After GODZILLA flopped in the box office, TOHO had to quickly make a new Godzilla movie as a way to appease the fans. When Godzilla 2000 was released in the US it was praised as the better Godzilla movie, but the movie bombed because a lot of people thought that it was the sequel to the 98 remake. Despite GODZILLA: The Series getting a more positive reaction from fans it only ran for two seasons before it was cancelled, which was not enough to warrant a sequel that was scrapped in early pre-production. The script leaked on the internet and the sequel was much like the animated series. In the script, Godzilla is living in Australia's Outback with his young and all the younglings except for the runt were killed off by mutated bees and Godzilla has to fight the queen bee. TOHO even mocked the 98 Godzilla in Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack where at the beginning of the movie one soldier asked if the monster that attacked New York was Godzilla and the other soldier said, "The Americans said it was Godzilla, but Japan's scientists has their doubts." Even though the movie was making fun of the remake, this was more or less where the 98 incarnation started to branch away as its own character.
During the production of Godzilla: Final Wars, director Ryu'hei Kitamura offered Patrick Tatopoulos, the designer of the 98 Godzilla, to have his monster in a Japanese Godzilla movie and Tatopoulos agreed. To make sure that there wasn't any confusion, the 98 incarnation would be renamed to Zilla and would officially become its own monster in the roster of monsters that would be controlled by the aliens. The design in the movie is based on a Trendmasters action figure and would only have a short amount of screen time. The first time Zilla appears it was for a couple minutes attacking Sydney, Australia and the second time for only a minute when it was quickly killed off by Godzilla.
From 2004 to the present, the name "Zilla" will stick to the monster. He has had many appearances since Godzilla: Final Wars ranging from comic books to the current running Godzilla animated trilogy where he made an appearance in the movie's prequel book, Godzilla: Monster Armageddon, where he and many of his young invaded Paris. Zilla has made quite a powerful impact on the Godzilla franchise from being the worst incarnation to being a fan favorite. It was like a curse was lifted once it was given its own identity in Godzilla: Final Wars. Zilla is still depicted as being a weak monster, but now he is imagined as being more of an underdog and is at least capable of standing on its own against other monsters in the cartoon, comic books, and other media. Fans appreciate the character for what he is now instead of criticizing it for what he once was and are always hoping to see Zilla in another movie.
This concludes the 20 Years Of ZILLA. I hope this was some what informative. Make sure to leave a comment on your thoughts on the character, share with your friends, and bookmark or subscribe to my page for more news, reviews, and discussions.