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*Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley*
Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley
	Promotional poster
Directed by	Michael Owens
Starring	Charles Barkley
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Clint Goldman
Cinematography	Kim Marks
Editor	Bob Sarles
Running time	30 seconds
Production company	Industrial Light & Magic
Original release
Release	September 9, 1992

Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley is a 1992 Nike television commercial directed by Michael Owens. Produced by Industrial Light & Magic, the commercial featured a giant-sized version of NBA star Charles Barkley challenging Godzilla to a game of basketball in the streets of downtown Tokyo.

Wieden+Kennedy employees Warren Eakins and Steve Sandoz converted the idea of Barkley contending Godzilla after Nike revealed that Barkley's face would be featured on a pair of new Nike basketball sneakers. Industrial Light & Magic began production on the commercial after Nike, Wieden + Kennedy, Barkley, and Toho approved the proposal. The crew reconstructed the miniature set used for Ghostbusters II (1989) to resemble Tokyo for Barkley and Godzilla's confrontation. Principal photography ran eight days in June 1992, with editing taking four weeks.

Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley debuted in the United States on September 9, 1992, during the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on MTV. The commercial was later adapted into a comic book.

Synopsis

At the beginning of the commercial, Godzilla is rampaging through Tokyo when he hears Barkley dribbling a basketball. In response, the monster dons a pair of pink goggles and prepares for a basketball game, in which the two will use the O from a Tokyo sign on a building as their hoop. Godzilla knocks the ball from Barkley's hands with his tail, but Barkley retrieves it and pushes Godzilla into a building, clearing the path for an easy slam dunk. Afterwards, Barkley and Godzilla are seen walking through the streets together, with Barkley's arm on Godzilla's shoulder. Barkley tells Godzilla that "the Lakers are looking for a big man", and the spot concludes with the Nike swoosh logo. Another ending used in the commercial has Barkley asking Godzilla "Have you ever thought about wearing shoes?"

Cast

Charles Barkley as himself, a professional basketball player
Ron Thiele as Godzilla, a giant reptilian monster^[1]

Production

Wieden+Kennedy employees Warren Eakins and Steve Sandoz conceived of the idea of Charles Barkley contending Godzilla after Nike revealed that Barkley's face would be featured on a pair of new Nike basketball sneakers. Industrial Light & Magic began production on the commercial after Nike, Wieden + Kennedy, Barkley, and Toho approved the proposal.^[1]

It was originally intended for Japanese audiences, but Nike was impressed enough to use it in the United States,^[2] where it debuted on September 9, 1992, during the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on MTV.^[3] Before the commercial's debut a trailer aired during the 1992 NBA All-Star Game.^[4]

The commercial required eight days of filming during the first two weeks in June 1992 and four weeks of editing thereafter.^[5] It employs suitmation techniques, which were still being used in the Godzilla films being made by Toho. Clint Goldman of ILM explained, "The idea was that we would show a modern look, but not with total 'ILM realism'. It just wouldn't be true to the subject matter." The Godzilla costume comprised many foam rubber pieces, and puppeteers produced the monster's facial expressions with radio control devices.^[6] The crew reconstructed the miniature set used for Ghostbusters II (1989) to resemble Tokyo for Barkley and Godzilla's confrontation.^[1] The special effects team used mattes to create the illusion of a larger city.^[6]

This commercial was the first television commercial to ever utilize 3D Audio. The Barnaby microphone invented by Jeff Gold of 3D.Audio was used by Jeff Roth of Focused Audio to create a basketball dribbling sound that would jump out of the speakers. ^[7]

Crew

Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, Portland
Creatives: Warren Eakins and Steve Sandoz
Agency Producer: John Adams
Production Company: Industrial Light & Magic, San Rafael
Director: Michael Owens
Producer: Clint Goldman
Director of Photography: Kim Marks
Head of Creature Department: Jeff Mann
Editor: Bob Sarles
Sound Designer: Jeff Roth at Focused Audio, San Francisco
3D Audio (Barnaby Microphone): 3D.Audio
Sound Mix Engineer: Jay Shilliday at Focused Audio, San Francisco

Comic book adaptation

In December 1993, Dark Horse Comics released Godzilla vs. Barkley, a one-shot comic inspired by the commercial (although most of the action takes place in California rather than in Japan). The comic was written by Mike Baron with art by Jeff Butler and Keith Aiken.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Vanhooker, Brian (September 10, 2022). "30 years ago, one epic commercial revitalized the Godzilla franchise in America". Inverse. Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
^ Moore, Martha T. (September 9, 1992). "Godzilla Meets Barkley on MTV". USA Today. p. 1.B.
^ Steve Ryfle. Japan's Favorite Mon-Star. ECW Press, 1998. 275.
^ "When Charles Barkley dunked on Godzilla in 1992 Nike commercial". NBC Sports Philadelphia. March 19, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
^ ""Lights, Camera, Magic!", on season 3, episode 1". Scientific American Frontiers. Chedd-Angier Production Company. 1992–1993. PBS. Archived from the original on 2006-01-01. Aired October 14, 1992 (video Archived 2011-08-07 at the Wayback Machine, transcript Archived 2015-08-25 at the Wayback Machine).
^ ^a ^b David Kalat. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. McFarland, 2007. 207.
^ Tom Kenny. Godzilla vs. Barkley in 3-D Sound. Mix Magazine, November 1992.
^ Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. Holy Sh*t! The World's Weirdest Comic Books. St. Martin's Press, 2008. 104.