Perhaps, Mothra would be more appropriate here since according to Wikipedia the giant moth is a woman, but we prefer Godzilla over one of his arch rivals, which also includes Hedorah ("The Smog Monster," not sure of its gender).
Godzilla starred in 28 Japanese science fiction/fantasy/horror/thriller films starring with the original "Godzilla," directed by Ishiro Honda (1911-1993), but the monster's creation is actually credited to Tomoyuki Tomaka (1910-1997). Politically, Godzilla, who has weighed up to 60,000 tons, represents the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Many men and perhaps a few women my age probably recall the "Godzilla" cartoons which aired from 1978-81 in both the United States and his native Japan. While researching this piece, I found out that the cartoon Godzilla was originally voiced by Ted Cassidy (1932-1979), known for being Lurch on the orginal "The Addams Family" tv series, but the actor died from natural causes at the age of 46.
And, the cartoon, also featured the adoring Godzooky, who is Godzilla's nephew; he is also a bit of a wimp.
SIDEBAR: I want to give kudos to my good friend Chris Knight from North Carolina who somehow posted a blog entry about Osama bin Laden's killing at 11:52 p.m., local time. This was a full eight minutes before I heard the news from the BBC via WUNC-FM (91.5-Chapel Hill).
And, I was also reminded today of Keith Knight's comic strip "The Knight Life" (no relation to Chris Knight, in fact Keith is African-American, Chris is white) which has a series called "Life's Little Victories." Since the post office in the city where I live is very congested and has an awful parking lot, I get my stamps at Walgreen's. The cashier behind the counter informed me that I had just purchased the last book of stamps on them! Ironically, Keith Knight had a comic strip about postage stamps on Sunday, May 1st, which I just found out a few minutes ago.
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