What Is Your Favorite Godzilla/Kong Animated Series?

[GojiDog]

With the wait for Godzilla Vs. Kong ongoing and me being trapped inside due to COVID, I've gotten my fill by going back and watching the animated series featuring the two classic titans.

So what's your favorite of the bunch?

My opinions:

The King Kong Show = Haven't seen the whole thing because much of it isn't available online, on DVD, or anywhere else. But, from I could see, I found it to be interesting. Yes, the animation is crude, but there was a weird charm to it too, with Kong making friends with a small boy and his family, and it was also kind of neat to see where Dr. Who (not the one everyone is thinking of) and MechaniKong from "King Kong Escapes" originally came from. Also having it in shorts gave each story a nice brisk pace, and they never felt rushed either. They were solid action/adventure shorts that were clearly made on a budget, but still fun. I'd like to see the full show released at some point.

Godzilla (Hanna Barbera Series) = This is the first show on this list that I saw, and I saw it when I was young, so I have a connection to it. Yes Godzooky is an abomination, and yes the kid is annoying, and the main cast are mostly planks, and I could complain about not having the classic Godzilla roar and all that stuff. BUT, the show was still weirdly fun to watch. By mixing in greek mythology, science fiction, and all sorts of other things, it makes for a wildly fun watch. And hey, its Godzilla fighting monsters, and it has that fun appeal of seeing "What's Godzilla going to fight next?!" and they came up with some pretty cool ones. Some of them felt like references to Toho Monsters (The Fire Bird = Rodan, The Earth Eater = Baragon), some came from mythology (The Chimera), and some were just wacky and over the top (The Golden Guardians, Axor). Heck, even the shrinking episode, which is kind of a hack premise that every show does, works best for Godzilla because his size is such an important part of his character. The show has its issues, but its fun.

Godzilla: The Series = I think for many Godzilla fans, this is the definitive animated Godzilla. Granted, there isn't a high bar set, but for the show based on the maligned Tristar film to be the definitive Godzilla cartoon is kind of shocking. But where the movie failed, this show succeeded. Its well animated, and looks great, but also feels like classic Godzilla with a personality closer to what we expect out of the Big G, and of course his atomic breath back in all its glory. And the premise feels very similar to the HB series where its a bunch of scientists traveling around, coming across monsters, and calling Godzilla when stuff goes south. Where this one does it better though is that the characters are actually really likable. Nick, Elsie, Randy, Dr. Craven, and Monique all serve different functions on the team, but their relationships and interactions are also fun to watch, and they carry the non-monster stuff very very well. And when it comes time to throw down with the monster fight, the show comes through with an awesome array of baddies for Godzilla to fight with. And many of the concepts for episodes are really cool too like a group of militarized monster rights advocates (with the leader being voiced by Linda Blair!), Godzilla finding a mate, a future apocalyptic world without Godzilla, and even a wonderful tribute to Destroy All Monsters with the Monster War three parter (including a Cyborg Godzilla which was kind of a sneaky way to get Mechagodzilla in the show without it actually being Mechagodzilla). Honestly, the show is a blast, and I'm sorry it didn't last longer. I liked it when it came out and I still like it. I will say that this show's existence is one of the reasons I learned to not hate on the Tristar film too much as because of that film, we got some really good things out of it, and this show is proof.

Kong: The Animated Series = Back when this show first came out, I only saw a good 5 minutes of it, and I thought the idea of transporting Kong through a cybernetic link between him and a teenager was stupid, and I flipped it off. So back then, I didn't really give the show a chance. I finally decided to watch it and much like how Godzilla the Series feels like an updated version of the HB Godzilla's premise, this one feels like an updated version of the original King Kong Show with Kong forming a bond with a boy and his family...his family in this case being his college friend, a jungle girl, and his grandma. However, the show was lacking in the charm, and a large part of that is that I just didn't like the characters...like at all. I thought the best friend Tann was massively annoying with his dude bro personality, and everyone else was just a bland plank. And the lead villain, Ramon De La Porta, felt like every decades old villain cliche rolled into one. It was kind of remarkable just how cliched he was. I also wasn't a huge fan of the animation style nor the voice acting. It never clicked with me. That said, it did have the fun moments of Kong fighting other monsters and I think there were some really interesting ideas. Even the cyberlink idea I crapped on 20 years ago actually had some intrigue, and they actually created a pretty decent mythology with the Primal Stones, and Kong being an ancient guardian that basically keeps the Devil at bay. I also wish they had explained why the grandmother felt the need to "clone the original Kong" using her grandson's DNA. I mean...what pushed her to do that? Would have been cool if it turned out she was Ann Darrow from the original film and felt guilty about what happened and did what she did. I don't know, lol. In any case, I feel like this COULD have been a much better show in different hands. I didn't hate it, but there was a lot of unfulfilled potential.

Kong: King of the Apes = I have not seen this, but I've heard its bad. Nothing else to say really.

And in regards to Godzilla: Singular Point, we'll see how that all turns out.

So what do you all think?

[CrimsonBloodX]

I've only seen Godzilla: The Series, so that's the one I pick. I have no interest in watching those other shows, except maybe the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla show.

[GojiDog]

I forgot to mention, but I did watch the Kong The Animated Series film "Kong: King of Atlantis" which is BY FAR the worst Kong movie I've ever seen. It was jaw droppingly bad.

When they started singing, I almost died laughing. Why is this a musical?! WHY?!?!?

I had my issues with the show, but this movie is not a fair representation of it at all. And I haven't bothered with "Return to the Jungle" yet.

[edgaguirus]

The HB Godzilla is a fun series, and had some interesting monsters for Godzilla to face. There are episodes I haven't seen, but the ones I have seen I enjoyed.

G:TS is my favorite of the two. It had a complexity and style that were both entertaining and intriguing. The human characters here are as interesting as the menagerie of kaiju, which shows a wide range of creativity and design.

[Al Diplodocus]

Godzilla: The Series all the way. 1960's King Kong and 1970's Godzilla are cheesy cooki cutter products of their time I can't enjoy that much, Kong: The Animated Series is fine, and Kong: King of the Apes is drek.