Godzilla: The Series (TV 1998-2000)
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Godzilla: The Series (ゴジラ ザ・シリーズ Gojira: Za Shirīzu) was an animated series co-produced by Adelaide Productions, Centropolis Television, and Columbia TriStar Television as a sequel to the 1998 film GODZILLA. The series follows the film's protagonist Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, who discovers the sole surviving offspring of Godzilla in the ruins of Madison Square Garden. The new Godzilla imprints on Nick and quickly grows to adulthood, becoming a loyal ally to both his adopted father and all of mankind when he accompanies Nick and his humanitarian scientific team H.E.A.T. as they travel the world to protect innocent civilians from a host of malevolent mutated creatures. Godzilla: The Series ran for two seasons from September 12, 1998 to April 22, 2000; the first season consisting of 21 episodes and the second of 19, the last two of which were not originally aired on television in North America. Compared to the controversial film on which it was based, Godzilla: The Series was relatively well-received by viewers and fans of the franchise, and maintains a cult following to this day.
Plot
Immediately following the destruction of Godzilla's nest in Madison Square Garden and the military's extermination of the creature himself at the conclusion of the 1998 film, Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos receives permission from Colonel Anthony Hicks to survey the ruins of MSG and ensure none of the monster's eggs survived. During his search, Nick comes upon a single surviving egg which hatches into a Baby Godzilla, who imprints on Nick as his parent due to his being covered with amniotic fluid from the other eggs. The infant quickly grows to adulthood, but demonstrates an entirely different personality from his late biological father as well as greater physical strength and resilience and the ability to spit a powerful atomic heat ray. Nick joins forces with colleagues Dr. Elsie Chapman, Dr. Mendel Craven, and Randy Hernandez to form his own research outfit known as H.E.A.T., an acronym for Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team, with the goal of researching and protecting mankind from the various mutated monsters appearing around the world. French secret service agent Monique Dupre joins H.E.A.T. in order to keep an eye on the new Godzilla, whose loyalty to Nick renders him an important ally to the team on its mission.
Throughout the series, H.E.A.T. travels the globe in order to research and contain the dangerous mutations spawned by nuclear testing and other human activity. Whenever the team is in danger, Nick is able to summon Godzilla to their aid in order to combat their monstrous foes. H.E.A.T. and Godzilla battle a host of original monsters created specifically for the show, such as Crustaceous Rex, the Giant Bat, and King Cobra. While most of the episodes' plots are unconnected, there is a loose sense of continuity throughout the show, with some characters and monsters reappearing following their debut episodes, though some episodes were aired out of chronological order. A recurring human antagonist is Cameron Winter, an eccentric corrupt billionaire and former academic rival of Nick's who is dedicated to ruining Nick and destroying Godzilla. Season 1 includes a trilogy of episodes paying tribute to the film Destroy All Monsters, in which the Leviathan Aliens take control of the mutations of Earth and unleash them across the globe in an effort to destroy human civilization. Godzilla's biological father is revived by the aliens as Cyber Godzilla and used to bring Godzilla himself under their control before he eventually regains his senses and fights back. In one episode, members of H.E.A.T. are cast into an apocalyptic future in which Godzilla and the mutations of Earth have been exterminated by genetically engineered monsters called D.R.A.G.M.A.s, and must travel back to the present in order to prevent this. In another, Godzilla mates with a female mutant Komodo dragon named Komodithrax and becomes the surrogate father to her unborn offspring while clashing with a Giant Turtle.
Episodes
The following table lists all episodes of Godzilla: The Series. By default, these are sorted by the order they were originally broadcast on American television, but can also be sorted in their chronological order.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Air date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcast | Chronology | |||||
Season 1 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | "New Family: Part 1" | Audu Paden | Robert N. Skir, Marty Isenberg |
09/12/1998 | |
| 2 | 2 | "New Family: Part 2" | 09/19/1998 | |||
| 3 | 4 | "D.O.A." | Frank Squillace | Richard Mueller | 09/26/1998 | |
| 4 | 3 | "Talkin' Trash" | Tim Eldred | Steve Perry | 10/03/1998 | |
| 5 | 5 | "The Winter of Our Discontent" | Sam Liu | Robert N. Skir, Marty Isenberg |
10/10/1998 | |
| 6 | 6 | "Cat and Mouse" | Frank Squillace | Steven Melching | 10/31/1998 | |
| 7 | 8 | "What Dreams May Come" | Len Wein | 11/07/1998 | ||
| 8 | 7 | "Leviathan" | Tim Eldred | Michael Reaves | 11/14/1998 | |
| 9 | 9 | "Hive" | Sam Liu | Marv Wolfman | 11/21/1998 | |
| 10 | 10 | "Bird of Paradise" | Alan Caldwell | Neil Ruttenberg | 12/05/1998 | |
| 11 | 12 | "DeadLoch" | Sam Liu | Steve Hayes | 02/06/1999 | |
| 12 | 15 | "Monster Wars: Part 1" | Christopher Berkeley | Robert N. Skir, Marty Isenberg |
02/13/1999 | |
| 13 | 16 | "Monster Wars: Part 2" | Sam Liu | Steven Melching | 02/20/1999 | |
| 14 | 17 | "Monster Wars: Part 3" | Alan Caldwell | Michael Reaves | 02/27/1999 | |
| 15 | 13 | "Competition" | Frank Squillace | Harry "Doc" Kloor | 03/06/1999 | |
| 16 | 11 | "Freeze" | Christopher Berkeley | Barry Hawkins | 03/13/1999 | |
| 17 | 14 | "Bug Out" | Frank Squillace | Brooks Watchel | 03/20/1999 | |
| 18 | 20 | "Web Site" | Christopher Berkeley | Marsha F. Griffin | 05/01/1999 | |
| 19 | 18 | "An Early Frost" | Sam Liu | Craig Miller | 05/08/1999 | |
| 20 | 24 | "Trust No One" | Nathan Chew | Greg Pincus | 07/31/1999 | |
| 21 | 22 | "Juggernaut" | Frank Squillace | Tom Pugsley, Greg Klein |
08/14/1999 | |
Season 2 | ||||||
| 22 | 36 | "Future Shock" | Alan Caldwell | Tom Pugsley, Greg Klein |
09/18/1999 | |
| 23 | 40 | "Cash of the Titans" | Sean Song | Andrew Deutsch | 09/25/1999 | |
| 24 | 35 | "S.C.A.L.E." | Christopher Berkeley | Scott Lobdell | 10/02/1999 | |
| 25 | 28 | "Protector" | Christopher Berkeley | Mark Hoffmeier | 10/09/1999 | |
| 26 | 30 | "Freak Show" | Nathan Chew | Steve L. Hayes | 12/11/1999 | |
| 27 | 37 | "End of the Line" | David Hartman | Steve Melching | 12/18/1999 | |
| 28 | 19 | "What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been" | Brad Rader | Janna King Kalichman | 01/15/2000 | |
| 29 | 21 | "Wedding Bells Blew" | Alan Caldwell | Steve Cuden | 01/22/2000 | |
| 30 | 31 | "Metamorphosis" | George Melrod | 01/29/2000 | ||
| 31 | 38 | "Area 51" | Jeff Wynne | 02/05/2000 | ||
| 32 | 34 | "The Twister" | Andy Tohm | Laura Runnels, Patti Carr |
02/12/2000 | |
| 33 | 23 | "Shafted" | Sean Song | Robin Russin | 02/19/2000 | |
| 34 | 32 | "Where is Thy Sting?" | Frank Squillace | William Stout | 02/26/2000 | |
| 35 | 25 | "Lizard Season" | Alan Caldwell | Robert N. Skir | 03/11/2000 | |
| 36 | 29 | "Vision" | Sam Liu | Carl Ellsworth | 03/18/2000 | |
| 37 | 33 | "Underground Movement" | Marsha F. Griffin | 04/01/2000 | ||
| 38 | 27 | "Ring of Fire" | Sean Song, Brad Rader |
Rodney Gibbs | 04/22/2000 | |
Unaired episodes | ||||||
| 39 | 26 | "The Ballad of Gens du Marais" | Sam Liu | Angel Dean Lopez | N/A | |
| 40 | 39 | "Tourist Trap" | Nathan Chew | Marty Isenberg | N/A | |
