Godzilla: The Series 1983227 224928923 2008-07-11T01:26:23Z 76.224.1.150 {{Infobox Television | show_name = Godzilla: The Animated Series | image = [[Image:Gd78.jpg]] | caption = [[Godzilla (Godzilla the Series)|Godzilla II]] as depicted in ''Godzilla: The Series'' | format = [[Animation|Animated]] | camera = | picture_format = | audio_format = | runtime = 23 minutes (30 minutes with commercials) | creator = | developer = | producer = | executive_producer = | starring = | narrated = | opentheme = | endtheme = | country = [[United States]] | language = | network = [[Fox Kids]] | first_aired = [[September 12]], [[1998]] | last_aired = [[April 22]], [[2000]] | num_episodes = 36 | list_episodes = | chronology = | preceded_by = [[Godzilla (1998 film)|1998 Godzilla film]] | followed_by = | website = | imdb_id = | tv_com_id = }} '''''Godzilla: The Series''''' is an [[animated]] [[television series]] which originally aired on [[Fox Kids]]. The show premiered on [[September 12]], [[1998 in television|1998]], and is a direct sequel to the film ''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla]]''. ==Plot== Using an art style similar to that of ''[[Men in Black: The Series]]'' and ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'', the series follows the '''Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team''' (or "HEAT"), a research team lead by Dr. [[Nick Tatopoulos]] (voiced by [[Ian Ziering]]) as they battle [[kaiju|monsters]] which frequently appear in the wake of the events depicted in the film. Godzilla, the only hatchling to survive in the original movie, [[imprinting (psychology)|imprints]] on Nick and provides the "muscle" against the other monsters encountered by the human characters, much in the spirit of the [[Japan]]ese [[Showa era (daikaiju eiga)|Shōwa era]] films and the [[Hanna-Barbera]] cartoon. The series also introduces two new characters: Monique Dupre, a [[French people|French]] [[secret agent]] assigned by Philippe Roache to keep an eye on Godzilla and HEAT, and Randy Hernandez, an intern of Nick's who specializes in [[computer hacking]]. ==Home video and DVD== [[Fox Home Entertainment|Fox]] released two episode sequences on [[VHS]]: "Trouble Hatches," the two-episode pilot, and "Monster Wars." [[Fox Home Entertainment|Fox]] Also has released 9 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 (Godzilla)|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?". == Scheduling problems == Despite the negative response to the [[Godzilla (1998 film)|1998 film]], the animated series still did well during Fox Kids' Saturday morning line-up. Ultimately, the series was overshadowed by the late 1990s ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' – ''[[Digimon]]'' war between [[Kids WB]] and Fox Kids during the 1998-1999 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. ==Characters== ===The H.E.A.T. Team=== * '''Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos''' - Leader of H.E.A.T., the adoptive father of Godzilla. He has a very good reputation for saving New York from the original Godzilla. Now is the caretaker of the current monster. Nick very fiercely protects Godzilla and the mutants right from both foreign and domestic governments. Also, Nick has a trademark quote: "''GO! GO! GO!!!''" * '''Monique Dupre''' - A Vietnamese/French Nationality, she is Philippe's best agent in the French Secret Service. She specializes in hand to hand combat and infiltration. Originally, her mission was to have Godzilla killed, but she had a change of heart after the monster saved her. Despite her cold demeanor, she does have a (somewhat) softer side to her. Despite her help to the H.E.A.T. team, Monique will independently investigate any military facility, without Nick's permission. * '''Randy Hernandez''' - An intern working under Nick. Hugely talented in all fields of technology, his slacker image has reduced him to nothing more than an immature hacker. Other than Nick, Randy is the member who most accepts Godzilla, and can be defensive at times. He was expelled from Empire State, but is inspired to attend college once again after saving Godzilla from Cameron Winter. He has a crush on Monique, but is always shot down. Randy learned the Navajo language because it was the only code that wasn't broken during [[World War II]]. * '''Dr. Mendel Craven''' - A bit of a coward and apparently allergic to everything around him, he is nevertheless a competent member of the team. He has a serious crush on Elsie ever since she was on the team during the events surrounding the original Godzilla. As the team's engineer, his role consists primarily in dealing with robotics and other machinery, although he has also shown himself an adept chemist in times of need (notably when Godzilla was poisoned and an antidote had to be developed). Although initially fearful of Godzilla, over the course of the series he comes to trust the beast as an ally. Craven has a [[Scotland|Scottish]] background (revealed in the episode "DeadLoch"), and a talent for playing the bagpipes. Since N.I.G.E.L., the robot he built keeps getting destroyed, he has developed a catchphrase whenever it happens: ''"N.I.G.E.L.!, nooooo!"''