Get ready, because here is one of a pair of amazing items! This is a VHS "screener" tape made for internal use by one of the Turner networks. I believe this to be from, most likely, TNT, because as you'll recall, they were the first to air the Hanna-Barbera GODZILLA for many years, before Cartoon Network even existed. Another reason is that the Cartoon Network tapes that I have seen identify themselves as such, like this one:
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In fact, this particular CN tape is what started this whole chain of events! I bought it from a super-nice Ebay seller in Georgia (that's important to our story, as that is where Turner's networks are located), who had bought a lot of about 40 such tapes at an estate sale, held at the estate of a person who worked for Turner Broadcasting System. The seller thought--as I did--that the tape contained an episode of the Hanna-Barbera GODZILLA, but it actually turned out to be the 1998 animated series made to support the first American film! I had no idea that CN had ever even shown that series.
About the time I am discovering this, the seller reaches back out to me, saying they had discovered two OTHER Godzilla tapes in the lot, and this time they were indeed the HB show! They were nice enough to take the CN tape back, and a deal was struck, for which I'll be eternally grateful! So.......let's get right to it, and then you can see it for yourself!
One strange thing about this tape is that there are no opening credits. In fact, it begins choppily in mid-title card! Another interesting characteristic of this recording is that there is a 20-second gap where each commercial break should be, where the screen goes black for that duration.
This is the penultimate episode of the series, and it's a notable one I had forgotten about, for several reasons. It's all about a renegade criminal pseudo-military organization with their own island base (and nuclear reactor, naturally), who shoot down a weather satellite with a fancy missile:
Okay, it's not THAT Cobra. But still. So they blow up the satellite, and the crew of The Calico gets involved.
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Of course, you wouldn't see this without freezing it, but: interestingly, if you look closely at the cursive on this map, the (identically-spaced) lanes of water are labelled "STRAITS," "OCEAN," and "CHANNEL." Huh. Aparently I am not the only one who had a D in Geography, it seems. |
They go to investigate--before this, Pete and Godzooky are arguing over crates of vegetables:
Godzooky wants to eat them. Looking closely reveals the large crate behind Pete is labelled "PRUNE." In the name of all that is holy, people, do NOT let Godzooky eat those!
So they get to the island, and immediately all get captured by the Cobra guys. At this point in the tape, I need to point out that the soundtrack had a bit of decay, or possibly magnetic damage. For a few minutes, there was a volume drop and lots of loud static. However, I restored the missing few minutes of audio using an extraction from the official Toho YouTube upload, and it matched perfectly, which amazed me, I have to say. I really expected to have to pitch-correct something, but it fit perfectly. So, the good news is that the episode is intact.
Cobra puts everyone in the same jail cell....EVEN GODZOOKY. This is nuts. If you ask me, this is the 1979 equivalent to having Minya ride in the guy's truck in FINAL WARS. It is at this point that the episode goes into overdrive.
In fact, what strikes me about viewing this episode now (rather than when I first saw it at 6 years old) is that this is the one episode of the entire series that is most like a vintage Godzilla movie. Because the last third of the episode is Godzilla going on a rampage and destroying the entire island base, wading through launching, exploding missiles, swatting down airplanes, smashing buildings...the whole works. You could dub in the sound effects and the roar from the Heisei film of your choice, and make it very convincing. It's pretty awesome.
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| "Oh look! That Jana of the Jungle is finally over! Get the Big G sampler pack and some bowls!" After which, Godzilla grabs Cobra's overloading nuclear reactor (which represents the stakes in the story) and stops it from exploding by throwing it into the ocean to cool it off....and thereby probably creating some sort of massive environmental hazard, but hey, who's counting?  Another cool aspect of this episode is that Doug Wildey (as in JOHNNY QUEST and lots of other awesome things) as designer got to flex a bit and design some really cool weaponry and stuff for Cobra, which is a lot of fun to see (on the right: the original model sheet for the laser turrets, which Godzilla completely MELTS into goo, by the way). So, if you aren't convinced yet, I have converted, restored, and uploaded the episode for you to enjoy, and you can download it right here: Stay tuned, because we still have one more Turner screener tape coming! |
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