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Audu Paden, Frank Squillace, Tim Elderd, Sam Liu, Alan Caldwell, Christopher Berkeley, Nathan Chew, Sean Song, David Hartman, Brad Rader, Andy Tohm
- Written by Robert N.Skir, Marty Isenberg, Richard Mueller, Steve Perry, Steven Melching, Len Wein, Michael Reaves, Marv Wolfman, Neil Ruttenberg, Steve Hayes, Harry Kloor, Barry Hawkins, Brooks Watchel, Marsha Griffin, Craig Miller, Greg Pincus, Tom Pugsley, Greg Klein, Andrew Deutsch, Scott Lobdell, Mark Hoffmeier, Janna Kang Kalichman, Steve Cuden, George Melrod, Jeff Wynne, Lara Runnels, Patti Carr, Robin Russin, William Stout, Carl Ellsworth, Rodney Gibbs, Angel Dean Lopez
- Developed by Jeff Kline, Richard Raynis
- Executive producers Richard Raynis, Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
- Produced by Audu Paden
- Music by Jim Latham
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Ian Ziering as Dr. Nick Tatopoulos [40 episodes]
- Malcolm Danare as Dr. Mendel Craven [40 episodes]
- Rino Romano as Randy Hernandez [40 episodes]
- Charity James as Dr. Elsie Chapman [40 episodes]
- Brigitte Bako as Monique Dupre [39 episodes]
- Tom Kenny as N.I.G.E.L. [28 episodes], Bill [2 episodes]
- Kevin Dunn as Major Anthony Hicks [20 episodes]
- Paget Brewster as Audrey Timmonds [11 episodes]
- Joe Pantoliano as Victor "Animal" Palotti [8 episodes]
- David Newsom as Cameron Winter [3 episodes]
- Bob Joles as Hank [2 episodes]
- Michael Lerner as Mayor Ebert [3 episodes]
- Nicholas Guest as Chad Gordon [2 episodes]
- Keith Szarabajka as Philippe Roaché [2 episodes]
- Ronny Cox as Dale [2 episodes]
- Linda Blair as Alexandra Springer [1 episode]
- Steve Susskind as Sidney Walker [1 episode]
- Tate Donovan as Lawrence Cohen
- Kenneth Mars as Alexander Preloran
- Clancy Brown as Maximillian Speil [1 episode]
- Roddy McDowall as Dr. Hugh Trevor [1 episode]
- Jesse Corti as Paul Dimanche
- Michael Chiklis as Colonel Charles Tarrington
- Dorian Harewood as Tobias Wilson
- Nick Jameson as Dr. Jonathan Insley [1 episode]
- Stuart Pankin as Milo Sanders
- Maggie Macmillan as Susan Sanders
- Susan Eisenberg as Dr. Candace Kirk
- Page Leong as Dr. Yukiko Ifukube / Tomoko
- James Horan as Professor Kasam
- Dennis Haysbert as General Ekwensi
- Ron Perlman as Leviathan Aliens [4 episodes]
- Frank Welker as Godzilla, Chameleon, Nanotech Creature, Armillaria
Japanese dub
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Kenyu Horiuchi as Dr. Nick Tatopoulos
- Miho Yamada as Monique Dupre
- Yuko Kobayashi as Dr. Elsie Chapman
- Nobuaki Fukuda as Dr. Mendel Craven
- Eiji Ito as Randy Hernandez
- Akimitsu Takase as N.I.G.E.L.
- Tomomichi Nishimura as Major Anthony Hicks
- Atsuko Tanaka as Audrey Timmonds
- Toshihiko Kojima as Mayor Ebert
- Mika Kanai as Meg
- Rica Matsumoto as Alexandra Springer
Appearances
Discovery Zone attraction
In late 1998, the American children's entertainment chain Discovery Zone introduced new laser tag arenas to their stores based on Godzilla: The Series, called Godzilla Laser Adventure.[1] The arenas included prints of monsters from the series, such as Godzilla and a Mutant Rat, along with a cityscape decorating the various walls and barricades. There were also points on the wall you could shoot, presumably for more points, such as one that glowed with a green star on the back of the Mutant Rat. It is unknown how many of the arenas were still available, if any, when Discovery Zone went out of business in December 2001.
