Godzilla was a giant, amphibious, reptilian monster in the Japanese-produced 1954 film Godzilla. Godzilla was killed at the end of this movie by having the bay he hid in highly oxygenated, leaving nothing of him behind but bone.

Godzilla was later released in America in 1956. Scenes with actor Raymond Burr were added and the Japanese actors were dubbed into English. The American release's title was Godzilla, King of the Monsters.

Later, Godzilla (or Gojira, ゴジラ) returned in a series of films, all from Toho (not counting the American film, of course). Given that his origin was the ocean, Godzilla can be considered not just a monster, but a sea monster. The name "Gojira" is a combination of "gorilla" and kujira, which means "whale" in Japanese.

Godzilla died at the end of the 1954 film. Subsequent films in the series had another of Godzilla's species take his place.

The Japanese version of Godzilla was greatly inspired by the commercial success of King Kong, and the 1953 success of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms . Godzilla would go on to inspire Gorgo , Gamera, and many others.

In his 50th (Japanese) birthday, on November 29th 2004, Godzilla got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Contents

1 Series 2 Filmography 3 See also 4 External links 4.1 Official 4.2 Information 4.3 Analysis

Series

The Godzilla timeline is generally broken into three parts. They are the Showa series, the Heisei series, and the Milliennium series.

This Showa timeline spanned from 1954, with Godzilla (1954) to 1975 with Terror of Mechagodzilla. With the exception of the serious Godzilla (1954) and the semi-serious sequel Godzilla Raids Again, this period featured the semi-comic 'hero' Godzilla. This phase started with the comic King Kong vs Godzilla, which had the highest ticket sales of any Godzilla movie. The Showa period saw the addition of many monsters into the Godzilla continuity, three of which (Mothra, Rodan and Varan) had their own solo movies, as well as a movie for the Toho-ized King Kong. This period featured a rough continuity, although the chronology is confused as many of the movies were set in an arbitrary future time, often 1999.

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 Showa series. Known as the Heisei series (for the ruling emperor of the time), the continuity ended in 1995's Godzilla vs Destoroyah after a run of seven films. The reason for the continuity shift was based on a realization that the marketing of the movies had removed the reason it was so loved. When it was discovered that Godzilla was popular with children, sequels were toned down in obvious screen violence, and Godzilla was made out to be a good guy instead of an indestructible abomination of the mistakes of Man. Characters such as Minilla, the "son of Godzilla" (a dimunitive chubby replica who blew smoke rings) were introduced. However, the further Godzilla was taken away from his roots, the less popular he became. Hence, The Return of Godzilla brought the series back to form.

The Mireniamu series is the informal term for the Godzilla movies made after the Heisei series ended with Godzilla vs Destoroyah. Unlike the previous two series, this era does not feature a continuous timeline. Only two of the films in this era, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, are directly related to one another. The rest follow entirely different timelines. The common theme to this era is that all movies use Godzilla (1954) as the jumping-off point.

The 1998 film Godzilla (1998), set in New York City and produced by Columbia Pictures, is not considered to be a part of any of the above three series. UPDATE: The events in this movie are referenced in the movie Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. There, it's revealed that the monster that appeared in New York was not, in fact, Godzilla, but an entirely different monster.

Godzilla was originally an allegory for the effects of the hydrogen bomb, and the unintended consequences that such weapons might have on our world. The Heisei and Mireniamu series have largely continued this concept.

Films have been made over the last 5 decades, each reflecting the social and political climate in Japan. All but 1 of the 29 films were produced by Toho; a version was made in 1998 by Columbia Pictures and set in the United States by the directors of Independence Day (ID4) and is somewhat despised by Godzilla fans, many of whom refer to it as GINO (Godzilla In Name Only). Toho immediately followed it with Godzilla 2000: Millennium, which began the current series of films, known informally as the Mireniamu or Millennium series.

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. 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.

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Filmography

1. Godzilla (1954) a/k/a Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (U.S. title, 1956)
2. Godzilla Raids Again (1955) a/k/a Gigantis, the Fire Monster (U.S. title, 1959)
3. King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)
4. Mothra vs Godzilla (1964) f/k/a Godzilla vs. The Thing (original U.S. title)
5. Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster
6. Invasion of Astro-Monster a/k/a Monster Zero (U.S. title)
7. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep f/k/a Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster (original U.S. title)
8. Son of Godzilla
9. Destroy All Monsters
10. All Monsters Attack a/k/a Godzilla's Revenge (U.S. title)
11. Godzilla vs Hedorah f/k/a Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (original U.S. title)
12. Godzilla vs Gigan f/k/a Godzilla on Monster Island (original U.S.)
13. Godzilla vs Megalon
14. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla f/k/a Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster, Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster (original U.S. titles)
15. Terror of Mechagodzilla
16. The Return of Godzilla a/k/a Godzilla 1985 (U.S. title)
17. Godzilla vs Biollante
18. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
19. Godzilla vs Mothra
20. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II
21. Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla
22. Godzilla vs Destoroyah
23. Godzilla (1998) (American Film)
24. Godzilla 2000: Millennium a/k/a Godzilla 2000 (U.S. title)
25. Godzilla vs Megaguirus
26. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
27. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
28. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS
29. Godzilla: Final Wars

Please note that the titles listed above are Toho's official English titles, except as noted.

See also

• kaiju, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, King Kong, Gamera, Bambi Meets Godzilla, Akira Ikufube

External links

Official

• "Godzilla http://www.godzilla.co.jp ".

Information

• DMOZ's Godzilla Movies http://dmoz.org/Arts/Movies/Titles/G/Godzilla_Movies/
• Club Tokyo, Kaiju Collectible Reference http://www.clubtokyo.org/
• Monster Zero News http://www.monsterzero.us/

Analysis

• "Godzilla taking a break -- for now http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/04/film.goodbye.godzilla.ap/ ". Japanese film producer putting star on hiatus. CNN. March 4, 2004.
• " 'Monster Theory' Godzilla: Cross-Cultural Analysis of Godzilla http://www.wlu.ca/~wwwblack/an332/documents/Nov2.htm ". AN332/CS310 November 2, 2000.
• Kroke, Arthur, and Marilouise Kroke, "Ctheory: Tokyo Must Be Destroyed http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/201/300/ctheory/articles/1995/art-27b.txt ". Theory, technology and culture , Ctheory. VOL 18, NO 1-2 Article 27b 95/06/22 Editors: