| Godzilla | |
|---|---|
| Godzilla character | |
.jpg) | |
| First appearance | Godzilla (1954)[2] |
| Created by | |
| Designed by | Akira Watanabe[7] Teizō Toshimitsu[7] |
| Portrayed by | Various
|
| Voiced by | Various
|
| Motion capture |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | |
| Species | Prehistoric monster[28] |
| Family | Minilla andGodzilla Junior (adopted sons) |
Godzilla (/ɡɒdˈzɪlə/ɡod-ZIL-ə)[c] is a fictional monster, orkaiju, that debuted in theeponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written byIshirō Honda.[2] The character has since become an internationalpop culture icon, appearing invarious media: 33 Japanese films produced byToho Co., Ltd.,five American films, and numerousvideo games, novels,comic books, andtelevision shows. Godzilla has been dubbed theKing of the Monsters, an epithet first used inGodzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), the American localization of the 1954 film.
Originally and in most iterations of the creature, Godzilla is a colossalprehistoricreptilian ordinosaurian monster that isamphibious or resides partially in the ocean, awakened and empowered after many years by exposure tonuclear radiation andnuclear testing. With thenuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and theLucky Dragon 5 incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness,[29] Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor fornuclear weapons.[30] Others have suggested that Godzilla is a metaphor for the United States, a "giant beast" woken from its "slumber" that then takes terrible vengeance on Japan.[31][32][33] As the film series expanded, some storylines took on less serious undertones, portraying Godzilla as anantihero or lesser threat who defends humanity. Later films address disparate themes and commentary, including Japan's apathy, neglect, and ignorance of itsimperial past,[34]natural disasters, and thehuman condition.[35]
Godzilla has been featured alongside many supporting characters and, over the decades, has faced off against various human opponents, such as theJapan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), in addition to other gargantuan monsters, includingGigan,King Ghidorah, andMechagodzilla. Godzilla has fought alongside allies such asAnguirus,Mothra, andRodan and has had offspring, includingGodzilla Junior andMinilla. Godzilla has also battled characters and creatures from other franchises incrossover media —such asKing Kong— as well as variousMarvel Comics characters, likeS.H.I.E.L.D.,[36] theFantastic Four,[37] and theAvengers,[38] as well asDC Comics characters such as theJustice League,[39] theLegion of Doom[39] and theGreen Lantern Corps.[40]
First appearing in 1954, Godzilla has starred in a total of 38 films: 33 Japanese films produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. and five American films, one produced byTriStar Pictures and four produced byLegendary Pictures. The monster has also appeared in countless other entertainment mediums, which include comic book lines,novelizations, and video games; each appearance expands upon the universe created by the films.
Although the process of creating Godzilla'sfirst film is comprehensively recorded, exactly how its name came to be remains unclear.[41] The most widely accepted report of its origin is that producerTomoyuki Tanaka named the monster after sturdyToho worker Shirō Amikura, the later chief of the theater club of Toho, who was jokingly dubbed "Gujira" (グジラ) then "Gojira" (ゴジラ), aportmanteau of the Japanese wordsgorira (ゴリラ, "gorilla") andkujira (鯨, "whale") due to his burly build to resemble a gorilla and his habit to favorwhale meat.[42][43][44] The account has been acknowledged by Toho themselves,[42] directorIshirō Honda,[42][45] producer Tanaka,[46][45] special effects directorEiji Tsuburaya,[45] producerIchirō Satō [ja],[47] and production headIwao Mori [ja],[46] with Satō and Mori recalling that the employee was Amikura.[47][46] However, Honda's widow Kimi dismissed the employee-name story as a tall tale in a 1998BBC documentary on Godzilla, believing that Honda, Tanaka, and Tsuburaya gave "considerable thought" to the name of the monster, stating, "the backstage boys at Toho loved to joke around with tall stories, but I don't believe that one".[42] Honda's longtime assistant directorKōji Kajita [ja] added: "Those of us who were closest to them don't even know how and why they came up withGojira."[48]
