1. Blogs
  2. Off the Shelf
  3. Check it Out: Happy 70th Birthday, Godzilla!

Check it Out: Happy 70th Birthday, Godzilla!

Submitted by B. Wood on

Godzilla turns 70 on November 3rd. On this day in 1954, director Ishiro Honda unleashed a monster on the world. Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, is a pop culture icon today, with over 30 films as well as television shows, video games, comic books and even novels. Known as Gojira in Japanese, Godzilla even has a website: www.godzilla.com.

In honor of Godzilla Day, here are 7 facts you might not know about this monster antihero:

  1. Godzilla has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 
  2. Patrick Stewart gave Godzilla an MTV Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. 
  3. A Triassic dinosaur discovered in New Mexico in 1997 is named after Godzilla - Gojirasaurus quayi, named by paleontologist and founder Kenneth Carpenter.  
  4. Scientists say Godzilla could never actually exist, because it would be crushed by its own body weight. 
  5. Godzilla made a commercial for Dr. Pepper soda in 1985. 
  6. And appeared in a Nike commercial with Charles Barclay in 1992. 
  7. On YouTube, there are several videos of how Godzilla’s roar has changed over the years. Use the search term “Godzilla roar” to find them.

Over the course of Godzilla’s cinematic lifespan, the monster has changed in appearance as well as in sound. The original movies featured scale models, as well as a costume worn by live actors who acted out the reptile’s wrathful destruction of the city or landscape. The costume was made of rubber and metal, and weighed over 200 pounds! Godzilla’s size and appearance have changed from movie to movie, but the monster is always amphibious, reptilian and walks upright, in the manner of a T. rex. Godzilla’s signature weapon is an “atomic heat beam” (or “atomic breath”) which is nuclear energy generated in its own body. Indeed, Godzilla is sometimes described as a metaphor for atomic weapons. Godzilla’s allegiances vary from movie to movie - sometimes within one movie - attacking humans and their cities, but sometimes defending humans and cities from other monsters. But not without significant property damage, it must be said.

The library has Godzilla graphic novels for children and adults, as well as novels and an encyclopedia. There are parodies, including a children’s picture book called Codzilla by David Zeltser. Pop a bowl of popcorn, and stream or watch a Godzilla movie this week - or check one out from the library. Here’s a list of the library’s Godzilla DVDs and Blu-rays:

New at the Library

Fiction

Nonfiction

Children

DVD cover art of a giant, spiky reptile monster in a thrashing blue sea
Review all blog posts