1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 2: show that stomps its way through history every day of 4 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 2: the week. I'm Gay Bluesier and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,160 Speaker 2: continuing our march to Halloween with a look at Japan's 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 2: original movie Monster, the One and Only Godzilla. The day 7 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 2: was October twenty seventh, nineteen fifty four. The King of 8 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 2: the Monsters made his big screen debut when the original 9 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 2: Godzilla premiered in Nagoya, Japan. The now classic film, titled 10 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 2: Goer in its native country, received a wide release in 11 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 2: Japan six days later. Then, in nineteen fifty six, a 12 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 2: dubbed and heavily edited version of the film was released 13 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 2: in the United States under the title Godzilla, King of 14 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 2: the Monsters. Although envisioned as a standalone film, the success 15 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 2: of the original Godzilla ultimately led to dozens of sequels 16 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 2: and reimaginings. Later installments in the Blooming franchise tended toward 17 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 2: humor and spectacle, but the first entry isn't the goofy, 18 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 2: campy monster movie you might expect. While it certainly has 19 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 2: action scenes and cheesy special effects, the film's tone is 20 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 2: gloomy and somber, and it treats the disaster of a giant, 21 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 2: rampaging lizard with deadly seriousness. That's because the original film 22 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 2: was released just nine years after the atomic bombs dropped 23 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 2: by the United States killed more than two hundred thousand 24 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 2: Japanese civilians and soldiers. When the lights went down and 25 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 2: the theatre on opening night, the Japanese were still grappling 26 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 2: with nuclear fallout, lingering radiation, sickness and disfigurements, and the 27 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 2: occupation of their country by a hostile foreign power. The 28 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 2: film they were about to see was very much an 29 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 2: allegory for that nuclear destruction, with the eponymous monster serving 30 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 2: as the embodiment of what director Ishiro Honda called the 31 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 2: invisible fear, the ever present dread that another nuclear bomb 32 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 2: might fall at any moment. Because of Japan's shared cultural trauma, 33 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 2: Godzilla or Gojhira deeply resonated with Japanese audiences, and many 34 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 2: moviegoers reportedly left the theatre in tears after seeing it. 35 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 2: At the time, the American military had forbidden discussion of 36 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 2: atomic bombs, but through Honda's film, the public was given 37 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 2: the chance to confront and come to terms with its 38 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 2: feelings on the subject a painful but necessary step on 39 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 2: the road to Catharsis. A lot of the film not 40 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 2: only echoed the recent past of wartime Japan, but also 41 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 2: its present. In nineteen fifty four, a few months before 42 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 2: Godzilla's premiere, a fishing boat called the Lucky Dragon five 43 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 2: was struck by the fallout of US nuclear testing at 44 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 2: Bikini at Toll And. In the movie, a similar nuclear 45 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 2: test stirs the primordial Gojira from its slumber in the 46 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 2: Pacific Ocean, causing it to come ashore and wreak its 47 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 2: vengeance on the humans who disturbed it. The film leaves 48 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 2: the origin of the monster ambiguous, with a scientist character 49 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 2: simply describing it as a kind of transitional creature somewhere 50 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 2: between the marine reptiles and the evolving terrestrial animals. However, 51 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 2: one of the producers, Tamoyuki Tanaka, later went on record 52 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 2: saying that his original intention was for Godzilla to be 53 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 2: a dinosaur sleeping in the Southern Hemisphere that had been 54 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 2: awakened and transformed into a giant by the atomic bomb. 55 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 2: The design of Godzilla reflects that origin as well, its 56 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 2: giant stature and mushroom shaped head evoke the explosive cloud 57 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 2: produced by the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and 58 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 2: its scaly, burnt black skin and spiked back resemble the 59 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 2: haunting figures of those who survive the nuclear blasts. Even 60 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 2: the creature's iconic roar isn't so much a projection of 61 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 2: strength or dominance as it is a mournful cry of pain. 62 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 2: The original Godzilla is fascinating from a sociological perspective, but 63 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 2: it's also a great example of the ingenuity and creativity 64 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 2: of Japanese filmmaking. Take that otherworldly roar, for instance, The 65 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 2: sound effects team tried to create it using real world 66 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 2: animal sounds, but none of them were a good match 67 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 2: for the monster on skin. They all felt too familiar. 68 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 2: But then the film's composer, Akira Ifukube, had an epiphany, 69 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 2: why not use a musical instrument to make the roar instead? 