WEBVTT - 9 Stompy Facts about Godzilla 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.240 Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.040 I guess what, Mango? What's that? Will? So? I know, 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.120 these days it feels like we can't start any conversation 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:21.760 without talking about the quarantine and without coronavirus unfortunately. But 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:24.319 one of the things I've noticed right now in terms 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:26.880 of how people cope with the quarantine, I find this 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:31.160 interesting is that they watch a bunch of virus based content, 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.199 like like this is this is a real thing. Like 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:36.600 tons of people have been watching that new pandemic documentary 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.720 series on Netflix, and Contagion is one of the most 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:42.440 watched streaming titles right now. Have you noticed this? Yeah, 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:44.360 I mean it is such a strange phenomena to me, 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.800 because that is not my idea of escapism. I turned 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:49.720 to things like the Muppets movie and times like this. 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:52.920 But and I know you're not lying about that that's 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.960 actually true. But you know, I guess the virus stuff 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:57.720 does make sense if you're looking for a way to 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.920 remind yourself that it could be worse. Yeah, And I 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:02.920 guess I get that feeling like it's good to keep 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:06.199 our discomfort in perspective. But if you're like me, viral 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.679 disaster movies probably hit a little too close to home. 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:12.200 But thankfully I have come up with a far less 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.760 upsetting option, and that's to just watch a giant monster 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:19.160 movie instead. Like, throw one of those on and you'll 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:21.720 be thinking, Sure, things are tough right now, but at 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.319 least there's no Godzilla, you know. So does that does 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.080 that really give you any peace of mind? Oh, it 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:30.839 totally does. I mean, it's probably the last genuine source 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:33.200 of comfort that we have left Mango. I mean, I 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.400 think you'll agree a Godzilla attack definitely would not improve 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.040 our situation. And that's not just because of the smashed 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.120 up buildings and rolling blackouts either, Like there would be 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.840 way worse things to consider if Godzilla came to town. Well, 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.920 I mean, smashed up buildings sound pretty awful, and so 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.640 to blackouts. But what else do you think about? All right, 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:54.920 we'll think about it this way. At the end of 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:58.120 the day. Godzilla is a giant animal, right Like. He 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:01.240 started out at around a hundred and sixty feet tall 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.400 during his first appearance. This was back in nineteen fifty four, 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:07.360 and over the years he's been scaled up in order 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:11.560 to keep pace with the increasing size of skyscrapers. So Nowaday, 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.680 the modern Godzilla is three times as tall as the original, 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:18.000 almost five hundred feet. So not to be gross, but 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.639 can you imagine how much waste an animal that large 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.880 would produce? Can you imagine this, Mango, stop and think 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.560 about it just for a second. So forget being crushed 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.920 like the city's would be flooded, and get this. I 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.200 looked this up. There's actually some science behind this. So, 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:38.079 according to a marine researcher named Dr Craig McClain, an 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.040 animal of Godzilla's height and weight would produce a truly 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:45.919 monstrous amount of eurine nearly thirteen million gallons per day. 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.360 That's like a quarter of an oil tanker raining down 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.480 for every day of Godzilla's rampage. So this, this is 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.200 what I now have to think about, Mango and my quarantine. 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.840 That is so gross, And you're right, things would be 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.000 way worse with Godzilla around, and it's true. I'm glad 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.160 you finally understand this. So it really puts things in perspective. 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:08.120 And that's just the first of nine godzill effects we've 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:31.799 got on tap today. So let's dive in. Or Hey there, 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.600 podcast listeners, welcome to part time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:36.480 and as always, I'm joined by my good friend man 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.240 Guesh Ticketer and on the other side of our zoom 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:42.720 conference wiping his mouth and punching at the air for 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:46.080 some reason, that's our good friend and producer Lowell. So 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:48.960 I'm not sure what all the wiping and punching is about. