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Jimmy’s Notes on Episode 57: ‘Rodan’ | Godzilla Redux | Feat. Kaiju Kim

Published February 3, 2022

There I was sitting in my producer booth like it was any other broadcast (Episode 57). Nate and Kaiju Kim were having a great conversation about Rodan (1956). The ratings for the listeners here on the Island were the highest I’ve seen since episode 37. I don’t know if that was because of Rodan or Kim. Then this crazy fangirl has the audacity to cancel me! Too bad for her I’ve survived worse—i.e. death in the War in Space. Now, in response, here are my notes on their broadcast:

  • No, Nate, insect nymphs are on land while the young in water are called naiads.
  • Near as I can tell, Kim is right: there is no explanation for second Rodan in the dub.
  • After doing some digging, it looks like it wasn’t “Radon” but “Radion” soap in Britain—or rather, laundry powder. Apparently the brand died in 2000 and resurrected about a decade ago.
  • Rodan Puffs sound delicious.
  • Nate going into a research rabbit hole gives me some much-needed peace and quiet in my garage. That’s where I decompress.
  • We actually got a letter from Kyoei Toshi about the “mistranslations” of the names, so I’ll let that be shared on listener feedback.
  • “Bystanders,” Nate, not “bystandards.”
  • This was the best explanation for “creeping floor” that I could find.
  • That is really what Meganulon taste like, and it’s usually best with Frank’s Hot Sauce (but so is everything).
  • I don’t have a face for YouTube? You barely have a face for radio, Nate! Kim, you’re missing out!

Now as per contractual obligations, er, tradition, here are Nate’s leftover notes with my annotations:

THE FILM

  • There’s talk of global warming, and this is a 1956 film. This was a relatively new concept at the time, so it’s interesting to see it discussed by characters in a Japanese film. There’s even a denier in the film. (As someone who’s been to Venus, Earth isn’t nearly as warm as we think it is. –Jimmy)
  • Some won’t see this a “feminist” film. I wouldn’t call it misogynistic, either, though. The female characters are all homemakers who are constantly concerned about their boyfriends/husbands and often crying, both of which may be seen as weaknesses.
  • It almost seems like, at first, the major threat will be the Meganulon. Could they have carried the film on their own? Maybe, maybe not. (That movie would be over in five minutes if I was in it. –Jimmy)
  • There’s a lot going on in this film! Meganulon, Rodan, second Rodan, amnesia, the “murders,” an earthquake, etc.
  • Rodan is confused for a flying saucer and a foreign plane. The former is an interesting foreshadowing of the alien invasion Godzilla films to come, although Rodan most certainly isn’t a disc. Did they mean UFO? It was probably them using a then-common trope in science fiction films or a sign of the increasing interest in such things. The foreign plane is interesting. I wonder they meant Chinese or Russian or the like. The presence of a foreign plane—particularly from an unfriendly country—was and is a big concern. (The stories I could tell you about Chinese and Russian UFOs. The intrigue! The horror! … I don’t want to talk about it. –Jimmy)
  • Rodan can fly at the absurd speed of mach 1.5. Kaiju film fantasy (or pseudo-science). He sounds like a jet plane in flight.
  • Lucky for them, the partial photo of Rodan fits the children’s pteranodon picture perfectly. 😛 (The scientists have copies of all of those books in their lab here on the Island. –Jimmy)
  • The birds are bit symbolic of the couple: youthful and on the verge of procreating.
  • There are so many characters, it’s often difficult to keep track of everything. Shigeru and Kiyo, I assume, are intended to be the main characters because they get the most screen time, but that’s not by much. Even then, their scenes are sporadic enough that I couldn’t quite latch onto them (or anyone else, for that matter). UPDATE: This is an ensemble piece. Very Japanese that way.
  • The amnesia seems like a plot device. It kinda comes out of left field and only serves to the characters in the dark about Rodan. In other words, it didn’t feel quite natural, almost like it was an addition to the story. Given that this script had three screenwriters, I wouldn’t be surprised. (Nate tells me he’s softened on this idea since making these notes. –Jimmy)
  • Rodan is theorized to have a nuclear origin like Godzilla, although it’s simply a fact as opposed to being thematic and/or allegorical. This makes the film more western, in some ways.
  • Did the egg shell magically get bigger? (Happens all the time when I have breakfast. –Jimmy)
  • Rodan, being a flying monster, has a dogfight with the JASDF, naturally.
    • Those planes flew low enough to go under a bridge?! (A classic problem. The JASDF is working on changing their pilots’ anti-kaiju training. I even wrote them a new handbook on the subject. –Jimmy)
  • The destruction scenes in this film are far more about wind damage than fire, making it quite different from Gojira. It creates visuals that also demark from the other film. This was a smart move so as to avoid repeating what was done before. Plus, with Rodan being a flying monster, it presented a unique set of challenges for Tsuburaya to overcome. Rodan is a hurricane as opposed to a tsunami or a nuclear attack.
  • Interestingly, Hirata plays the Dr. Yamane-type scientist in this film. He isn’t as interesting a character here as either Serizawa or Yamane, though. He serves mostly to exposit about Rodan and has no character arc or dilemma. He’s much more like Dr. Elson in Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
  • The burning Yokohama harkens back to Godzilla (1954).
  • Some really nice location filmmaking.

OTHER SOURCES

Honda Biography

  • Partially filmed in Shikamachi, a mining town.
  • Honda: “My intention was to give [Rodan] a sense of authenticity and credibility, and not to make it a mere fairy tale…I wanted to create something that has ample scientific factual background and support, something that is not false.”
  • The sounds effects saved the ending.
  • Honda: “I think it was Rodan that put me on my path.”

LeMay – Big Book Vol. 1

  • Supposedly inspired by a dream had by Tanaka.
  • Some elements from the infamous unmade film The Bride of Godzilla?
  • Tsuburaya won a Japanese Film Technique Award for this.
  • It made $500,000 alone in New York, and some publications claimed it was the highest-grossing sci-fi film up to that point.
  • Two dubs have called Rodan by his Japanese name: Monster Zero (but only by Nick Adams) and vs. Mechagodzilla II. (You forgot to mention that first one, Nate.HOW DARE YOU FORGET MY MAN, NICK ADAMS! –Jimmy)
  • Tourism to Mt. Aso increased after this.

Galbraith – Japanese Horror…

  • He says Kimura wrote some of the best and worst kaiju/toku films for Toho. Called him “more consistent and ambitious” than Sekizawa.

Kalat

  • The dubbed version was produced by Frank and Maurice King, who would later make Gorgo.

Brothers

  • The Rodan suit weighed 100 pounds. He studied the movements of birds for this.
  • People seem to either love or hate this film.

Well, that was surprisingly short. Then again, Nate recycled most of these notes from his “previous podcast life.” He didn’t add much, and he burned through most of what he had. Nice work!

Next week you’ll hear the chaotic but hilarious broadcast on Mighty Joe Young (1949) that featured the original Tourists, Nick Hayden, Joe Metter, and Joy Metter. I’ve rarely laughed as hard as I did during that broadcast. Then in the next “Godzilla Redux,” Becky “Bex” Smith of Redeemed Otaku returns to discuss Mothra (1961). To say Jessica is ecstatic would be an understatement.

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