Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

It took over a year to get these films watched. I don’t even want to tell you how many there are as the sheer multitude would frighten most regular people. Also I get a different number every time I count. I watched it all too, with the exception of the 1978 Hannah-Barbara Animated Godzilla series that went for two seasons. One episode of that was enough to reveal it as mind-numbing drivel.

Did you know some of the monsters Godzilla fought had their own stand-alone film and in one case even their own franchise! I watched those too!

Did you know the German dubbed version of these films often incorporated Frankenstein after the popularity of two Toho films about Frankenstein’s monster growing to gargantuan proportions? I watched those too!

Did you know there was a 1997 Godzilla TV series called Godzilla Island featuring mostly toys made to look giant? I did not watch that one because it was also stupid.

Did you know there was a 1992 educational show called Godzilland that taught kids how to exercise and read hiragana? 見ましたよ!

I’m trying to demonstrate how thorough I’ve been but the fact is, if you answered yes to all of these questions, the rest of this multi-part article may not be for you. This is not going to be an exhaustive super-fan article listing every nit-picky detail. There are plenty of places you can go for that. I’m not going to go through every single movie with a fine tooth comb. That would take ages and I just don’t care that much. In fact that’s exactly who I’m talking to here. If you’ve been vaguely aware of Godzilla but have hardly been interested, this article is for you. If you’ve seen Godzilla as a silly byproduct of some far away culture not your own, this article is for you. If you can’t understand why other people love Godzilla films, this article is for you. Is it my intention to win you over? No.

I was in a similar boat when I started. I thought the 1998 American Godzilla film with Mathew Broderick was amusing but those other films with guys in rubber monster suits were kind of fun but silly and probably not worth my time. I knew they had a following but I figured it was an ironic following, like people who love bad movies BECAUSE they were hilariously bad. Watching and delving into the history and all that went into making these many, MANY films has helped me appreciate them, perhaps not as deep and profound literature, but as amazing accomplishments, social commentary, and a reflection of important aspects of not only Japanese culture throughout the decades but of American culture also and how we’ve influenced each other. I have come to believe Godzilla, in all his manifestations, silly, terrifying, or heroic, Japan-made or American-made, whether true to the original creator’s vision or some strange subversion, remains a most powerful metaphor; and, for good or ill, a metaphor is what Godzilla has always been.

If this concept seems completely foreign, this article is for you.

As I write on, I may cite specific instances in particular films, but for the most part I intend to divide this up into the various eras of films, each of which encompasses a wide variety. Eventually, it comes to pass that so many different production groups are making Godzilla films with little to no continuity between them, I will have to focus on one then another even though these “eras” are happening consecutively.

You may never be inspired to invest enough time to watch all of these as I did, but I hope you will at least come to understand why these have been made almost annually since 1954.

Here now is a list I’ve compiled of everything I’ve either watched or acknowledge (including several King Kong films) that shall be encompassed by this commentary (even if I don’t directly comment on it) Please let me know if I’ve missed any:

[Note: I took the liberty of inserting, into each era, important milestone films (I may have also watched) according to their production date in relation to the Godzilla films but this does not denote them as pertaining to that era or any other film’s continuity. These will be in brackets.]

• [King Kong (1933)]
• [Son of Kong (1933)]

Showa Era (1954-1975)

• Godzilla (1954)
• Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
• [Rodan (1956)]
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
• [Mothra (1961)]
• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
• Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964)
• [Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)]
• [War of the Gargantuas (1965)]
• Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
• [King Kong Show (1966)]
• Ebirah: Horror of the Deep (1966)
• Son of Godzilla (1967)
• [King Kong Escapes (1967)]
• Destroy All Monsters (1968)
• All Monsters Attack (1969)
• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
• [Zone Fighter (TV show)](1973)
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
• Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
• [King Kong (1976)]
• [Godzilla (Hannah-Barbera (1978-1979)]

Heisei Era (1984-1995)

• The Return of Godzilla (1984)
• [King Kong Lives (1986)]
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) 
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
• [Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers TV (1993)]
• [Godzilland (1992) Animated educational]
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
• [Rebirth of Mothra I (1996)]
• [Rebirth of Mothra II (1997)]
• [Godzilla Island (1997)]
• [Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)]

Tristar Era (1998)

• Godzilla (1998) 
• Godzilla Animated Series (1998)
• [The Mighty Kong (animated)(1998)]

Millennium Era (1999-2004)

• Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) 
• Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
• [Kong Animated Series (2000)]
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah, Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
• Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
• Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S (2003)
• Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
• [King Kong (2005)]
• [Kong: King of Atlantis (2005)]
• [Kong: Return to the Jungle(2006)]

• [Pacific Rim (2013)]

MonsterVerse (2014-Present)

• Godzilla (2014)
• [Kong, King of the Apes (animated) (2016)]
• Kong Skull Island (2017)
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters (2019)
• Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
• [Skull Island (animated) (2022)]
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Series (2023)
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

Reiwa Era (2019– Present)

• Shin Godzilla (2016)
• Godzilla: Planet of Monsters (2017)
• Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018)
• Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018)
• Godzilla Film Fest Shorts (2021)
• Godzilla Singular Point (2021)
• Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Look for “Who is this Godzilla Person Anyway?” Part 2 of 10