Minilla

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Minilla
Minilla in Godzilla: Final Wars
Minilla in Destroy All Monsters
Alternate names Minira, Minya, Milla, Child Godzilla, Godzilla Junior,[1] Childzilla[2]
Subtitle(s) Naughty Prince
(わんぱくプリンス,   Wanpaku Purinsu)[3][4]
Son of Godzilla
(ゴジラの息子,   Gojira no Musuko)[1][5]
Small Child Monster
(ちびっ子怪獣,   Chibikko Kaijū)[5]
Godzilla the Second
(ゴジラ二世,   Gojira Nisei)[6]
Species Irradiated Godzilla Infant
Height Showa
13 meters (At birth)SoG[5][7]
18 metersSoG-AMA[5][7]
Millennium
1.6 meters (Human Size)GFW[5],
20 metersGFW[5]
Weight Showa
1,800 metric tons (At birth)SoG[4][5][7]
3,000 metric tonsSoG-AMA[4][5][7]
Millennium
200 kilograms (Human Size)GFW[5]
5,000 metric tonsGFW[5]
Forms HatchlingSoG, Human SizeAMA-GFW
Place(s) of emergence Solgell Island,SoG[5] Monsterland,DAM[5] Monster IslandAMA[5]
Controlled by KilaaksDAM, TonchikiG!G
Relations Godzilla (Father), Tonchiki (Creator)G!G
Allies Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, Varan, Gorosaurus, KumongaDAM, Baragon, Manda, TonchikiG!G, MaohG!G
Enemies Kamacuras, Kumonga,
King Ghidorah, Gabara, GreenmanG!G
Created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Jun Fukuda,
Shinichi Sekizawa, Kazue Shiba
Played by ShowaMasao Fukazawa,
Midori Uchiyama (Voice)AMA
MillenniumNaoko Kamio
First appearance Latest appearance
Son of Godzilla Godzilla: Final Wars
Roar(s)
Showa Greenman MillenniumMore roars
Godzilla says that I should learn to fight my own battles, y'know.
„ 

— Minilla (Godzilla's Revenge)

Minilla  (ミニラ,   Minira) is an infant Godzilla kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1967 Godzilla film, Son of Godzilla.

An infant member of Godzilla's species, Minilla emitted a distress signal from his egg on Solgell Island, attracting Godzilla to the island. When Minilla's egg was broken open by three Kamacuras, Godzilla arrived and rescued him. Godzilla went on to raise Minilla as his son and trained him to take up his mantle. Minilla eventually used the knowledge he learned from Godzilla to save his father's life in battle against Kumonga. In Destroy All Monsters, Minilla lived with his father on the human-monitored Monsterland at the end of the 20th century. Minilla was initially nowhere to be seen after the Kilaaks invaded the island and unleashed the monsters across the globe, but later did appear to assist Godzilla and the other Earth monsters in battle against King Ghidorah. In All Monsters Attack, Minilla appeared in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, befriending him and helping him learn to stand up for himself. Minilla also made an appearance in Toho's tokusatsu program Go! Greenman, where he was a creation of the villain Tonchiki and sent to do battle with Greenman. Minilla returned in Godzilla: Final Wars, the final entry of the Millennium series, where he traveled with a young boy and his grandfather to Tokyo so he could reunite with Godzilla. A different version of Godzilla's son, Godzilla Junior, was featured in the Heisei series films in place of Minilla.