Reception
Despite the negative reaction to the film on which it was based, Godzilla: The Series garnered surprisingly positive reactions from fans and it did well in the TV ratings. The series received praise for its portrayal of Godzilla who, unlike his parent from the film, was given many of the character's traditional characteristics from the Toho films such as his fearless attitude and personality, his heightened physical strength and durability, and his trademark atomic breath. The series was also recognized for retaining the tone and storytelling style of the Showa Godzilla films, featuring a heroic Godzilla battling a host of enemy monsters and even alien invaders. The series' human characters and their dynamics were also well-regarded, especially in comparison to their counterparts from the film.
Gallery
A scene from the opening
An advertisement for the series
A section covering Godzilla: The Series from Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works
Video releases
Mill Creek DVD (2014) [Godzilla: The Series - The Complete Animated Series]
- Region: 1
- Discs: 4
- Audio: English
- Subtitles: None
- Special features: None
- Notes: The series' 40 episodes are presented in chronological order rather than broadcast order, with 10 episodes on each disc.
Godzilla: The Series - Trouble Hatches VHS cover
Godzilla: The Series - Monster War VHS cover
Godzilla: The Series - The Monster Wars Trilogy DVD cover
Godzilla: The Series - Monster Mayhem DVD cover
Godzilla: The Series - Mutant Madness DVD cover
Mill Creek Godzilla: The Series - The Complete Animated Series DVD front and back cover
Mill Creek Retro TV Toons - Godzilla: The Series - The H.E.A.T. Is On! DVD cover
Videos
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Trivia
- Due to FOX's Standards and Practices policies at the time, Godzilla: The Series was unable to show or even mention death aloud. As such, there are no human fatalities directly shown in the entire series, while characters refer to slain monsters as "destroyed", rather than "killed." Even monsters could only be destroyed if they were not depicted as sentient.[2]
- While this is mostly the case, in the episode "Shafted," there are some petrified and presumably dead miners, and in the episode "Future Shock", it is implied that a large portion of the human population was wiped out by the D.R.A.G.M.A.s in an alternate future.
- Fox executives initially pressed for an animal to be included in the main cast, with Haim Saban even specifying the Taco Bell Chihuahua due to the mascot's appearance in a series of commercials tying in with GODZILLA (1998). The idea was dropped due to the difficulties inherent in animating a small animal alongside the towering Godzilla.[2]
- A short webcomic based on Godzilla: The Series was hosted on the show's website.
- Malcolm Danare (Mendel Craven), Kevin Dunn (Anthony Hicks), and Michael Lerner (Ebert) all reprise their roles from GODZILLA. Nobuaki Fukuda, who provided the voice for Craven in Toho's Japanese dub for GODZILLA, reprises the role in the Japanese dub for Godzilla: The Series. Rica Matsumoto, who voiced Lucy Palotti in the Toho GODZILLA dub, voices the character Alexandra Springer in the Japanese dub for "S.C.A.L.E.," one of the episodes of Godzilla: The Series. In the show's Japanese dub, Nick was voiced by Kenyu Horiuchi, who voiced Victor "Animal" Palotti in both Japanese dubs for GODZILLA and would go on to voice Unberto Mori in the GODZILLA anime trilogy.
- Trendmasters created prototypes for a planned toy line based on Godzilla: The Series, but it was cancelled, along with the company's other planned Godzilla figures, when the company went bankrupt.
- Plushes of Godzilla, the Giant Turtle, and Komodithrax and her egg from Godzilla: The Series cameo in an episode of the 2021 anime series Godzilla Singular Point, alongside a plush of Godzooky from the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla cartoon.
- This series shares some similarities with Tab Murphy's script treatment for GODZILLA 2, an unmade film sequel to the 1998 film. Both stories feature the hatchling from the first Godzilla's only surviving egg imprinting on Nick and going on to help defend humanity from other, more malevolent mutations. This second Godzilla possesses atomic breath in both stories as well. Monster Island, a location from the Showa Godzilla films, also appears in both stories. However, H.E.A.T. is absent from the GODZILLA 2 story, which also features the second Godzilla bearing a host of offspring, whereas the Godzilla from the series is stated to be sterile.
- Numerous monsters were conceptualized for Godzilla: The Series, but did not end up appearing in an episode. Most of them were named after existing monsters from Toho's Godzilla films, such as Gigan, Manda, Megalon, and Moguera. These names were likely placeholders, as it was unfeasible to license monsters from Toho and receive approval for their portrayals, given the show's tight production schedule. Four of these unused monsters only appeared near the end of the series' opening.
See also
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla: The Series. 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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