Godzilla fans have something to roar about. Toho International Inc. announced earlier today that it will be releasing season 2 of the 70s Godzilla animated series on June 6th! It will be joining the first season of the show, which is already free to view on the official Godzilla YouTube channel!
Godzilla was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon produced in association with Henry G. Saperstein, who oversaw the American distribution of notable Toho feature films such as Invasion of the Astro-Monster. Godzilla followed a team of scientists on the research vessel known as the Calico, lead by Captain Carl Majors (Jeff David). Making up the crew are Dr. Quinn Darien (Brenda Thompson), her nephew Pet Darien (Al Eisenmann), and Brock Borden (Hilly Hicks).
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Accompanying the crew is Godzooky (Don Messick), Godzilla’s nephew that hasn’t figured out how to be a proper kaiju yet. Whenever the group ran into trouble, especially if it involved an attacking monster, they could call upon Godzilla with special technology, or have Godzooky call for help. Obviously, there are some notable changes for the King of the Monsters, his trademark atomic breath has been replaced by regular dragon fire, and he can now shoot lasers out of his eyes.
Godzilla premiered in 1978 as part of the Godzilla Power Hour, where the big guy himself was paired with Jana of the Jungle. 13 episodes were ordered for production, but the show ended up being enough of a success to warrant a second season which also consisted of 13 episodes. Godzilla found himself airing in various packages over the years, where he was paired with the likes of Johnny Quest, The Super Globetrotters, and even Hong Kong Phooey.
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Godzilla from Toho
With the show airing on Saturday mornings, several changes had to be made in order to keep Godzilla clean enough for broadcast. Joe Barbera explained in a 1990’s interview that they had to be careful with the property. This included removing things that made Godzilla, well, Godzilla!
“The problem with the show was simply this: When they start telling you in Standards and Practices, ‘Don’t shoot any flame at anybody, don’t step on any buildings or cars,’ then pretty soon, they’ve taken away all the stuff he represents. That became the problem, to maintain a feeling of Godzilla and at the same time cut down everything that he did. We managed to get a fair show out of it. It was OK. Godzooky kind of got the kids going.”
Despite the censorship, Godzilla still had a healthy run on television, introducing children of all ages to the iconic monster. While reruns would air on networks such as Boomerang, home media was another hurdle. The first season were released on DVD in three separate volumes in the early 2000’s, but the second season never received such treatment. That’s what makes this announcement so special. For the first time ever, fans will be able to relive the continuing adventures of the Calico crew. While it’s not exactly the same as a DVD release, the episodes are all free to watch again and again! If you’re a Godzilla fan, this is a neat little treat from the past! Part one of episode one can be viewed below, happy binging!
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