. * '''Dr. Elsie Chapman''' - One of the original members of Nick's team, she is more cynical in this series. She often acts sarcastic to get a laugh from Nick. In addition, she has developed an attraction to Mendel. She specializes in the behavior of Godzilla and the other mutations. During the Tachyons invasion of earth, Elsie fell under their control and was instrumental in the recovery of their ship the "Leviathan". However Monique was able to wake her from their alien's control and she was able to use the knowledge to resist the invasion. * '''N.I.G.E.L.''' - '''N'''ext millennium '''I'''ntelligence '''G'''athering '''E'''lectronic '''L'''iaison. An analysis robot created by Mendel, N.I.G.E.L. was reprogrammed by Randy to have a more cheerful personality. He is destroyed in almost every episode (and subsequently rebuilt, it is to be assumed) which makes him their version of [[Kenny McCormick]]. Another running gag is that Randy keeps programming N.I.G.E.L. to have a different voice every episode. * [[Monsters in Godzilla: The Series#Godzilla|'''Godzilla''']]- The only surviving offspring of the Godzilla from the [[1998]] film. Due to Nick's presence at his hatching, this Godzilla has imprinted on Nick as his parent. As a result, Godzilla is very protective of him, and Nick has the ability to control him to a certain extent, which comes in handy when the team needs help fighting other giant monsters. He differs from his father in many ways. He cannot reproduce asexually; for reasons unknown, this Godzilla is [[sterile]]. This Godzilla can breath powerful blasts of radioactive fire, unlike his father who could only breathe strong gusts of wind. Whereas the first Godzilla would run from danger, this Godzilla faces it head on and battles his foes to the death. ===Human Allies=== * '''Major Anthony Hicks''' - Major of the New York Sandy Point Military Base of New York. He developed a soft spot for Godzilla, for saving the world from one mutation after another. In an alternate timeline he lost his right arm, left leg, and his right ear while he was trying to fight off the DRAGMA's. Major Hicks has taken much ridicule from other military officers due to his lenience in allowing Godzilla to live. * '''Audrey Timmonds''' - Nick's college sweetheart and current girlfriend, whose career as a reporter often leads to conflict in their relationship. In an alternate timeline when the DRAGMA's took over the planet she was married to another man. * '''Victor "Animal" Palotti''' - New York's Channel 8 News cameraman and Audrey's working partner. He's obviously had too many cups of coffee after performing too many dangerous camera events. His only worry when running into danger is "''Lucy's gonna kill me!''", a reference to his somewhat uneasy marriage in the [[Godzilla (1998 film)|film]]. In an alternate timeline he was killed by the DRAGMA's while filming their rampage. * '''Philippe Roache''' - The leader of the French secret service. He led the team hunting down the first Godzilla. He lost most of his team by the baby Godzilla's but he had only one survivor, Monique. After the first Godzilla was killed he thought that the threat was over, but after hearing the news of another one he orders Monique to kill him. Soon after he heard that Godzilla saved her from the squids and C-Rex, he wanted her to observe the creature. In "An Early Frost", he heard of Godzilla attacking the city, but when Nick proved that Godzilla was innocent he turned his attention towards the Chameleon. He then made Monique extend her assignment with them. Monique wondered if it was for reward or punishment, but we'll probably never know. He made another appearance in "Trust No One" warning H.E.A.T. about the Mimic. * '''Dr. Yukiko Ifukube''' - She is the leader of the special unit in Japan, similar to H.E.A.T. She refers to "Godzilla" as "Gojira", which got her into an argument with Randy. Also, she has an attraction to Mendel, much to Elsie's dismay. Her creation, the Robo Yeti, is used to defend Japan from mutated threats. She pilots the Robo Yeti through a voice remote she carries with her. When Robo Yeti is destroyed by King Cobra twice, she is upset. Mendel comforts her by saying "''I know how ya feel.''". Her surname is a reference to [[Akira Ifukube]], the musical composer for the Japanese Godzilla movies. ===Recurring villains=== * '''Cameron Winter''' - Probably the most hated villain in the series by many fans, with a [[Lex Luthor]] complex. A former classmate of Nick in college. He refers to Nick as "Nickels" because he assumed that Nick's field of work would mount to nothing and he ends up with nickels in his pocket. He is a technological mogul, who wants to use Godzilla for his own needs. He first attempted to use his Cybernetic Attack Drones ("Cyber Flies") to take control of Godzilla, but was thwarted by Randy. Despite his arrest, using his influence, his sentence was reduced to nothing but [[community service]]. His second encounter with the H.E.A.T. team, was the creation of the genetic monster known as "Chameleon" which almost looked like Godzilla, but had three tusks on its face. That monster was taken out by Philippe. When Nick attacked him, he trapped Nick in his submarine