| Godzilla: The Series | |
|---|---|
Godzilla on the Empire State Building as depicted in Godzilla: The Series |
|
| Genre | Action Science fiction |
| Format | Animated series |
| Country of origin | United States Japan |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Dean Devlin Roland Emmerich Jeff Kline Richard Raynis |
| Running time | 23 minutes (30 minutes with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox (USA) Direct TV (Japan) |
| Original run | September 12, 1998 – April 22, 2000 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Godzilla |
Godzilla: The Series is an American/Japanese animated television series which originally aired on Fox in the United States. The show premiered on September 12, 1998, and is a direct sequel to the American Godzilla remake.
Contents |
Using an art style similar to that of Adelaide's previous productions Men in Black: The Series and Extreme Ghostbusters, the series follows the Humanitarian Environmental (or Ecological, in "Area 51") Analysis Team (H.E.A.T.), a research team led by Dr. Nick Tatopoulos (voiced by Ian Ziering) as they battle giant monsters which frequently appear in the wake of the events depicted in the film. Godzilla, the only hatchling of its species to survive in the movie, imprints on Nick and becomes the chief weapon summoned against the other monsters encountered by the human characters.
The series also introduces two new characters: Monique Dupre, a French secret agent assigned by Philippe Roache to keep an eye on Godzilla and H.E.A.T., and Randy Hernandez, an intern of Nick's who specializes in computer hacking.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released two episode sequences on VHS: "Trouble Hatches", the two-episode pilot, and "Monster Wars." [1] Columbia TriStar Home Video has also released nine episodes on DVD, spread out onto three separate volumes: "The Monster Wars Trilogy", consisting of the same three episodes previously released on the VHS of the same name, "Monster Mayhem", which included "What Dreams May Come", "Bird of Paradise", and "Deadloch", the third volume was entitled "Mutant Madness", which contained "S.C.A.L.E. (Fist Of Godzilla)", "The Twister" and "Where Is Thy Sting?".
Also the special edition DVD of the film titled "Godzilla: Monster Edition" also contains three episodes of the TV series "What Dreams May Come", "Monster Wars Part 1" and "Where Is Thy Sting?".[2]
As of October 2010, the entire series is available on the Netflix Instant Streaming service.[3]
Despite the mostly negative response to the film, the animated series still did well during Fox Kids' Saturday morning line-up and was praised by those who condemned the film. Ultimately, the series was overshadowed by the late 1990s Pokémon/Digimon war between Kids WB and Fox Kids during the 1999-2000 season. The result was Godzilla: The Series being placed in different timeslots on Saturdays to accommodate many of the Digimon marathons and back-to-back episodes; this would also affect other Fox Kids shows as well. For a brief period of time, episodes of Godzilla: The Series were either never repeated, or skipped over and rescheduled. There was a brief period where the show was taken off the schedule to accommodate new shows for mid-season, resulting in three episodes that were never broadcast.
