Godzilla film recommendation for toddler?

Son of Godzilla plays nicely for youngsters, also. I would think the later
Mothra films, particularly the second one (with the Furby-like critter)
would go over well. Any of them tend to be too long for youngsters (I had a
4 year old who loved them, but only wanted to see the fight scenes-as did I
as a child, though we had to watch the whole thing: this was pre-video...)

You might check out some of the recent Ultraman films and series, some are
geared for very small tykes (Ultraman Gaia, especially).

"John R Stobo" <jrs9.DeleteThis@columbia.edu> wrote in message
news:Pine.GSO.4.64.0510311100430.15657@pineapple.cc.columbia.edu...
> On Mon, 31 Oct 2005, bbcrock.DeleteThis@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> My son has been talking about Godzilla a LOT. He wants to see a
>> godzilla film. I have my doubts this is a good idea, but I thought I'd
>> investigate. I'm wondering what the most child-friendly godzilla film
>> is. My first guess is Mothra. It seems the least violent and with the
>> most interesting subplots. If not Mothra, I know there was another
>> godzilla film which focused on a small boy, but I can't remember the
>> name of it. I may just go with a Gamera film or episode of "Giant
>> Robot."
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>> Don
>>
>>
>
> The one you're thinking of is probably Godzilla's Revenge. the title is a
> non seqitur. The film though deals with the boy's feeling of abandonment
> by his parents. Sometimes that doesn't play well with very young kids.
> The orignal Mothra is good; the new ones are kind of complex and not
> really for the kindergarten set. For just straight action GvKK should work
> and Smog Monster can be funny, though there are a couple of scenes of
> people being skeletized by Hidrah.
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

bbcrock.DeleteThis@gmail.com wrote:

> My son has been talking about Godzilla a LOT. He wants to see a
> godzilla film. I have my doubts this is a good idea, but I thought I'd
> investigate. I'm wondering what the most child-friendly godzilla film
> is. My first guess is Mothra. It seems the least violent and with the
> most interesting subplots. If not Mothra, I know there was another
> godzilla film which focused on a small boy, but I can't remember the
> name of it. I may just go with a Gamera film or episode of "Giant
> Robot."

The end of Mothra has a couple fairly violent scenes in which a bad guy is
gunned down. Also, the plot for the first half of the movie might move too
slowly for a youngster. The other movie you are no doubt thinking of is
Godzilla's Revenge and it's more of a psychological study of a Japanese
latch key kid who's parents are always working who daydreams about Godzilla.

IMO, King Kong vs Godzilla, Son of Godzilla, Monster Zero and Godzilla vs
the Sea Monster are all just about completely alright for any aged child.
They all have a lot of fairly harmless, colorful giant monster action and
simple plots that really don't get in the way.

Some of the 60's Godzilla movies as well as the original Mothra I've omitted
because either they have sporadic moments of somewhat graphic human violence
or their plots are just too slow for a young kid. Most of the 70's Godzilla
movies are strange mixes of childlike action interspersed with some bloody
but cartoonish monster violence. The newer 90's and 00's Godzilla movies
have more mature plots as well as generally more graphic violence.

T.B.
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

> My son has been talking about Godzilla a LOT. He wants to see a
> godzilla film. I have my doubts this is a good idea, but I thought I'd
> investigate. I'm wondering what the most child-friendly godzilla film
> is. My first guess is Mothra. It seems the least violent and with the
> most interesting subplots. If not Mothra, I know there was another
> godzilla film which focused on a small boy, but I can't remember the
> name of it. I may just go with a Gamera film or episode of "Giant
> Robot."
>
> thanks,
>
> Don

Might want to steer clear of the recent Gamera flicks then.

How old are we talking? I remember watching Godzilla: King of the Monsters
when I was five. Loved it.

Most kid friendly is probably Son of Godzilla, although I don't remember
Ghidrah: The Three-Headed Monster having too much that was objectionable.


Someone mentioned Godzilla vs the Sea Monster. Disney Channel used to air
that one pretty frequently. It's not a bad intro to the series. Most of what
the bad guys are up to is over the head of a little kid and Godzilla's
fairly benign in a grumpy sort of way.