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.480 But luckily Gave Luizier is back with us today. He's 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:57.000 our resident Kaiju or strange creature fans, so hopefully he 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.720 can shed some light on this. And what is little 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.440 doing over there? Does it have anything to do with Godzilla? Yeah, 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:09.040 so that's actually a deep cut Godzilla reference, so nicely done, Lola. Uh. 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.600 There was a point in Godzilla's career. I think he 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.080 was about a leaf in movies deep at the time. 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:16.680 It's kind of hard to keep track. And anyway, at 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.480 some point the powers that be decided that Godzilla should 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:23.279 have his own signature move, and I guess the idea 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:25.640 was that, you know, he would taunt his opponents by 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:30.800 making this like insulting menacing gesture and for whatever reason, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.760 wiping his mouth with his right hand and then jabbing 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.680 at the air. That's what they came up with. It's 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.440 great for video games. I feel like, but why do that, Like, 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.920 is there some cultural significance for it, not that I 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.000 know of. Like my guess is the actor in the 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.920 suit was just like pretty limited mobility wise, so like 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.039 a mouth wipe and a and a punch was the 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.360 best he could muster either way. I mean the move 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:55.320 they only like stuck with this for a couple of 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.800 movies and then they phased it out, So I mean 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.080 it did leave an impression though, obviously at least and 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.960 Lowell and Uh, there's some fans out there they refer 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:05.839 to the movies where Godzilla does this as the wipe 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:10.080 your mouth and punch the air trilogy. You know, it's 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.160 fun as we do these things, learning things about each 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.320 of us that I never knew you and Lowell were 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.880 such big Godzilla fans. That's that's pretty awesome. Yeah, yeah, 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:20.839 I mean this is kind of a new thing for me. 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:22.640 Like I had seen a few of the old ones, 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:24.400 you know, when I was a kid, and I thought 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.880 they were cheesy and you know, good time or whatever. 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.520 But I hadn't watched one in a really long time, 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:32.320 and and then last year, I guess it was actually 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:35.920 Godzilla is the sixty fifth anniversary of Godzilla, so he's 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.680 he's technically a senior citizen now. And a bunch of 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.839 movies were coming back to a little independent theaters around here, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.160 so Aaron and I got a chance to watch a 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.080 few on the big screen, and we just kind of 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.760 fell in love with how silly and over the top 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:53.280 they were. I mean, it's weird to say, but Godzilla 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.440 is an oddly endearing character if you really watch some 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.359 of his movies, Like, I mean, he wipes his mouth, 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:03.000 he punches, yeah, he rect stuff, he dances, Like what 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.320 more do you want? You know? But I'm curious. Maybe 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.760 that's just me. What about you guys? Any fond memories 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:12.200 of the King of the Monsters. It's funny whenever like 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:16.080 monster movies would come on on like Saturday mornings, that 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:18.600 was our que to go outside, like like that's when 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.320 I take of them. Like, well, I I don't know 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:23.360 if you remember this, but we went to toy fair 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:25.600 like years and years ago, and the company that we 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:28.280 were doing a board game with was also doing King Kong. 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:32.279 And this was like in two thousand's and so they 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.480 had the King Kong board game behind this like curtain 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:37.680 and they were like guards there because they didn't want 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:39.920 to show anyone what the monster looked like. And I thought, 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:41.360 you know, I'm a part of this company. I can 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:43.600 like go back and sneak in, and they would not 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.160 let me in. And I remember I wasn't even that insulted. 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.320 I just remember thinking it was like so stupid, because 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:54.000 how different King King Kong look like you In the end, 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.720 you basically know what he looks like. Well, I don't know, Mega. 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:00.479 I think maybe in the end they knew like what 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.480 a blabber mouth you were, and they just needed to 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:04.600 keep you out of there. The rest of them they 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.160 would sort of whisper to us like do you want 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:07.839 to come see it? But then when you showed up, 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:12.200 they were like, guys, guys, we can't come back here. So, 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.520 as I mentioned, I do not love monster movies, but 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.119 I do have a fondness for facts about monster movies. 