Godzilla is a Japanese monster or kaiju and the first generation of Godzilla that first appears in a 1954 film with the same name. It was a prehistoric reptile that was awakened as a result of hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean.
While the character is never referred to as "Godzilla" in the original Japanese cut of the 1954 film, the English name "Godzilla" was a result of an invention of Toho's international sales department in 1955, and not any American distributors, being referred to by its Japanese name "Gojira".
Overview
Development and design
In 1954, Manga illustrator, Wasuke Abe, was put in charge of designing the monster. His initial idea was a humanoid beast with a head shaped like a mushroom cloud,[1][2] this design would later be used for the creation of Mushroom Cloud Godzilla.
While designing the monster, art director, Akira Watanabe, and sculptor, Teizo Toshimitsu, decided to combine the characteristics of a Iguanodon, Stegosaurus, and a Tyrannosaurus rex for the monster after looking through a dinosaur book for children. Toshimitsu sculpted three concept models of Godzilla: the first model had scales like those of a fish, the second model had wart-like bumps, and the third model had skin like of a crocodile's skin and other reptiles.
Watanabe rejected the first two concepts for lacking the necessary power, and approved the third concept. Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya planned to bring Godzilla to life using stop-motion, but due to the scheduled release of the film in November 1954, he had insufficient time to do this, and Tsuburaya decided to use a man in a suit in miniature sets of Tokyo.[3] This later became to be known as "Suitmation"[citation needed].
Production of the Godzilla suit, with only the head being testedGodzilla in a behind the scenes image.
Using the approved third maquette as a reference, a team lead by Toshimitsu, Eizo Kaimai, Kanju Yagi and Yasuei Yagi, had started on the first suit for the monster. Godzilla suit actor, Haruo Nakajima, had struggled through a 10-metre (10,000-millimetre; 1,000-centimetre; 390-inch; 33-foot) test walk inside the Godzilla suit before falling over and passing out on set. Katsumi Tezuka, the suit actor for Anguirus in Godzilla Raids Again, gave up after taking a few steps in the suit.
The suit was later reused, but had its bottom half cut from the rest of the suit in order for it to depict close-ups of Godzilla's feet, and the upper half used for other close-ups, while a second suit was created. A 50-centimetre (500-millimetre; 0.50-metre; 20-inch; 1.6-foot) miniature was employed to depict Godzilla's skeleton.
In 2002, during production of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, Toho made a replica of the original Godzilla suit, modelled by Shinichi Wakasa, consisting only of an upper body; it was used in the flashback scene, worn by Millennium Godzilla suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa. Godzilla's skeleton was also recreated for the film.
Roar
When he first signed onto Godzilla, composer Akira Ifukube thought that the monster, being a reptile, should not roar at all.[4] The director, Ishirō Honda, explained that the monster roaring was another consequence of the mutation. Sound technicians tried modifying the cries of lions, night herons, and tigers, but everything they produced felt like it didn't fit the monster at all. However, Ifukube came up with the idea of using a musical instrument, a contrabass, to create the roar.[5] He slackened the E-string and recorded his assistant, Sei Ikano, drawing his hands across it with a leather glove covered in pine tar, and then slowed down the roar during post-production.[5][6][7]
Replica
Toho made a full-body replica of Godzilla, which debuted at G-Fest in 2018 at Hibiya, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Yuji Sakai led a team that worked on the replica of the original suit, which had made an appearance in a short film made for the Eiji Tsuburaya Museum.[8]
Revisit in the franchise
Toho had made multiple movies revisiting the 1954 film and the character:
1984-1995 - The Heisei era revolved around a second Godzilla created 30 years after the events of the 1954 film, ignoring the other Showa films from 1955 through 1975. In the end of the Heisei era, this Godzilla battled Destoroyah, a colony of Precambrian crustaceans mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer.
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus - Godzilla vs. Megaguirus presented an alternate retelling with different version of Godzilla, with Toho recreating some of the original 1954 film scenes for the 2000 film, this Godzilla would later battle Megaguirus in the film.
Kiryu Saga - In the 2002 film Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, the Oxygen Destroyer managed to kill Godzilla, leaving its skeleton behind, which was used to create Kiryu.
Public displays
A statue of Godzilla was installed at the "Godzilla The Art" exhibition at Shibuya PARCO in Shibuya, Tokyo.[9][10] Another statue of Godzilla was installed at the Godzilla Expo in Sapporo, Hokkaido.[11][12] A golden statue of Godzilla was installed at the Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store in Nagoya, Chūbu for the Great Golden Exhibition.[13][14] A large statue of Godzilla's upper body was installed at Hibya as a way of promoting the 2023 film Godzilla Minus One.[15][16]
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