| # | Title | Air Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Family, Part 1 | 9/12/98 | While scouring the sewers of New York, Nick Tatopoulos discovers one of Godzilla's eggs has survived. The hatchling that emerges escapes and by the time the team find it again, has grown to a massive (but thankfully harmless) sub-adult. As the team try to study the new Godzilla, the U.S. military, responding to a series of disappearances in Jamaica, attack and seemingly kill Godzilla. |
| 2 | New Family, Part 2 | 9/19/98 | With Godzilla seemingly dead, the team journey to Jamaica to help the U.S. military investigate the ongoing disappearances in Jamaica. The team discover that a group of giant deep dwelling squids and a hideously mutated crustacean - Crustaceous Rex - is responsible and Godzilla (who has survived the attack) arrives to fight the beast off. Nick must now battle to help Major Hicks destroy C-Rex, and then convince him Godzilla is more useful alive than dead. |
| 3 | D.O.A. | 9/26/98 | H.E.A.T. are called to help the Central America Republic of Costo Rojo deal with El Gusano - a mutated worm that is devouring untold amounts of crops. The country's ruler, General Albondiga, uses an experimental bio-weapon against the worm and Godzilla, but the worm is only strengthed by the attack. Mendel must synthesise an antidote for the poisoned Godzilla, then find a way to destroy El Gusano without Albondiga interfering. |
| 4 | Talkin' Trash | 10/3/98 | In response to a sanitation workers' strike, a colony of petroleum-eating microbes, controlled by nanotechnology, are released to try to curb New York's garbage problem. Unfortunately, the microbes quickly grow out of control and now the team and Godzilla must find a way to stop it before the colony devours Manhattan. |
| 5 | The Winter of Our Discontent | 10/10/98 | The team encounter Cameron Winter: a powerful technology mogul, and an old rival of Nick's from college. He wants the team to work with him, but Nick refuses, suspecting his old enemy has ulterior motives. But can he find out what they are before Winter's schemes have fatal consequences for Godzilla? |
| 6 | Cat and Mouse | 10/31/98 | The team not only have to contend with a plague of mutated giant rats roaming the sewers of New York, but a trio of redneck hunters seeking to make Godzilla the ultimate hunting trophy. |
| 7 | What Dreams May Come | 11/7/98 | When a strange electrical creature known as the Crackler attacks seemingly random locations in Manhattan, the team investigate. But the Crackler isn't behaving like the mutations H.E.A.T. have fought before, and what is its connection to mild-mannered insomniac, Sidney Walker? |
| 8 | Leviathan | 11/14/98 | The team are called to help a rescue mission for xenobiologist Alexander Preloran, who disappeared while on a mission to explore the Leviathan: an alien spacecraft buried at the bottom of the Pacific for 65 million years. But once they go down, the team discover the ship's Alien crew are very much alive... and they have their own plans for Earth. |
| 9 | Hive | 11/21/98 | H.E.A.T. investigates the tropical island of Santa Marta in the wake of a devastating volcanic eruption. But what they find on the island is that, due to irradiated lava, a hideously mutated ecosystem has developed, including carnivorous plants and gigantic bees. As the volcano begins to erupt again, the team must find a way to escape the island alive. |
| 10 | Bird of Paradise | 12/5/98 | Villages in Mexico are being attacked by a strange winged creature. When ornithologist and Elsie's old fiance, Lawrence Cohen calls H.E.A.T. for help. They quickly discover the beast is Quetzlcoatl - an evolutionary hybrid of bird and dinosaur, capable of breathing fire and protected by impenetrable feathers. The team must find a way to stop the creature, but matters worsen when Quetzlcoatl takes Elsie to feed its starving young. |
| 11 | DeadLoch | 2/6/99 | H.E.A.T. heads for Scotland after Dr. Hugh Trevor of the Pisces Marine Research Institute claims his facility was attacked by the Loch Ness Monster. Once Nick is convinced of Nessie's existence, he discovers that the facility is hiding a terrible secret: Trevor has captured Nessie's baby and plans to sell it on the black market. Now the team must convince Godzilla to work with Nessie if they are to save her young and ensure her safety in Loch Ness. |
| 12 | Monster Wars, Part 1 | 2/13/99 | As tension threatens to break the H.E.A.T. team up for good, major problems arise: a giant bat is terrorising the countryside of Nigeria, the U.S. military have dredged the Leviathan from the bottom of the Pacific, and worst of all, the Aliens are back, with an army of monsters under their control and plans to conquer the Earth. |
