What is "godzilla"

(; ) is a giant monster originating from a series of tokusatsu films of the same name from Japan. It first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in numerous media including video games, novels, comic books, television shows, 29 films produced by Toho and two Hollywood films. The character is commonly alluded by the epithet "King of the Monsters"; a phrase first used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, the Americanized version of Honda's original 1954 film.

With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. As the film series expanded, some stories took on less serious undertones portraying Godzilla as an antihero while other plots still portrayed Godzilla as a destructive monster; sometimes the lesser of two threats who plays the defender by default but is still a danger to humanity. With the end of the Cold War, several post-1984 Godzilla films shifted the character's portrayal as a symbol of nuclear weapons to that of modern Japan's forgetfulness over its imperial past, natural disasters and the overall human condition.

In the various stories it has appeared in, Godzilla has been featured alongside many supporting characters. It has faced human opponents such as the JSDF, and other giant monsters, from recurring characters like King Ghidorah, Gigan and Mechagodzilla to one-shot characters like Biollante, Destoroyah and the MUTOs. Godzilla is also shown to have allies, such as Mothra, Rodan and Anguirus (though these characters were initially portrayed as Godzilla's rivals), and offspring, such as Minilla and Godzilla Junior. Godzilla has even fought against fictional characters from other franchises in crossover media, such as King Kong and the Fantastic Four.

is a 1954 Japanese science fiction kaiju film featuring Godzilla, produced and distributed by Toho. It is the first film in the Godzilla franchise and the first film in the Showa series. The film is directed by Ishirō Honda, with a screenplay by Honda, Takeo Murata, and Shigeru Kayama and stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as the performers for Godzilla. Nakajima would go on to portray the character until his retirement in 1972.

In 1956, TransWorld Releasing Corporation and Embassy Pictures released Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, a heavily re-edited "Americanized" version of the original film with additional footage featuring Raymond Burr. In 2004 Rialto Pictures gave the 1954 film a limited theatrical release in the United States to coincide with the franchise's 50th anniversary.

Godzilla is a 1998 American science fiction monster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich and a reimagining of Toho's Godzilla franchise. It is the 23rd film in the Godzilla franchise and the first Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. It stars Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn and Matthew Broderick.

The film was a co-production between Centropolis Entertainment and TriStar Pictures, with TriStar distributing theatrically, and Sony Pictures Entertainment for home media. It also marks the only time that producer Devlin and director Emmerich worked on an intellectual property (IP) they did not own. The film is dedicated to the memory of Godzilla franchise producer and creator Tomoyuki Tanaka, who died during the film's production.

The film was released on May 20, 1998 to negative reviews from critics and fans and was a moderate box office success, grossing $136 million domestically and $379 million worldwide, becoming the ninth highest grossing film of 1998 domestically and third highest grossing film of 1998 worldwide. Despite turning in a profit, it was considered a box office disappointment. Planned sequels were abandoned and an animated series, Godzilla: The Series, was produced instead.

After 2004, Toho (the Godzilla IP owners) began trademarking future incarnations of TriStar's Godzilla as " Zilla", with only the incarnations from the 1998 film and Godzilla: The Series retaining the Godzilla copyright and trademark. The character has since appeared in other media as "Zilla".

Godzilla has appeared in a range of comic books that have been published in Japan and the United States.

Godzilla is a 30-minute animated series co-produced between Hanna-Barbera Productions and Toho Ltd. in 1978 and aired on NBC in the United States and TV Tokyo in Japan. The series is an animated adaptation of the Japanese Godzilla movies produced by Toho. The series continued to air until 1981, for a time airing in its own half-hour timeslot until its cancellation.

1. redirect Godzilla (1954 film)

Godzilla is a fictional Japanese monster.

Godzilla may also refer to:

"Godzilla" is a song by Blue Öyster Cult from their fifth album, Spectres. The lyrics are a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the popular movie monster of the same name. The song is, along with " (Don't Fear) The Reaper" and " Burnin' for You", one of Blue Öyster Cult's best known songs and has become a staple of their live performances. It has been covered by bands such as Racer X, Fu Manchu, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sebastian Bach and Fighting Gravity.

franchise is a series of multi-media featuring the monster Godzilla, owned by Toho. It is recognized by Guinness World Records to be the longest continuously running movie franchise, having been in on-going production from 1954 to the present day (with several hiatuses). The film franchise consists of 29 films produced by Toho (three of which had American adaptations and two Hollywood reboot films). A reboot by Toho was released in July 2016 while Legendary Pictures is proceeding with a shared cinematic franchise of their own with their second Godzilla film set for a March 22, 2019 release while a cross-over film with King Kong is targeted for a 2020 release date.

