Zilla
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Toho character | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Zilla | |
| Species | Mutant Iguana |
| Height | 60 metres |
| Weight | 500 tons |
| Origins | Nuclear testing in French Polynesia |
| Relationships | Zilla Jr. (Offspring) Numerous other offspring |
| Major enemies | Godzilla |
| M.O. | Asexual propagation |
| First appearance | Godzilla |
| Created by | Dean Devlin |
Zilla (ジラ Jira?) is Toho Studios' official name for the title creature of the 1998 TriStar Pictures film Godzilla.
Before Toho officially dubbed the creature "Zilla" it was referred to by many nicknames to differentiate it from the original Godzilla. These nicknames included "American Godzilla", "Fraudzilla", "Deanzilla" (because of writer/producer Dean Devlin), and "G.I.N.O.", an acronym for "Godzilla In Name Only."
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[edit] Film
[edit] Godzilla
Originally the offspring of an unspecified species of iguana living in French Polynesia, Zilla grew to kaiju proportions due to Nuclear testing. The beast first attacked a Japanese fishing ship and was dubbed "Gojira" by the sole survivor (later mistranslated as "Godzilla" by the U.S. media). The creature then travelled across Panama, leaving footprints that would cover a whole bus. After travelling to New York City, the reptile laid several hundred eggs in Madison Square Garden A trio of F-18s bombed the Garden, slaying the newborn zillas. When an enraged Zilla appeared at the Garden's remains, it began chasing a taxi occupied by the protagonists. They lured it to the Brooklyn Bridge, where it became entangled and immobilized by the suspension cables. Zilla was then killed by the same F-18s that had destroyed its offspring. One egg, however, deep within the subway, had survived the earlier bombing, and hatched.
[edit] Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Zilla is mentioned briefly in the prologue of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), where it is suggested that American scientists had mistaken it for the original Godzilla.
[edit] Godzilla: Final Wars
The monster did not appear in film again until five years later then in 2004, appearing in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) and finally taking an official place in the ranks of Toho's kaiju and being given the official name "Zilla". (According to Ryuhei Kitamura, the monster was given this name because the American movie had taken the "God" out of "Godzilla".) Under Xilian control, Zilla attacks Sydney, Australia, and is later defeated by Godzilla. There was another reason for the fight according to Toho besides showing their Godzilla was a better monster. Toho created Zilla in Final Wars exclusively using CGI to prove their suitmation superior (in Japan, Godzilla is always portrayed by an actor wearing a suit). Surprisingly, Zilla was seen apparently eating two people in Final Wars, something few other Toho Kaiju have done. Take into consideration at the time, though, the creature was under the Xilians' mind control. Zilla himself, despite the destruction of Apache helicopters in Godzilla, was not shown to have a taste for human flesh and actually seemed almost curious about humans, or at the very least Nick Tatopolous, with whom the creature came virtually eye-to-eye with, so to speak. The creature only attacked humans when it was attacked in the TriStar film, although it attempted to swallow the cab containing the main characters, who had killed its offspring.
Though disputed, it appears as if the Final Wars Zilla possessed a breath weapon as the film shows a crowd of people running until they are blown away by a wall of fire which precedes the appearance of the monster walking into camera view.
Also in Godzilla: Final Wars was a reference to the TriStar Godzilla movie. When Godzilla defeats Zilla, the Controller of Planet X says "I knew that tuna-eating monster was useless"—a reference to the fish Zilla ate in the TriStar movie, in the American dubbed version, the Controller simply referred to him as a "tuna-head".
[edit] Godzilla: The Series
In 1999, Godzilla: The Series, a Saturday morning cartoon, continued the story of Zilla's surviving baby from the 1998 film in a role reminiscent of the Japanese films of the late Shōwa era. A human team of researchers, known as H.E.A.T., composed out of most of the movie's protagonists, follow "Godzilla" and investigate various new monsters around the world. The Zilla in this series was a lot closer to the original Godzilla in terms of strength and durability, and also had the atomic fire Godzilla is known for (albeit a green blast instead of blue), but still resembled his parent.
[edit] Cyber Godzilla
The original Zilla returns to the series as a creature called Cyber Godzilla in the three-part Monster Wars saga. An alien race called the "Tachyons" resurrect the original Zilla using cybernetic components. Confronting the current Zilla, his son, this 'Cyber-Godzilla' is able to confuse him, allowing the Tachyons to gain control of him as they have controlled several other monsters. Eventually, Nick Tatopulous, the scientist whom Zilla Jr. has 'imprinted' on as a parent, is able to break the Tachyon's hold on the creatures, but Cyber-Godzilla remains on their side as he was never actually under their control. When faced with a choice between Nick and Cyber-Godzilla, however, Zilla Jr. sides with Nick, and after a prolonged battle defeats his cyborg 'parent'.