| 13 | Monster Wars, Part 2 | 2/20/99 | From their secret base on Isle Del Diablo, the Aliens assemble their forces. H.E.A.T. desperately fights to resist, but are easily defeated. Once captured and brought to the Aliens, they are told that the monster army - which includes a brainwashed Godzilla - will be used to attack major cities across the world in preparation for the Alien invasion of Earth. At its head marches the Aliens' ultimate weapon: the first Godzilla, resurrected as a powerful cyborg. |
| 14 | Monster Wars, Part 3 | 2/27/99 | As the Aliens and their monster allies attack Earth, H.E.A.T. escapes captivity and battles to defeat the Alien onslaught and free the monsters from their control to help humanity fight back and save the planet from Alien conquest. |
| 15 | Competition | 3/6/99 | A trip to Japan to investigate a number of mysterious disappearances leads to a battle of wills between H.E.A.T. and the Japanese military, who perceive Godzilla to be a threat. However, when the real threat is revealed to be an ophidiaphobic's nightmare, it leads to a climactic showdown in Tokyo between Godzilla and the giant mutated serpent. |
| 16 | Freeze | 3/13/99 | H.E.A.T. are dispatched to aid investigation into the disappearance of a search party looking for oil in Antarctica. The team must now not only battle against the monsters responsible - a pack of mutated moles - but also against the energy company who employed the men, who are determined to brush all record of the incident under the rug. |
| 17 | Bug Out | 3/20/99 | Godzilla is throwing infantile tantrums and H.E.A.T. are growing worried about their ability to control him. When Audrey lets this slip on live TV, despite being told in confidence by Nick, their relationship looks set to be torn apart. Meanwhile, when called in to investigate extensive deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest, they discover a mutated termite colony is devouring the forest at an alarming rate. H.E.A.T. must find a way to destroy the voracious bugs before they devour the entire rainforest. |
| 18 | Web Site | 5/1/99 | When H.E.A.T. is charged by The Pentagon to investigate the growing population of spiders near an Army base in the Canary Islands, the team quickly discover that the explosive growth in population is due to a massive mutated female black widow spider laying millions of eggs, and they must find a way to destroy the infant spiders and help Godzilla take care of the female. |
| 19 | An Early Frost | 5/8/99 | When Godzilla is accused of attacking New York, the military call in H.E.A.T. to help contain him. But Phillipe Roache has returned from France... with orders to terminate Godzilla. However, H.E.A.T. discover the real culprit is a hideous mutation called the Chameleon, genetically engineered by Cameron Winter (who has escaped from jail) to frame Godzilla. But can they stop Winter before Phillipe destroys Godzilla? |
| 20 | Trust No One | 7/31/99 | Acting on confidential information from Phillipe, H.E.A.T. investigate an abandoned lab in the Amazon jungle, where 50 years before, French scientists succeeded in creating a creature made of pure DNA. The creature is capable of mimicking the shape of any living creature it touches. As the team are put on edge as the creature leaves them uncertain who to trust, they must find a way to aid Godzilla and destroy the creature before it can reproduce and go on to create a new master race of monsters. |
| 21 | Juggernaut | 8/14/99 | The Techno-Sentient, an alien piece of technology, falls to Earth and begins to bond with all manner of human technology, growing to gargantuan proportions. When it taps into the Internet and learns of the location of humanity's weapons of mass destruction, the team and Godzilla must find a way to stop it before it takes control of an arsenal of nuclear missiles. |
| # | Title | Air Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Future Shock | 9/18/99 | While pursuing a mutated jellyfish, a mysterious storm propels the H.E.A.T. team into the year 2022. There, they discover a post-apocalyptic future where Godzilla is dead, humanity is all but extinct, and the world ruled by terrifying monsters known as Dragmas. As the team battle for survival alongside future versions of Craven and Hicks, they discover that the Dragmas were created by the scientist Johnathan Insley. After narrowly making their way back to the past, they decide to stop him before he can create the monster race. But Insley's Democratic Resurgence Against Global Mechanized Armageddon (D.R.A.G.M.A.) project is ready to be activated, and now the team must battle to destroy Insley's work before the Dragmas are unleashed and the bleak future they saw becomes reality. |
