Godzilla (franchise)
Godzilla is a Japanese giant monster, or kaiju, franchise centering on the titular character, a prehistoric reptilian monster awakened and powered by nuclear radiation. The films series are recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "longest continuously running film series", having been in ongoing production since 1954, with several hiatuses of varying lengths. There are 38 Godzilla films: 33 Japanese films produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., and five American films; one by TriStar Pictures and four films by Legendary Pictures.
The original film, Godzilla, was directed by and co-written by Ishirō Honda and released by Toho in 1954. It became an influential classic of the genre. It featured political and social undertones relevant to Japan at the time. The 1954 film and its special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya are largely credited for establishing the template for tokusatsu, a technique of practical special effects filmmaking that would become essential in Japan's film industry since the release of Godzilla. For its North American release, the film was localized in 1956 as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! and featured new footage with Raymond Burr edited together with the original Japanese footage.
The popularity of the films has led to the film series expanding to other media, such as television, music, literature and video games. Godzilla has become one of the most recognizable symbols in Japanese pop culture worldwide and a well-known facet of Japanese cinema. It is also considered one of the first examples of the popular kaiju and tokusatsu subgenres in Japanese entertainment.
Godzilla films vary in the complexity of themes and targeted audience. Several of the films have political themes, dark tones, and complex internal mythology, while others are simple action films featuring aliens or other monsters or have simpler themes accessible to children. Godzilla's role varies from purely a destructive force to an anti-hero, ally of humans, a symbolic protector or destroyer of Japanese values, or a hero to children.
The name Godzilla is a romanization of the original Japanese name Gojira —which is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira, "gorilla", and kujira, "whale". The word alludes to the size, power and aquatic origin of Godzilla. As developed by Toho, the monster is an offshoot of the combination of radioactivity and ancient dinosaur-like creatures, indestructible and possessing special powers.
History
The Godzilla film series is broken into several different eras reflecting a characteristic style and corresponding to the same eras used to classify all kaiju eiga in Japan. The first, second, and fourth eras refer to the Japanese emperor during production: the Shōwa era, the Heisei era, and the Reiwa era. The third is called the Millennium era, as the emperor is the same, but these films are considered to have a different style and storyline than the Heisei era.Over the series' history, the films have reflected the social and political climate in Japan. In the original film, Godzilla was an allegory for the effects of the atomic bomb, and the consequences that such weapons might have on Earth. The radioactive contamination of the Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon No. 5 through the United States' Castle Bravo thermonuclear device test at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954, led to much press coverage in Japan preceding the release of the first film in 1954. The Heisei and Millennium series have largely continued this concept. Toho was inspired to make the original Godzilla film after the commercial success of the 1952 re-release of King Kong and the success of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, the first live-action film to feature a giant monster awakened following an atomic bomb detonation. The success of the Godzilla franchise itself would go on to inspire other giant monster films worldwide.
Shōwa era (1954–1975)
The initial series of films are named after the Shōwa era. This Shōwa timeline spanned from 1954, with Godzilla, to 1975, with Terror of Mechagodzilla.The first Godzilla film initially began as a Japanese-Indonesian co-production titled In the Shadow of Glory. However, the project was cancelled after the Indonesian government denied visas to Toho's crew due to anti-Japanese sentiments and political pressure. On his flight back to Japan after a failed attempt to renegotiate with the Indonesian government, film producer Tomoyuki Tanaka conceived an idea for a giant monster film inspired by The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the then-recent Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident. Tanaka then succeeded in convincing executive producer Iwao Mori to replace In the Shadow of Glory with his monster idea, after special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya agreed to do the film.
Tsuburaya initially proposed a giant octopus-like monster, and later a gorilla-like or whale-like monster to reflect the creature's name Gojira, a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla and whale. But Tsuburaya settled on a dinosaur-like monster designed by Teizō Toshimitsu and Akira Watanabe under his supervision. Tanaka handpicked Ishirō Honda to direct and co-write the film, feeling that his wartime experience was ideal for the film's anti-nuclear themes, despite Honda not being Toho's first choice. Principal photography ran 51 days, and special effects photography ran 71 days.
