Description of Godzilla
In the Japanese films, Godzilla is depicted as a gigantic prehistoric creature, and his first attacks on Japan are linked to the beginning of the Atomic Age. In particular, mutation due to atomic radiation is presented as an explanation for his great size and strange powers.
Godzilla's iconic design is composed of a mixture of various species of dinosaurs; specifically, he has the body and overall shape of a Tyrannosaurus, the long arms of an Iguanodon, and the dorsal fins of a Stegosaurus.
Godzilla appeared from the sea, but looks like a terrestrial dinosaur. Through time and as more Godzilla films were released, his appearance changed to reflect the concerns of its time. Also his change in form corresponded to a change in character. In his latest incarnation, the dorsal fins are much bigger, sharper and more menacing. The colours also changed from white to purple, to match the skin colour which is now deep green.
In the late Cretaceous era (70 million years ago) there was a species of therapod dinosaur resembling a large Tyrannosaurus, but with special amphibious adaptations which allowed it to swim between the islands upon which it hunted. This dinosaur species has been dubbed "Gojirasaurus".
A minimal breeding population of gojirasaurs somehow survived the great extinction event which killed off other dinosaurs and continued into the modern era. (Much the way many postulate that breeding populations of plesiosaurs survived to become modern "lake monsters".) Adaptations which aided the gojirasaurs in their survival probably included the ability to lay dormant for extended periods of time, and to endure high heat and radiation environments like active volcanic regions where man rarely encroaches. Living in the South Pacific, the gojirasaurs were observed only on rare occasions by the island people of simple fishing villages who incorporated the stories of these strange beasts into their folklore.
All but one (or perhaps two) of the gojirasaurs were apparently destroyed in World War II. One gojirasaurus was severely injured by Allied attack, but managed to cling to life on the remote island of Lagos (near the Marshal Islands in the South Pacific Ocean) until post-war nuclear tests caused him to be subjected to a huge dose of radiation. The radiation caused the gojirasaurus' already radiation-attuned physiology to rapidly mutate/adapt. The animal grew and changed until the gojirasaurus had developed into an entirely new form of creature... Godzilla!
After being seriously injured by American troops, Godzilla was left to die only to be mutated into a huge fire-breathing monster 10 years later by radiation from atomic tests in the Pacific. In the film, "Godzilla versus King Ghidorah," the details of the origin of Godzilla are visited. His origin was modified by time travelers from the future so that the wounded godzillasaurus was teleported to the Bering Sea, where an accident involving a nuclear submarine in the present day created a larger, more powerful Godzilla.
The Godzilla of 1998 movie Godzilla was also created by nuclear testing. Although in this film Godzilla was an enlarged iguana, not a sleeping dinosaur.
Some says Eiji inspired from the American film, "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms." Other pretends that inspiration for Gojira came from the incident of Fukuryu Maru. In 1954, a fishing boat strayed in the waters around the Bikini Atoll atomic testing site. Returning to Japan, the crew was afflicted with a strange illness, one dying as a result. Panic swept through the country, and a recall of tuna was ordered because of the suspicion of contamination. The Japanese press labelled the incident 'the second atomic bombing of mankind.'" -- Markalite, Fall 1991
In some Godzilla films released in Germany before 1985, the storylines were altered so that many of Godzilla's opponents were either sent or created by Dr. Frankenstein.
The name Godzilla is a transliteration of Gojira (ゴジラ), a combination of two Japanese words which means half gorilla, and half whale. : gorira (ゴリラ), and kujira (鯨（くじら
At one planning stage, the concept of Gojira was described as "a cross between a gorilla and a whale".
The word alludes to the size, power and aquatic origin of Godzilla. A popular story is that Gojira was actually a nickname Ishiro Honda and colleagues used to described a fellow employee of Toho who was "oversized and tough-looking". Since Godzilla was neither a gorilla nor a whale, the name had to be devised in a different way for the film's story; Godzilla's name was originally spelled in kanji by the Oto Island people - however, Toho chose these characters for sound only; the combined characters mean "give you net".
Contrary to popular belief, the unconventional Godzilla spelling was not the idea of the American distributor. Before they sold the film to US distributors, Toho's international division had originally marketed an English-subtitled print under the title of Godzilla. Toho came up with Godzilla as a crude English transliteration of the name Gojira, as discovered by Godzilla historians Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewki.
Dreamed up by Eiji Tsuburaya in 1954, Godzilla is the answer to the atomic bomb. The earliest Godzilla films, especially the original Gojira, attempted to portray Godzilla as a frightening, nuclear monster. Godzilla represented the fears of many Japanese of a repeat of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the series progressed, so did Godzilla himself, changing into a less destructive and more heroic character as the films became increasingly geared towards children.
Taken into account the fact that the origin of Godzilla have slightly changed to reflect the evolution of the myth and the inspiration of the artists, the atomic power remains the key element of Godzilla power over more traditional dinosaurs like in Spielberg movies.
Godzilla is one of the first Japanese characters that made his way through western culture and widely considered to be the second greatest film ever to be produced in Japan, next to Akira Kurosawa's 'The Seven Samurai.'". Toho would continue to produce Godzilla films into the 90s. However, Toho is known for other monsters than Godzilla. It was responsible for other great films as "Mothra," and the 90s return of "Gamera."
Kaiju is Japanese word that means "mysterious beast", but usually translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of monsters that appear in tokusatsu (horror or fantastic) entertainment movies. Of course, the most famous Kaiju is Godzilla but there are tens of other creatures typically modelled after conventional animals, insects or mythological creatures like Mothra, King Kong, Gamera, or King Ghidorah to name a few.
Height
* 50 Meters (1954-1975)
* 80 Meters (1984-1989)
* 100 Meters (1991-1995)
* 55 Meters (1999 - )
Weight
* 20,000 Tons (1954-1975)
* 50,000 Tons (1984-1989)
* 60,000 Tons (1991-1995)
* 25,000 Tons (1999 - )
Tail length
* 140 Meters
* 78 Meters (1999 - )
Roar
* 1954-1975
* 1999