Godzilla (franchise)
Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira) is a popular series of giant monster films starring Godzilla, a Japanese creation usually portrayed by a man in a latex rubber suit. Starting in 1954, the Godzilla series has become one of the longest running film series in movie history.
The first film, Godzilla, was first released in the United States in 1955 in Japanese-American communities only. In 1956, it was adapted by an American company into Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, edited and with added principal scenes featuring Raymond Burr, and this version became an international success.
The original Godzilla was greatly inspired by the commercial success of the 1952 re-release of King Kong, and the 1953 success of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. Godzilla would go on to inspire Gorgo, Gamera, Cloverfield, and many others.
The name "Godzilla" is a romanization, by the film production company Toho Company Ltd., of the original Japanese name "Gojira" — which is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ) 'gorilla' and kujira (鯨, くじら) 'whale'. The word alludes to the size, power and aquatic origin of Godzilla.
Series history
The Godzilla series is generally broken into three eras reflecting a characteristic style and corresponding to the same eras used to classify all 'daikaiju eiga' (monster movies) in Japan. The first two eras refer to the Japanese emperor during production: the Shōwa era, and the Heisei era. The third is called the Millennium era as the emperor (Heisei) is the same but these films are considered to have a different style and storyline than the prior era.
Shōwa series (1954–1975)
The initial series of movies is named for the Shōwa period in Japan (as all of these films were produced before Emperor Hirohito's death in 1989). This Shōwa timeline spanned from 1954, with Gojira, to 1975, with Terror of Mechagodzilla. With the exceptions to the sequels Godzilla Raids Again, King Kong vs. Godzilla, and Mothra vs. Godzilla, much of this series is relatively light-hearted. Starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla began evolving into a more human and playful antihero (this transition was complete by Son of Godzilla, where he is shown as a good character), and as years went by, he evolved into an anthropomorphic superhero. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster was also significant for introducing Godzilla's archenemy and the main antagonist of the series, King Ghidorah. The films Son of Godzilla and All Monsters Attack were aimed at youthful audiences, featuring the appearance of Godzilla's son, Minilla. While Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was notable for introducing Godzilla's robotic arch foe and secondary villain of the movie series Mechagodzilla. The Shōwa period saw the addition of many monsters into the Godzilla continuity, two of which (Mothra and Rodan) had their own solo movies. This period featured a well documented continuity, although the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999 (chronologically making it the final original Godzilla movie).
Heisei series (1984–1995)
The timeline was revamped in 1984 with The Return of Godzilla; this movie was created as a direct sequel to the 1954 film, and ignores the continuity of the Shōwa series. Because of this, the original Godzilla movie is considered part of the Heisei series instead of being a part of the Showa series. The continuity ended in 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah after a run of seven films. The "new" Godzilla was portrayed as much more of an animal than the latter Shōwa films, or as a destructive force as he began. The biological nature and science behind Godzilla became a much more discussed issue in the films, showing the increased focus of the moral focus on genetics. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah gave the first concrete birth story for Godzilla, featuring a Godzillasaurus that got mutated by radiation into Godzilla.
Millennium series (1999–2004)
The Millennium Series is the official term for the series of Godzilla movies, unofficially called the "Shinsei Series" (or even the "Alternate Reality Series") by American fans, made after the Heisei series ended with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. The common theme to this era is that all movies use Godzilla (1954) as the jumping-off point. Since the films are different, the sizes are different in some cases. Godzilla's most prominent size in this series is 55 meters (180 feet). In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack he was 60 meters (about 196 feet), and in Godzilla: Final Wars he was 100 meters tall (about 328 feet). Godzilla was originally supposed to be 50 meters (about 164 feet) in Final Wars, but budgetary cutbacks in miniature sets forced this size change.
