Destroy All Monsters is a 1968 Japanese epic kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects directed by Sadamasa Arikawa and supervised by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise, and features eleven monster characters, including Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, and Minilla. The film stars Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi and Yoshio Tsuchiya.
Rodan is a fictional monster, or kaiju, which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film Rodan, produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous entries in the Godzilla franchise, including Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964), Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), as well as in the Legendary Pictures-produced film Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).
Mothra is a fictional monster or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1961 film Mothra, produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho tokusatsu films, often as a recurring monster in the Godzilla franchise. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva (caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature fairies speaking on her behalf. Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture, the Earth and Japan. Mothra's design is influenced by silkworms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family Saturniidae. The character is often depicted hatching offspring when approaching death, a nod to the Saṃsāra doctrine of numerous Indian religions.
Anguirus is a fictional monster, or kaiju, which first appeared in Godzilla Raids Again (1955), the second film in the Godzilla franchise. Anguirus is the first monster to be shown engaging in combat with Godzilla in a film. Since then, the character has appeared conversely as an enemy and an ally of Godzilla in numerous films produced by Toho, including Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). He has also appeared in other media, including comic books and video games.
King Ghidorah is a fictional monster, or kaiju, which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1964 film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. The monster was initially created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Shinichi Sekizawa as an homage to the eight-headed mythological Japanese dragon Yamata no Orochi. Although the name of the character is officially trademarked by Toho as "King Ghidorah", the character was originally referred to as Ghidorah, Ghidrah, or Monster Zero in some English markets.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the fifth film in the Godzilla franchise, and was the second Godzilla film produced that year, after Mothra vs. Godzilla. The film stars Yosuke Natsuki, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akiko Wakabayashi, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Masanori Shinohara as Rodan, and Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah. In the film, an extraterrestrial from Venus, possessing the body of a princess, warns humanity of the pending destruction by the alien-dragon King Ghidorah, with Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra being their last hope for survival.
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters! (ゴジラ) is a Nintendo Entertainment System video game released in Japan in 1988 and in 1989 in the US by Toho Co., Ltd. The North American version removes all references to Toho Cenfile-Soft Library and Compile, crediting the game to Toho Eizo on the title screen instead.
Gigan is a kaiju from Toho's Godzilla franchise who first appeared in the 1972 film, Godzilla vs. Gigan. Gigan is a giant extraterrestrial space monster, resembling a species of reptile, who was turned into a cyborg by the alien race known as the Nebulans. Gigan sports a huge buzzsaw in its frontal abdominal region, large metallic hooks for hands, and a birdlike beak. Gigan is considered one of Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponents, and the first kaiju in the Toho sci-fi series to make him noticeably bleed. Complex listed the character as No. 2 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is a 2001 Japanese kaiju film directed and co-written by Shusuke Kaneko, with special effects by Makoto Kamiya. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 26th film in the Godzilla franchise and the third film in the Millennium era. The film stars Chiharu Niiyama, Ryudo Uzaki, Masahiro Kobayashi, Hideyo Amamoto, and Shirō Sano, with Mizuho Yoshida as Godzilla, Akira Ohashi as King Ghidorah, and Rie Ōta as Baragon. In the film, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon defend Japan from Godzilla, who has been possessed by the souls of those that were killed during the Pacific War. Like the other films in the franchise's Millennium period, the film serves as a direct sequel to the original 1954 Godzilla film, ignoring the events of every other installment in the series, minus a small reference to Godzilla (1998).
Varan is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1958 film Varan the Unbelievable directed by Ishirō Honda and produced and distributed by Toho. Varan is depicted as a giant, dinosaurian, prehistoric reptile capable of gliding flight, and the creature later appeared in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise.
Baragon is a fictional monster, or kaiju, which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1965 film Frankenstein vs. Baragon, produced and distributed by Toho. Depicted as a burrowing, four-legged, horned dinosaur-like creature with large ears, Baragon appeared alongside Godzilla and other monster characters in films in the Godzilla franchise, also produced by Toho, including Destroy All Monsters (1968) and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001).
Kōichi Kawakita was a Japanese special effects director, cinematographer, and optical photographer.
Godzilla Island is a television show spinoff of the Godzilla franchise. It premiered on October 6, 1997, and ran for a total of 256 three-minute episodes, finishing on September 30, 1998.
Super Godzilla is a video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in Japan on December 23, 1993, and in North America in July 1994. It is based on Toho's Godzilla franchise and was developed by Advance Communication Company.
Godzilla: Unleashed is a 3D fighting video game based on Toho's Godzilla franchise. It was developed by Pipeworks Software and published by Atari. The game was released in North America on November 20, 2007 for PlayStation 2; and on December 5 of the same year for the Wii. A Nintendo DS version, titled Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash, was also released in North America on December 5, 2007.
As an enduring and iconic symbol of post-World War II cinematic history, the fictional giant monster Godzilla has been referenced and parodied numerous times in popular culture. Godzilla and other atomic monsters have appeared in a variety of mediums, including cartoons, film, literature, television, and video games.
Godzilla is a series of novels written by author Marc Cerasini, based on the film series of the same name produced by Toho. While all set within the same continuity, each novel has its own plot and storyline, with Toho's kaiju featured as the stars.
Godzilla: Kaijū Daikessen is a 2D fighting video game released in 1994 for the Super Famicom. The game was developed by Alfa System and published by Toho. It was the second game based on Toho's Godzilla franchise to be released on Super Famicom, following 1993's Super Godzilla.
Kaijū-ō Godzilla is a 1993 action adventure game by Bandai for the Game Boy. It was released exclusively in Japan. The game is notable for featuring nearly every monster in the Godzilla franchise up until the time of its release.
Toho International, Inc. is an American company that is a subsidiary of Japanese film company Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in May 1953, the company was initially created to sell films by Toho in North and South America; amongst their first features to export overseas were Seven Samurai and Godzilla. Toho International currently manages the licensing, marketing, and distribution of Toho's movies and other products and are headquartered in Los Angeles.