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.240 So this is my first one, and it's about the 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:22.960 guy who helped bring Godzilla to life in the early movies. 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:27.320 So obviously today's Godzilla's computer generated, but that wasn't always 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.120 the case. And while multiple actors have donned the scalely 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.840 suit over the years, the first to do so was 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.880 this Japanese actor named Ruo Nakajima, and he started the 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:40.320 original nine movie and then he reprised the role for 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:44.440 I think like eleven sequels. But when Nakajima first landed 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.480 the role, he didn't know what the character would look like. 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:48.360 All he knew was that would be some kind of 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.320 ancient sea creature that would be awakened by this underwater 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.360 test of the hydrogen bond. So, you know, with nothing 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.400 else to go on, he actually prepared by spending ten 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:01.720 days at the zoo, so he watched elephant, he watched gorillas, 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.560 but strangely, it was the bears that really captivated him. 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:06.120 And this is what he told a reporter at the 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.280 time quote, I used to take two lunches with me. 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.320 One was mine and the rest I'd throw to the bears. 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.360 When one of them snatched it up and shoveled it 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:16.920 into his mouth, I'd watch the way he did it. 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.800 But no amount of research could have prepared Nakajima for 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:22.680 the reality of being stuffed inside a lizard suit. Like 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.760 the original costume was notoriously difficult to move, kind of 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.160 like what Gabe said, because it was made from ready 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:32.720 mixed concrete and reportedly it weighed about two pounds at 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.240 the time, why would they use concrete instead of something 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.200 like rubber. So the later suits were rubber, but it 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:39.920 was hard to come by in the early post war 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.680 years in Japan, so they went concrete for the first one, 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.880 and that made the suit super super heavy, but it 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.560 also made it suffocating lee hot. In fact, Kajima said 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:51.439 he sweated so much in the suit that after a 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.040 day of filming, he would wring out the perspiration from 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.200 his undershirt and it would actually fill half a bucket. 0:08:57.440 --> 0:08:59.200 Can't believe he did that. He kept that up for 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:03.400 twelve movies, Like that is some serious dedication. Yeah, I mean, 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.480 I guess he was a trooper and and he's actually 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.240 kind of a pioneer when you think about it. What 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:11.480 he did generated this whole new type of acting. All 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.640 these actors were where a giant monster costumes and Greek 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.400 havoc on model cities. You think, like, there are hundreds 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:20.560 of movies and TV shows all made using that process, 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.240 and Nakajima was actually at the forefront of all of that. 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:25.760 All right, Well, here's a bit of film history that 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.960 I like. You mentioned that Nakajima wasn't sure what kind 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.040 of creature Godzilla was going to be initially, but he 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:35.240 wasn't the only one. The producers of the film also 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.760 weren't sure what look they wanted for their ancient sea creature, 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.600 and originally he was just going to be a giant 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:45.280 mutant octopus, which you know, would have put Nakajima out 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.440 of a job since they could have just set a 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:51.360 real octopus loose on their miniature cities. Uh. But then 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.560 the creative team decided to take an even weirder approach, 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.320 and it was the second approach that actually gave us 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:01.280 the characters Japanese name. And you know, remember Godzilla, that's 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.280 just something the marketers came up with for the American release. 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:09.080 In Japan, he's actually known as Goujira, and that's because 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.640 at one point during development, the plan was for the 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.720 monster to be a cross between a gorilla and a whale. 