Toho later translated the monster's Japanese name as "Godzilla" for overseas distribution.[49][48] The first recorded foreign usage of "Godzilla" was printed in theHawaii Tribune-Herald on November 20, 1955.[50]
During the development of the American version ofGodzilla Raids Again (1955), Godzilla's name was changed to "Gigantis" by producer Paul Schreibman, who wanted to create a character distinct from Godzilla.[51]
Within the context of the Japanese films, Godzilla's exact origins vary, but it is generally depicted as an enormous, violent, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation.[52] Although the specific details of Godzilla's appearance have varied slightly over the years, the overall impression has remained consistent.[53] Inspired by the fictionalRhedosaurus created by animatorRay Harryhausen for the filmThe Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,[54] Godzilla's character design was conceived as that of anamphibious reptilian monster based around the loose concept of a dinosaur[55] with an erect standing posture, scaly skin, an anthropomorphic torso with muscular arms, lobed bony plates along its back and tail, and a furrowed brow.[56]
Art directorAkira Watanabe combined attributes of aTyrannosaurus, anIguanodon, aStegosaurus and an alligator[57] to form a sort of blendedchimera, inspired by illustrations from an issue ofLife magazine.[58] To emphasize the monster's relationship with the atomic bomb, its skin texture was inspired by thekeloid scars seen on thesurvivors of Hiroshima.[59] The basic design has a reptilian visage, a robust build, an upright posture, a long tail and three rows of serrated plates along the back. In the original film, the plates were added for purely aesthetic purposes, in order to further differentiate Godzilla from any other living or extinct creature. Godzilla is sometimes depicted as green in comics, cartoons, and movie posters, but the costumes used in the movies were usually painted charcoal gray with bone-white dorsal plates up until the filmGodzilla 2000: Millennium.[60]
In the original Japanese films, Godzilla and all the other monsters are referred to withgender-neutral pronouns equivalent to "it",[61] while in the English dubbed versions, Godzilla is explicitly described as a male. In his book, Godzilla co-creatorTomoyuki Tanaka suggested that the monster was probably male; but also suggested that the original 1954 version could have been female.[62] In the 1998 filmGodzilla, the monster is referred to as a male and is depicted laying eggs throughparthenogenesis.[63][64] In theLegendary PicturesGodzilla films, Godzilla is specified as a male.[65]
For the English translations for theGodzilla and Godzilla Raids Again novellas, writerJeffrey Angles settled on male pronouns for Godzilla, stating that "Kayama [writer of the original novellas] thought about Godzilla as a stand-in for the nuclear bomb, and it was men in America who were developing the hydrogen bombs that frightened Japan so much in 1954. So maybe it's perhaps not inappropriate to call Godzilla 'he'." Angles also noted that Toho prefers to keep Godzilla and their otherkaiju characters as gender-neutral as they see them more as objects akin to natural disasters.[65]
Godzilla's allegiance and motivations, as well as its level of intelligence, have changed from film to film to suit the needs of the story. Although Godzilla does not like humans,[66] it will fight alongside humanity against common threats. However, it makes no special effort to protect human life or property[67] and will turn against its human allies on a whim. It is generally not motivated to attack by predatory instinct; it does not usually eat people[68] and instead sustains itself on nuclear radiation[69] and an omnivorous or piscivorian diet consisting especially ofcetaceans and large fish.[70][62] When inquired if Godzilla was "good or bad", producerShōgo Tomiyama likened it to aShinto "God of Destruction" which lacks moral agency and cannot be held to human standards of good and evil. "He totally destroys everything and then there is a rebirth. Something new and fresh can begin."[68]Tomoyuki Tanaka noted in his book that Godzilla and humanity can become temporal allies against greater threats, however they are essentially enemies due to the difficulty to co-exist.[62]