base and set off the self destruct sequence and escaped. The final time the team encountered him, he created the Lizard Slayers unit to destroy Godzilla. He also took control of the H.E.A.T. Seeker. However, with the combined efforts of the team, his Lizard Slayers were defeated. However, the victory was short lived when the army wanted a mass production of the units, bragging to Nick to no end. The feud between him and Nick remain unresolved. * '''The Redneck Hunters (Dale, Bill, & Hank)''' - based on the characters from ''[[King of the Hill]]'', they are game hunters that came to New York to hunt for the "Ultimate Game" which was Godzilla. They serve as [[comic relief]] villains in the series. Dale, is the leader of the group, Bill is the middle man, and Hank is the dummy of the trio. Armed with heavy fire power, they chased Godzilla to no end; destroying the newly repaired [[Chrysler Building]] in the process. The damage they caused to the city got all of them thrown in jail. They were then released by Cameron Winter to have them pilot the Lizard Slayer units, only to be used as an alibi by Winter, which got them thrown back into jail once more. Bill and Hank seem less villainous than Dale. * '''The Tachyons''' - An ancient race of [[psychic]] [[extraterrestrials]]. One of their spaceships, called the "Leviathan" by the humans who found it, crashed on [[Earth]] during the time of the dinosaurs. They remained active long enough to create the Cryptocleidus and Reptilians before going dormant. Upon discovery by humanity, the Tachyons attempted to conquer [[Earth]] and were thwarted by HEAT. They were presumed dead, but in "Monster Wars," it was revealed that they had downloaded their minds into human victims (who steadily mutated into alien forms), with the alien minds existing in the unused sections of the human [[brain]]. Masquerading as human scientists, the Tachyons convinced Elsie and a military regiment under Colonel Hicks to help them salvage the Leviathan; from this, they set up the Site Omega facility, implanted alien minds into Elsie and the soldiers, constructed the Cyber-Godzilla, and began taking mental control of all of [[Earth]]'s mutations, while simultaneously using their psychic abilities to keep HEAT divided. Their plot's climax was having the mutations attack the capital cities of the militarily strongest nations, intending to heavily weaken the armed forces so they couldn't put up a resistance when the aliens' main fleet arrived. The plan was undone when HEAT took out their mind control technology; acting under their own instinct, the mutations viewed the arriving fleet as invaders of their territory and destroyed enough Leviathan craft to force a retreat. The alien material inside the mutated humans crashed, and they gradually returned to normal. ===Monsters=== ''Main Article'': [[Monsters in Godzilla: The Series]] ==Episodes== ===Season One=== * 01.01: "New Family, Part 1" 9/12/98 * 01.02: "New Family, Part 2" 9/19/98 * 01.03: "D.O.A." 9/26/98 * 01.04: "Talkin' Trash" 10/3/98 * 01.05: "The Winter of Our Discontent" 10/10/98 * 01.06: "Cat and Mouse" 10/31/98 * 01.07: "What Dreams May Come" 11/7/98 * 01.08: "Leviathan" 11/14/98 * 01.09: "Hive" 11/21/98 * 01.10: "Bird of Paradise" 12/5/98 * 01.11: "DeadLoch" 2/6/99 * 01.12: "Monster Wars, Part 1" 2/13/99 * 01.13: "Monster Wars, Part 2" 2/20/99 * 01.14: "Monster Wars, Part 3" 2/27/99 * 01.15: "Competition" 3/6/99 * 01.16: "Freeze" 3/13/99 * 01.17: "Bug Out" 3/20/99 * 01.18: "Web Site" 5/1/99 * 01.19: "An Early Frost" 5/8/99 * 01.20: "Juggernaut" 7/31/99 * 01.21: "Trust No One" 8/14/99 ===Season Two=== * 02.01: "Future Shock" 9/18/99 * 02.02: "Cash of the Titans" 9/25/99 * 02.03: "S.C.A.L.E." 10/2/99 * 02.04: "Protector" 10/9/99 * 02.05: "Freak Show" 12/11/99 * 02.06: "End of the Line" 12/18/99 * 02.07: "What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been" 1/15/00 * 02.08: "Wedding Bells Blew" 1/22/00 * 02.09: "Metamorphosis" 1/29/00 * 02.10: "Area 51" 2/5/00 * 02.11: "The Twister" 2/12/00 * 02.12: "Shafted" 2/19/00 * 02.13: "Where Is Thy Sting?" 2/26/00 * 02.14: "Lizard Season" 3/11/00 * 02.15: "Underground Movement" 4/1/00 * 02.16: "Ring of Fire" 4/22/00 ===Unaired episodes=== * "The Ballad of Gens du Marais" * "Vision" * "Tourist Trap" All three episodes were aired in [[Europe]] on [[UK|Britain's]] [[Sky One]] and [[Australia's]] [[Network Ten]]. ==See also== *[[The Godzilla Power Hour]] ==References== * Johnson, Bob (2000). Godzilla: The Series. ''[http://www.g-fan.com/ G-Fan]'' '''44'''. ==External links== *{{imdb title|id=0177443|title=Godzilla: The Series}} *{{tv.com show|id=3529|title=Godzilla: The Series}} * [http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2006/03/28/godzilla-the-series The Ultimate Godzilla: the Series episode guide] {{Godzilla}} [[Category:1998 television series debuts]] [[Category:2000 television series endings]] [[Category:Animated television series]] [[Category:1990s American animated television series]] [[Category:2000s American animated television series]] [[Category:Fox network shows]] [[Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television]] [[Category:Godzilla: The Series]] [[nl:Godzilla: The Series]]