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Revision as of 03:24, 15 October 2011 by 160.149.1.36 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the monster. For other uses, see Godzilla (disambiguation). Godzilla made his American series debut in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning show Godzilla. In this series, laser beams out of his eyes. Godzilla could be summoned by his human friends, sea-explorers on the ship USS Calico, with a signaling device or by the cry of Godzooky. The series ran until 1981. Several monsters were created for this show, including The Firebird, not the same as the one in Destroy All Monsters. That one was really an alien spacecraft that crashed through buildings and set them on fire. A second series, based on the American Godzilla, aired on Fox Kids. The series featured the surviving baby Godzilla from the end of the live action film, which now had grown to full size. Godzilla traveled around the world with a team called HEAT, including scientist Nick Tatopoulos, battling monsters. Godzilla had the abilities and physical forms of his parent, but the creators of the show gave him more powers and an attitude more resembling the original Japanese Godzilla. In Japan, Godzilla (along with a plethora of other Kaiju) appeared in an animated toy show called Godzilla Island that ran from 1997-1998. Godzilla has been featured in comic books, most often in American productions (from Marvel Comics in the late-1970s, and from Dark Horse Comics in the 1980s and 1990s). Japanese Godzilla manga comics are also available. The Marvel series told original stories and attempted to fit into the official Toho continuity, while avoiding direct references to it. It integrated Godzilla into the Marvel Universe. It was published from 1977 to 1979, fitting between the Showa Period movies and the Heisei Era. This series described the adventures and confrontations of Godzilla in the United States. Between 1996 and 1998 Random House published four books by Marc Cerasini featuring Godzilla and other kaiju of the Toho franchise: Godzilla Returns, Godzilla 2000 (unrelated to the film of the same name), Godzilla at World's End, and Godzilla vs. the Robot Monsters. The release of a fifth book, Godzilla and the Lost Continent was planned looks into some of the ways Godzilla has become a simple part of everyday life for fans. In 2010, IDW Publishing announced that they gained the rights for the license to Godzilla, and will release a new series titled Godzilla: Monster World (since renamed Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters) in March 2011. They have promised appearances by Mothra, King Ghidorah, Rodan, and other popular monsters from the Toho shared universe as well as fresh new monsters. Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh co-wrote Kingdom of Monsters with Phil Hester supplying the art. Artist Matt Frank will also supply variant covers for multiple issues, each focused on a specific monster, such as Anguirus, Mothra, Rodan or King Ghidorah. The first issue was released in March 2011 and focused on introducing Godzilla, who destroys Japan, and the Japanese Prime Minister even orders for nuclear weapons to be dropped on him, causing his trademark atomic ray. The first issue sold out within its first day. Godzilla, Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Kumonga, Hedorah, Gigan, TitanosaurusBattra, SpaceGodzilla, Destoroyah, and Mechagodzilla are expected to make appearances in the comic.Cultural impact
Main article: Godzilla in popular culture
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, 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.
As the series progressed, so did Godzilla, changing into a less destructive and more heroic character as the films became geared towards children. Since then, the character has fallen somewhere in the middle, sometimes portrayed as a protector of the world from external threats and other times as a bringer of destruction. Godzilla remains one of the greatest fictional heroes in the history of film, and is also the second of only three fictional characters to have won the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award, which was awarded in 1996.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has named its newly acquired, fast interceptor vessel Gojira in deference to the Godzilla character and as an ironic comment on the==Awards==
- 1955 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects (Godzilla)
- 2007 Saturn Awards - Best DVD Classic Film Release (Godzilla)
- 1965 Japan Academy Award - Best Score (Mothra vs. Godzilla)
- 1966 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects (Invasion of Astro Monster)
- 1986 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects and Newcomer of the Year (The Return of Godzilla)
- 1986 Razzie Awards - Worst Supporting Actor and Wrost New Star (The Return of Godzilla)
- 1992 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects (Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah)
- 1993 Tokyo Sports Movie Awards - Best Leading Actor (Godzilla vs. Mothra)
- 1993 Best Grossing Films Award - Golden Award and Money-Making Star Award (Godzilla vs. Mothra)
- 1993 Japan Academy Award - Best Score (Godzilla vs. Mothra)
- 1994 Japan Academy Award - Best Score (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II)
- 1995 Best Grossing Films Award - Silver Award (Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla)
- 1996 Best Grossing Films Award - Golden Award (Godzilla vs. Destoroyah)
- 1996 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects (Godzilla vs. Destoroyah)
- 1996 MTV Movie Awards - Lifetime Achievement
- 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards - Worst Supporting Actress and Worst Remake or Sequel (Godzilla 1998)
- 1999 Saturn Awards - Best Special Effects (Godzilla 1998)
- 2001 Saturn Awards - Best ==References==
- http://www.tohokingdom.com/tv/godzilla_island.htm
- The Monster That Morphed Into a Metaphor, By Terrence Rafferty, May 2, 2004, NYTimes
- "Godzilla Wins The MTV Lifetime Achievement Award In 1996 - Godzilla video". Fanpop. 1954-11-03. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
External links
- Official Website of Toho (Japanese)
- Godzilla Official Website (Japanese)
- Template:IMDb character
- http://archive.tm5150.com/godzilla/
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