| 2 | Cash of the Titans | 9/25/99 | In the middle of an attack on H.E.A.T. headquarters by a giant water beetle, the team is shocked to see Godzilla is not responding to their distress call. After fending off the beetle, the team discovers that the billionaire Maximillian Speil (voiced by Clancy Brown) is hosting a monster fighting ring with Godzilla as his new main attraction. Now with Audrey and Animal in tow, the team must save Godzilla from a brutal fight to the death against other mutations. |
| 3 | S.C.A.L.E. | 10/2/99 | Told in a documentary style, the H.E.A.T team are called to Miami to deal with Skeetera, a giant mutated mosquito, when they come under attack from S.C.A.L.E. (Servants of Creatures Arriving Late to Earth), an eco-terrorist group who believe mutations are the next stage of evolution. After narrowly capturing the rampaging insect, H.E.A.T transport Skeetera to Monster Island so the creature can be studied by the U.S. military. But unknown to them, they have unwanted guests: Animal and Audrey have stowed away onboard the 'Heat-Seeker', hoping for a good story, and S.C.A.L.E. has tracked them to Monster Island. When the terrorists take over Monster Island with plans to unleash the monsters held there on the world, the only hope lies in the combined forces of H.E.A.T, Major Hicks and his troops, Audrey and Animal. |
| 4 | Protector | 10/9/99 | Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia accidentally reawaken Norrzug the Iron Lion, a gargantuan sphinx-like monster that once served as the guardian of the ancient city of Amon-Ra. H.E.A.T. discover from ancient texts that the people of the city deliberately rusted the creature to stop its rampage after it turned on them. Now the team must find a way to repeat the feat before this mythological terror devours every last drop of oil in the Middle East. |
| 5 | Freak Show | 12/11/99 | When circus master Tobias Wilson brings his 'Mutant Mania' circus to Manhattan, things go badly wrong when a mutated sea anemone, called Medusa, escapes its tank and goes on the rampage. When the team discover the creature is sucking water out of its victims, as it needs the electrolytes found in water to survive, the race is on to stop Medusa before it drinks every drop of water on the planet. |
| 6 | End of the Line | 12/18/99 | While on a romantic cruise to Alaska, Nick and Audrey's ship is attacked by a mutated turtle, but they are saved, not by Godzilla, but by another mutated lizard: Komodithrax, a mutated Komodo Dragon. When Godzilla heads for Alaska to find Nick and H.E.A.T. follow, they make a shocking discovery: Godzilla and Komodithrax are in love, and Godzilla has become surrogate father to an egg laid by Komodithrax. But with the menacing turtle nearby, and the U.S. military ordered to destroy all monsters in the area, can Nick and the team protect the two gargantuan, star-crossed reptilian lovers? |
| 7 | What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been | 1/15/00 | While fighting a giant mutant germ named Bacillus, Godzilla is infected by the bacteria and left fighting for his life. While Elsie, Randy and Mendel create an antibiotic to weaken the bacteria, Nick and Monique must enter Godzilla's body and destroy the infection at its source before Godzilla dies. |
| 8 | Wedding Bells Blew | 1/22/00 | When Elsie's estranged parents come to New York for her spoiled sister's wedding, she is forced to leave the wedding to help H.E.A.T capture a mutated manta ray. Elsie is now determined not only to catch the creature, but to prove to her parents she is not the screw-up they think she is. |
| 9 | Metamorphosis | 1/29/00 | Shortly after receiving an anonymous check for 5 million dollars, the team are called to Illinois, where a gigantic mutated caterpiller, Megapede, is devouring thousands of dollars worth of crops. The team are unable to stop the creature when they first encounter it, and upon finding it again, they discover the creature has metamorphed into a gigantic cicada. The insect's mating call is disrupting all radar in Chicago, and now H.E.A.T must find a way to silence the creature for long enough to launch a counterattack. |
| 10 | Area 51 | 2/5/00 | Just as H.E.A.T has had it with Randy, Elsie convinces the rest of the team to investigate a possible mutation sighting at Area 51, where they discover the real secret of Area 51 is not aliens, but mutations, created by underground nuclear testing. When one of the captive mutations-a mutant thorny devil lizard- breaks out of its cage, the team must stop the creature from escaping the base and destroying nearby Las Vegas. |