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.120 And though that idea it sounds weird, right, but I mean, 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.680 even though that idea was eventually scrapped in favor of 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.360 a more dinosaur like design, they did keep the original name, 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:29.200 which is actually a portmanteau of the Japanese words for 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:33.319 gorilla and whale. I've always wondered what kind of creature 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:36.959 Godzilla is supposed to be. I mean, he's obviously some 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.320 kind of reptile or maybe amphibian, I guess, and and 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.880 not a guerrilla whale, that's for sure, But what kind 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.800 of reptile is he? Like? Is he an unknown species 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.560 of dinosaur that secretly survived underwater or is he just 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.880 a regular lizard that got you know, irradiated and grew 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.800 into a giant or something else? Like these are again 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:58.880 in addition to the things I was thinking about before 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.240 with like Godzilla a waste, I have to think about this. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.560 Did you figure it out? Well? It turns out it 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.800 kind of depends on who you ask, which maybe isn't 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.840 a huge surprise. So the crew definitely looked at dinosaur 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:14.920 illustrations for inspiration when designing the costume. But according to 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.960 a scientist character in the original movie, Godzilla is kind 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:23.000 of this transitional creature. So the quote was somewhere between 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:28.000 the marine reptiles and the evolving terrestrial animals, so technically 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.959 not a dinosaur, but a close descendant of them. However, 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.600 the waters get a little bit muddier when you know, 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.199 you go a little bit deeper on this So, for instance, 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:42.040 Godzilla's creator, a producer named Tamayuki Tanaka, has gone on 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.320 record saying that his original intention for Godzilla to be 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.000 a quote dinosaurs sleeping in the Southern Hemisphere that had 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:54.000 been awakened and transformed into a giant by the atomic bomb. 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:56.480 So I bet you didn't see that one coming. And 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:00.000 that offscreen take on the origin was actually made explicit 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.200 it during the nineteen nineties run of Godzilla movies. So 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.480 in one of these characters travel back in time, they 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.800 go back to nineteen forty four, and there they encounter 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:13.120 this dinosaur living alone on an island. Now was the 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:17.120 same dinosaur that eventually mutates into Godzilla after being hit 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.920 with an h bomb. But do you actually figure out 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.079 what kind of dinosaur is supposed to be? No, I 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:23.600 have no idea. I guess I just got tired of 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:25.760 looking that much more so, the dinosaur in the movie 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.400 was completely fictional, and it kind of looked like this, 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.200 more like a dumpy tarannosaurus, I guess. But it was 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:36.680 referred to in the movie as a Godzillasaurus, and that 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.719 that makes sense. It's super creative. But all right, but 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:42.720 here's the thing. Five years later, this was. In nine seven, 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:46.880 a paleontologist named Ken Carpenter discovered a new genus of 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:52.480 bipedal dinosaur, and he lovingly dubbed it go Girasaurus. So weirdly, 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.840 Godzilla both is and isn't a real dinosaur. Oh that's 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:58.960 that's actually pretty great. Does it make so much sense 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:01.959 that like a paleontology us would be a Godzilla fanatic? Right? 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.080 Like that makes a lot of sense. Here's one I 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.360 definitely didn't know before this week. Did you know that 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.559 Godzilla is the longest running movie franchise of all time? 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.200 This year marks the sixty anniversary of his first appearance 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:16.400 and the release of his thirty six theatrical film. That 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:19.240 puts Godzilla eight years and eleven movies ahead of his 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:23.280 closest competition, which is the James Bond series. What's really interesting, though, 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.720 is how the series has managed to stay relevant for 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:27.560 that long. If you look at the different periods of 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:29.720 Godzilla movies, the tone of the series and even the 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.360 characters roll in it are always changing to kind of 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.920 better align with the mood and what the audience of 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:37.560 the times wanted. The first movie isn't actually something like 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.760 goofy camp be monster movie. It has action, it does 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.040 have cheesy effects, but it's actually the somber and really 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:48.440 bleak movie, and it treats the disaster super seriously, and 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.800 that isn't by accident. Like the director described Godzilla as 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:55.480 the embodiment of the quote invisible fear that the nuclear 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.600 bomb could be dropped at any moment, and that really 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.600 resonated with audiences at the time, and many Japanese movie 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.320 goers left the theater and tears after seeing the movie. 