Godzilla

Godzilla ()) is a fictional monster, or , originating from a series of . The character first appeared in 's 1954 film and became a worldwide , appearing in various media, including 32 films produced by , and numerous , novels, and . Godzilla has been dubbed the King of the Monsters, a phrase first used in , the Americanized version of the original film.

Godzilla is depicted as an enormous, destructive, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by . With the and the incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for . As the film series expanded, some stories took on less serious undertones, portraying Godzilla as an , or a lesser threat who defends humanity. With the end of the , several post-1984 Godzilla films shifted the character's portrayal to themes including Japan's forgetfulness over its imperial past, and the .[27]

Godzilla has been featured alongside many supporting characters. It has faced human opponents such as the , or other monsters, including , and . Godzilla sometimes has allies, such as , and , and offspring, such as and . Godzilla has also fought characters from other franchises in media, such as the / movie monster , as well as various characters, including ,.[30]

Name

Gojira (ゴジラ) is a of the Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ, "") and kujira (鯨 (クジラ), ""), owing to the fact that in one planning stage, Godzilla was described as "a cross between a gorilla and a whale", due to its size, power and aquatic origin. One popular story is that "Gojira" was actually the nickname of a corpulent stagehand at Toho Studio.[32] Kimi Honda, the widow of the director, dismissed this in a 1998 BBC documentary devoted to Godzilla, "The backstage boys at Toho loved to joke around with tall stories".

Godzilla's name was written in ); the Anglicized form is , with the first syllable pronounced like the word "god" and the rest rhyming with "gorilla". In the system, Godzilla's name is rendered as "Gojira", whereas in the system it is rendered as "Gozira".[]

During the development of the American version of (1955), Godzilla's name was changed to "Gigantis", a move initiated by producer Paul Schreibman, who wanted to create a character distinct from Godzilla.

Characteristics

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. Inspired by the fictional Rhedosaurus created by animator for the film , reptilian monster based around the loose concept of a

Art director Akira Watanabe combined attributes of a , an , a and an , inspired by illustrations from an issue of magazine. To emphasise the monster's relationship with the atomic bomb, its skin texture was inspired by the scars seen on ..[43]

Godzilla's signature weapon is its "atomic heat beam" (also known as "atomic breath" Toho's special effects department has used various techniques to render the beam, from physical gas-powered flames in judo and used his expertise to choreograph the battle sequences.[48]

Godzilla can breathe underwater 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 to , magnetism, fireballs, superhuman speed, and even flight.[57]

Godzilla's allegiance and motivations have changed from film to film to suit the needs of the story. Although Godzilla does not like humans, and will turn against its human allies on a whim. It is not motivated to attack by predatory instinct: it does not eat people and an omnivorous diet. "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."[60]

In the original Japanese films, Godzilla and all the other monsters are referred to with equivalent to "it", while in the English dubbed versions, Godzilla is explicitly described as a male, such as in the title of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. In the 1998 film , the monster is referred to as a male and is depicted laying eggs through . films, Godzilla is referred to as a male.

Roar

Godzilla has a distinctive disyllabic roar (transcribed in several comics as Skreeeonk!), which was created by composer , who produced the sound by rubbing a pine-tar-resin-coated glove along the string of a and then slowing down the playback.. From (1984) to (1991), Godzilla was given a deeper and more threatening-sounding roar than in previous films, though this change was reverted from (1992) onwards. 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.[72]

Size

Godzilla's size is inconsistent, changing from film to film, and even from scene to scene, for the sake of artistic license. and filmed at 240 frames per second to create the illusion of great size., Godzilla was scaled to be 50 m (164 ft) tall., Godzilla is estimated to be 122 m (400 ft) tall, because producer felt that 50 m did not sound "powerful enough".

As the series progressed Toho would rescale the character, eventually making Godzilla as tall as 100 m (328 ft). which Godzilla destroyed in the film Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Supplementary information, such as character profiles, would also depict Godzilla as weighing between 20,000 and 60,000 metric tons (22,000 and 66,000 short tons).

