"Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" (1992)
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- This page is about the TV commercial. For the comic adaptation, see Godzilla vs. Barkley.
"Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" is a 1992 Nike television commercial co-financed by Nike and Toho in which Godzilla plays basketball against a kaiju-sized version of NBA star Charles Barkley in Tokyo. Developed by Wieden+Kennedy and produced by Industrial Light & Magic, it premiered in the U.S. during the MTV Video Music Awards on September 9, 1992.
Plot
Godzilla emits a blast of atomic breath as he storms through Tokyo. He turns around and sees Charles Barkley approach him, dribbling a basketball. The monster puts on a pair of pink goggles and darts his tail out, knocking the ball from Barkley's hands. Barkley catches it and charges forward, elbowing Godzilla aside as he dunks it into the fallen "O" from a Tokyo sign. They walk out of the city as friends. In the Japanese version of the ad, Barkley asks Godzilla, "Have you ever thought about wearing shoes?" In the U.S. version, he instead tells him, "The Lakers are looking for a big man."
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Michael Owens
- Produced by Clint Goldman
- Cinematography by Kim Marks
- Edited by Bob Sarles
- Creatives Warren Eakins, Steve Sandoz
- Head of creature department Jeff Mann
- Sound designer Jeff Roth
- Sound mix engineer Jay Shilliday
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Charles Barkley as himself
- Ron Thiele as Godzilla[1]
Appearances
Monsters
- Godzilla
- Giant Charles Barkley
Comic book adaptation
- Main article: Godzilla vs. Barkley.
In December 1993, Dark Horse Comics published a one-shot comic inspired by the commercial, in which a magic coin allowed Charles Barkley to grow to Godzilla's size and defend San Francisco.
Gallery
Videos
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Trivia
- Saturday Night Live parodied this ad for its September 25, 1993 episode, hosted by Charles Barkley. During his monologue, Barkley showed a clip of a lopsided charity match he played against Barney the Dinosaur, a last-minute replacement for Godzilla.[2]
- "Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" was the first of many acting roles for Barkley. He later voiced a giant monster, the legendary wrestling champion Rayburn Sr., in the 2021 Paramount Pictures film Rumble.
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla vs. 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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