Godzilla: King the of Cases

Last week we discussed monsters that fit in your pocket. This week, we’re talking about the biggest monster of them all! Some may even call him the king of monsters. We’re talking, of course, about Godzilla!

A Brief History of Godzilla

• How was he created

  • Godzilla represents the abuse of the earth through atomic weapons and the destruction that the atomic bombs caused

  • Tomoyuki Tanaka is credited with the creation of Godzilla

    • He was a producer of Toho Studios

  • Shi No Hai

    • Death Ash created by Hydrogen bomb testing affecting fishermen, which was the event that inspired the story for the first Godzilla film

    • Godzilla is an allegory for the atomic bomb and its horrible aftermath

      • In certain shots he was meant to look like a mushroom cloud

      • His skin was rough and bumpy, modeling the injuries sustained from the Hydrogen radiation

  • Ishiro Honda directed the first Godzilla film called Gojira (1954)

    • Derives from the Japanese words for Gorilla (Gorira) and Whale (Kujira)

• When did he first appear

  • The first film in 1954 was a box office hit and got the attention of the western world

  • Levine was the American director who bought the rights to Godzilla and re-cut it as “Godzilla King of Monsters”

    • Levine only left in 40 minutes of the original Ishiro Honda movie. He then created his own shots as filler to tell his version of Godzilla

    • The film was a critical disaster

  • The original movie did not get a western release until 2004

• How was he received

  • The first film was a massive success both critically and monetarily

  • The only Godzilla movie nominated for best picture (Japanese Movie Association Awards)

    • They won for Special Effects

• The Suit

  • The first Godzilla suit weighed 200 lbs

  • Every suit was made from scratch up until 1984

    • As the movies went on each suit became lighter

    • Originally stop motion was to be used, but due to the large cost associated with it they opted for suits and dubbed it “Suitmation”

• The Roar

  • Created with a resin coated glove rubbed against a double bass in an echo chamber

• The Godzilla movies

  • Thirty-two movies produced by Toho in Japan

    • Which were the most famous?

      • Showa Era of films

        • Gojira (1954)

        • Rhodan (1956)

        • Godzilla Raids Again (1959)

          • Introduction of the first other monster: Anguirus

          • Resembles Ankylosaurus

        • Godzilla v. King Kong (1962)

          • The first time Godzilla was shown in color

          • And it was the first Versus film; The first time they really drifted from the meaning of the original film

        • Mothra vs Godzilla (1964)

        • Ghidorah, The Three-headed Monster (1964)

        • Destroy All Monsters (1968)

    • Heisei

      • Mecha-King Ghidorah

      • Godzilla vs Mothra (1992)

      • ‘Redesigned Godzilla Jr

      • Godzilla vs Biollante

      • Godzilla vs. Destroyah

    • Millenium

      • Godzilla 2000 (1999)

      • Godzilla: Final Wars

  • Three American adaptations

    • Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)

    • King Kong v Godzilla (1963)

    • Godzilla 1985 (1985)

  • Four Hollywood films

    • Godzilla (1998)

    • Godzilla (2014)

    • Godzilla King of Monsters (2019)

    • Godzilla v Kong (2020)

• The Other Monsters

  • In Godzilla King of Monsters, there will be other monsters featured

    • Toho Monsters (meaning they come from Toho studio)

      • Godzilla

      • Mothra

        • Female monster

        • Earth’s guardian, Mothra is the “good guy”

        • In Larva form, she can string-shot

      • Rhodan

        • Reluctantly helps Godzilla, and will flee and the first sign of danger to his life

      • King Ghidorah

        • Will forever be in battle with Godzilla, and is considered the arch rival

    • Non-Toho Monsters

      • Baphomet

      • Typhoon

      • Abaddon

      • Bunyip

      • Methuselah