Shin Godzilla Introduced Different Forms Of The Monster Thanks To ... Toys
Never underestimate the power of toys and merchandising. Toys helped turn "Star Wars" into an empire — and got Harrison Ford mad. They also literally saved "Mobile Suit Gundam" from cancelation and turned that anime into one of the biggest Japanese media institutions, yet nearly ruined "Cowboy Bebop." Surprisingly, toys even helped bring Hideaki Anno's subversive and weird vision of "Shin Godzilla" to life.
"Shin Godzilla" is a fascinating experiment in how to reinvent a popular franchise, as well as one of the best movies starring Godzilla ever made. Anno, who also wrote and directed "Neon Genesis Evangelion," delivered a different take on the Toho icon that is more political, more satirical, and updates the nuclear analogies of the original 1954 "Godzilla" movie to modern times by drawing inspiration from the Japanese government's reaction to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. It additionally helped usher in a new golden age for the King of the Monsters and features one hell of a terrifying Godzilla — one that evolves throughout the film to become more and more menacing.
Of course, that proved controversial, especially with the higher-ups at Toho who didn't want to mess with their IP. So, how did Anno get away with tadpole Godzilla? It's all thanks to that sweet merchandise potential.
During an interview at Studio Khara's 10th-anniversary exhibition in 2016, Anno talked about introducing new forms for Godzilla and the initial reaction to it. "Toho was originally against having it," Anno explained. "Godzilla is so iconic and they didn't want to threaten that. That's where Bandai stepped in, very excited about the prospect of three products. Because of that, we managed."
Beyond the image of Bandai executives' eyes turning into dollar (or yen) signs at the sound of multiple Godzillas to make toys out of, this makes perfect sense. According to Anno, they insisted, "Look, it'll sell like crazy."
Bandai helped Godzilla evolve
As with many Hideaki Anno projects, the impetus for Godzilla having different forms does not come from a profound source but from the rule of cool. "It's not as visually or cinematically interesting if Godzilla didn't transform," Anno argued — and he's right. In "Shin Godzilla," we see the King of the Monsters start out as a mutated giant tadpole that spews blood and wriggles around Tokyo. Later, he becomes closer to the giant monster we know and love, except with an unhinged jaw that extends and splits in order to shoot the atomic breath.
The idea of Godzilla having multiple forms, despite being controversial at first, has proven quite influential in the years since "Shin Godzilla" was released. The excellent and brainy anime show "Godzilla: Singular Point" starts with the monster looking like a giant fish before turning into a full kaiju. Similarly, the recent Oscar-nominated movie "Godzilla Minus One" has the monster start out like more of a dinosaur, only for nuclear power to turn him into the terrifying force of nature we know and love.
And to think, it's all thanks to Bandai seeing the merchandising potential in Godzilla changing forms throughout "Shin Godzilla."