Little Godzilla's appearance has changed drastically compared to the previous film, appearing more chubby and cartoony, as effects-director Kôichi Kawakita was displeased with the original design. A rumor arose that Kawakita had proposed the idea of a spin-off focusing on Little Godzilla aimed for children. However, director Okawara clarified this was never considered and was just a rumor. Little Godzilla was completely redesigned again for the next movie.
This film features MOGUERA, a remake of the robot kaiju from Misterios del espacio (1957). For the 90's version, Toho also comes up with a legitimate way for the mech to be called MOGUERA as it is an acronym for Mobile Operation G-Force Universal Expert Robot Areo-type.
The original storyline for the film was markedly different and far more ambitious. Known at the time as Godzilla vs. Astrogodzilla, it features an almost Showa-esque storyline. Astrogodzilla is an albino Godzilla from outer space created by the cells of Biollante (there was no ambiguity originally). He had gigantic wings with which he could fly, two long tails, and whereas Godzilla fired a heat beam, Astrogodzilla could spit an ice ray that froze anything it hit. When Atrogodzilla leaves Earth, he physically takes over the minds of Little Godzilla and Miki, forcing them to do his bidding. Godzilla arrives in Japan to save his son and teams up with MOGUERA and Mothra (and later, a freed Little Godzilla) to stop Atstrogodzilla's reign of evil. However, when the big-budgeted Yamato Takeru (1994) bombed at the box office, suddenly, the budget for the next Godzilla movie was cut drastically. Astrogodzilla became Space Godzilla and the storyline was recreated to be far more low-concept. The crystalline motif is mostly all that's left over from the Astrogodzilla ice motifs. Mechagodzilla was substituted for MOGUERA as a cost-cutting measure, but eventually the bird-like robot was reinstated.
Godzilla's 40th anniversary movie. Unlike most other "milestone" films, this one is often overlooked . This might partly be blamed on its rushed production: the American Godzilla (1998) adaptation was meant to come out in 1994, but its production got delayed, so Toho Studios had to produce further Godzilla movies in order to keep the brand going.It was however the second highest-grossing domestic release of the year.
According to a 2019 Japanese book on special effects films of the Heisei era, American director Tim Burton told the authors over a bottle of sake that this was his favorite Godzilla film.