GODZILLA: Tristar Godzilla Film (1998)

[Spuro]

In some chats I had with Vrahno, he mentioned that GODZILLA 1998, while not necessarily 'beloved', generally got a good deal more praise for its effects and so on than the old Japanese Flicks in Hungary. He goes in more depth here
https://www.deviantart.com/vrahno/journ ... -756246706

Well, that was a depressing read.

Toho should just give up their "World of Godzilla" idea and save their money.

[Kaiju-Killer 751]

In some chats I had with Vrahno, he mentioned that GODZILLA 1998, while not necessarily 'beloved', generally got a good deal more praise for its effects and so on than the old Japanese Flicks in Hungary. He goes in more depth here
https://www.deviantart.com/vrahno/journ ... -756246706

Well, that was a depressing read.

Toho should just give up their "World of Godzilla" idea and save their money.

It's kind of what I was talking about earlier about why I'm glad we got GINO; People don't necessarily see the whole symbolism thing anymore, y'know? Gojira was really the only one to have that kind deep thematic thing, at least in my opinion-after that, Godzilla became more of an icon who could represent a whole slew of things, and if we're being honest, the original can represent a lot of silly things to boot.

People generally just think 'fire breathing lizard/dinosaur' when they think of Godzilla, y'know? And technically speaking, that's what G'98 is, so in a way it IS Godzilla to the average person (beyond the whole trademark thing).

Also please don't say that-I wanna see more Godzilla, ESPECIALLY where him and his rogues gallery get to shine

[H-Man]

This podcast does a casting game where they replace the cast members with celebrities that have similar names:

Matthew Broderick -> Matthew McConaughey ... Dr. Niko Tatopoulos
Jean Reno -> Jean-Claude Van Damme ... Philippe Roaché
Maria Pitillo -> Maria Kanellis ... Audrey Timmonds
Hank Azaria -> Hank Williams Jr. ... Victor 'Animal' Palotti
Kevin Dunn -> Kevin Smith ... Colonel Hicks
Michael Lerner -> Michael Learned ... Mayor Ebert
Harry Shearer -> Harry Anderson ... Charles Caiman
Arabella Field -> Sally Field ... Lucy Palotti
Vicki Lewis -> Emmanuel Lewis ... Dr. Elsie Chapman
Doug Savant -> Doug Benson ... Sergeant O'Neal
Frank Welker -> Frank Langella ... Godzilla

[Terasawa]

Lmao @ Emmanuel Lewis as Elsie.

[Kaiju-Killer 751]

Frankly I'm just glad they've retooled the script and premise into its own monster here on out, like in Monster Apocalypse-It's a really cool kaiju, just not Godzilla (although having it be mistaken for Godzilla I think is part of its schtick I feel works well).

[realinvaderdesign]

so, did anyone notice that the trademark for zilla was cancelled last year https://trademarks.justia.com/766/69/zi ... 69021.html , so essentially zilla is officially trademarked as "godzilla"

[Kaiju-Killer 751]

so, did anyone notice that the trademark for zilla was cancelled last year https://trademarks.justia.com/766/69/zi ... 69021.html , so essentially zilla is officially trademarked as "godzilla"

Really? Huh.

I guess the head-canon that Zillas are some offshoot of the main Gojira species is real now!

[Leviarex]

so, did anyone notice that the trademark for zilla was cancelled last year https://trademarks.justia.com/766/69/zi ... 69021.html , so essentially zilla is officially trademarked as "godzilla"

Nevertheless, I'll (and I'm sure I speak for much of the Godzilla fandom in saying this) still continue to refer to him as Zilla.

[Gigantis]

I mean, just because it's cancelled now, can't Toho just renew it if they want to?

[DragonZord13]

As a kid I watched and liked G98 a lot. As a grown man I still like this movie but I must admit after "God"Zilla is finally shown in full scale the movie looses its grip a little. The mystery of GINO attacking and everybody being blindsided by him is the best part of the movie. But overall I don't have the crazy hate boner for GINO like many have, I like the lizard.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

I mean, just because it's cancelled now, can't Toho just renew it if they want to?

Trademarks stay in use for 28 years. The fact its been cancelled suggests Toho willingly decided to get rid of Zilla's trademark.

This is interesting if legit. (Document is a bit unclear. Could be referring to actual Zilla or the thing of saying "-Zilla" to describe something or who knows what. No clue based off what's there). Really, all it means is Zilla as his own monster won't be a thing anymore. Just another Godzilla incarnation like it was in the 90s.

[Kaiju-Killer 751]

I mean, just because it's cancelled now, can't Toho just renew it if they want to?

Trademarks stay in use for 28 years. The fact its been cancelled suggests Toho willingly decided to get rid of Zilla's trademark.

