Godzilla, originally Gojira, is a giant dinosaur-type creature that lay dormant under the depths of the ocean. The creature was awakened and mutated by the atomic weapons testing by the USA in Japan. The creature was not at all pleased to be awoken by humans and surfaces itself only to destroy Tokyo and its people. The atomic radiation from the testing took a toll on the monster and as a result it can blast a radioactive beam of fire from its mouth.
The Godzilla franchise has its origins in the post-war Japan. Godzilla represents the technological advancements of man causing the vengeful anger of nature. One of the main contributors to the franchise is the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the second world war and testing of atomic weaponry in post war Japan. Godzilla was penned as an obvious metaphor to America’s imperial actions. In 1954, the USA conducted an atomic bomb test in the Pacific in one of Japan’s neighboring islands. It happened to be the biggest bomb of the time and the impact of the explosion was felt at unsuspected locations. A Japanese fishing boat became a victim to the fall-out and the radiation and one of the fishermen died a few weeks later.
These instances were fresh in the minds of the Japanese people and the producer of the first Godzilla film, Tomoyuki Tanaka, also incorporated this as a vital point in the movie. Godzilla became the first direct-dramatization of the fears of post-war Japan and their perception of America. The atomic horror was still in the social consciousness of the Japanese. Tanaka developed the concept of this monster creature Gojira; a combination of the English word ‘Gorilla’ and the Japanese word for whale ‘Kujira’.
The film was released in Japan in 1954 and became a hit among the Japanese audience. The movie went to the US and released in 1956 after it was dubbed in English. The grim origin story of Godzilla was diluted by the western audience. Godzilla was loved as a monster by the science-fiction lovers and wanted Godzilla to continue as a franchise. But the grim atomic horror of the monster was toned downed as the Americans and the westerners didn’t want the monster to be a vengeful creation as a result of their atomic tests.
Godzilla was killed in the original film with a spectacular weapon. A weapon worthy of taming the horrific beast. The monster was killed by a weapon called the Oxygen Destroyer which causes the monster to disintegrate. The next year, there was another Godzilla movie in Japan without showing any resurrection of the slayed beast. The creature in this film was simply considered to be another Godzilla, thus fueling the horror of the franchise that many Godzillas are living under Japan and that any minute, Japan will become prey to the monsters.
Over the years, Godzilla has become a fan-favourite along side King Kong and Frankenstein’s monster. There have been many Godzilla films in Japan. Hollywood has two Godzilla films, with a third movie coming out later this year.
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