Episode 89 (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire) is likely going to be our biggest episode of the year…and I took surprisingly few notes on it. I guess I was in a good mood during that broadcast. Or Nate and his guests, Donny and Omni (and Snazzy) had an “on day” that day (aside from Omni’s time displacement). Anyway, let’s get these over with so I can keep apologizing to, er, go on another date with Kaguya.
Belvera knows magic, but not tech. That’s why she asks me for help with enhancing Garugaru. But at this point, that little dragon is practically the Ship of Theseus. Poor thing.
This is why I make sure when I travel to the Hollow Earth that I calculate my coordinates exactly—freaking time travel! I hate it!
Nice job correcting yourself about GxK’s Japanese release date before I could, Nate. I’ve taught you well. (By the way, it releases April 26).
I can be a cantankerous pilot, too! “If ya die, do it outside my mecha!” I’m sure WHG3 would love my “dodgy” Scottish accent. Haha!
Again, Kong is an ape, not a monkey, Nate. I don’t even bother correcting you on the air about this now.
According to Wikizilla: “Suko’s name is likely derived from musuko (息子), the Japanese word for ‘son.’”
I remember the Great Flat Earth vs. Hollow Earth Battle. The Flat Earthers lost due to two-dimensional thinking.
Kurt Russell played R.J. MacReady in John Carpenter’s The Thing.
From wat I can tell, Estero, Florida, is doing well for itself. It became an incorporated village in 2014 and has a population of 36,000+. It’s home to the Hertz Arena, where the minor league hockey team Florida Everblades play.
Always listen to your producer, Nate! He knows what he’s talking about…when he wants to talk about it. 😛
Join MIFV MAX on Patreon to read Nate’s research notes, my script for the Entertaining Info Dump, and see the uncut original broadcast version of the episode.
Just like Nate, I’m also relieved that I don’t have a bunch of upcoming episodes I need to promote. Next week, we get back to The Monster Island World Tour with Elijah Thomas (Kaiju Conversation), who makes a heroic defense of the infamous Reptilian (aka Yonggary 2001). Then John LeMay and Neil Riebe join forces to do the same for All Monsters Attack (aka Godzilla’s Revenge) as part of Godzilla Redux.
Hello, Kaiju Lovers! It’s time to unpack the biggest kaiju release of 2024—Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire! For such a momentous occasion, Nate called upon YouTuber Donny Winter (Growing Up with Godzilla) and a “mystery guest”…who didn’t make it. Darn. So, he got the next best option: The Omni Viewer and his monster sidekick, Snazzy! They dive deep into the fifth entry of Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse series, unveiling its connections to classic pulp fiction and ‘80s pop culture—all without comparing it to Godzilla Minus One (for the most part) while also coining many memes. You’ll not find a more concentrated dose of positivity (and honesty) toward this escapist movie anywhere else. Since it’s set mostly in the Hollow Earth (and Nate almost researched this for Godzilla vs. Kong), the Toku Topic is Hollow Earth theory.
We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Ted Williams, Wynja the Ninja, Brad “Batman” Eddleman, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Eli Harris, Jake Hambrick, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), Jonathan Courtright, Robert Kidd, Leon Campbell, and Michael Watson! Thanks for your support!
Baxter, Rachel. “John Quincy Adams Approved A Mission To Earth’s Interior To Meet The Mole People That Live Within.” IFL Science. 20 Aug. 2020. https://tinyurl.com/2p9vskwf.
“Godzilla x Kong Director Adam Wingard Interview: Easter Eggs, Future Sequels & Elon Musk’s Influence.” YouTube. Uploaded by Collider Interviews. 31 March 2024. https://youtu.be/TrvwHRFfdqE?si=jMqolJj09caN1PDR.
Episode 68 is unfortunately delayed until next week, but I didn’t want to leave you without “new” content, Kaiju Lovers! Given that this weekend is G-Fest XXVII, the oldest and arguably biggest kaiju convention in North America, it was appropriate that I share the audio from the latest “Chill with Kaiju Kim” livestream. I was one of several guests who discussed the con. You’ll hear me promote the five panels I’ll be on, among other things. If you’re on your way to the convention, this is great listening! Enjoy!
Original YouTube description: “Kaiju Kim is joined by Omni Viewer, Thomas Nicol, Nathan Marchand, and Danny DiManna to discuss what’s going down at G-FEST XXVII (July 15-17 2022)!”
