Total Nerd Explains the Bizaar History of Godzilla

Godzilla is a globally recognized brand

He's starred in 32 movies, animated TV shows, and tons of video games

And he's been a beloved creature from beyond the depths for more than half a century

But this atomic-breath character has had anything but a standard run. His history is more unique and unconventional

than you might imagine. I'm Dave Baker. Today on Total Nerd, we're going to explain

the truly bizarre history of Godzilla. Many Westerners have often thought of Godzilla

as a campy, fun children's film about a dinosaur destroying a miniature Tokyo skyline

But the character started as a dark and brooding meditation on global politics

and a fear of nuclear annihilation. I know. Dark. Created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ishiro Honda, and UJ Tsuburaya

the character Godzilla dates back to the 1950s when he first appeared in the kaiju film Gojira

a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla and whale, which was released in 1954

The film was originally intended to mimic the success of giant monster films like King Kong

which was released in 1933, depicting a rampaging ape running amok throughout New York

The key creative figures behind Kojira wanted to make something with the vitality and energy of King Kong

However, the art of stop-motion animation was too expensive for the film's meager budget

so they opted for what now has been dubbed suitmation, meaning it's just a dude in a rubber suit punching skill models

Ironically, this cost-saving measure would become a genre-defining staple and launch the Japanese sub-genre known as tokusatsu

The original film, Gojira, is a blistering social takedown of a nuclear power

and has a staunchly anti-American metaphor in its heart. That's right. The monster at the center of the film is a walking metaphor for nuclear proliferation run amok

However, when the Americans re-released the film, the name was altered to Godzilla

because it sounded kind of like Gojira, and it stuck. The release of Gojira was so massive it basically jumpstarted an entire mini industry around making suited monster movies Over the next 20 years multiple movie franchises would be started TV shows would be created

and for a solid block of time, most of Japan's entertainment export was just kaiju films and tokusatsu programs

But let's stick with our big green friend here. The history of Godzilla is largely thought to be split into three eras

The first era is Showa, which lasted from 54 to 75. The passage of time in Japan is commonly linked to who the emperor is at that time

so the Showa era is attributed to the rule of Hirohito. After Gojira was released, the film was bought by a film producer in America named Edmund Goldman

He brought it here, and in order to attempt to mine the success of the iconic monster

decided, well, let's re-edit it, and we can re-title it Godzilla, King of the Monsters

And this heavily reworked film was released with a kind of new plot and some American actors and a few new key scenes

In fact, Raymond Burr was added to the American film as a protagonist named Steve Martin

Yeah, really weird, right? Can you imagine if that happened today? Like, if they tried to re-edit and re-release Parasite, but with like a weird Robert Downey Jr. CGI'd into scenes

and his character was just named Pete Davidson? Like, how weird would that be

During the rest of the Showa period, there were a lot of Godzilla movies released

A complete list of which include Godzilla, Godzilla Rides Again, King Kong vs. Godzilla

Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of the Astro Monsters, Ibirah, Horror of the Deep, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, All Monsters Attack

Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon, oh, there's also Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and then Terror of Godzilla

Whew! As the decades drag on, Godzilla lost the hard-hitting political edge and became

decidedly goofy and developed a sprawling cast of monsters and humans. I mean, they even gave

him a baby Yeah Godzuki And so the franchise was wound down for roughly a decade as Toho thought they had nowhere else to go with the character after the dizzying heights of this Okay so nine years with no Godzilla is a long time

But in 1984, it was remedied with the return of Godzilla. This movie was basically a re-jump-starting of the brand, usually referred to as the Heisei period

in connection with Emperor Akito. The era is a favorite of hardcore fans

Return of Godzilla is the direct sequel to Gojira and throws out all the other movies

So in this era, we have Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Violante, Godzilla vs. King Dora

Godzilla vs. Mothra, Mechagodzilla 2 vs. Space Godzilla. Oh, and then you also have vs. Destroya

The Godzilla from this film is commonly referred to as Burning Godzilla because he's literally

melting down over the course of the film. It kind of went back to the idea of a nuclear bomb and used the film to strike a political

allegory for nuclear devastation, similar to what happened after Fukushima. As the film reaches its ultimate climax, Godzilla literally melts down

He dies at the end of this film, killing Destroya and saving Japan

And thus, ends the Heisei period. 1998 sees the release of Godzilla, directed by Roland Emmerich, starring Matthew Broderick

John Renaud, and a bunch of people from The Simpsons for some reason. This film is, well, not fondly remembered by fans

However, the real success of the film is that it was so bad that it woke up the sleeping giant that was Toho and forced them to get off their ass and make more actual Godzilla movies

This era, even though it was still in the Heisei era, is called the Millennium Era, because it all happened around the Millennium

Which leads us to... Godzilla 2000 vs. Mechagurus. Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah

Giant monsters all at attack. Godzilla against Mechagodzilla. Godzilla Tokyo SOS. And finally, Godzilla Final Wars

After Final Wars, Toho decided that the franchise had run its course again

and they put things on the back burner Decided to stop producing Godzilla films for the foreseeable future Not content to let a piece of intellectual property lay dormant American production company

Legendary set about creating a shared cinematic universe by optioning Godzilla and the associated

monsters. The initial film in this new American-backed film universe would be Godzilla, released

in 2014, which is commonly referred to as Godzilla 2014, and it was directed by Eric Edwards

The film was a gritty reimagining of Godzilla, set 15 years after a nuclear power plant meltdown

From here, legendary released Kong Skull Island. All these films exist in the same world and are, you know, leading up to the inevitable Godzilla vs. King Kong

During the release of the MonsterVerse films, Toho decided to try their hand at making their own Godzilla film again

They spared no expense. They hired one of the most adventurous and creative directors in anime and live-action films, Hideyaki Anno, and set about producing an uncompromising tokusatsu masterpiece

The final Godzilla film, for now, was released in Japan in 2016. It was titled Shin Godzilla. Hideyaki Anno partnered with Shinji Hujuki to direct the film, and it returns to the dark political nature of earlier Godzilla films

Interestingly, though, this movie doesn't have a central protagonist. It's more about this kind of evil that lurks within Japanese bureaucracy and how it prevents responses during a crisis

The wildly visually inventive film is quite possibly the greatest and most artistically successful film in the whole Godzilla canon

So yeah, King Godzilla, it rules! Godzilla is a character that's made an indelible mark of cultural landscape

It's a film and a character that has a specific point of view that has then been watered down and made highly commercial

and then every 15 years or so somebody does something really cool with it. I love most versions of Godzilla, the silly and the dark, and the weirdly in between

But what I don't really like is the fact that so much of the socio-political commentary has been stripped from the character in the films over time