Godzilla, King of the Monsters (TV series)

Godzilla, King of the Monsters is an American animated kaiju television series based on the Godzilla franchise by Toho Co., Ltd. Directed and developed by Bruce

Timm, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Toho, it originally aired on Fox Kids from January 1994 to May 1998, ending in four seasons. After Fox Kids shut down, the show would have reruns on Kids' WB and later Toonami.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters, as with Timm's previous series, Batman: The Animated Series (1992-95), received critical acclaim for it's darker tone, mature writing, thematic complexity, artistic presentation, voice acting, orchestrated score and it's respect to the source material. As with Batman, this series won multiple Daytime Emmy Awards.

Comics, toys, video games, home video releases, a manga, novels and trading cards based on this series had achieved strong sales in the United States and other markets overseas. The series remains very popular, and critics and fans regard it as the best animated series in the franchise.

Overview
The series took influence from Toho's Showa (1954-75) Heisei Eras (1984-95), as well as the 1978 Animated series from Hanna-Barbera and the Dark Horse Comics based on Godzilla. In designing the Monsters, Bruce Timm mostly used the Heisei designs, but with slightly modified features. As with Batman: The Animated Series, Godzilla, King of the Monsters has a "vintage" color scheme, with the flourishes similar to later Heisei Era Godzilla films.

Similar to earlier half of Batman, the series took a variation of Akira Ifukube's Godzilla theme. Much of Akira Ifukube's music would also be adapted by the show's numerous composers such as Shirley Walker. The score of the series was also influenced by her previous work on Batman.

The series is more adult oriented than the previous Hanna-Barbera series in 1978, but still considered appropriate for younger viewers. Unlike the film's, this series depicts outright physical violence of monster against monster, including mild blood in some episodes. Godzilla King of the Monsters was the one of the only shows in the block to show such violence and the only show to mention death unlike most other shows in it's block.

The series is notable for it's cast of Monsters or Kaiju. Warner Bros. Pictures and Timm we're given the rights to other Toho movie and TV monsters unlike most other series based on the franchise at the time. These include King Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan, Mechagodzilla, Anguirus, Biollante, etc. Several previously unmade kaiju from canceled Godzilla films also appear, such as the series' ultimate villain, Bagan.

Main cast
· Peter Richards

· David Easton

· Margaret O'Brien

· Michael Van Horn

Other characters
(Tba)

Monsters
· Godzilla

· King Ghidorah

· Mothra

· Rodan

· Mecha-King Ghidorah

· Mechagodzilla

· Battra

· Gigan

· Biollante

· Anguirus

· M.O.G.U.E.R.A.

· SpaceGodzilla

· Megalon

· Baragon

· Varan

· Kumonga

· Kamacuras

· Manda

· Gorosaurus

· Jet Jaguar

· King Caesar

· Titanosaurus

· Gabara

· Hedorah

· Ebirah

· Giant Octopus

· Giant Condor

· Meganulon

· Dogora

· Gezora

· Kamoebas

· Ganimes

· Sanda

· Gaira

· Maguma

· Matango

· Deutalios

· Destoroyah

· Bagorah

· Godzilla Jr./Little Godzilla

· Godzooky

· Giant Rats

· Kamerus

· Inagos

· Soran

· Cybersaur

· Giant Sea Serpent

· Sea Baragon

· Skeleturtle

· Zone Fighter

· Mogu

· All-Terraintula

· Burtannus

· Great Watchuka

· Axor

· Cyclops Creature

· Lord Howe Monster

· Gigamoth

· Stranger

· Redmoon

· Erabus

· Hafun

· Barubaroi

· Biomonster

· Gryphon

· Probe Bats

· Magnetic Monster

· Fairy Mothra

· Lower-Level Mutants

· Gravity Goliath

· Bakan

· Hitodah

· Seaweed Monster

· Gandora

· Tricephalon

· Machine G

· MechaMothra

· G-END

· White Rodan

· Asuka Fortress

· Bagan

Cast
· Jeff Bennett as Peter Richards

· Keith David as David Easton

· Susan Eisenberg as Margaret O'Brien

· Clancy Brown as Michael Van Horn

Episodes
Main article: List of Godzilla, King of the Monsters Episodes

Animation
In order to complete the series, Warner Bros. Animation outsourced the series several different overseas animation houses as they did with Batman: The Animated Series: Spectrum Animation, Sunrise, Studio Junio, Group TAC and Tokyo Movie Shinsha in Japan, Dong Yang Animation and Koko Enterprises Ltd. in South Korea, Jade Animation in Hong Kong, Blue Pencil in Spain and NOA (Network of Animation) in Canada.

Adaptations
· The first episode is a pseudo-remake of Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla Raids Again (1955).

· The Episode "Soar" is loosely based on Rodan (1956).

· "Monster Zero" was an adaptation of the final battle scenes of Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster (1964) and Invasion of Astro Monster (1965).

