer of the film, Harryhausen later paid homage by including subtle She references in two of his own films: First Men in the Moon (1964) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).

5. THE COLLAPSING BUILDINGS WERE CHALLENGING TO ANIMATE.

Much like its literary inspiration, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms features a scene where the monster destroys a lighthouse. However, the movie deviates from its source by having the creature terrorize New York City. One of the standout moments from that sequence occurs when the Rhedosaurus charges straight through a building in lower Manhattan. Both of these buildings were miniature models built by Harryhausen, with each structure made of jigsaw-like pieces connected to wires. As he animated the destruction, Harryhausen painstakingly moved each individual piece of debris along its wire and toward the ground.

6. THE FILM'S LEADING LADY WAS RELATED TO ONE OF BRADBURY’S COLLEAGUES.

Paula Raymond plays Lee Hunter, a paleontologist who falls for the film's leading man, nuclear physicist Tom Nesbitt (portrayed by Paul Christian). Interestingly, Raymond was the niece of Farnsworth Wright, a key figure in the development of modern science fiction and fantasy. Wright is most remembered for his 15-year tenure as editor of the influential short story magazine Weird Tales, where works by literary giants such as H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith were frequently published. Just before Wright's retirement in 1940, Bradbury pitched him some story ideas, though the editor declined. However, Wright's successor, Dorothy McIlwraith, helped Bradbury become a regular contributor to Weird Tales.

7. RAY HARRYHAUSEN CRAFTED THE FILM’S EPIC CLIMAX.

In the thrilling conclusion, the Rhedosaurus attacks a roller coaster on Coney Island. Armed with a special gun designed to fire dangerous radioactive isotopes, Professor Nesbitt ascends to the top of the ride. He is joined by a courageous NYPD officer, portrayed by Lee Van Cleef of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly fame. Together, they use the weapon to defeat the monster, which perishes as the amusement park erupts into a fiery inferno. During the film’s early stages of production, Harryhausen conceived this dramatic ending. He later collaborated with director Eugene Lourie and the screenwriters to refine the scene. “Eugene... said I always made my monsters die like a tenor in an opera,” Harryhausen shared in The Rhedosaurus and the Rollercoaster, a 2003 DVD documentary. “Hollywood is known for glamorizing the actors, and I tried to do the same for the dinosaur.”

8. THE FILM’S ORIGINAL SCORE WAS REMOVED.

Warner Bros. acquired Beast from Mutual for a competitive $400,000. However, before its release, the studio decided to revamp the film’s musical score. Originally composed by Michael Michelet, the soundtrack was described by Harryhausen as “light classical music.” Unsatisfied with this, Warner Bros. discarded Michelet's work and hired David Buttolph, who would later compose the iconic theme for Lone Ranger, to create a new 39-minute score. Using a 50-piece orchestra, Buttolph delivered a brassier, more dramatic composition that received critical acclaim. Despite this, Harryhausen personally preferred Michelet’s version, feeling that Buttolph’s music “slowed the picture down.”

9. NO OCEAN IN REALITY REACHES 20,000 FATHOMS IN DEPTH.

The deepest point on Earth is known as the Challenger Deep, located in the Pacific Mariana Trench. This remarkable site sits a staggering 6033 fathoms (or 36,201 feet) below sea level. Interestingly, Harryhausen’s film was initially titled The Monster From Beneath the Sea, but when Warner Bros. purchased it, the title was changed to The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, inspired by Bradbury’s original story.

10. THE DIRECTOR’S DAUGHTER ABSOLUTELY LOATHED THE ENDING.

Released on June 13, 1953, Beast earned over $5 million, making it one of the year’s top-grossing films. However, despite its success, the film had its detractors. One day, director Eugene Lourie took his 6-year-old daughter to a matinee showing. To his surprise, she burst into tears after the screening. “You are bad, Daddy!” she sobbed. “You killed the big nice Beast!” Little did the young girl know that her reaction would leave a lasting mark on Lourie’s career. Following the success of Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, he found himself typecast into directing more monster films. Lourie later admitted that Beast became “an albatross around my neck,” and his next movie, 1959’s The Giant Behemoth, was essentially a rehash of the same storyline.

Afterward, producers Frank and Maurice King approached him with a request for another sea monster film. Teaming up with Daniel Hyatt, Lourie crafted a screenplay that became the 1961 film Gorgo. Set against the backdrop of the British Isles, it tells the tale of a massive, big-eared leviathan captured off the coast of Ireland and brought to a London circus. Unlike the darker endings of Beast and Behemoth, however, this movie featured a more uplifting conclusion, with the creature being rescued by its towering 200-foot mother and returned to the sea. Lourie’s daughter, no doubt, must’ve been thrilled by the happy ending.

11. IT INSPIRED THE GODZILLA FRANCHISE.

Japan’s iconic monster, Godzilla, made his first appearance just one year after The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms graced theaters. On November 3, 1954, Toho Studios released Gojira, a dark and gritty film that served as a metaphor for the devastating effects of nuclear war. Rebranded as Godzilla in the United States, the movie was a surprise hit, eventually spawning 29 sequels (and counting). The film was produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, who had been significantly influenced by a certain Ray Harryhausen film. In fact, for a brief time, the working title for Gojira was Big Monster From 20,000 Miles Beneath The Sea. Additionally, one concept that was never realized in the film was a scene in which Godzilla attacks a lighthouse.