Did I ever tell you about the time I visited the fabled dinosaur plateau Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about in his novel The Lost World? And how there was a “hot girl” involved? No? Good, because I’m saving that for my autobiography. Regardless, despite some sidekick shenanigans from that wannabe Muppet, Snazzy Chapeau, when Omni Viewer visited for MIFV’s season three premiere (episode 56), I managed to take a few good notes for my first Jimmy’s Notes blog of 2022. I may not be contractually obligated to do follow-ups for Nate, but someone has to fact-check this goofball. So, here you go:
William Rutherford wasn’t the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes; only Prof. Challenger. According to Wikipedia,
Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes was inspired by the real-life figure of Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, whom Conan Doyle met in 1877 and had worked for as a clerk. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations. However, he later wrote to Conan Doyle: “You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it”.[14] Sir Henry Littlejohn, Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, is also cited as an inspiration for Holmes. Littlejohn, who was also Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health in Edinburgh, provided Conan Doyle with a link between medical investigation and the detection of crime.
The Lost City of Z was a 2009 nonfiction book by David Gran. It was made into a movie starring Charlie Hunnam in 2016. As for whether it was found or not, Wikipedia says,
Researchers believe that Fawcett may have been influenced in his thinking by information obtained from indigenous people about the archaeological site of Kuhikugu, near the headwaters of the Xingu River. After Fawcett’s presumed death in the jungle, Kuhikugu was discovered by Westerners in 1925. The site contains the ruins of an estimated twenty towns and villages in which as many as 50,000 people might once have lived. The discovery of other large geometrical earthworks in interfluvial settings of southern Amazonia has since been recognised as supporting Fawcett’s theory.
I’m not sure this was the only time Willis O’Brien used a football bladder to simulate breathing in his creatures. Wikipedia claims this was also done in King Kong (1933), but a citation is needed.
I found the opening theme of the Lost World TV series mentioned by Omni, and Nate said he remembered seeing a bit of it when I show it to him.
All this prequel talk…I’m having flashbacks to sand…I can’t go to the beach now…and I live on an Island!
Mammoths and mastodons are, in fact, not the same. Similar, but not the same. Read more here.
I checked the film during the city rampage, and there wasn’t a full-sized head. However, there were some excellent close-ups of the stopmotion puppet.
I always do internet searches with safe mode turned off. It’s more…exciting that way.
“Jimmygon” has a nice ring to it. I’ll get the Island’s geneticists on that right now!
Actually, there are studies that show people with bigger brains are smarter. No wonder Nate is a genius: he has a big head. 😛
I am 110% behind a boxing Cope and Marsh skeletons sculpture. I’ll petition Winter and the Board immediately!
Now for the ever-important—and increasingly large—leftover notes from Nate’s research with my riffs commentary.
THE FILM
“Jocko” played by himself.
The plot moves briskly compared to novel. Characters introduced very quickly. Skips to lecture to introduce Challenger.
Gotta love the “overacting” and funny jump cuts mid-scene. (Reminds me of the show’s host. 😛 –Jimmy)
“Cock-and-bull story.” Ha! (Is this the “rule 34” version? –Jimmy)
In the Amazon. Just South America in novel?
Dead for 10 million years. More than that!
There wasn’t a Miss White in the novel, either. Not gonna lie: she’s pretty. Maple White’s daughter. Of course she’s the beautiful assistant. (No complaining here. –Jimmy)
Wait…is that Sherlock!? Or someone cosplaying him? (The first in-film Easter egg? –Jimmy)
Jocko the monkey wasn’t in the novel, either. Added for comic relief. (At least he isn’t a Gungan. –Jimmy)
I think Malone’s letters are text from the novel.
They’re introducing the ape-men already?! Proto-Chewbacca. (Does he rip arms out of socket? –Jimmy)
Pterodactyl was first in novel.
Okay, don’t tell us that Malone saved the bug.
The tree bridge. Another forerunner to Kong.
Really? Stop to catch the insect in middle of bridge? (I did that once…but I don’t want to talk about it. –Jimmy)
Brontosaurus takes out bridge—and squishes some spiders. (Ah. A spider pit joke. Hilarious. –Jimmy)
PSYCHO MONKEY?! WTF?!
The allosaurus vs. other dino fight is impressive if inferior to Kong. He picks his teeth? Arms too long.
Yes, he wiped out the last of a wood-tick species.
The trees have eyes.
Is that a torch or a giant cigarette? And it’s in color?! (That’s what wiped out the dinosaurs: smoking. –Jimmy)
The allosaurus vs. triceratops fight is one of the more famous scenes—and it’s gory! Trike wins. But then another allosaurus gets revenge for its mate. (“Dino Vengeance” is a B-movie waiting to happen. –Jimmy)
No one is paying attention to the dinosaur fights! The proto-kaiju fights!