Godzilla was first released in Nagoya on October 27, 1954, and released nationwide on November 3, 1954. Despite mixed reviews, it was a box office success. It became the eighth best-attended film in Japan that year, and earned in distributor rentals during its initial run, with total lifetime gross receipts of. The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Special Effects at the Japanese Movie Association Awards, where it won the latter.
Starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla began evolving into a friendlier, more playful antihero and, as years went by, it evolved into an anthropomorphic superhero. Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster was also significant for introducing Godzilla's archenemy and the main antagonist of the film series, King Ghidorah.
Son of Godzilla and All Monsters Attack were aimed at youthful audiences, featuring the appearance of Godzilla's son, Minilla. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was notable for introducing Mechagodzilla, Godzilla's robot duplicate and the secondary antagonist of the film series. The Shōwa period loosely tied in a number of Toho-produced films in which Godzilla himself did not appear and consequently saw the addition of many monsters into the Godzilla continuity, three of which originated in their own solo films and another five appeared in their first films as either secondary antagonists or secondary kaiju.
Haruo Nakajima mainly portrayed Godzilla since 1954 until his retirement in 1972. However, other stunt actors have portrayed the character in his absence, such as Katsumi Tezuka, Yū Sekida, Ryosaku Takasugi, Seiji Onaka, Shinji Takagi, Isao Zushi, and Toru Kawai. Eiji Tsuburaya directed the special effects for the first six films of the series. His protege Sadamasa Arikawa took over the effects work for the next three films, while Teruyoshi Nakano directed the special effects for the last six films of the series.
The Criterion Collection released the Shōwa era films as part of a Blu-ray box set in the United States and Canada on October 29, 2019.
Heisei era (1984–1995)
Toho rebooted the series in 1984 with The Return of Godzilla, starting the second era of Godzilla films, known as the Heisei series. The Return of Godzilla serves as a direct sequel to the original 1954 film and ignores the subsequent events of the Shōwa series. Despite being released within Japan's political Shōwa era five years before the new Emperor's reign, The Return of Godzilla is part of the Heisei series because it is a direct predecessor to Godzilla vs. Biollante, which came out in the first year of the new Emperor's reign.The Heisei films are set in a single, continuous timeline that brings Godzilla back as a destructive force of nature that is feared by humans. The biological nature and science behind Godzilla became more discussed in the films, showing an increased focus on the moral aspects of genetics. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah gave Godzilla's first concrete birth story, featuring a dinosaur named Godzillasaurus that was mutated by nuclear radiation into Godzilla. Godzilla was portrayed by Kenpachiro Satsuma for the Heisei films while the special effects were directed by Koichi Kawakita, with the exception of The Return of Godzilla, for which the effects were directed by Teruyoshi Nakano.
Millennium era (1999–2004)
Toho rebooted the franchise for a second time with the 1999 film Godzilla 2000: Millennium, starting the third era of Godzilla films, known as the Millennium series. Despite them all being released during the Heisei period of Japan, this era is named as such to tie in with the first few years of the third millennium. The Millennium series is treated similarly to an anthology series where each film is a standalone story, with the 1954 film serving as the only previous point of reference. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. are the only films in the Millennium era to share continuity with each other and are also connected to 1961's Mothra and to 1966's The War of the Gargantuas.After the release of 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars, marking the 50th anniversary of the Godzilla film franchise, Toho decided to put the series on hiatus for another 10 years. Toho also demolished the water stage on its lot used in numerous Godzilla, kaiju and tokusatsu films. Yoshimitsu Banno, who had directed 1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah, secured the rights from Toho to make an IMAX 3D short film production, based on a story similar to his Hedorah film. This project eventually led to the development of Legendary's Godzilla. Tsutomu Kitagawa portrayed Godzilla for the majority of the Millennium films, with the exception of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, in which Godzilla was portrayed by Mizuho Yoshida. Unlike the Shōwa and later Heisei films, the special effects for the Millennium films were directed by multiple effects directors such as Kenji Suzuki, Makoto Kamiya, Yuichi Kikuchi, and Eiichi Asada.