70 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 2: So here's what he did. He donned a pair of 71 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 2: leather gloves, coated them in pine tar resin, and then 72 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 2: dragged his fingers up and down the e string of 73 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 2: a broken down double bass. The distressed noise that resulted 74 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 2: became the signature sound of Godzilla. And it's been the 75 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 2: basis of the creature's roar ever since. Another instance of 76 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 2: out of the box thinking was how the filmmakers created 77 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 2: their monster star. Earlier sci fi movies such as King 78 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 2: Kong had employed stop motion figures to bring their creatures 79 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 2: to life, but for Gojira, the effect was achieved by 80 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 2: an actor in a costume, aided by miniature models and 81 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 2: camera tricks to help him look enormous. The man inside 82 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 2: the monster was a Japanese actor named Haru Nakajima. He 83 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 2: starred in the original nineteen fifty four film and then 84 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 2: reprised the role for eleven sequels. Nakajima clearly got well 85 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 2: acquainted with the scaly suit over time, but when he 86 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 2: first landed the role, he didn't even know what the 87 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 2: character would look like. All he knew was that it 88 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 2: would be some kind of ancient sea creature that would 89 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 2: be awakened by an underwater test of the h bomb. 90 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 2: With nothing else to go on, Nakajima prepared for the 91 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 2: role by spending ten days at the zoo observing the 92 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 2: movements of elephants, gorillas, and bears. But no amount of 93 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 2: research could prepare Nakajima for the reality of being stuffed 94 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 2: inside a giant lizard suit. The original costume was notoriously 95 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 2: difficult to move in because it was made from ready 96 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 2: mixed concrete and weighed about two hundred and twenty pounds. 97 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 2: Concrete was the best option available in nineteen fifty four, 98 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 2: as rubber was still hard to come by an early 99 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 2: postwar Japan. As you might imagine, though, it made the 100 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 2: suit cumbersome and suffocatingly hot. In fact, Nakajima said he 101 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 2: sweated so much in the original suit that after a 102 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 2: day of filming, he could wring out the perspiration from 103 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 2: his undershirt and fill half a bucket. Not only was 104 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 2: Nakajima a team player, he was a bit of a 105 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 2: pioneer too, when it comes to the kind of acting 106 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 2: he was doing. It would later give rise to a 107 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 2: whole new genre known as tankusatsu, which heavily featured practical effects, 108 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 2: including actors wearing giant monster costumes. Thousands of movies and 109 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 2: TV shows were and still are made using that process, 110 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 2: and Nakajima was the forefather of them all. Oh and 111 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 2: if you thought it was strange that Nakajima wasn't sure 112 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 2: what kind of creature Godzilla was, going to be. That's 113 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 2: only because the film's producers weren't sure either. Originally, it 114 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 2: was just going to be a giant mutant octopus, which 115 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 2: could have put Nakajima out of a job since they 116 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 2: could have just set looseer real octopus on those miniature cities. Thankfully, though, 117 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 2: the creative team decided to take a weirder approach, one 118 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 2: that actually resulted in the character's Japanese name, Gojhira. At 119 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 2: one point during development, the plan was for the monster 120 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 2: to be a cross between a gorilla and a whale, 121 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 2: and even though that idea was eventually scrapped in favor 122 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 2: of a more dinosaur like design, they kept the original name, 123 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 2: which is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for gorilla 124 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 2: and whale. Although critics didn't think much of Gojira, upon 125 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 2: its release, audiences were captivated, and the Toho Studio quickly 126 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 2: put together plans to make more movies starring its breakout monster. 127 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 2: They're still at it today too, as twenty twenty three 128 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 2: mark the release of the thirty seventh film in the series, 129 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 2: with several more installments planned for the years ahead. As 130 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 2: a result, Godzilla now holds the record for the longest 131 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 2: ongoing film franchise in history, beating its second place competitor, 132 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 2: James Bond by a full eight years. What's really interesting, though, 133 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 2: is how the Godzilla see has managed to stay relevant 134 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 2: for so long. The tone of the movies and even 135 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 2: the character's role in them are always changing to better 136 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 2: align with the audience of the era. In the nineteen sixties, 137 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 2: for example, when Japan's postwar economy was rebounding, Godzilla loosened 138 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 2: up a bit. For a while, he was portrayed as 139 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 2: a cranky public menace, a bully who had to be 140 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 2: chased off by the army or by a more good 141 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 2: natured monster like Mathra. Then he gradually became a more 142 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 2: heroic figure who would defend Japan from other invading monsters, 143 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 2: even if he did still trash a few cities in 144 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 2: the process. The transformation of Godzilla from a symbol of 145 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 2: national trauma to something more like a protective deity is 146 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 2: a testament to the endurance and adaptability of both the 147 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:54,559 Speaker 2: character and the nation that birthed in. I'm Gabe Luzier, 148 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 2: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 149 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 2: today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more 150 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:05,959 Speaker 2: about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 151 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 2: at TDI HC Show, and if you have any comments 152 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 2: or suggestions, you can send them my way by writing 153 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 2: to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler 154 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:20,439 Speaker 2: Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 155 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 2: I'll see you back here again soon for another Spooky 156 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 2: Day in History class.