Name

Minilla's Japanese name, "Minira," is a combination of mini, meaning small, and Gojira, (ゴジラ) the Japanese name for Godzilla. Minilla's name was decided upon in a naming campaign created by Toho which had as many as 8,211 applicants, 135 of which suggested the final name.[1] Prior to Minilla's name being chosen, the monster was referred to simply as Child Godzilla (子供ゴジラ,   Kodomo Gojira) or Godzilla Junior (ゴジラ・ジュニア,   Gojira Junia),[1] while he was referred to as Childzilla (子ジラ,   Kojira) in the script for Son of Godzilla.[2]

"Minilla" is the character's official trademarked English name, while Minya and Milla are alternate translations used in English dubs. In Son of Godzilla, Minilla is never referred to by name, only called "baby Godzilla" or "Godzilla's son." Minilla is finally referred to by name in the Japanese dialogue for Destroy All Monsters, however in the international English dub he is simply referred to as "the son of Godzilla."

Minilla is given several subtitles throughout various Japanese sources, including Naughty Prince (わんぱくプリンス,   Wanpaku Purinsu),[3][4] Son of Godzilla (ゴジラの息子,   Gojira no Musuko),[1][5] and Small Child Monster (ちびっ子怪獣,   Chibikko Kaijū).[5] Additionally, Minilla is referred to as Godzilla the Second (ゴジラ二世,   Gojira Nisei) in the Japanese trailer for Son of Godzilla.[6]

The incarnation of Minilla featured in Godzilla: Final Wars is sometimes referred to as Minilla (2nd Generation) (ミニラ(2代目),   Minira Nidaime) in official books.[8]

Development

Minilla, newborn Minilla, Kamacuras, Kumonga, and Godzilla maquettes for Son of Godzilla

The idea for a "son of Godzilla" was considered as far back as three years before Son of Godzilla began production.[9] A precursor to Minilla which utilized this concept was developed by Shinichi Sekizawa in a screenplay for a 1967 film titled Two Godzillas: Japan S.O.S.!, where a bluish-skinned, thirty-meter juvenile Godzilla named Godzilla Junior[1] would menace Japan alongside Godzilla himself.[10] Unlike the gentle and meek Minilla, who hatched from an egg onscreen and was portrayed with much humanizing characterization, Godzilla Junior emerged from the sea and maintained a relatively serious presence as a threat to Japan. Godzilla Junior also hunted giant mussels on his own in the ocean, though he needed to be helped by Godzilla when the clams became too much for the young monster to handle.[10] "Godzilla Junior" would later be used as the name for Godzilla's adopted son in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, though without an interpunct in the Japanese spelling. Minilla's name wasn't finally decided upon until Son of Godzilla was well into production.[1]

The Minilla suit's head and body were modeled by Teizo Toshimitsu[11] and Yasuei Yagi, respectively. In addition to the suit, a 2-shaku (Japanese foot) model was created to portray the newborn Minilla.[1]

Design

Minilla resembles a smaller, pudgy version of his father. His snout is slightly upturned and his eyes are larger and placed further forward on his head, giving him a more human-like appearance. He also possesses pronounced brow ridges above his eyes, and a small crest along the top of his head. In the Showa series, his head is slightly elongated, the Template:Scutes on his back are small and undeveloped, and he only has three toes, like his father did from 1962 through 1975. Additionally, he lacks the charcoal gray coloration and rugged skin of his father, with his smooth skin instead being a uniform desaturated green-gray. As a newborn, he was more of a tan color. For Destroy All Monsters, the original suit's face was modified slightly. Further modifications to the face were done for All Monsters Attack.

The Minilla suit in Go! Greenman is brand new, but looks to be very cheaply built and possesses charcoal black skin similar to Godzilla's.

The Godzilla: Final Wars Minilla was designed by Shinji Nishikawa, who created the design to be a more refined version of the original.[11] Minilla's new design for this film retains the core look of the Showa version, though it possesses a few differences. Namely, his body is more of a saturated green that is lighter on the belly and palms, and he has more noticeable dorsal plates, orange claws, prominent brown irises around his pupils, and more spread out teeth. This Minilla also has four toes on his feet instead of three.

