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Godzilla in popular culture

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As an enduring and iconic symbol of post-World War II cinematic history,[1] Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, has been referenced and parodied numerous times in popular culture.[2] Godzilla and other atomic monsters have appeared in a variety of mediums, including cartoons,[3] film, literature, television, and video games.

Toho, the Japanese company which owns the licensing rights to Godzilla, has in recent years become aggressive about protecting its intellectual property and has sued or sent cease-and-desist letters to individuals, groups or businesses it believes may be infringing upon its rights.

Name usage

"-zilla" is a well known slang suffix, used to imply some form of excess to a person, object or theme;[4] some examples being the reality show Bridezillas and the Netscape web browser Mozilla Firefox.

The Mesozoic reptile Gojirasaurus quayi is a Triassic ceratosaur named in Godzilla's honor. Over five meters in length, it was one of the larger predators of the Period. The species was discovered in New Mexico by paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter, who is an admitted Godzilla fan.[5]

Dakosaurus andiniensis is a marine reptile of the Jurassic Period. It had a uniquely defined head similar to that of Theropod dinosaurs, which has led to researchers nicknaming the species Godzilla.

On at least two occasions, the name Godzilla has been used as a nickname for athletes. Former Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Olaf Kolzig often goes by the nickname "Godzilla" (sometimes shortened to "'Zilla") and has a depiction of the monster painted on his goalie mask. Japanese baseball star Hideki Matsui goes by the nickname 'Godzilla' which represents his powerful hitting. He even made a cameo in the film Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.

Film and television

The Godzilla films have carved out an enduring and resonant place for themselves in cinematic history. As such, motifs from the series have been echoed, parodied or paid tribute to in numerous later films.[citation needed]

Bambi Meets Godzilla is the title of a humorous 1969 Canadian cartoon created entirely by Marv Newland. In 1994 it was voted #38 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. Only two minutes long, this cartoon is considered a classic by many animation fans.

Godzilla movies were frequently a target for commentary by Mystery Science Theater 3000.

In The Simpsons 1999 episode called Thirty Minutes over Tokyo, Godzilla can be seen destroying the city, along with Mothra and Gamera, at the very end of the episode before the credits roll.

Godzilla's Trademark roar can be heard in the episode of Total Drama Island camp castaways

Literature

Many books have been released pertaining to Godzilla and the Godzilla series, including various collection books and manga.[citation needed]

Gojiro is the 1991 debut novel by former Esquire columnist Mark Jacobson. It reinterprets the Godzilla film series from the perspective of the daikaiju—not a fictional creature depicted on-screen via suitmation, but an irradiated varanid–turned–B-movie star named Gojiro (an homage to Gojira, the Japanese name for Godzilla).

Random House publishing produced four novels based on Godzilla, respectively entitled Godzilla Returns, Godzilla 2000 (which had no relation to the film which would later use that name), Godzilla at World's End, and Godzilla vs. The Robot Monsters. These books, as well as several novels aimed at younger readers in their later childhood and early teen years, and several picture books aimed at more juvenile readers age four and up, were produced during the late 90s and early part of 2000. Some of the novels written by Marc Cerasini present Godzilla as a force of nature much like in the Heisei series, neither truly good nor evil, with Mothra appearing in two books as a benevolent, supernatural and sentient creature who occasionally made a point to help people when monsters threatened the Earth.

Comic adaptions

Godzilla has appeared in Marvel and Dark Horse comics, both times under the title Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Marvel's run was produced in the late seventies and lasted twenty four issues, while Dark Horse has had the license for the creature's American appearances since the late eighties onwards, and produced a sixteen issue run, along with various appearances and special issues. Dark Horse produced a translated version of a six issue mini-series manga adaptation of the Japanese version of Gojira 1984 (Godzilla 1985 in its American release) under the title Godzilla, and it was later collected into a graphic novel under the same title. The character Warlock of the New Mutants took on the shape of Godzilla as he appeared in King Kong vs. Godzilla in a Web of Spider-Man annual. Marvel has recently re-released their run of the series as The Essential Godzilla: King of the Monsters Volume 1, which collects the entire twenty-four issue run.

