2003's "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." takes place a year after the events of the prior film "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla" (2002) where a robotic weapon is created from the skeleton of the very first Godzilla way back from the 1954 film and used against a second Godzilla now menacing Japan. As Kiryu (the actual name of this incarnation of the Mechagodzilla character) is being repaired, Godzilla awakens at the bottom of the sea and not long afterwards attacks and kills the turtle monster Kameba, whose battle beaten carcass washes ashore.
It is the Kameba sequence that is the focus of interest for, for you see, he was not the first choice for the lifeless cameo. Originally, director Masaaki Tezuka wanted to use Anguirus, the tenacious quadrupedal ankylosaur relation from 1955s "Godzilla Raids Again" and a trusted ally to the King of the Monsters in subsequent appearances. But this idea never got far pass the initial idea phase for Masaaki felt fans who loved the character would be upset having their favorite monster's long awaited return be nothing more then a corpse.
Next, Masaaki and the creative staff decided on a brand new monster who'd be more expendable, a larger then average mosasaur or similar prehistoric sea reptile. Unlike Anguirus, this character came much closer to seeing 'nonlife' on film and even concept drawings were made. But this too was not to be, so the mosasaur was scrapped and a more familiar Toho character was used in the end, Kameba from 1970s "Yog, Monster from Space". However, why that particular kaiju was chosen in the end remains unknown for the time being. But as Massaki made it very clear in one interview, which I was in attendance for, it had nothing to do with mocking Gamera.
Entry Written by Rafael C. Gonzalez
Source: various online sources, Toho's official promotional CD-Rom for "Tokyo S.O.S" and an interview with Masaaki Tezuka after the June 25, 2004 US premiere screening of film at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Tezuka also jokingly answered one child's question about the dead Kameba's fate by saying that the military tried to dump him at a nearby town, but got complaints by the citizens of the decaying monster stinking really badly! Perhaps an unmade film idea in its own right?