The ape-man is very drooly.
Challenger is taking up pole dancing, and he sucks at it. 😛 (This is the “rule 34” version. –Jimmy)
They never call this place “Maple White Land.”
They play drums when he shoots the gun. Clever. “Mickey Mouse-ing.”
“Dam liar”? A liar about dams?
The colors fit the moods of the scenes very well. Red for eruption.
Does the allosaurus want to eat the bronto or hitch a ride during the eruption?!(“Rule 34” version…again? –Jimmy)
“Rock climbing monkey, Joel.” You just better hope he doesn’t fill and hang himself.
Jocko carried a rope ladder?!
I was waiting for the ape-man with the Joker smile to kidnap Paula. Because Kong.
Oh my gosh! Paula looks like Ann Darrow at the end! It’s very Kong.
Ten feet long? That’s WAY bigger!
Other Sources
Byrd (in LeMay)
As a teenage drifter, O’Brien was a guide for a fossil excavation for the University of Southern California.
The origins of the film are a complex feud between O’Brien and a fellow animator named Herbert Dawley. They were constantly fighting over the credit to O’Brien’s work in short films, particularly The Ghost of Slumber Mountain, and the legal shenanigans led to O’Brien working with producer Watterson Rothacker on this film. Dawley sued O’Brien over the animation process, citing patent violation, but this was settled out of court. There’s still debate over how much of Slumber Mountain was animated by either of them.
Over 50 dinosaurs were made for the film, and they included bladders to simulate breathing, saliva made with shellac and rubber cement, chocolate syrup to simulate blood.
Commentary by Nicolas Ciccone
The credits in this restoration was made for it.
There’s a missing scene that explains why the paper sends Malone to cover the story despite his clumsiness: basically, to get lawsuit money.
Wallace Beery (who played Challenger) was just like his character.
Many scholars theorize that Malone’s coming-of-age story arc was inspired by Doyle himself.
Bessie Love, who plays Paula, hated all the close-ups of her. (I didn’t. –Jimmy)
The attack by the cannibals explains why Zambo’s arm is broken later. Only stills remain of these scenes.
A 15-foot pterodactyl fossil was found in Brazil in the 1990s and named after Doyle.
Gomez, a “half-breed” character cut from the film, caused the tree bridge disaster. He’s a traitor.
The film doesn’t say how Maple White died, but the script has Roxton find a rifle bent in half. The implication was it was the ape-man.
The plateau is a bit too easy to find in the film.
The cast didn’t like working with Jocko. He bit and peed on everyone.
The romance is trite, but it could serve as a metaphor for the plateau: it’s a place of adventure and wonder we all wish we could visit.
A scene unfilmed from the script has Challenger and company on a ship with a caged bronto.
The end of the drunk’s scene, while not in the script, was described in a review as returning with a bottle of milk for a cat that grew huge.
Missed opportunity: Make Paula more adventurous.
“The Lost World: Secrets of the Restoration” by Serge Bromberg (and other essays in the booklet)
Many film historians link the decision to destroy prints of this film with the production of King Kong a few months later.
The first restoration by George Eastman House, used surviving 35mm Kodak nitrate negatives and a 35mm print found in the National Film Archive of the Czech Republic in 1992. It was an export copy that didn’t use the best angles (it was filmed with a second camera). The restoration was made for $80,000 given by the National Endowment for the Arts—and classic film buff Hugh Heffner(!).
The animated map sequence was in the trailer, and no one knows if it was a concept for the film or only the trailer.
It’s 76 minutes long and was published as an unlisted bonus feature on the DVD of the 1960 version.
David Shepherd Restoration (2000)
This used the same materials plus a few more. This big difference was the use of digital technology to upgrade the picture quality to standard-definition TV.
The promotional footage found by Doyle was found at this time in the Robert Youngson collection.
The original footage of Doyle at his writing table was lost but was replaced with footage of him sitting on a bench addressing the audience from a 1927 Movietone film.
This was edited at the Lobster Films studio in Paris.
Two scores were commissioned for the film, including one by Robert Israel that harkened back to ‘20s-era films. The other was more modern.
93 minutes long.
2016 Restoration
Several months after the release of the previous restoration, David Adamitis contacted Lobster Films and gave them several cans of film, including some A negatives for The Lost World. These included color tints and missing scenes.
This was put together frame-by-frame by a three-man team over the course of six months using 2k technology and several other newly-discovered elements. Robert Israel composed another score for this one.
