When Godzilla hit theaters in 1998, it quickly became apparent that something had gone very wrong in Sony’s new blockbuster scheme. Its domestic gross fell below expectations, reviews were tepid, and the one aspect that was clearly built to be a hole-in-one — its titanic special effects — couldn’t avoid negative comparisons to what Steven Spielberg had done with his Jurassic Park flicks. The merchandising bonanza that was meant to come in its wake fell apart soon after, and so, too, did the hope of sequels. When the dust cleared, all that was really left behind was a cartoon spinoff, one that aired on Fox Kids with the title Godzilla: The Series.
But, 25 years after its last new episode appeared on TV, Godzilla: The Series is by far the best piece of this franchising puzzle. Reframing Sony’s failed effort into a global monster-battling adventure, it gave Godzilla a tale that the King of the Monsters deserved.