--
|\-/|
<0 0>
=(o)=
-Wolf
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

<bbcrock.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1130767834.386152.326560@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> My son has been talking about Godzilla a LOT. He wants to see a
> godzilla film. I have my doubts this is a good idea, but I thought I'd
> investigate. I'm wondering what the most child-friendly godzilla film
> is. My first guess is Mothra. It seems the least violent and with the
> most interesting subplots. If not Mothra, I know there was another
> godzilla film which focused on a small boy, but I can't remember the
> name of it. I may just go with a Gamera film or episode of "Giant
> Robot."
>
> thanks,
>
> Don
>
I've yet to meet a kid who didn't get into "Johnny Sokko" with "Gamera"
coming in later.
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was thinking of Godzilla's Revenge,
but I will check out the others here before I go to far into this. I
have the Jonny Sokko series and Ultraman series on video, but when I
last reviewed Ultraman, it was not appropriate. My suspicion is that
the Godzilla cartoon would be closer to what he wants. My son is just
about 3 and he dislikes fight scenes and freaked out on a Chip and Dale
cartoon that was pretty violent. ditto with Land of the Lost. He
doesn't know, you know, kaiju as a genre, just that Godzilla exists, so
I wanted to stick with Godzilla. I'm going to definitely play this one
by ear and probably show him some clips. thanks!

Don
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was thinking of Godzilla's Revenge,
but I will check out the others here before I go to far into this. I
have the Jonny Sokko series and Ultraman series on video, but when I
last reviewed Ultraman, it was not appropriate. My suspicion is that
the Godzilla cartoon would be closer to what he wants. My son is just
about 3 and he dislikes fight scenes and freaked out on a Chip and Dale

cartoon that was pretty violent. ditto with Land of the Lost. He
doesn't know, you know, kaiju as a genre, just that Godzilla exists, so

I wanted to stick with Godzilla. I'm going to definitely play this one

by ear and probably show him some clips. thanks!

___________________________________________________

The Godzilla films have nothing but fight scenes. But I think anything
from the 60's or 70's would be fine for a child (except the original
1954 movie). By the way, nice parenting. Get a kid hooked on Godzilla
at an early age. You deserve a medal :-) Wish more parents were like
you.
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

> My son has been talking about Godzilla a LOT. He wants to
> see a godzilla film. I have my doubts this is a good idea, but I
> thought I'd investigate.

Just curious, why does he talk of Godzilla a lot if he never saw a
movie? Where did he learn of him?
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

In article <1130767834.386152.326560.TakeThisOut@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
bbcrock.TakeThisOut@gmail.com says...
>
>My son has been talking about Godzilla a LOT. He wants to see a
>godzilla film. I have my doubts this is a good idea, but I thought I'd
>investigate. I'm wondering what the most child-friendly godzilla film
>is. My first guess is Mothra. It seems the least violent and with the
>most interesting subplots. If not Mothra, I know there was another
>godzilla film which focused on a small boy, but I can't remember the
>name of it. I may just go with a Gamera film or episode of "Giant
>Robot."
>
>thanks,
>
>Don
>
The Hanna-Barbera cartoon is probably your best bet with such a young 'un.
Epsecially if he is sensitive to violence. The H-B series will be easy to
digest. As others here have suggested, when he's a bit older, the rest will
fall right into place. Gamera (60's/70's) and Johnny Socko are good stuff for
young(er) kids, but I'd say hold back another year or two. But then you know
your own child better than any of us, so use your personal judgement.

Any way it goes, it's good to see a parent who is okay with getting their child
into the amazing fantasy world of Japanese sci-fi. I predict many happy years
of dad-son bonding ahead!

Best of luck.
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler? 

King Kong vs Godzilla.
I first saw this movie when I was 3, and it was a great concept to a child:
a giant gorilla fights a fire-breathing dinosaur with a unique roar. Total
kid stuff, and hardly any scary parts.
 >> Stay informed about: Godzilla film recommendation for toddler?