Episode 2 - 100 Years of Daikaiju

Welcome to the second episode of Kaiju Vs. History Podcast. In this episode we go over some of the early examples of monster movies. We dive into the origin of giant Kaiju like creatures in the collective world consciousness. Before King Kong graced the silver screen and after there were several proto-Kaiju and dinosaur films that would help formulate the tropes and cinema styles of the genre.

First up we explore actual history with the history of giant animals on planet Earth – thats right its the actual history of everything from biblical accounts of Giants to the discovery of dinosaur bones. Throughout human history mankind has been fascinated by dragons and krakens and other massive creatures that could swallow a man whole.

Next up we talk about a silent animated film from the mind of Little Nemo, Winsor McCay’s “The Rarebit Fiend: The Pet”. In this 1921 short celebrating its 100th anniversary this month we see perhaps the first depiction on film of a giant monster rampaging through city streets, terrorizing and eating people, all before being taken down by the armed forces.

From Jules Verne’s “The Lost World” and its fanciful depiction of sub-Saharan African dinosaurs rampaging through the city streets to a Max Fleischer ‘Superman’ animated short, we explore other introductions of what would become cornerstones of Kaiju Eiga, first being formulated and shown on the big screen. We will revisit and return to these formulized facets of Kaiju films with next week’s first official Kaiju review.

Next Week on Kaiju Vs. History: 1933’s KING KONG

Twitter: @kaijuvshistory

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