In the American film (2014) from , Godzilla was scaled to be 108.2 m (355 ft) and weighing 90,000 metric tons (99,000 short tons), making it the largest film version at that time. 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". (2016), Godzilla was made even taller than the Legendary version, at 118.5 m (389 ft). In (2017), Godzilla's height was increased further still to 300 m (984 ft), (2019), Godzilla's height was increased to 119.8 m (393 ft) from the 2014 incarnation.[83]

Special effects details

Godzilla's appearance has traditionally been portrayed in the films by , though the character has also been rendered in , and form. Taking inspiration from , special effects artist 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.

The first suit 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. The first suit was held together by small hooks on the back, though subsequent Godzilla suits incorporated a zipper. Its weight was in excess of 100 kg (220 lb). (1989) to (1995), when the suit was given a cat-like face and double rows of teeth.

Several suit actors had difficulties in performing as Godzilla, due to the suits' weight, lack of ventilation and diminished visibility. 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., near-drowning, concussions, electric shocks and lacerations to the legs from the suits' steel wire reinforcements wearing through the rubber padding.

The ventilation problem was partially solved in the suit used in 1994's , which was the first to include an air duct, which allowed suit actors to last longer during performances. In The 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 a mechanical endoskeleton covered in skin containing 3,000 computer operated parts which permitted it to tilt its head and move its lips and arms.

In (1998), special effects artist was instructed to redesign as an incredibly fast runner. 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. bipedal, iguana-like creature that stood with its back and tail parallel to the ground, rendered via .[95]

Several scenes had the monster portrayed by stuntmen in suits. The suits were 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 meters (six feet) off the ground with their feet bent forward. The film's special effects crew also built a ​1⁄6 scale animatronic Godzilla for close-up scenes, whose size outmatched that of 's T. rex in . Kurt Carley performed the suitmation sequences for the adult Godzilla.[12]

In (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.", , , and 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. provided the performance capture for Godzilla by wearing sensors in front of a green screen., portraying the character through ., a majority of the character was portrayed via CGI, with portraying Godzilla through motion capture.[11]

Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese worldwide and remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the subset of the 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.

In 1967, the Keukdong Entertainment Company of South Korea, with production assistance from , produced , a reptilian monster who invades South Korea to consume oil. The film and character has often been branded as a knock-off of Godzilla.[104]

Godzilla has been considered a filmographic for the United States, as well as an allegory of weapons in general. The earlier Godzilla films, especially the original, portrayed Godzilla as a frightening nuclear-spawned monster. Godzilla represented the fears that many Japanese held about the and the possibility of recurrence.[107]

In 1996, Godzilla received the , in 2004 to celebrate the premiere of the character's 50th anniversary film, ., which was ranked as one of the "50 greatest cartoons"," by ., where Godzilla lost an oversized one-on-one game of to a giant version of NBA player . illustrated by ., of Denmark, of South Korea, of North Korea, of the United Kingdom of the United States.[120]

Godzilla's fame and saurian appearance has influenced the scientific community. is a of dinosaur, named by and admitted Godzilla fan . is an extinct of the , which researchers informally "Godzilla". based on its skull shape, four-fingered hands and dorsal scutes, and paleontologist expressing skepticism while commenting on Godzilla's unusual morphology.[123]

Godzilla's ubiquity in pop-culture has led to the mistaken assumption that the character is in the , resulting in litigation by Toho to protect their corporate asset from becoming a . In April 2008, depicted a giant monster in a commercial for their Five Dollar Footlong sandwich promotion. Toho filed a lawsuit against Subway for using the character without permission, demanding $150,000 in compensation. for depicting a fire-breathing monster in a commercial for the . The monster was never mentioned by name, being seen briefly on a video screen inside the minivan. christened a vessel the MV Gojira. Its purpose is to target and harass Japanese whalers in defense of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The MV Gojira was renamed the in May 2011, due to legal pressure from . is the name of a French band, formerly known as Godzilla; legal problems forced the band to change their name. over starring . Promotional material released at the Cannes Film Festival used images of Godzilla.[128]

cited Godzilla as an inspiration for (1993), specifically (1956), which he grew up watching. Godzilla also influenced the Spielberg film (1975).

The main-belt asteroid , discovered by American astronomer at the in 1999, was named in honor of the creature. on 11 July 2018 ( 110635).[134]

Cultural ambassador

To encourage tourism in April 2015 the central ward of Tokyo named Godzilla an official cultural ambassador. During an unveiling of a giant Godzilla bust at Toho headquarters, Shinjuku mayor 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 ward has been flattened by Godzilla in three Toho movies.

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