· "Butterfly" was loosely based on Mothra (1961). However, the Shobijin do not sing Mothra's song due to legal issues.

· "Flowers of Erika" was an adaptation of Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989).

Comics and novelization
A one shot comic book based on the series was published in January 1994, titled "Godzilla, King of the Monsters: Monster Island Unleashed." Another tie-in comic series, "Godzilla, King of the Monsters: The Comic," was published by Dark Horse Comics. A novelization based on the show was published by William Stout, simply called "Godzilla."

Toyline
A line of Toys based on the show by Trendmasters was popular. At it's time, Trendmasters was the primary toy manufacturer of the Godzilla franchise in the United States.

Video games
Several video games based on Godzilla, King of the Monsters we're released. The first video game of the same name was released in May 1994 for the Sega Genesis and Game Boy. A pinball game based on the series released in 1995.

Clips of the series can be cut out to make original as well as many of the Godzilla films in the 1996 interactive Godzilla game Godzilla Movie Studio Tour. 2015's Godzilla: Kaiju Collection featured most of the Monsters featured in the show alongside the kaiju from the films. Godzilla Battle Line brought in the series' versions of Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Baragon, Varan, Biollante and Bagan in 2023.

Broadcasting
Godzilla, King of the Monsters premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company's children's block Fox Kids in January 1994. The show had it's run on the block for it's entire original run from 1994 to 1998. It was one of the block's most successful series. In Japan, the series was broadcasted on TV Tokyo.

After it's original run, the series occasionally had reruns on The WB Network's children's block Kids' WB. In 2000, to coincide with the American release of Godzilla 2000, Cartoon Network's Toonami added the series to it's line-up.

In 2023, the series was added to Pluto TV's Godzilla Channel. Toho on their official Godzilla YouTube channel released the series in a set of three parts per episode as they did with the Hanna Barbera series.

Reception
The series was a success during Fox Kids' Saturday Morning line-up. Outside Fox Kids, Godzilla, King of the Monsters was met with critical acclaim in the years following it's original run, with praise for it's mature tone, writing, voice acting, soundtrack, visual aesthetic and faithfulness to the source material. Entertainment Weekly ranked it as one of the top shows of the year in 1994. Stomp Tokyo listed the series as the best adaptation of Godzilla outside the films. Wizard Magazine ranked it No. 3 of the greatest animated television series. The series also won three Emmy Awards

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Godzilla, King of the Monsters holds an 89% rating based on 50 reviews. In his book "Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of 'The Big G'," Steve Ryfle said about the series: "a gorgeously designed and very well animated take on the Big G, it could be the defining animated Godzilla."

Influence
Godzilla, King of the Monsters had a significant impact on the Godzilla fandom and franchise. The series influenced subsequent installments of the franchise, such as Godzilla 2000 (1999), Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), Shin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). Jeff Kline said he took major inspiration from Godzilla, King of the Monsters for his own series based on the 1998 film, Godzilla: The Series. Toh EnJoe was also insipred by this series to write the 2021 Godzilla Anime, Godzilla Singular Point.

With it's success overseas in Japan, Godzilla, King of the Monsters influenced Hideaki Anno to release his popular anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion to compete with this series. Evangelion also references the series a couple times. The show was referenced in other media such as Kong: Skull Island, Pacific Rim, Spongebob Squarepants, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Ready Player One and Sym-Bionic Titan.

Music
Godzilla, King of the Monsters, as with Batman, featured several different composers throughout the series run. The main theme, which is Akira Ifukube's Godzilla theme, is used for the opening and ending credits of each and every episode. A majority of Akira Ifukube's work on Toho's kaiju films we're adapted by the composers, as well as the previous Godzilla soundtracks by Koichi Sugiyama, Masaru Sato and Riichiro Manabe.

Home video
The original VHS release of the series was in 1995. Warner Home Video and Columbia TriStar Home Video collaborated in this release and all other home video releases of the show at the time as TriStar was distributing Roland Emmerich's then upcoming Godzilla film. Each VHS release contained several episodes in chronological order spanning several volumes.

1999 saw the first DVD, titled "Godzilla, King of the Monsters: The Complete Series," released by Warner Home Video, Columbia TriStar Home Video and ADV Films. ADV had previously released home video releases of Destroy All Monsters (1968). The complete series contained all (tba) episodes of the series in 4 disks, as well as commentaries, interviews and a behind the scenes documentary. It was re-released in 2004 to coincide with Godzilla's 50th anniversary. In 2014, Warner Home Video released 4 DVDs containing the installments of the show, each based on it's 4 seasons.

Trivia
· Godzilla, King of the Monsters is the first and for now only American Godzilla television series to use most of Toho's kaiju line-up at the time.

· King Kong is referenced several times, as in this series' continuity King Kong was a popular film franchise just like how the Godzilla franchise is in real life.

· The Twin Fairies do not sing Mothra's Song in the series due to legal issues.