Video games

The first Godzilla game was an unofficial game made by The Code Works for the Commodore 64 PC in 1983.[6] Godzilla would make his first official appearance three years later as one of the playable monsters in The Movie Monster Game by Epyx also for the Commodore 64 PC.[7] (In 1983, a Godzilla knock-off called Goshzilla appeared in this games predecessor, Crush, Crumble and Chomp!).[8] Godzilla would get his own games on the NES such as Godzilla: Monster of Monsters and Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters. He had his own game on the original Gameboy simply titled Godzilla. Godzilla would make an unauthorized appearance in early versions of the game Revenge Of Shinobi. Because of the copyright issues he was removed from latter releases. For the newer consoles he appeared in the game Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, the first in a running series of Godzilla games. It has since been followed by Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed. Godzilla has also appeared in Godzilla Generations and Godzilla Generations: Maximum Impact! in Japan. A game for the Tristar Godzilla was released, based on the cartoon show Godzilla: The Series and shared the name of the series when it was released on Game Boy Color. A sequel to this game followed with "Godzilla: The Series - Monster wars" (also for the Game Boy Color).

The Rampage series of video games is heavily inspired by Godzilla and King Kong films. Players take control of gigantic monsters as they destroy all the buildings in a city and survive onslauts of military forces. One of the monsters is a lizard/dinosaur monster named Lizzie, who resembles and is clearly based on Godzilla. In an issue of Nintendo Power in an advertisement for the Rampage: World Tour game for the Game Boy Color, they give the reason why Lizzie is destructive is because she broke up with Godzilla and is taking her anger out on the world.

Music

In 1977, Blue Öyster Cult had a minor hit, "Godzilla," from their album Spectres. The song is a tongue in cheek tribute.

Scottish indie group Ballboy included a song called "Godzilla vs The Island of Manhattan (With You and I Somewhere in Between)" on their 2008 album I Worked On The Ships.

Parodies

In Rugrats, a green T. rex with spikes named Reptar is a reference to Godzilla, makes frequent appearances; also sporting a Pteranodon ally, Dactar, which is a spoof of Rodan.

The South Park episode "Mecha-Streisand" parodies the Godzilla series heavily, with celebrities such as Barbra Streisand as Mechagodzilla, Leonard Maltin as Jet Jaguar or Ultraman, Sidney Poitier as Gamera, and Robert Smith as Mothra becoming the giant Godzilla-like monsters. A later episode, Whale Whores, has Stan Marsh using a full scale model Godzilla to scare away Japanese whalers and fishermen who have been preying on whales and dolphins at local sea parks and aquariums.

In The Simpsons episode "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" (Season 10, Episode 23, #AABF20), the family's flight home is briefly interrupted by a monster attack on Tokyo, featuring Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan, and Mothra. Another show by Matt Groening, Futurama, contains a Godzilla reference. In the episode "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", a "holophonor" opera (an opera played on a fictional holographic musical instrument) written by Philip J. Fry has a scene where Fry is being attacked by Godzilla.

Promotional use

In 1992, a Nike commercial aired featuring Godzilla and Charles Barkley going head to head, playing basketball in a cityscape. Charles Barkley gave Godzilla an elbow to the face on the way to a slam dunk after the latter tried to slap the ball away from Barkley using his tail. The advertisement received positive reception and inspired a brief t-shirt line and its own comic book by Dark Horse.

Lawsuits associated with usage

Pharoahe Monch released his first single in 1999 called "Simon Says." The song became a major hit; however, he was later sued for the use of a Godzilla sample for the beat and forced to remove the song from the album as a result.

In 2010 the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society named their most recently acquired scout vessel MV Gojira. In May 2011 the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was served with a notice from the copyright holders of the Gojira/Godzilla franchise, regarding the unauthorized use of the trademark. The Society promptly changed the vessel's name to the MV Brigitte Bardot in honor of the French fashion model, actress, and singer whom Paul Watson, the founder of Sea Shepherd, took on an anti-sealing trip in 1977.[9]

Reception

Godzilla was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards. He is one of only three fictional characters to date ever granted the award.

References

  1. ^ Godzilla and Postwar Japan - "William M. Tsutsui (Univ. of Kansas) explores the role of the Godzilla film series in popular culture"
  2. ^ In Godzilla's Footsteps: Japanese Pop Culture Icons on the Global Stage ed. by William M. Tsutsui, Michiko Ito. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 ISBN=1-4039-6461-0 summary
  3. ^ Professor Ferenc M. Szasz and Issei Takechi, "Atomic Heroes and Atomic Monsters: American and Japanese Cartoonists Confront the Onset of the Nuclear Age, 1945-80," The Historian 69.4 (Winter 2007): 728-752.
  4. ^ William Tsutsui (2004) "Godzilla on My Mind", p,8.
  5. ^ J.D. Lees, Marc Cerasini (May 1998) "The Official Godzilla Compendium", p,106.
  6. ^ http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D1065
  7. ^ http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D1729
  8. ^ http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D576
  9. ^ "The Beast Transforms into a Beauty as Godzilla Becomes the Brigitte Bardot". Sea Shepherd News. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.

External links

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