Charles Barkley
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Charles Barkley (チャールズ・バークレー Chāruzu Bākurē) is an American former professional basketball player and infrequent actor. He starred as a giant version of himself in the 1992 Nike TV commercial "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" and reappeared in comic form in Dark Horse's 1993 one-shot Godzilla vs. Barkley. In both stories, Barkley challenges Godzilla to a colossal game of basketball, with the latter establishing him to be a "great warrior" whose change in size is as a result of a magic silver dollar loaned to him by a fan.
Name
In real life, Barkley's full name is Charles Wade Barkley, though this is not established in either of his Godzilla-related appearances. He is referred to as Sir Charles several times throughout Dark Horse's Godzilla vs. Barkley, a nickname he earned in real life during his time in the NBA; a promotional T-shirt for the "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" TV commercial fully titles him Sir Charles Barkley. In Godzilla vs. Barkley, Matthew's grandfather peculiarly refers to Barkley as a "great warrior," with Matt himself later calling Barkley "Earth's greatest warrior."
Development
"Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" was Charles Barkley's debut as an actor. Directed by Michael Owens of Industrial Light & Magic, Barkley was shot at a high frame rate, which made him appear to move slowly when played back at the standard 24 frames per second.[1] The shot of Barkley elbowing Godzilla in the chin was performed backwards in order to ensure the desired facial expressions would appear.[1] A mechanical prop of Godzilla's tail was used to slap the basketball out of Barkley's hands.[1]
Godzilla vs. Barkley was scripted by Mike Baron, with Jeff Butler, James Sinclair, and Keith Aiken comprising the art team.
History
- "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" (1992)
"Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley"
When Godzilla was rampaging through a city, Charles Barkley interfered and challenged the monster to a game of basketball, which ended with Barkley dunking on him. After the match, Barkley made peace with Godzilla.
Comics
- Godzilla vs. Barkley (1993)
- 4-Panel Land: Godzilla World (1993)
Godzilla vs. Barkley
To be added.
Video games
- Godzilla: Trading Battle (1998) - Sony Playstation [Event Card]
Charles Barkley in an Event Card from Godzilla: Trading Battle
Abilities
Size changing
In Godzilla vs. Barkley, Charles Barkley was able to grow to 300 feet tall using the power of a magic 1889 silver dollar. Though the transformation was accidental, he was able to shrink back down off-screen. It is not explained how Barkley became a giant in "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley."
Physical abilities
The giant Barkley exhibited great speed and reaction time in both appearances, dodging a point-blank blast of Godzilla's atomic breath in Godzilla vs. Barkley. His dunking in "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" was termed a Thundering Court Smashing Slam on a promotional T-shirt.[2] The same shirt also lists Glass Breaking and Monster Shaking Rebounds as abilities.[2]
Barkley evading Godzilla's atomic breath
Barkley outmaneuvering Godzilla
Durability
In Godzilla vs. Barkley, the giant Barkley was unscathed by a basketball melted in his hands by Godzilla's atomic breath and a tail whip to the face from Godzilla.
Barkley being unharmed by a basketball melted in his hands
Barkley resisting a slap to the face from Godzilla's tail
Selected filmography
- "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" (1992)
- Rumble (2021) as Rayburn Sr. [voice]
Video
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Notes
- ↑ According to a behind-the-scenes segment on "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" from an episode of Scientific American Frontiers (10/21/1992), Barkley was scaled to 160 feet (~48.8 meters), roughly 25 times his real-world height of 6'6". This would also place his opponent, Godzilla, in the 50-meter range, similar to his appearance in the Showa series. Despite this, a promotional T-shirt for the ad lists the giant Barkley's height as 310 feet (~94.5 meters), with Godzilla using his Heisei era height of 328 feet (~100 meters).
- ↑ The giant Barkley's weight is given as 57,500 U.S. tons on a promotional T-shirt for "Godzilla vs. Barkley", corresponding to the shirt's given height of 310 feet. However, he would likely weigh less if his height is considered to be 160 feet as intended during production.
References
This is a list of references for Charles Barkley. 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]
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