Personality

Minilla playfully jumps over his father's tail

Minilla is notably much more friendly with humans than any of the other monsters featured in the Showa Godzilla films, and demonstrates human-like behaviors and emotions. He is very playful, enjoying games like kicking large boulders and jumping over or riding on his father's tail. He also shook ecstatically after firing an atomic heat ray on his own while his father slept, and he showed childlike disobedience by falling on the ground and refusing to cooperate. While he is usually fearful of other monsters, he occasionally shows courage, although he is often outmatched by other monsters. Minilla's toddler-like waddling gait was a product of the suit's shape, which suit actor Little Man Machan had difficulty walking in.[11]

Minilla's personality in Godzilla: Final Wars was unchanged from the Showa series, as he was very friendly towards humans. He also interceded on behalf of humanity to Godzilla, prompting Godzilla to end his war with the human race.

Origins

Minilla's egg, freshly dug out by several Kamacuras

Minilla is an infant member of Godzilla's species. In both the Showa and Millennium series, it is never stated if Godzilla is Minilla's biological father or if he simply adopted him. However, the 1998 informational book The Official Godzilla Compendium and Toho's official English-language website both state that Minilla was adopted by Godzilla in Son of Godzilla.[7][12] In Son of Godzilla, Minilla hatches from an egg on Solgell Island after it is broken open by the Kamacuras. In Godzilla: Final Wars, Minilla appears near Mount Fuji with no explanation as to his origins.

In the television series Go! Greenman, Minilla is a creation of the villainous Tonchiki as part of his quest to retrieve the blood of children for his master Maoh.

History

Showa Series

Son of Godzilla

Minilla in Son of Godzilla

Minilla was an infant member of Godzilla's species inside an egg buried on Solgell Island. He began emitting a brain wave to call out for Godzilla, which interfered with the scientific equipment of a team of United Nations scientists on the island and caused their weather-controlling experiment to malfunction and trigger a radiation storm. The storm mutated the island's native giant mantises into huge kaiju dubbed Kamacuras, which dug up Minilla's egg and broke it open, intending to eat the hatchling. Fortunately, Godzilla arrived on the island and confronted the Kamacuras, killing two and forcing the third one to retreat. The recently-hatched Minilla came to befriend a human woman living on the island, Saeko Matsumiya, who fed him fruit and gained the ability to summon him with her call. Godzilla decided to raise Minilla as his son and train him to take up his mantle. Godzilla and Minilla took up residence next to a boiling red lake on the island, where Godzilla attempted to teach Minilla how to use his atomic breath. Minilla could only breathe pitiful smoke rings, but Godzilla found that when he stepped on his tail, Minilla fired a full atomic beam. When Saeko was threatened by the surviving Kamacuras, Minilla rushed to her rescue, but could not fight off the Kamacuras. Godzilla soon arrived, and Kamacuras promptly retreated. However, during the struggle Minilla accidentally knocked a boulder into the valley of Kumonga, a giant spider, awakening it.

While his father was asleep, Minilla began to wander the island, only to be ensnared in Kumonga's webbing, along with Kamacuras. Kumonga instantly killed Kamacuras by injecting it with venom, then prepared to do the same to Minilla. Minilla cried out for help, rousing Godzilla from his sleep. Godzilla arrived and attacked Kumonga, but found himself fighting a losing battle against the huge arachnid. Just as Kumonga prepared to move in for the kill, Minilla unleashed his atomic breath at the beast. Godzilla and Minilla then combined their atomic breath and set Kumonga ablaze, seemingly killing it. In the meantime, the U.N. scientists successfully executed their weather experiment, causing a snowstorm to form over the island. Godzilla and Minilla attempted to reach the ocean before Solgell Island froze over, but Minilla fell in the snow and began to fall asleep. Rather than abandon his son, Godzilla went back and embraced Minilla, falling into hibernation with him.