Cyber Godzilla was seriously upgraded from his original form, as he now possesses several weapons, such as a sonic emitter, eight missile launchers on his dorsal spines, and atomic breath like Zilla Jr. but with a blue color. Metal parts replaced most of Zilla's body including a cybernetic right arm and a strange metal "helmet" for the cyborg's head. Neither the arm nor head of Zilla were damaged in the film, though this may have been retconed in order to allow for a more visually striking design to Cyber Godzilla or it may be because of experimention done by the military on the corpse of Zilla. In addition, the color of Cyber Godzilla's skin and dorsal plates were changed for the series. In the film, its skin was blackish grey with blue dorsal plates, much the same as that of its offspring. However, in the series, Cyber Godzilla's skin is brown with gray dorsal plates; this is most likely an indication of decay. Cyber Godzilla's roar was also changed to a more metallic sound.
[edit] Other appearances
Zilla made an appearance in a 2006 Doritos commercial, in which he picks up a truck of Doritos and shakes chips into his mouth. In another Doritos commercial, Zilla devours a spicy variant of Doritos, roars in pain, and dives into the ocean. Both were meant to parody the bait scene in the 1998 movie. At the time of the release of the 1998 movie Zilla made several commercials for Taco Bell, crossing paths with the Taco Bell chihuahua.
Zilla was also a playable character in Godzilla Generations for the Sega Dreamcast. Unlocked after finishing the game with "Godzilla 1954", Zilla is the fastest of the playable characters. His roar restores less health than the other Godzillas', but he is a bit tougher to compensate. Zilla's breath weapon is a powerful blast of air; while the shortest-ranged, it has the longest duration, able to take down the Super X in one blast and the Super X-II and Super X-III with two blasts if timed right. Zilla's special attack is a fast run that crushes and smashes everything he runs over and into. He doesn't take damage while charging and it lasts a fair amount of time.
Zilla appearance in Armageddon as a small toy during the opening sequence when a little dog attacks some Godzilla toys. This was a friendly jab at the other big special effects movie of that summer, Roland Emmerich American version of Godzilla (1998) which was released a month and a half earlier.
[edit] Trivia
- In Godzilla Final Wars, Zilla attacks Sydney. Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura studied film in Sydney and having it featured in his film was his way of paying tribute to what he calls his "second home".
- It is disputed as to whether Zilla has a breath weapon, atomic or otherwise. Twice when the monster roars it sends cars flying into the air. The explosions and flames from the vehicles crashing together seems to ignite Zilla's breath into a maelstrom of flame. Other times Zilla's roar only causes a hurricane-force rush of air. Whether Zilla's breath is flammable or has other properties is unknown. Zilla Jr. of the animated series has true atomic breath like the original Godzilla. In Godzilla: Final Wars a group of people fleeing from Zilla are killed by a huge rush of flame moments before the monster walks into view, most likely a reference to the Tri-Star film's flame breath scenes.
- The old cook from the ship refers to the monster as "Gojira" when he is in a semi-conscious state. Gojira is the original name of Godzilla in his native Japan. The was changed in the process of translating the original film into the American Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. In the film, Audrey Timmonds comments on the name change.
- Dean Devlin maintains that the tagline for this movie, "Size Does Matter", was meant simply to differentiate the movie from Jurassic Park, hence the original "museum" trailer, but that the advertisers for the studio took it too far with their overzealous campaign (e.g. "His foot is as long as this bus"). The ads became the biggest focus of the backlash against the movie, especially considering that Zilla is actually shorter and much lighter than the original Godzilla, and that its immense size was what ultimately ended up killing the creature.
- The Transformers toy/character of Cruellock is a direct design homage to the animated version of Zilla.
- Zilla's roar is uttered in the upcoming movie Spider-Man 3 when Sandman becomes a "sand monster".
[edit] External links
| Toho Tokusatsu | |
|---|---|
| Kaiju / Mecha: | Anguirus · Baragon · Battra · Biollante · Dagahra · Death Ghidorah · Destoroyah · Dogora · Ebirah · Frankenstein · Gabara · Ganimes · Gezora · Giant Condor · Gigan · Godzilla · Godzilla Junior · Godzillasaurus · Gorosaurus · Hedorah · Jet Jaguar · Kamacuras · Kameba · King Caesar · King Ghidorah · King Kong · Kumonga · Leo · Magma · Manda · Mechagodzilla · Mechani-Kong · Megalon · Megaguirus · Minilla · Moguera · Monster X · Mothra · Oodako · Orga · Rodan · SpaceGodzilla · Titanosaurus · Varan · Zilla |
| Technology: | Oxygen Destroyer · Markalite · Gotengo · Super X |
| Other: | Fictional locations · Alien races · Monsterland and Monster Island |