| 11 | The Twister | 2/12/00 | During a nice relaxing day at the beach, the team is attacked by a twister. When they trace its origins to an experimental energy experiment at a local power plant, as well as discovering strange tracks near the plant. When the twister strikes again, H.E.A.T. discover that a giant mutant shrew has been bonded to the twister creating the Shrewster, and now the race is on to defeat the Shrewster before its ravenous metabolism drives it to eat all of New York. |
| 12 | Shafted | 2/19/00 | On their way to an expo in attempts to win a research patent, the team meets a lost young girl named Meg who asks the team to rescue her two brothers Steven and Kevin who went into a silver mine, where a gang of miners disappeared without trace fifty years before. While Monique is left babysitting Meg (much to her displeasure), the rest of the team encounters the Silver Hydra: a monster capable of encasing anyone unfortunate to meet it in silver, and able to regenerate itself every time it is harmed. Now the race is on to defeat the Hydra before Kevin, Steven, Elsie and Godzilla are transformed by it into lifeless silver statues. |
| 13 | Where Is Thy Sting? | 2/26/00 | While tracking Godzilla to Fort Armstrong, New Mexico the team discover a gigantic mutated scorpion, called Ts-eh-go by the locals, is on the rampage. But when they try to contain the monster, they come under fire from U.S. military under the command of Colonel William Tarrington, an old friend of Hicks, who is out to destroy both Ts-eh-go and Godzilla. When H.E.A.T discover Ts-eh-go was created by the army's 'First Wave' program, and that Tarrington is planning to use the creature's offspring -codenamed 'Second Wave'- as bioweapons, H.E.A.T and Hicks must convince Tarrington to stop when the scorpions get out of control. |
| 14 | Lizard Season | 3/11/00 | Cameron Winter springs the redneck Hunters from "Cat And Mouse" from jail and uses them to pilot the 'Lizard Slayers': three extremely well armed battle robots with one mission: to destroy Godzilla. When Cameron takes control of H.E.A.T.'s computer systems to stop them intervening, Nick and the others must get rid of Cameron, then find a way to save Godzilla from the attackers. |
| 15 | Underground Movement | 4/1/00 | The team is split up due to a law suit by the state of Miami (over damages caused by a giant mutated vampire bat). While Nick, Monique, and Elsie deal with the lawsuit, Randy and Mendel decide to deal with a mutant (without Nick's permission) in Michigan. The mutant Armillaria, a mutant fungus with the ability to suck the amino acids out of any living thing, swiftly proves too much for the duo, who are quickly trapped in the wilderness with nothing but the clothse on their backs and their wits. Once the others hear of their antics, the race is on to rescue the duo and defeat the mutation before it sucks Godzilla dry. |
| 16 | Ring of Fire | 4/22/00 | While preventing a strange creature made of living flame, called the Fire Monster, from destroying an oil platform in New Mexico, Randy and Craven sense a chance to make a lot of money if they can exploit the monster's ability to regenerate energy. Once H.E.A.T has taken the creature out, Randy and Mendel sneaks it back to headquarters for study, but things go badly wrong when the Fire Monster regains consciousness and starts burning down everything in its path. |
| 17 | Vision | unaired | The team are called to San Francisco, where a group of giant mutated hummingbirds are attacking aircraft. The creatures move too fast for the naked eye to see them, making them impossible for Godzilla to fight. Now Mendel must rig up a special set of goggles that will allow Godzilla to see the birds, giving him a chance to fight back. |
| 18 | The Ballard of Gens Du Marais | unaired | While in New Orleans covering Mardi Gras, Audrey hears rumours of a strange 'Swamp Beast' and decides to call in H.E.A.T . The creature swiftly proves itself a match for Godzilla, and the team begin to suspect something is afoot when the locals claim the beast is the swamp's revenge against corrupt local politician, Paul Dimanche, who wants to mine oil in the bayou. But can they prove it before the Swamp Beast destroys New Orleans? |
| 19 | Tourist Trap | unaired | When the 'Deep-Dweller', a huge mutated frog fish begins to attack boats and fishing ships off the coast of New Jersey, H.E.A.T. must help Godzilla drive the creature back to deeper waters, while dealing with the interference of the sleazy and obnoxious tour promoter, Milo Sanders, who hopes to make money by getting good footage of Godzilla. |
As of July 2008, Minisodes of Godzilla can be streamed on Sony owned Crackle. In addition, Kabillion syndicates the series on Comcast's On Demand service as well as online.