Destroy All Monsters

By the end of the 20th century, Minilla was living with his father and several other kaiju on the human-monitored Monsterland in the Ogasawara Islands. When the Kilaaks assaulted the island and took control of its monster inhabitants, Minilla vanished and was not seen attacking any of Earth's cities. After the crew of the Moonlight SY-3 destroyed the Kilaaks' mind control device on the Moon, Minilla was the first monster to arrive at Mount Fuji to assault the invaders' Earth base. Minilla was joined by his father and the rest of the Earth monsters as they closed in on the aliens' base. However, the Kilaaks unleashed King Ghidorah as their final defensive measure to attack the monsters. Minilla took part in the battle against King Ghidorah alongside Godzilla, Anguirus and Gorosaurus, and managed to deliver the killing blow to the space monster by strangling his last living neck with a smoke ring. With King Ghidorah dead, Minilla stood triumphantly on the fallen kaiju's body and joined in celebrating the victory of Earth's monsters. After Godzilla obliterated the Kilaaks' base, Minilla was returned to Monsterland with the rest of the monsters to live out his days in peace. Minilla was seen standing next to his father as a group of humans observed the island from a helicopter.

All Monsters Attack

When Ichiro Miki dreamed of visiting Monster Island, he found himself chased by a Kamacuras, eventually tripping and falling into a pit. Minilla, having shrunk to human size, lowered a vine into the pit and rescued Ichiro. Minilla told Ichiro how he was often lonely living on the island, with his father spending most of his time fending off the other kaiju. Minilla was also constantly harassed by a monster called Gabara, who liked to bully him. Godzilla would not fight Gabara for Minilla, as he believed Minilla should learn to defend himself. Ichiro helped build Minilla's confidence and the two worked together to spring a trap for Gabara. The trap worked and Minilla successfully beat Gabara. Godzilla arrived to congratulate his son, but the enraged Gabara bit Godzilla, sending him into a furious rage. Godzilla held Minilla back and personally beat Gabara into submission, sending him fleeing into the jungle. Ichiro then awoke from his dream, and using the lessons he had learned from Minilla, was able to escape from two bank robbers who had kidnapped him.

Go! Greenman

Minilla in Go! Greenman

A darker, evil Minilla appeared in episode 46 of the series Go! Greenman. Minilla was deployed to obtain the blood of young children for Maoh in a scheme to reverse his banishment. Eventually, the kids called Greenman with their Calls and the two fought. After a short battle, the monster grew and began menacing a city with a pacifier in its mouth. During their battle, Greenman attempted to grab Minilla's pacifier, but resulted in the monster angrily throwing him into a building. After a few more attempts at grabbing the pacifier, Greenman managed to pull it out of the infant's mouth, causing it to fall to the ground and begin crying. Greenman readied his Breaster attack to finish the monster off, but decided to spare it instead. Minilla did not last for much longer, though, as he was then destroyed at the hands of his creator for failing his mission.


Millennium Series

Godzilla: Final Wars

In the year 20XX, Minilla was encountered by the young boy Kenta while he and his grandfather were hunting in the forest near Mount Fuji. Minilla joined the two in their truck, which they used to drive to Mt. Fuji to witness Godzilla's battle with Anguirus, Rodan, and King Caesar. Upon witnessing this battle, Minilla's height sprung up to 20 meters. Minilla then traveled to Tokyo in the aftermath of Godzilla's battle with Keizer Ghidorah. When he arrived, he convinced Godzilla to let go of his hatred of the human race and spare the crew of the Gotengo. Godzilla then returned to the sea with Minilla, who fired a full blast of atomic breath into the sky before departing.


Abilities

Smoke Rings

Minilla fires a smoke ring at Kamacuras

Minilla's main weapon is atomic smoke rings. These smoke rings, while significantly weaker than his father's atomic breath, can interact with physical objects and tighten around opponents to injure or even strangle them. In Destroy All Monsters, Minilla delivers the finishing blow to the severely injured King Ghidorah, with one of his smoke rings strangling the space monster's middle head.

