Godzilla: the Series: "Monster Mayhem" & "Mutant Madness"

by Madison Carter

Godzilla gets some of his glory back after the Americans screwed it all up.

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It’s extremely rare for an animated spin-off series of a blockbuster film to be any good. Witness the lackluster cartoon cash-ins on such mega-hits as Men in Black.
It’s even rarer for said series to be better than the film that spawned it. Then again, there was only one series that was based on the craptacular Roland & Emmerich 1998 “re-imagining” of Godzilla.

Sony has released two new DVDs, each collecting three episodes apiece of the short-lived series.  It actually didn’t star the monster from the film, but one of its surviving spawn. After it grows an attachment to Nick Tataupolos, leader of the monster-seeking team HEAT, it becomes an overgrown pet and somewhat unwitting champion of humanity against various giant monsters.

On the DVD entitled “Monster Mayhem,” the new Godzilla encounters an electricity-based monster who is somehow connected to a man in a coma; the Loch Ness Monster; and the ancient god-monster Quetzalcoatl. On “Mutant Madness” it battles giant mosquitoes, scorpions and a bizarre creature called the Twister.

For a Saturday morning American cartoon, Godzilla: The Animated Series had surprisingly fluid animation, great voice characterization and an exiting premise. Even with the American version’s bastardized design, this was a Godzilla that fans could be proud of.

While I am somewhat disappointed that Sony did not just release the entire series as a collectors set, this is definitely better than nothing. There isn’t a single special feature on the two discs as well. Oh well.

Definitely a keeper.