The music Israel composed included a Brazilian lullaby about a bogeyman called “Tutu Maramba,” which is sung by mothers to children to ward off evil so they may sleep. He adapted it to strings for the native girl playing guitar.
Season three of my always-essential blogs is off to a great start. This is going to be fun.
Next time YouTuber and up-and-coming filmmaker Kaiju Kim returns to continue the “Godzilla Redux” subseries by discussing Rodan (1956), which was the only non-Godzilla kaiju she watched a lot as a child. Then we get back to “Ameri-kaiju” with (hopefully) the original Tourist crew (Nick Hayden, Timothy Deal, Joe and Joy Metter) for King Kong (1933)’s spiritual sequel, Mighty Joe Young (1949). Exciting times for patriotic Kaiju Lovers ahead!
Hello, Kaiju Lovers! And welcome to season three of The Monster Island Film Vault! We begin 2022 with a brand new series focusing on giant monster films from the U.S.A., “Ameri-kaiju.” To launch this special occasion, Nate is joined by returning guest/YouTuber/author Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins (and his kaiju-muppet-thing sidekick, Snazzy, who butts heads with Nate’s sidekick, the intrepid producer Jimmy From NASA) to discuss the prototypical kaiju film, The Lost World (1925). You’re about to hear one of the most MIFV of MIFV episodes: literary analysis, film appreciation, witty banter, hilarious puns, and wild history. What more could you want?
Before the broadcast, Nate meets Dr. Nick Tatopoulos, the leader of H.E.A.T., in the KIJU breakroom (and pronounces the man’s name correctly) while fighting with the coffeemaker. Nick talks about his hostile history with the Island’s new boss, Cameron Winter—and then the crooked tycoon calls them on Nate’s phone!
You’re getting a twofer today. I’ve got notes on both episode 37 (which has proven to be one of our most popular episodes yet) and the bonus episode on Gammera the Invincible. For the latter, I didn’t take any notes, but Nate had some of his own left over. I’m just as surprised as you are.
Admittedly, much of my notes on the episode are rants about Snazzy, but they must be said.
Snazzy was a little bugger! He’s lucky he didn’t hit the emergency evacuation button and launch KIJU into space…or at least to the Japanese beach. Again. (Seriously, we’ve had two incidents where something or someone from the Island ended up on the Japanese coastline. Just ask Nate).
“Sidekick Central”? That sounds like some fifth-rate comic book company making a rip-off of the Teen Titans. Either that or a humor comic about all the kids who keep getting employed by Batman as sidekicks. (I hope Eric Elliott is reading this).
I have a lot of ironically-named buttons on my board. That way no one is quite sure how to properly use it, creating some job security for me. For example, I labeled the caller button “Bidi-Bidi,” the mute button “Mando,” and the volume control dial “Marchand.”
Those aren’t “mandibles,” Nate. They aren’t in Mothra’s mouth. Those are claws. Or as this image on mantis anatomy says, “double-spined murder clamps.”
I will not be replaced by…whatever Snazzy is! My guess is he’s a “Whatever” like Gonzo.
Here are Nate’s leftover notes:
The Film
I like this movie. I always have. The problem I have is many of the others who also say they like this movie give the worst reasons for liking it. (i.e. “It’s supposed to be bad like the old movies!”) (Idiots making everyone look bad. –Jimmy)
The opening is very Gamera 3. Characters lose loved one during a kaiju attack but the kaiju meant no harm. (The whole MonsterVerse stole from the Gamera Heisei trilogy. –Jimmy)
Dougherty said in his commentary that he saw Mothra’s lifecycle as reincarnation. Each Mothra generation inherits the memories of the past ones. It adds a spiritual element and fits with what’s implied in the Japanese films. It’s also in keeping, as I’ve noted, with Shinto teachings.
I will admit not all of the film’s jokes work. “Ghidorah-gonorrhea” is the best example of a bad one. “Dude hates Titans,” is also a bit too on the nose to be funny. I know one podcast said they expected better jokes from Dougherty. (We’ve called Ghidorah worse around here, most of which isn’t fit to print. –Jimmy)
The “intimidation display” scene is one of the best in the film. It’s suspenseful and scary. I confess I jumped in the theater when I first saw it. It’s also a clever expansion.
The death of Dr. Graham is cited as an issue. It’s similar to how the elder Brody died about 45 minutes in. Jason Barr defended that by saying it shows that no characters are safe.
It is a little astonishing that Emma Russell has a Ted Talk prepared when she makes her villain speech. I’ve heard people call her crazy, but there are people who think like her. And if you think people won’t do crazy things because of grief, you’re mistaken. As for Mark saying it won’t bring their son back, it make sense because he was getting to the heart of the matter. She’s always conflicted throughout the film. Alan Jonah is the true believer.