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.760 It wasn't until the nineteen sixties, when Japan's postwar economy 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.920 was rebounding, that Godzilla started to loosen up a little 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:12.960 and and for a while he was portrayed as kind 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.760 of a cranky public menace like this bully you had 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.480 to be chased off by the army or by one 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.920 of the more good natured monsters like Mathra, and then 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.280 he gradually became a more heroic figure who would fight 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.200 off other giant monsters on behalf of Tokyo, even if 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:28.600 he still did trash most of the city in the process. 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:30.800 You know, for the record, I feel like that counts 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.040 as a fact and a half there, because there was 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.320 really a lot in there. But it is wild how 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.440 much mileage they've gotten out of that concept that many movies. 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.280 It's incredible. Yeah, it kind of makes me wish they 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.200 would mix things up even more. Like Mego mentioned James Bond, like, 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:49.840 let's throw him in there. I I mean, I feel 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.040 like that fight would be over very very quickly. But 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.120 we've got four facts left to go, so let's take 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:58.640 a quick break and then we'll get back to it. 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.960 Welcome back to Part time Genius. Now we're talking about Godzilla, 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:19.400 who is the atomic fire breathing lizard with a heart 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:23.000 of gold. All right, Gabe, you're up again. You like 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:24.920 that I write that down. I was just ready to 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:27.840 ready to come with it. Alright, Gabe, So what's your 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.800 next fact? Mango clude us in on just how long 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.920 the Godzilla series has been around. So now I want 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.400 to talk about how ahead of its time it's been. 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.360 So take the Marvel movies for instance. They kicked off 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:43.560 this big universe building trend in Hollywood where you know, 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.640 the goal is to crank out as many interconnected movies 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.040 as possible, And the way that plays out for superhero 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.760 movies is you do a bunch of standalone movies, a 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:56.160 thor movie, an Iron Man movie, etcetera. And then you 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.960 bring all those characters together for a big team up 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.520 movie like The Avengers. It's incredibly lucrative formula and one 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:06.160 that some studios are falling over themselves to emulate. But 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.560 here's the thing. They may think they're copying from Marvel, 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:13.400 but they're really cribbing from Godzilla. And that's because way 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.720 back in the early nineteen sixties, the Toho Studio was 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:21.400 working off the same two stage strategy. Alongside Godzilla movies, 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:25.160 they were also creating other standalone Kaiju movies like Roodan, 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:29.160 who was basically a giant terodactyl that lived in a volcano, 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:32.560 and Mathra, who was kind of the benevolent protector of 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:35.600 this secret island in the Pacific. So, I I know 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:40.000 Matra and rood In eventually fought against Godzilla, but you're 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:44.120 saying they did an Avenger style team up movie too, Yeah, exactly. 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.680 Like after debuting in their own movies, the Trio Big 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:52.040 grudgingly joined forces into and of course, that was to 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.200 protect the Earth from the threat of King Godra, who 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.200 I guess you could call like the Thanos of the 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.600 Godzilla universe. I don't know, he's like a fly gold 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.840 three headed dragon from outer space. So there aren't a 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.640 ton of parallels. But he's definitely Godzilla's arch nemesis. That's 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.439 the point. And uh, the monsters, you know, they've had 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:12.480 the team up a few times over the years to 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.000 fight him off. That is a good fact. I feel 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.800 like you guys really stepped it up with the facts today. 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:19.760 I'm gonna to come up with some good ones. But 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.119 all right, well, I feel like I had a couple 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:24.120 here in mind. But I'm going to take us behind 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.240 the scenes again for my third fact, because I want 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:31.880 to talk about Godzilla's iconic roar and more specifically, how 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:34.720 the sound of that roar was made. And if you've 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.000 never heard the roar I'm talking about, we're gonna we're 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:39.240 gonna play a few of them here for you. Now, 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:41.439 little stop, stop putting your fist up in the air 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:58.720 and play I'm here. It's a strange sound, right, but 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.480 where did it come from? Them? So, in the nineteen 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:04.440 