The first film, Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda, is an early and influential classic in the monster film genre and was initially released by Toho in 1954. Utilizing an atomic bomb incident to unleash the monster, the film tapped into political undertones and feelings common to Japan at the time. The original introduced an acclaimed music score by Akira Ifukube, which was reused in many of the later films. The original also introduced the work of Toho special effects master Eiji Tsuburaya who used miniatures and "suit-mation" to convey the large scale of the monster and its destruction. For its North American release, the film was reworked as an adaptation and released in 1956 as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The film featured new footage with Raymond Burr edited together with the original Japanese footage. Toho was inspired to make the original Godzilla after the commercial success of the 1952 re-release of King Kong, and the 1953 success of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. The success of the Godzilla series itself would go on to inspire Gorgo, Gamera, Yonggary, and many other monster films worldwide. The popularity of the films has led to the introduction of the character in other media such as television, music, literature, and video games. Its character has been one of the most recognizable symbols in Japanese popular culture worldwide and remains a well-known facet of Japanese films, and was the one of the first examples of the popular kaiju and tokusatsu subgenres in Japanese entertainment.

The tone and themes of the individual films vary widely. Several of the films have political themes, others have dark tones, complex internal mythology, or are simple action movies featuring aliens or other monsters, while others have simpler themes accessible to children. Godzilla's role varies from purely a destructive force to an ally of humans, or a protector of Japanese values, or a hero to children. The name Godzilla is a Romanization of the original Japanese name Gojira—which is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ), "gorilla", and kujira (クジラ), "whale". The word alludes to the size, power and aquatic origin of Godzilla. As developed by Toho, the monster is an offshoot of the combination of radioactivity and ancient dinosaur-like creatures, indestructible and possessing special powers (see Godzilla characteristics).

Godzilla is a novel series written by author Marc Cerasini based on the film characters. Each novel has its own unique plot and storyline, with Toho's kaiju featured as the stars.

Godzilla is a series of children's novels about Godzilla, the Japanese movie monster, by Scott Ciencin.

The first novel, Godzilla, is based on the original film. The second, Godzilla Invades America, features Godzilla fighting a giant scorpion, Kamacuras, and Kumonga. The third book, Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, featured Rodan and Anguirus. The last book, Godzilla vs. the Space Monster, has a face-off between Godzilla and King Ghidorah.

Godzilla is the third studio album by rapper Yukmouth, released July 22, 2003 on Rap-A-Lot and Smoke-A-Lot Records.

The Godzilla is a three track EP from Fu Manchu. It was released in 1997 on Man's Ruin Records as 10" clear green vinyl. It was released on CD along with Eatin' Dust by Man's Ruin. It was also released on 12" vinyl as (Godzilla's) Eatin' Dust.

is a Game Boy video game developed by Compile. Although it was released in 1990 (1991 in Europe), all of the monsters are from the Showa generation. The game is a port of an edition from the MSX console. Also the international version is slightly different from the Japanese version (different in-game character designs and behavior of the enemy characters).

Godzilla is a strategy game released in 1983 for Commodore 64. It is the first video game to feature Godzilla.

is an upcoming Japanese animated kaiju film featuring Godzilla, produced and distributed by Toho and animated by Polygon Pictures. It is the 32nd film in the Godzilla franchise, the 30th Godzilla film produced by Toho, and the first animated film in the franchise. The film is co-directed by Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, with a screenplay by Gen Urobuchi. The film is scheduled to be released in Japan in 2017.

The Godzilla (Main Theme) is a musical theme written for the film Godzilla. Originally intended to be associated with the Japanese Self Defense force featured in the film, it became the official theme song for the monster character Godzilla and the entire franchise. Despite the track being titled as "Main Title" on the Godzilla soundtrack, fans and Toho Executives know the track as the Main Godzilla Theme or the Godzilla (Main Theme) song. The song first appeared on the original Godzilla film and in later sequels was replaced by a new theme titled Godzilla March. The Godzilla (Main Theme) re-used for the first time in Terror of Mechagodzilla, the last Godzilla film of the Showa era.

Godzilla is a 2014 American science fiction monster film directed by Gareth Edwards and a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise. It is the 30th film in the Godzilla franchise, the first film in Legendary's Godzilla–Kong film series, and the second Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio, the first being the 1998 film of the same name. It stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston.

The film is a co-production between Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, with the latter also distributing the film worldwide, except in Japan where it was distributed by Toho. The project initially began in 2004 and was originally intended to be an IMAX short film but was later transferred to Legendary for development as a feature film. Principal photography took place in the United States and Canada in 2013.

Godzilla was released worldwide in 2D, 3D and IMAX on May 16, 2014 to positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $200 million domestically and $529 million worldwide. The film's success prompted Toho to produce a reboot of their own and Legendary to proceed with sequels and a shared cinematic franchise, with Godzilla 2 set to be released in 2019 and Godzilla vs. Kong to be released in 2020.

Godzilla (also Godzilla: The Game, ゴジラ Godzilla, Gojira Godzilla, and Godzilla VS for the PS4 in Japan) is a 2014 video game developed by Natsume and published by Bandai Namco Games for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 based on the Japanese monster/ kaiju Godzilla franchise by Toho. It was first released on December 18, 2014 in Japan only for the PlayStation 3. It was released on July 14, 2015 in North America and on July 17, 2015 in Europe. The Western PlayStation 4 version is based on the upgraded Japanese release called Godzilla VS, released on July 14, 2015, containing more content such as additional monsters.