Godzilla has meant a lot of things to a lot of people. If his recent appearances in the realm of music videos are of any indication, the things that Godzilla can mean vary A LOT. The unstoppable force of destruction, child mascot, and even a romantic partner? Yes folks, today we are diving into the weird world of Godzilla music video cameos. This article will focus on three videos from three very different cultures. We will start off with the latest Eminem music video aptly titled ‘Godzilla’, then go on to the weird duology of Little Big music videos called ‘Skibidi’, and ending with a look at the official Godzilla Chibi dance video which may be the weirdest of them all.
Historically I’ve been a bit harsh in terms of Eminem. I’ve never been a huge fan of his. However, this fit hints at the fact that I may have been wrong about him. He seems to have a keen satirical edge and for years I’ve made the mistake of taking his work completely serious and at face value. This video showcases the idea that once one drinks an obscene amount of alcohol they feel absolutely invincible. Invincibility, in this case, is envisioned by the concept of Godzilla. When I first heard this song I rolled my eyes but this video changed my opinion. IT IS SATIRE. Eminem is well aware you aren’t invincible after drinking and you, in reality, make a total fool of yourself half the time. This is seen when he pukes up Legos and loses touch with reality. At one point he is seen blowing fire from his mouth a trademark move of Godzilla. However, this alone would not be enough to get it on the list. Nay, we have an actual appearance of a pair of Godzillas backing him up after one hardcore night of drinking. The two Godzilla’s look like darker coloured versions of the Legendary Godzilla. However the CG does not look good at all. But given the satirical nature of the music video, it works. Seeing Eminem stagger drunkenly down an aisle backed up by two Godzilla’s is quite the sight. After the video, I am a bigger fan of Eminem and his music because I finally get it. It is worth noting that Mike Tyson does appear in the music video and he is a well-established horrible person.
We have seen how American views Godzilla with Eminem and really that seems par to the course when it comes to American understanding of the Big G. Low and behold, it appears Russia has a more nuanced view of the Big G….a romantic one? In there smash hit earworm ‘Skibidi’, Godzilla makes a brief cameo at the end of the video doing the music video’s trademark dance. Again, this is clearly based upon the Legendary Godzilla design. This would be all well and good if not for a follow-up music video they made for ‘Skibidi’ a few months afterward. This video titled ‘Skibidi (Romantic Edition)’ takes things to a whole new direction. A love triangle is at the center of the video taking place between a man, a woman, and Godzilla? For the first few minutes, it seems like a romantic fantasy where a man is traveling the world in order to get with his lady love. He walks towards her with a rose, only to completely pass her by and give the rose to his true love… Godzilla. The man begins to ride on Godzilla off into the sunset. The couple go so far to even recreate the pottery scene from Ghost (1990). During their romantic escapades, the woman drinks alone in the rain. One of the final images we see is a Polaroid of Godzilla, the man, and now a baby Godzilla. This is the worst version of Baby Godzilla. This is a weird music video, to say the least. I am amazed it never got taken down by Toho for copyright, however, with so many views it seems like the video is here to stay. Unlike with Eminem, I absolutely hate this song. It is an aggressive and infecting earworm that ruins your day after you hear it. The absurdity is appreciated and doing something different with the story is quite hilarious but the song itself is torturous. Will the Skibidi Godzilla story continue past this video? Only time will tell.
The final one is the one that is officially made and licensed by Toho. It is the Chibi Godzilla dance. Chibi Godzilla is a new marketing form recently introduced by Toho and he is cute as hell. He has appeared in two children’s books titled Do Your Best Chibi Godzilla (2018) and Close Friends Chibi Godzilla (2019). Along with this, he had a musical single released and it had a music video. The video involved someone wearing a big chibi Godzilla plushie suit and showing a group of kids the dance. All well and good. Until you see the man in his underwear dancing alongside the children. WHAT? WHY IS THIS MAN HERE? WHO IS THIS MAN? In what you’d expect to see in an Austin Powers parody of Japanese culture, this video gets your attention to be sure. The half-naked man doing the dance is Japanese comedian Yoshio Kojima. This is his go-to comedy bit. In Japan, his shtick is quite commonplace. The song and the dance itself are a joy. It is wacky and catchy. Easily my favourite of the bunch presented here.