This is interesting if legit. (Document is a bit unclear. Could be referring to actual Zilla or the thing of saying "-Zilla" to describe something or who knows what. No clue based off what's there). Really, all it means is Zilla as his own monster won't be a thing anymore. Just another Godzilla incarnation like it was in the 90s.

I'm sure a lot of people won't like it regardless of what it's called, but if it IS rebranded as Godzilla, then that means we might finally be able to get a continuation of the Tristar Animated Series, because all future incarnations of the monster would henceforth be GODZilla.

[UltramanGoji]

I'm sure a lot of people won't like it regardless of what it's called, but if it IS rebranded as Godzilla...

It never wasn't Godzilla. The 1998 character and film are still trademarked as "Godzilla" and have been since 1998. The only instances of "Zilla" existing as a separate entity from G98 was in Final Wars and Rulers of Earth.

...then that means we might finally be able to get a continuation of the Tristar Animated Series, because all future incarnations of the monster would henceforth be GODZilla.

Uh...no, not at all. That's never going to happen.

[Terasawa]

Zilla was just a separate version of the Godzilla character, used in GFW and Rulers of Earth, just as Kiryu is a separate version of Mechagodzilla used in several properties.

[H-Man]

As a kid I watched and liked G98 a lot. As a grown man I still like this movie but I must admit after "God"Zilla is finally shown in full scale the movie looses its grip a little. The mystery of GINO attacking and everybody being blindsided by him is the best part of the movie. But overall I don't have the crazy hate boner for GINO like many have, I like the lizard.

I did have the hate for the first 10 years or so. At this point, it doesn't really matter all that much anymore. But yeah, when I saw the Sneak Preview, I thought it went great guns for the first half and yes, it did start losing its way as soon as the entire monster was revealed. That's when it became clear that Emmerich and Devlin seemed more interested in making a reaction to the popularity of the Jurassic Park films than they were a Godzilla movie.

[Ryu]

Does that mean, what term zilla is in the public domain? So is the character design also?

[SoggyNoodles2016]

Does that mean, what term zilla is in the public domain?

Term was always in the public domain, there's a reason stuff like Hogzilla or Burgerzilla don't get people sued by Toho.

So is the character design also?

CERTAINLY not. It would just be trademarked as a Godzilla design now.

Added in 7 minutes 39 seconds:
update: it was cancelled though a Section 8, which is a form of trademark cancellatio nwhen the holder refuses or forgets to renew.

Given I doubt a company anal about trademarks as Toho would forget to renew, I'm guessing it was a decided cancellation.

However, more specifcially, it says it's for marketing and licensing on the back of DVDs. In other words, the character of Zilla is probably fine, they might just not list him on the back like with Daghara

[Kaiju-Killer 751]

I'm sure a lot of people won't like it regardless of what it's called, but if it IS rebranded as Godzilla...

It never wasn't Godzilla. The 1998 character and film are still trademarked as "Godzilla" and have been since 1998. The only instances of "Zilla" existing as a separate entity from G98 was in Final Wars and Rulers of Earth.

...then that means we might finally be able to get a continuation of the Tristar Animated Series, because all future incarnations of the monster would henceforth be GODZilla.

Uh...no, not at all. That's never going to happen.

That's a shame, I'd love it if we could get that, as technically we cannot really see the 1998 version/incarnation in future installments due to the branding meaning that all future incarnations of the design are henceforth 'Zilla' from 2003 onward...at least, until this trademark had expired I believe.

I apologize for getting it completely wrong then, but dang it I wish we could have that. A mix of the 1998 design and the animated series' moveset would be awesome, if not outright perfect.

Zilla was just a separate version of the Godzilla character, used in GFW and Rulers of Earth, just as Kiryu is a separate version of Mechagodzilla used in several properties.

That's definitely an interesting way to look at it, but I think Zilla's technically (or was) its own entity.

[UltramanGoji]

That's a shame, I'd love it if we could get that, as technically we cannot really see the 1998 version/incarnation in future installments due to the branding meaning that all future incarnations of the design are henceforth 'Zilla' from 2003 onward...at least, until this trademark had expired I believe.

I mean, it has less to do with the trademark issues and more to do with the fact that there's no reason to revive a one-run obscure late 90's cartoon whose sole reason for existing was to tie into a now 20-year old movie.

[Kaiju-Killer 751]

That's a shame, I'd love it if we could get that, as technically we cannot really see the 1998 version/incarnation in future installments due to the branding meaning that all future incarnations of the design are henceforth 'Zilla' from 2003 onward...at least, until this trademark had expired I believe.

I mean, it has less to do with the trademark issues and more to do with the fact that there's no reason to revive a one-run obscure late 90's cartoon whose sole reason for existing was to tie into a now 20-year old movie.

I guess that's also true, but I know that a lot of people REALLY liked the animated series, or at least found that particular incarnation of Godzilla to be interesting and unique while still being, y'know, like Godzilla (durable, atomic breath, fights other monsters and wins). So I'unno, I think it could be cool