American films
The first talk of an American version of Godzilla was when director Steve Miner pitched his own take to Toho in the 1980s. "The idea was to do a Godzilla film as if it was the first one ever done, a big-budget American special FX movie." Miner said. "Our Godzilla would have been a combination of everything - man-in-suit, stop-motion and other stuff." Fred Dekker had written the screenplay. "We had a big Godzilla trying to find its baby. It's a bit of a Gorgo storyline. The big ending has Godzilla destroying San Francisco. The final Godzilla death scene was to be on Alcatraz Island." Toho and Warner Bros. were said to be very interested in Miner's take but it eventually became too expensive.[1]
Godzilla (1998)
In October 1992, Toho allowed Sony Pictures to make a trilogy of English-language Godzilla films, with the first film to be released in 1994. In May 1993 Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were brought on to write a script, and in July 1994 Jan de Bont signed on to direct. DeBont quit due to budget disputes, and director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin signed on before the release of the highly successful Independence Day. They rejected the previous script and Patrick Tatopoulos radically redesigned the titular monster. The film was finally scheduled for release on May 19, 1998.[2]
Godzilla was met with mostly negative reviews and negative reaction from the fan base. Having grossed $375 million worldwide though, the studio moved ahead with a spin-off animated series. Tab Murphy wrote a treatment, but Emmerich and Devlin left the production in March 1999 due to budget disputes. The original deal was to make a sequel within five years of release of a film, but after sitting on their property, considering a reboot, Sony's rights to make a Godzilla 2 expired in May 2003.[2]
American Reboot
On August 13, 2009 Legendary Pictures let slip that they have plans to do another American Godzilla movie, though it seems early discussions have begun and the movie will not be a sequel to the 1998 movie.[3]
It has recently been confirmed by Variety[4] that Legendary Pictures had acquired the rights to the character and that a new Godzilla movie is being planned for release in 2012. In addition to Legendary, producers on the new film will be Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers. Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira and Doug Davison will be the executive producers. On July 23, 2010, a teaser was released at Comic-Con, as well as T-shirt with promotional artwork believed by many to be a first look at the monster's design.[5] It was later determined to be an artist's impression.
Series development
Godzilla was originally an allegory for the effects of the hydrogen bomb, and the consequences that such weapons might have on earth. The radioactive contamination of the Japanese fishing boat Daigo Fukuryū Maru through the United States' Castle Bravo thermonuclear device test on Bikini Atoll, on March 1, 1954 lead to much press coverage in Japan preceding the release of the first movie in 1954. The Heisei and Millennium series have largely continued this concept. Some have pointed out the parallels, conscious or unconscious, between Godzilla's relationship to Japan and that of the United States; first a terrible enemy who causes enormous destruction to the cities of Japan such as Tokyo (Godzilla, The Return of Godzilla), Osaka (Godzilla Raids Again, Godzilla vs. Biollante), and Yokohama (Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack) in different films, but then becoming a good friend and defender in times of peril.
Films have been made over the last five decades, each reflecting the social and political climate in Japan. All but one of the 29 films were produced by Toho..
Filmography
Since 1954, there have been 28 Godzilla films produced by Toho Studios in Japan, one American remake by TriStar Pictures and a planned American reboot by Legendary Pictures.
In 1998, TriStar Pictures released an American remake co-written/directed by Roland Emmerich and produced/co-written by Dean Devlin. The film was a box office success but was met with mostly negative reviews from critics and negative reactions from the fans. The film was panned by fans for leaving out the trademark elements that made Godzilla a long-running icon impact. Roland Emmerich later admitted to saying that he never liked the original Godzilla films and only agreed to do the film after being promised to be able to do what ever he wanted with the series.[6] A sequel was planned but due to the film's negative reaction it was never picked up and Sony's rights to Godzilla expired in 2003 and was later picked up by Legendary Pictures in 2010.
| Title | Year | Director | Effects Director | Monsters | Alternate Titles | Licences/Media |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Godzilla | 1998 | Roland Emmerich | American Godzilla, Baby Godzillas | GINO (Fan Acronym) "Godzilla In Name Only" | Sony - DVD |
In late March 2010, it's been confirmed that Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to Godzilla and are planning to reboot the franchise. Despite Yoshimitsu Banno's involvement with the project, it is not the long anticipated Godzilla 3D: To The Max that's been in development since 2006. The reboot will be a live-action feature film that will stick closer to the original series with a computer generated Godzilla fighting several monsters. The film is targeted for a 2012 theatrical release and is expected to be released in 3-D as well.
| Title | Year | Director | Effects Director | Monsters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Godzilla (Legendary Pictures Reboot) | 2012 | TBA | TBA | Godzilla, TBA |
In addition to these films, Godzilla also starred in two American cartoon series. The first, Godzilla, was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and ran for two seasons, starting in 1978. The second production, Godzilla: The Series, was a cartoon sequel to the American film. Godzilla: The Series premiered on September 12, 1998 and also ran for two seasons. The Japanese Godzilla also showed up in several episodes of Toho's live-action Zone Fighter television program in 1973.
Other media
Books
Godzilla also had his own series of books published by Random House during the late 1990s. The company created different series for different age groups, the Scott Ciencin series being aimed at children.
Several manga have been derived from specific Godzilla films, and both Marvel and Dark Horse have published Godzilla comic book series (1977–1979 and 1987–1999, respectively).