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Godzilla's signature weapon is its "atomic heat beam" (also known as "atomic breath"[72]), nuclear energy that it generates inside of its body, uses electromagnetic force to concentrate it into a laser-like high velocity projectile and unleashes it from its jaws in the form of a blue or red radioactive beam.[73] Toho's special effects department has used various techniques to render the beam, from physical gas-powered flames[74] to hand-drawn or computer-generated fire. Godzilla is shown to possess immense physical strength and muscularity. Haruo Nakajima, the actor who played Godzilla in the original films, was ablack belt in judo and used his expertise to choreograph the battle sequences.[75]
Godzilla isamphibious: it has a preference for traversing Earth'shydrosphere when in hibernation or migration, can breathe underwater due to pore-shapedgills[73][62] and is described in the original film by the character Dr. Yamane as atransitional form between a marine and a terrestrial reptile. Godzilla is shown to have great vitality: it is immune to conventional weaponry thanks to its rugged hide and ability toregenerate,[76] and as a result of surviving a nuclear explosion, it cannot be destroyed by anything less powerful. One incarnation possesses an electromagnetic pulse-producing organ in its body which generates an asymmetrical permeable shield, making it impervious to all damage except for a short period when the organ recycles.[77]
Various films, non-canonical television shows, comics, and games have depicted Godzilla with additional powers, such as an atomic pulse,[78] magnetism,[79] precognition,[80] fireballs,[81] convert electromagnetic energy into intensive body heat,[82] converting shed blood into temporary tentacle limbs,[83] an electric bite,[84] superhuman speed,[85] laser beams emitted from its eyes[86] and even flight.[87]
Godzilla has a distinctive disyllabic roar (transcribed in several comics asSkreeeonk!),[88][89] which was created by composerAkira Ifukube, who produced the sound by rubbing a pine tar-resin-coated glove along the string of acontrabass and then slowing down the playback.[90] In the American version ofGodzilla Raids Again (1955) titledGigantis the Fire Monster (1959), Godzilla's roar was mostly substituted with that of the monsterAnguirus.[51] FromThe Return of Godzilla (1984) toGodzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla was given a deeper and more threatening-sounding roar than in previous films, though this change was reverted fromGodzilla vs. Mothra (1992) onward.[91] For the 2014 American film, sound editors Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl refused to disclose the source of the sounds used for their Godzilla's roar.[90] Aadahl described the two syllables of the roar as representing two different emotional reactions, with the first expressing fury and the second conveying the character's soul.[92]
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Godzilla's size is inconsistent, changing from film to film and even from scene to scene for the sake of artistic license.[68] The miniature sets and costumes were typically built at a1⁄25–1⁄50 scale[93] and filmed at 240 frames per second to create the illusion of great size.[94] Inthe original 1954 film, Godzilla was scaled to be 50 m (164 ft) tall.[95] This was done so Godzilla could just peer over the largest buildings in Tokyo at the time.[7] In the1956 American version, Godzilla is estimated to be 121.9 m (400 ft) tall, because producerJoseph E. Levine felt that 50 m did not sound "powerful enough".[96]
As the series progressed, Toho would rescale the character, eventually making Godzilla as tall as 100 m (328 ft).[97] This was done so that it would not be dwarfed by the newer, bigger buildings in Tokyo's skyline, such as the 243-metre-tall (797 ft)Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which Godzilla destroyed in the filmGodzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Supplementary information, such as character profiles, would also depict Godzilla as weighing between 20,000 and 60,000 metric tons (22,050 and 66,140 short tons).[98]