Atomic Breath

Minilla fires his atomic breath on his own as his father sleeps, to which he reacts ecstatically

Minilla learned to use a true atomic breath in Son of Godzilla. Initially, despite his best attempts, he couldn't fire the atomic breath as Godzilla demonstrated to him. After Godzilla stepped on his tail, he managed to fire it, and later fired it on his own as his father slept. Minilla later used his atomic breath to assist his father during the battle against Kumonga. Minilla was shown firing an atomic ray at the very end of Godzilla: Final Wars.

Unused sequences from Son of Godzilla show Minilla using his atomic breath against Kamacuras rather than smoke rings.


Communication

Minilla speaks in Ichiro's dream

Minilla can communicate with Godzilla over great distances by broadcasting a brainwave pattern over radio frequencies. This ability interferes with other radio transmissions in its vicinity. This signal has the ability to disrupt other forms of electrical transmission such as radar and radio.

In All Monsters Attack, Minilla is depicted as being able to talk. This is indicative of the fantasy element of this film, in which Minilla only appears in the dreams of a young boy.

Size Changing

Minilla grows in Godzilla: Final Wars

In All Monsters Attack, Minilla is depicted as having the ability to shrink down to human size. While this ability was only shown within the dreams of Ichiro Miki in the Showa series, Minilla demonstrated he could grow rapidly in Godzilla: Final Wars, going from 1.6 to 20 meters in a matter of seconds.

In Go! Greenman, Minilla could also increase in size, but was only able to do so when commanded by his master Tonchiki.

Filmography

Video Games

Godzilla (PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4)

Main article: Godzilla (2014 video game)/Kaiju Guide#Minilla.

Gallery

Main article: Minilla/Gallery.

Roar

Some of Minilla's vocalizations in the Showa series are actually recycled from the shriek of the Giant Condor from Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. In Go! Greenman, Minilla used the Ultra Series kaiju Gesura's roars.

Minilla's roars in the Showa series
Minilla's roars in Godzilla: Final Wars

In Other Languages

  • Russian: Минилла
  • Chinese: 迷你拉 (Mínǐlā)

Trivia

See Also

References

This is a list of references for Minilla. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works. Village Books. 28 September 2012. pp. 120–121. ISBN 4-864-91013-8. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Japanese Wikipedia - ミニラ
  3. 3.0 3.1 Godzilla Toho Giant Monster Pictorial Book. Shogakukan. 1 April 2005. p. 62. ISBN 4-09-280052-5. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Common Knowledge of Godzilla. Futabasha. 6 July 2014. pp. 45, 51, 55. ISBN 978-4-575-30696-5. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Shogakukan. 23 July 2014. pp. 49, 51, 57, 117. ISBN 4-096-82090-3. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Japanese Son of Godzilla trailer
    Gojira Nisei Minira Tanjoo !!.png
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 J.D. Lees, Marc Cerasini (24 March 1998). The Official Godzilla Compendium. Random House. p. 126. ISBN 0279888225 Check |isbn= value: checksum (help). Check date values in: |date= (help)
    Compendium7.png
  8. Nomura, Kohei (August 7, 2014). Godzilla Dictionary (New Edition). Kasakura Publishing. p. 399. ISBN 978-4-7730-8725-3.
  9. Encyclopedia of Godzilla (Mechagodzilla Edition). Gakken. 10 December 1993. p. 69. ISBN 405600174X. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. 10.0 10.1 LeMay, John (15 June 2017). The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films. Bicep Books. pp. 134–138. ISBN 9781548145255.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book (4th Edition). Yosensha. 4 September 2016. pp. 137, 303. ISBN 978-4-8003-0362-2. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. Son of Godzilla - TOHO GLOBAL SITE
  13. Takao Okawara Interview II
  14. Nomura, Kohei (December 5, 2004). Godzilla Dictionary. Kasakura Publishing. pp. 257–258. ISBN 4773002921.

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