Sandbox:Showa era
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- This page is for the Godzilla film era. For the political era of Japan, see Shōwa period.
The Showa era,[1][2] or Shōwa Godzilla series (昭和ゴジラシリーズ, Shōwa Gojira shirīzu)[3] comprises the initial 15-film run of Godzilla movies from 1954 to 1975. It receives its name from the Japanese Shōwa political period during which all of its films were released. The Showa era kickstarted the Godzilla franchise and pioneered tokusatsu special effects techniques which would be adopted by various other franchises to come. It was followed by the longest hiatus in series history (lasting nearly a full decade), which was finally broken in 1984 with the reboot The Return of Godzilla. Despite being released during the Shōwa period, The Return of Godzilla is not set in the same continuity as the Showa-era films, and is considered to be apart of a successor series, called the Heisei era, which was otherwise produced during the Heisei period.
Entries
- Godzilla (1954)
- Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
- King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
- Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
- Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
- Son of Godzilla (1967)
- Destroy All Monsters (1968)
- All Monsters Attack (1969)
- Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
- Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
- Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
- Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
While all of the Showa-era Godzilla films share continuity with each other, they can generally be divided into three cycles of films.
The first two films in the Godzilla series were produced in 1954 and 1955, and were followed by a seven-year hiatus during which Toho produced several other kaiju films, including Rodan, Varan, and Mothra. The series was revived in 1962 with King Kong vs. Godzilla, after which a new film was produced almost annually throughout the 1960s. During this period, Godzilla gradually began to transition from a villainous destructive monster to a more sympathetic and heroic character. 1968's Destroy All Monsters was originally planned to be the final Godzilla film, but Toho went on to produce six more films as features for the Toho Champion Festival children's matinee program from 1969 to 1975. The Godzilla films released during this period, collectively dubbed the "Champion Series" by kaiju historian August Ragone,[4] in particular cemented Godzilla's image as a monster 'superhero,' and all of its films take place chronologically after Son of Godzilla but before Destroy All Monsters.
The series was placed on hiatus again after the box office failure of Terror of Mechagodzilla in 1975, and despite several attempts by Toho to continue the series, another Godzilla film would not be produced until 1984.
Monsters introduced
The following monsters were created for, or made their Godzilla film debut in, the Showa era:
Trivia
- The Showa era is the longest of the Godzilla film eras to date, both in the total number of films (15 films) and the number of years spanned (roughly 20 years).
See also
References
This is a list of references for Showa era. 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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Bibliography
- Baker, J.I.; Goehner, Amy Lennard (31 May 2019). "Godzilla Filmography". LIFE. Vol. 19 no. 15. LIFE Books. ISBN 978-1547853830.
- Skipper, Graham (8 November 2022). Godzilla: The Official Guide to the King of the Monsters. Welbeck Publishing. ISBN 9781-787398993.
- Nomura, Kohei (7 August 2014). Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition]. Kasakura Publishing. ISBN 978-4-7730-8725-3.
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