In the American filmGodzilla (2014) fromLegendary Pictures, Godzilla was scaled to be 108.2 m (355 ft) and weighing 90,000 short tons (81,650 metric tons), making it the largest film version at that time.[99] DirectorGareth Edwards wanted Godzilla "to be so big as to be seen from anywhere in the city, but not too big that he couldn't be obscured".[100] ForShin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla was made even taller than the Legendary version, at 118.5 m (389 ft).[101][102] InGodzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla's height was increased further still to 300 m (984 ft).[103] InGodzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) andGodzilla vs. Kong (2021), Godzilla's height was increased to 119.8 m (393 ft) from the 2014 incarnation.[104][105]
_Behind_the_scenes.gif)
Godzilla's appearance has traditionally been portrayed in the films byan actor wearing a latex costume, though the character has also been rendered inanimatronic,stop-motion andcomputer-generated form.[106][107] Taking inspiration fromKing Kong, special effects artistEiji Tsuburaya had initially wanted Godzilla to be portrayed via stop-motion, but prohibitive deadlines and a lack of experienced animators in Japan at the time made suitmation more practical.[108]
The first suit, weighing in excess of 100 kg (220 lb), consisted of a body cavity made of thin wires and bamboo wrapped in chicken wire for support and covered in fabric and cushions, which were then coated in latex. It was held together by small hooks on the back, though subsequent Godzilla suits incorporated a zipper.[60] Prior to 1984, most Godzilla suits were made from scratch, thus resulting in slight design changes in each film appearance.[109] The most notable changes from 1962 to 1975 were the reduction in Godzilla's number of toes and the removal of the character's external ears and prominent fangs, features which would all later be reincorporated in the Godzilla designs fromThe Return of Godzilla (1984) onward.[110] The most consistent Godzilla design was maintained fromGodzilla vs. Biollante (1989) toGodzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), when the suit was given a cat-like face and double rows of teeth.[111]
Several suit actors had difficulties in performing as Godzilla due to the suits' weight, lack of ventilation and diminished visibility.[60]Haruo Nakajima, who portrayed Godzilla from 1954 to 1972, said the materials used to make the 1954 suit (rubber, plastic, cotton, and latex) were hard to find afterWorld War II. The suit weighed 100 kilograms after its completion and required two men to help Nakajima put it on. When he first put it on, he sweated so heavily that his shirt was soaked within seconds.[112]Kenpachiro Satsuma in particular, who portrayed Godzilla from 1984 to 1995, described how the Godzilla suits he wore were even heavier and hotter than their predecessors because of the incorporation of animatronics.[113] Satsuma himself suffered numerous medical issues during his tenure, includingoxygen deprivation, near-drowning, concussions, electric shocks and lacerations to the legs from the suits' steel wire reinforcements wearing through the rubber padding.[114] The ventilation problem was partially solved in the suit used in 1994'sGodzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, which was the first to include an air duct that allowed suit actors to last longer during performances.[115] InGodzilla (1998), several scenes had the monster portrayed by stuntmen in suits similar to those used in the Toho films, with the actors' heads being located in the monster's neck region and the facial movements controlled via animatronics. However, because of the creature's horizontal posture, the stuntmen had to wear metal leg extenders, which allowed them to stand two metres (six feet) off the ground with their feet bent forward.[116] Kurt Carley performed the suitmation sequences for the adult Godzilla.[15]
InThe Return of Godzilla (1984), some scenes made use of a 16-foot high robotic Godzilla (dubbed the "Cybot Godzilla") for use in close-up shots of the creature's head. The Cybot Godzilla consisted of ahydraulically powered mechanical endoskeleton covered inurethane skin containing 3,000 computer operated parts which permitted it to tilt its head and move its lips and arms.[117] ForGodzilla (1998), the film's special effects crew built a1⁄6 scale animatronic Godzilla for close-up scenes, whose size outmatched that ofStan Winston's "Rexy" inJurassic Park.[116]