Music
Blue Öyster Cult released the song "Godzilla" in 1977. The introduction to the live version (1982) directly references the first Godzilla movie "...lurking for millions of years, encased in a block of ice, evil incarnate, waiting to be melted down and to rise again."
The French Death Metal Band "Gojira" is based on Godzilla's Japanese kaiju name.
The song "Simon Says" by Pharoahe Monch is a hip-hop remix of the Godzilla March theme song. The instrumental version of this song was notably used in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels.
British band Lostprophets released a song called We Are Godzilla, You Are Japan on their second studio album Start Something. It is track 12, and is 4.05 minutes long, or 3.30 for the radio edit.
The American punk band, Groovie Ghoulies released a song called 'Hats Off To You (Godzilla)' as a tribute to Godzilla. It is featured on the EP 'Freaks on Parade' released in 2002.
Label Shifty issued compilation Destroysall with 15 songs from 15 bands, ranging from hardcore punk to doom-laden death metal. Not all songs are dedicated to Godzilla, but all do appear connected to monsters from Toho studios. Fittingly, the disc was released on August 1, 2003, the 35th anniversary of the Japanese release of DESTROY ALL MONSTERS.
Television
Putting the Godzilla films' suits and effects crew to further use were several Japanese television shows such as Ultra Q, Ultraman and the Toho-produced Zone Fighter and some shows inspired by it used the suits occasionally for cameos. Godzilla Island primarily followed the further adventures of the kaiju featured in the films.
The success of the Godzilla franchise has spawned two U.S. Saturday morning cartoons: Godzilla and Godzilla: The Series. Both series feature an investigative scientific team who call upon Godzilla as an ally. The series make several homages to the Shōwa films and several antagonist monsters have been inspired by extant Toho creations.
In 1991, two Godzilla films, Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, were shown on the movie-mocking program, Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Video games
Cultural impact
Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide and remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre. He has been considered a filmographic metaphor for the United States, as well as an allegory of nuclear weapons in general. The earlier Godzilla films, especially the original Godzilla, portrayed Godzilla as a frightening, nuclear monster. Godzilla represented the fears that many Japanese held about the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the possibility of recurrence.[7]
Much of Godzilla's popularity in the United States can be credited with TV broadcasts of the Toho Studios monster movies during the 1960s and 1970s.[citation needed] The American company UPA contracted with Toho to distribute its monster movies of the time, and UPA continues to hold the license today for the Godzilla films of the 1960s and 1970s. Sony currently holds some of those rights, as well as the rights to every Godzilla film produced from 1991 onward. The Blue Öyster Cult song "Godzilla" also contributed to the popularity of the movies. The creature also made an appearance in a Nike commercial, in which Godzilla went one-on-one with NBA star Charles Barkley.
At least two prehistoric creatures from the fossil record have been named after Godzilla. Gojirasaurus quayi is a theropod dinosaur that lived in the Triassic Period; a partial skeleton was unearthed in Quay County, New Mexico. Dakosaurus andiniensis, a crocodile from the Jurassic Period, was nicknamed "Godzilla" before being scientifically classified.
Recognition
In 1996, after his then-final appearance in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla received an award for Lifetime Achievement at the MTV Movie Awards. Creator and producer Shōgo Tomiyama accepted on his behalf via satellite but was joined by "Godzilla" himself.
On November 29, 2004, Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. and near Drew Barrymore 1.
References
- ^ "'Godzilla, American Style". Starlog. August 1993 #193.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|l author=ignored (help) - ^ a b Keith Aiken (2007-01-10). "GODZILLA 2 RUMORS UNFOUNDED". Sci-Fi Japan. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
- ^ Is Legendary Pictures Resurrecting Godzilla?
- ^ McNary, Dave (2010-03-29). "'Godzilla' stomps back to screen". Variety. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ^ "SDCC: First Look at the new Godzilla!". ComingSoon.net. 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/trivia
- ^ [1] The Monster That Morphed Into a Metaphor, By Terrence Rafferty, May 2, 2004, NYTimes
- Allsop, S "Gojira?Godzilla' in Bowyer, Justin (2002). 24 Frames: The Cinema of Japan and Korea. London: Wallflower Press.
- "Godzilla taking a break -- for now". Japanese film producer putting star on hiatus. CNN. 4 March 2004.
- Kroke, Arthur, and Marilouise Kroke, "Ctheory: Tokyo Must Be Destroyed". Theory, technology and culture, Ctheory. VOL 18, NO 1-2 Article 27b 95/06/22 Editors:
Further reading
- Galbraith, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films : A Critical Analysis of 103 Features Released in the United States, 1950-1992. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. 1994.
External links
- Official sites