Am I the only one who thought the climax taking place at Fenway with the “Green Monster” was intentionally ironic? (Maybe. As a Yankees fan, I enjoyed seeing it get destroyed. 😛 –Jimmy)
I’m really tired of the “day battles” people. Stuff like this and Pacific Rim is set at night—as someone on Twitter pointed out—because with their colorful attacks and abilities, they show up better. Kong: Skull Island is in the day because those earthy colors and less flashy creatures look better. It isn’t always some excuse to hide SFX flaws.
KOTM Spirituality
Godzilla is also similar to God in the OT, casting out humanity from Paradise after violating the natural order, or even the God who flooded the Earth to wipe it clean of humanity’s moral bankruptcy.
Rodan, to a certain extent, could be seen as Judas figure, bowing to whoever he sees as the strongest alpha. Unlike Judas, he survives his betrayal and, so it seems, is repentant.
Humanity must make peace with these “gods” and realize they are not the most powerful beings on Earth, even with all their weapons.
Godzilla, while born out of war, has evolved since then, taking on more significance while not losing his roots as an atomic allegory. “This art born of war, this new mythology, makes Godzilla and his fellow beasts of burden, like Mothra, Gamera and Rodan, not unlike the American superheroes who became a means for children and adults to process WWII and instill a sense of patriotism. And like those caped and costumed heroes, these giant monsters have seen their share of evolution and rebooting over the years in order to better reflect the society that relies on them.”
“There’s still that element of fear, fear of dying off, fear of destroying the world, but King of the Monsters suggests that fear doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Fear can drive our desire to reconnect with our earth and also our gods. Humanity’s fear in this context is a positive aspect as both a call to action and a reminder of a human need to be made aware of our modest scale and to feel in awe of something again. King of the Monsters is about relinquishing control.”
KOTM and The Nuclear Agenda
Tell us what you got from that long fortune cookie.
Radiation is used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
Here’s what’s left from Gamera-Double-M:
I wasn’t allowed to watch the RiffTrax. (Too similar to MST3K, apparently. –Jimmy)
Arrow’s presentation is by far the best this has ever looked compared to the numerous cheap releases because it’s public domain. Ring in pig’s snout.
“Red alert.” I can’t hear that without thinking of Star Trek. This was before ST.
Newspapers in English.
“Papa-san”? (This line was odd. Like most of the movie. –Jimmy)
The dubbed dialogue actually says Gammera will starve in a month. (They underestimate that big turtle. It’d take at least two months. –Jimmy)
I don’t remember the establishing interior shots in the Plan Z facility. (But I love them! I took a tour of the place once. I almost wish I worked there. –Jimmy)
It says “Sayonara Gammera” and “The End” at the end. (A fitting place to finish my notes. –Jimmy)
With King of the Monsters out of the way, it’s time for the culmination of the “Kong Quest” with the long-overdue Godzilla vs. Kong. There was quite an eventful premiere for it on the Island. Trust me, I know because I tried to have a rematch with the big ape in Mechani-Kong Mk. 2. Yep. Nate was joined by his friend and collaborator, Eric Anderson, for that special broadcast. Then we return to the “Year of Gamera” with a film dramatizing one of the most exciting chapters of life, Gamera vs. Viras. We’ll be joined by two of the hosts from The Drift Space podcast, J.R. Villers and my barroom brawl opponent Jack “GMan” Hudgens (I’ll happily take a rematch).
After the Serpentera Mk. 1 flies by, Nate is joined by his two most popular guests yet: Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins and Brandon “Up From the Depths” Jacobs. These two YouTubers were invited to the Island because they’ve produced several insightful and, above all, positive videos on 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. While Legendary’s much-hyped kaiju epic was loved my audiences and hated by critics, it’s lately become popular in the Godzilla/kaiju fandom to hate on it. Nate, Ryan, and Brandon discuss how there is more going on below the surface in what many decry was an empty summer blockbuster. You’ll hear them debunk its “nuclear narrative,” discuss its spiritual depth (“Godzilla, messiah of the monsters,” anyone?), and hear how the eco-terrorists aren’t as farfetched as you might think. Meanwhile, Ryan’s sidekick, Snazzy, joins MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, and Jet Jaguar in the crowded “sidekick central,” er, producer booth. Snazzy keeps pushing random buttons. Hilarity ensues.
(Don’t tell the Monster Island Board of Directors that we went over their mandated time limit!)
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