InGodzilla (1998), special effects artistPatrick Tatopoulos was instructed to redesignGodzilla as an incredibly fast runner.[118] At one point, it was planned to usemotion capture from a human to create the movements of the computer-generated Godzilla, but it was said to have ended up looking too much like a man in a suit.[119] Tatopoulos subsequently reimagined the creature as a lean,digitigrade bipedal, iguana-like creature that stood with its back and tail parallel to the ground, rendered viaCGI.[120]
InGodzilla (2014), the character was portrayed entirely via CGI. Godzilla's design in the reboot was intended to stay true to that of the original series, though the film's special effects team strove to make the monster "more dynamic than a guy in a big rubber suit."[121] To create a CG version of Godzilla, the Moving Picture Company (MPC) studied various animals such as bears,Komodo dragons, lizards, lions andwolves, which helped the visual effects artists visualize Godzilla's body structure, like that of its underlying bone, fat and muscle structure, as well as the thickness and texture of its scales.[122] Motion capture was also used for some of Godzilla's movements.T. J. Storm provided the performance capture for Godzilla by wearing sensors in front of a green screen.[21] Storm reprised the role of Godzilla inGodzilla: King of the Monsters, portraying the character throughperformance capture.[23]
InShin Godzilla, a majority of the character was portrayed via CGI, withMansai Nomura portraying Godzilla through motion capture.[24] In 2024,Godzilla Minus One was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Visual Effects, becoming the firstGodzilla film nominated for anOscar.[123] At the96th Academy Awards ceremony, it won the award.
Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols ofJapanese popular culture worldwide[124][125] and remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying thekaiju subset of thetokusatsu genre. Godzilla's vaguely humanoid appearance and strained, lumbering movements endeared it to Japanese audiences, who could relate to Godzilla as a sympathetic character, despite its wrathful nature.[126] Audiences respond positively to the character because it acts out of rage and self-preservation and shows where science and technology can go wrong.[127]
In 1967, the Keukdong Entertainment Company of South Korea, with production assistance fromToei Company, producedYongary, Monster from the Deep, a reptilian monster who invades South Korea to consume oil. The film and character has often been branded as an imitation of Godzilla.[128][129]
Godzilla has been considered a filmographicmetaphor for the United States, as well as an allegory ofnuclear weapons in general. The earlierGodzilla films, especially the original, portrayed Godzilla as a frightening nuclear-spawned monster. Godzilla represented the fears that many Japanese held about theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the possibility of recurrence.[130]
As the series progressed, so did Godzilla, changing into a less destructive and more heroic character.[131][132]Ghidorah (1964) was the turning point in Godzilla's transformation from villain to hero, by pitting him against a greater threat to humanity,King Ghidorah.[133] Godzilla has since been viewed as ananti-hero.[131]Roger Ebert cited Godzilla as a notable example of a villain-turned-hero, along with King Kong,Jaws (James Bond), theTerminator andJohn Rambo.[134]
Godzilla is considered "the original radioactivesuperhero" due to his accidental radioactiveorigin story predatingSpider-Man (1962 debut),[131] though Godzilla did not become a hero untilGhidorah in 1964.[133] By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with the magazineKing of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s." Godzilla had surpassedSuperman andBatman to become "the most universally popular superhero of 1977" according to Donald F. Glut.[135] Godzilla was also voted the most popularmovie monster inThe Monster Times poll in 1973, beatingCount Dracula,King Kong, theWolf Man, theMummy, theCreature from the Black Lagoon and theFrankenstein Monster.[136]
