There Was Almost A Batman Meets Godzilla Movie Starring Adam West In The 1960s
1966 was a good year to be a child watching TV. It was the premiere year of "Star Trek," of course, and little kids could easily fall in love with Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Debuting at about the same time was "The Monkees," a playful riff on "A Hard Days Night" starring the eponymous pre-fab rock group that has always, to my eye, been way more interesting than the Beatles. 1966 was also the year of the fourth season of "The Avengers," the first season to feature Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.
1966 was also the debut of "Batman," one of the best TV shows of all time. Unlike most TV series, "Batman" aired two days a week, with the first half of a cliffhanger airing on Wednesdays, and the conclusion airing on Thursdays. It starred the impeccably funny Adam West and Burt Ward, two actors whose comedic sensibilities allowed the show to teeter on the brink of camp without ever falling headlong into satire. "Batman" was an immediate hit — not just for its leads, but for its colorful rotating guest roster of supervillains — playing well to both kids and adults. The same year "Batman" debuted, it was adapted into a feature film. That's how big it was.
Going to theaters in 1966 was also an exciting time for a kid, as it was the release year of "Ebriah, Horror of the Deep," the seventh Godzilla film, in its native Japan. By the mid-1960s, the previously tragic Godzilla movies had become bright and family-friendly, and they began providing glorious Jungian archetypes for generations of kids. What a time to be alive.
Little is known about it, but it seems that plans were once afoot to put the Adam West Batman and the 1960s Godzilla in a feature together.
Wait, what?
Of course, teaming history's best Batman with Japan's best bouncer is a gloriously grand idea. There would have been no better way to make millions of children (and inner children) squeal with delight. One can almost picture it; Batman and Robin getting a call from Commissioner Gordon warning that Godzilla is in the ocean nearby, approaching Gotham City. Batman and Robin could jet out in their Bat Boat and attempt to douse the creature with anti-Godzilla spray. The scenario writes itself.
The "Godzilla Meets Batman" movie was long held to be a mere urban legend, a fun idea proliferated by fans rather than by anyone in production at either Toho or 20th Century Fox (who owned the rights to Batman at the time). It turns out, there is some actual physical evidence, dating from 1966, that proves someone was indeed thinking about a crossover.
It seems that screenwriter Senichi Sekizawa, who wrote eight of the films in Godzilla's Showa era, was commissioned to write a treatment of "Batman Meets Godzilla" right about when the America show began. Sekizawa's treatment has never been released to the public, but according to at least one online source, some of the ideas in said treatment made their way into the screenwriter's scripts for Jun Fukuda's "Son of Godzilla," the first one with Minilla. Whether or not Sekizawa ever spoke with "Batman" creator William Dozier is unknown.
What is known is that one of the documents that Dozier possessed in his personal effects was a 22-page treatment written by an unknown author that worked for Greenway Productions, Dozier's company. Yes, this is real.
Batman Meets Godzilla
The story was as logical as one might expect from a film called "Batman Meets Godzilla." Commissioner Gordon is traveling with his daughter Barbara in Japan. Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, wasn't introduced in the "Batman" series until its third season, so the Godzilla movie would have likely been her first appearance. While touring the country for professional reasons, the Gordons are struck by a tidal wave. It seems an evil German villain named Klaus Finster — recently emerged from hiding in Argentina — has been controlling the weather and now demands a ransom from the governments of the world. His original demand of $5 million was crossed off and increased to $20 million in the treatment. Fans of "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" will appreciate the alteration.
The treatment also involves multiple robot clones built by Finster, including a duplicate of Barbara Gordon's friend Reiko. A different robot clone has a gun hidden behind his eye socket. If this seems weird or farfetched, I encourage the reader to watch multiple episodes of "Batman" as well as several 1960s Godzilla movies. These twists are par for the course in both.
In a "King Kong"-like move, it's revealed that Godzilla actually feels affection for Batgirl, and wants to kidnap her. Batman's solution would make Bugs Bunny proud: he builds a mechanical female Godzilla and lures everyone's favorite gorilla-whale away from Japan with the promise of romance. While the monster is distracted, Batman ties a rocket engine around Godzilla's neck and blasts him off into space. The film would have ended with Godzilla permanently in Earth's orbit.
Oh, there's more
Some other fun details from the treatment: the Batmobile is, after being transported to Japan, destroyed during a monster conflagration. The treatment sees the Batmobile replaced by a superior Japanese model, and there was to be dialogue complimenting the Japanese auto industry for their craftsmanship. The villain, Klaus Finster, was to be dispatched prior to the climactic battle between Batman and the monster. Sadly, the Dozier treatment doesn't make any suggestions as to what celebrity guest he might have in mind for the villain. I would suggest, in a fun twist, Raymond Burr.
If the idea of Batman and Robin visiting a city other than Gotham sounds odd, recall that the Caped Crusaders did go abroad in a notable three-part episode in the show's third season. "The Londinum Larcenies" saw our heroes in a parallel version of London facing off against Lady Penelope Peasoup (Glynis Johns) and the fog-spewing Sherlock Holmes lookalike Lord Marmaduke Ffogg (Rudy Vallée). It's not well remembered. Probably because it isn't very good.
One can only speculate as to why "Batman Meets Godzilla" never happened. It's likely that a deal couldn't be struck, as Toho was notoriously protective of Godzilla. Indeed, there's no evidence that a deal was even attempted on either side. Also, it's worth remembering that the popularity of "Batman" contracted almost as quickly as it grew. By the show's third season, it was flagging in the ratings, and was gone by 1968. Batman wouldn't return to theaters until 1989.
Godzilla continued to merrily tromp through theaters for years, ending its first continuity in 1974 (with "Terror of Mechagodzilla") and then merely rebooting in 1984 (with "Return of Godzilla," re-dubbed in America as "Godzilla 1985").
Batman needed Godzilla more than Godzilla needed Batman.