Everything You Need To Know About "Godzilla" Before It Hits Theaters

Godzilla returns on May 16th and naturally, I’m very excited. They don’t call me BlogXilla for nothing. The film stars a few of my favorite actors: Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, to name a few.

This Godzilla pays homage to the original 1954 film, as the world’s most famous monster is pitted against some flying creatures hell-bent on sucking up the world’s nuclear energy and destroying everything in their path – but here’s the catch. While there is a lot of destruction in this film, the foundation of the story is based on a scientist played by Cranston named Joe Brody, his son, Ford Brody, and wife, Elle.

Since Godzilla is about to hit theaters, I thought I’d share with y’all all the random Godzilla facts I know – being that I’m BlogXilla, of course.

Check out these interesting facts – by the numbers – below.

Godzilla Monster Facts

• There is 1 king of the monsters.
• 1.73 ft is the depth of Godzilla’s canine teeth at their widest point.
• 3 miles is the approximate distance Godzilla’s roar reverberates.
• 3.51 ft is the length from the root to the tips of Godzilla’s canine teeth.
• 58 ft is the total width of Godzilla’s feet across the widest point.
• 60 ft is the length of Godzilla’s footprint from toe to heel.
• 60 is the amount of teeth Godzilla has in his mouth.
• 89 dorsal fins spike down Godzilla’s back from his head to the tip of his tail.
• 355 ft is Godzilla’s towering height in the 2014 film, making him the tallest onscreen incarnation ever.
• 550 ft’ 4 in is the total length of Godzilla’s spiked tail.
• 89,724 m3 is Godzilla’s total volume in the 2014 film.
• 90,000 tons is Godzilla’s volume if filled with water.

Movie Effects Facts 

• 4 CGI artists from Moving Picture Company (MPC) created Godzilla’s scales.
• 6 months was the time it took MPC’s CGI artists to animate Godzilla’s scales in their full texture and detail.
• 7 total filming units were enlisted in the production on Godzilla.
• 50 versions of the new Godzilla roar were tested until they settled on the final one.
• 327 was total number of creature visual effects shots created by MPC for the 2014 Godzilla.
• 445 years is the amount of time it would take to render Godzilla on a single computer; an MPC artist would have had to start in the 16th Century, 1570.
• 762 visual effects crews worked on Godzilla.
• 960 is total number of visual effects shots in Godzilla.
• 100,000W Power of the 12-foot-high, 18-foot-wide speaker array from which the sound designers blasted Godzilla’s roar to record the sound in a “real world” context.
• 500,000 Polygons were used by MPC artists to create the Godzilla 3D model.

Film Set Facts

• 6 cities lent their streets to Godzilla’s filming.
• 28 Godzilla movies were produced by Toho Co., Ltd., over 60 years.
• 80 San Francisco city blocks get demolished in the epic final battle in Godzilla.
• 98 sets were created by production designer Owen Paterson and his team for the film
• 360° or the entire breadth of the San Francisco skyline was captured from multiple angles by visual effects technicians, which were merged into a 3D city backdrop for the film’s epic finale.
• 400ft stretches of the 8,980-ft-long Golden Gate Bridge were built on the backlot of the Canadian Motion Picture Park studios.
• 418 is the total number of visual effects shots encompassing backgrounds and environments created by Double Negative for the 2014 Godzilla.
• 500 is the approximate number of crew members on Gareth Edwards’ mammoth production of Godzilla.

Original Film Facts 

• 60th anniversary of Godzilla is in 2014 and it was first brought to life in Toho Company, Ltd.’s 1954 film Gojira.
• 1954 is the year Japan’s Toho Company, Ltd. released Ishirô Honda’s groundbreaking monster movie Godzilla.
• #1 original Godzilla roar was created by a leather glove being dragged across the strings of a bass.
• 164 ft is Godzilla’s height in the original 1954 Japanese film.
• 1st Godzilla was nominated for the Japanese version of the Oscars for its discussion on man-made tragedies (nuclear power).

And some not by the numbers facts:

• There are nearly 30 Godzilla movies that don’t use CGI and use the original “suitmotion” method.
• In the ’60s, there was a planned Godzilla vs. Batman film after the success of 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla but production never made it to fruition. Adam West was set to play Batman.
• The original Godzilla was the most expensive Japanese movie that almost caused the producing studio to bankrupt.
• The original Godzilla, Gojira, is a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira) and not a dinosaur crossed with a lizard.

Pop Culture Facts

• Puff Daddy once narrowly escaped a bite from Godzilla.
• Japanese fans think the new Godzilla is on the chubby-side in comparison to the older version.
• There was a really weird Nike commercial of Charles Barkley vs. Godzilla.

• May 16th, 2014 is the date the world’s most revered monster returns to theaters in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ epic new action adventure Godzilla.

PHOTO CREDIT: Warner Bros.