In 1996, Godzilla received theMTV Lifetime Achievement Award,[137] as well as being given a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 2004 to celebrate the premiere of the character's 50th anniversary film,Godzilla: Final Wars.[138] Godzilla's pop-cultural impact has led to the creation of numerous parodies and tributes, as seen in media such asBambi Meets Godzilla, which was ranked as one of the "50 greatest cartoons",[139] two episodes ofMystery Science Theater 3000[140] and the song "Godzilla" byBlue Öyster Cult.[141] Godzilla has also been used in advertisements, such as in a commercial forNike, where Godzilla lost an oversized one-on-one game of basketball to a giant version of NBA playerCharles Barkley.[142] The commercial was subsequently adapted into acomic book illustrated byJeff Butler.[143] Godzilla has also appeared in a commercial forSnickers candy bars, which served as an indirect promo for the 2014 film. Godzilla's success inspired the creation of numerous other monster characters, such asGamera,[144][145]Reptilicus of Denmark,[146]Yonggary of South Korea,[128]Pulgasari of North Korea,[147]Gorgo of the United Kingdom[148] and theCloverfield monster of the United States.[149]Dakosaurus is an extinctsea crocodile of theJurassic Period, which researchers informally nicknamed "Godzilla".[150] Paleontologists have written tongue-in-cheek speculative articles about Godzilla's biology, withKenneth Carpenter tentatively classifying it as aceratosaur based on its skull shape, four-fingered hands, and dorsal scutes and paleontologistDarren Naish expressing skepticism, while commenting on Godzilla's unusual morphology.[151]
Godzilla's ubiquity in pop culture has led to the mistaken assumption that the character is in thepublic domain, resulting in litigation by Toho to protect their corporate asset from becoming ageneric trademark. In April 2008,Subway depicted a giant monster in a commercial for their Five Dollar Footlongs sandwich promotion. Toho filed a lawsuit against Subway for using the character without permission, demanding $150,000 in compensation.[152] In February 2011, Toho suedHonda for depicting a fire-breathing monster in a commercial for theHonda Odyssey. The monster was never mentioned by name, being seen briefly on a video screen inside the minivan.[153] TheSea Shepherd Conservation Society christened a vessel theMV Gojira. Its purpose is to target and harass Japanese whalers in defense of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. TheMV Gojira was renamed theMV Brigitte Bardot in May 2011, due to legal pressure fromToho.[154]Gojira is the name of a Frenchdeath metal band, formerly known as Godzilla; legal problems forced the band to change their name.[155] In May 2015, Toho launched a lawsuit againstVoltage Pictures overa planned picture starringAnne Hathaway. Promotional material released at the Cannes Film Festival used images of Godzilla.[156]
Steven Spielberg citedGodzilla as an inspiration forJurassic Park (1993), specificallyGodzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), which he grew up watching.[157] Spielberg describedGodzilla as "the most masterful of all the dinosaur movies because it made you believe it was really happening."[158]Godzilla also influenced the Spielberg filmJaws (1975).[159][160]Godzilla has also been cited as an inspiration by filmmakersMartin Scorsese andTim Burton.[161]
A carnivorous dinosaur from theTriassic period was namedGojirasaurus in 1997.[162] The main-belt asteroid101781 Gojira, discovered by American astronomerRoy Tucker at theGoodricke-Pigott Observatory in 1999, was named in honor of the creature.[163] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on July 11, 2018 (M.P.C. 110635).[164] The largestmegamullion, located 600 kilometers to the south-east ofOkinotorishima, the southernmost Japanese island, is named theGodzilla Megamullion. TheJapan Coast Guard played a role in name, reaching an agreement with Toho. Toho's Chief Godzilla officer Keiji Ota stated that "I am truly honored that (the megamullion) bears Godzilla's name, the Earth's most powerful monster."[165]
In a 2007 interview, Japanese defense minister Shigeru Ishiba said that he would mobilize theJapan Self-Defense Forces in response to an appearance by Godzilla.[166]
In April 2015, theShinjuku ward of Tokyo named Godzilla a special resident and official tourism ambassador to encourage tourism.[167][168] During an unveiling of a giant Godzilla bust at Toho headquarters, Shinjuku mayorKenichi Yoshizumi stated, "Godzilla is a character that is the pride of Japan." The mayor extended a residency certificate to an actor in a rubber suit representing Godzilla, but as the suit's hands were not designed for grasping, it was accepted on Godzilla's behalf by a Toho executive. Reporters noted that Shinjuku's ward has been flattened by Godzilla in three Toho movies.[168][167]
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