fifty four original, the sound effects team tried to create 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:08.600 Godzilla's roar using animal sounds, but none of them seemed 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:10.920 to be like the right match. They were all too 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:15.520 familiar and not otherworldly. Enough for the monster that people 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.680 were seeing on the screen. So then the film's composer, 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:22.880 Akira if Kube, had this great idea, why not use 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.760 a musical instrument to make the roar instead? So this 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.320 is what he did. He donned a pair of leather gloves, 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:33.040 coated them in pine tar resin, and then he dragged 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.199 the sticky gloves up and down the east ring of 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.760 a broken down double bass. Isn't this so weird when 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:41.959 they come up with these ideas to do stuff like this, 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:43.840 It's like, you know what I think I'm gonna do 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:47.040 with these gloves. But anyway, the sound he got from 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.960 that became the sound of Godzilla and it's been the 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:54.040 basis of his roar ever since. That is incredible. So 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.159 we've talked about how prolific Godzilla has been at the multiplex, 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.879 but he's also had his share of offs green successes. 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.240 For example, he's one of a handful of fictional characters 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:06.280 to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:10.840 And in Godzilla became the first radioactive lizard monster to 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:15.880 win the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award. So it was actually 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.480 presented to him by Sir Patrick Stewart, who offered this 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:23.080 touching tribute, saying, quote, we've all heard about his temper 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:25.160 and about the people he stepped on on his way 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.160 to the top, But in this world of stars and superstars, 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.480 it would be no exaggeration to say that he is 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:34.159 the biggest, which is I think very sweet and h 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:36.520 He is so big, in fact, that his fame is 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:40.520 even extended to TV roles, which have been equally strange. Um. 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:43.520 For instance, there was a time in where Godzilla appeared 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:46.960 in a string of commercials for Dr Pepper, of all things. 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:49.600 In the ads, he's just doing his thing, wrecking building, 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.240 stopping on cars, and then he comes across a giant 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:54.720 can of Dr Pepper, just sitting where a water tower 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:57.639 should be, and uh he takes a big sip and 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:02.800 the ad ends with him burping. All said spive Am, 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.520 I alone in thinking like that ad was beneath the 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:10.800 dignity of Godzilla. Yeah, I think you probably are gay, alright, 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.200 fair well, if you think that sounds bad, definitely don't 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:18.840 watch the Nike commercial where Godzilla faces off with Charles Barkley. 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:23.480 It ends with Barkley dunking on Godzilla and then consoling 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:25.960 him by offering him a spot on the Lakers team, 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:29.159 which the Lakers are having a very rough season. That ye, 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:32.480 all right, Well, to close this out, I thought I'd 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:35.080 cover what we all really want to know, which is 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:38.639 how the military would actually tackle the threat of Godzilla 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:42.080 in real life. This is important stuff, right, So to 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.959 figure this out. A few years ago, Air and Space 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:49.439 Magazine reached out to a US Air Force base in Okanhawa, Japan, 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:52.439 this is real and the response they got from the 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.960 personnel there was a little surprising. They basically said, yeah, 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:00.160 we could take him, no problem. When they were pressed about, 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.000 you know, how many aircraft they would need to mount 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:08.000 to cohesive defense, the master sergeant just said seven, which 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:11.600 seems optimistic at best. I love how you take that 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:13.760 as such a serious answer me. Do you think maybe 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.439 he wasn't taking the question very seriously, you know, with 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:19.680 Godzilla not being real and all. Yeah, that did occur 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:23.439 to me. To be fair, though, the sergeant did acknowledge 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:27.760 the Godzilla would likely be expecting an aerial attack, which 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:30.080 shows that he was at least putting some thought into 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:32.639 what kind of strategy, you know, might work in this situation. 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:35.639 But again, the answer he came up with was to 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:41.880 catch Godzilla off guard using quote four thousand segues and slingshots. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.880 So yeah, he might not have been taking it too seriously. 0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:48.760