How Did They Create Godzilla's Iconic Roar and Who Came Up with the Creature?

Godzilla’s roar has long been considered one of cinema’s most iconic and recognisable sounds. Oft-copied or otherwise homaged, the original and rather unique roar terrified audience goers in the 1950s and has been built upon to dramatic effect in the numerous sequels and remakes since. So how did they actually make the original sound and where did the idea for Godzilla come from in the first place? As for the idea behind the monster, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka...

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[frederickhogrefe]

American: Godzilla
Japanese: Gojira
English: Godziller

[Holdmymawashi]

It’s the pantry door, at midnight, when everyone else is asleep and your are just trying to have a sneaky noodle cup.

[rebeccalaff]

I love Godzilla! As a child my dad told me Godzilla was real so while some kids believed in Santa Claus, i believed in Godzilla! He had a good friend who was Japanese and she confirmed it so I was totally sold as a 6 year old. So much better than the Easter bunny!

[kingjames]

original roar: made in 3 days... in a cave... with scraps

2014 roar: took 6 months and a team of professionals

[dinomonzon]

Appreciate the trivia regarding Godzilla. He remains one of Japan's most famous cultural/pop culture icons, and one of the very few characters who has a cohesive film universe.

[Dazed]

"Godzilla is the son of the atomic bomb. He is a nightmare created out of the darkness of the human soul. He is the sacred beast of the apocalypse..." - Tomoyuki Tanaka

[finnikj]

More random facts: Theres a french metal band called "Gojira" who was originally called "Godzilla" but had to change their name due to copyright. So they changed their name to the original japanese pronunciation "Gojira". They actually have a song called "Stranded" where the rythm guitarist/lead singer Joe Duplantier makes sort of a godzilla-esque sound with his guitar. Its quite cool.

[therealsulaco]

The bass growl at the end of the Godzilla roar sounds exactly like the air brakes on a particular type of dump truck. I found this out when that sound suddenly happened right beside me as I was walking down the street one day and my inner 5 year old who was terrified of Godzilla nearly wet himself.

[UkDave]

And don't forget that the iconic blaster sounds from the original Star Wars, was soneone hitting a telegraph pole's support cable with a wrench

[jamesm.]

The original roar was created outside of Toho Studios. Back in the 90's, there was a documentary on Godzilla and why the franchise was so popular.

The host asked Toho what the roar was and how they created it. Well, the host was outside...and said "That's Toho's best kept secret". The host turned around and opened a wrought iron gate, walked through it, shut the gate....and smiled at the camera waiting for the world to pick up on the fact that the opening and closing of that gate was the exact sound of Godzillas roar...

[nates]

God-damn that new roar is one of the coolest moments in cinema history

[seanjones]

Godzilla has always been my all time favorite monster.

[daveeller]

This takes me back to an old favorite tv series "Ultraman", made by the creators of Godzilla. Many of the monsters used were Godzilla suits repurposed.

[billmatson]

Godzilla roar on my phone when the old lady calls . Love the videos.

[Toobeegort]

Haruo Nakajima who played the original Godzilla was a highly respected actor and loved by the Japanese people.

[notrealy]

It's still an incredibly chilling sound in every movie its in. I only saw Shin Godzilla and Godzilla 2000 and I knew exactly what this sounded like in my head

[gigglehertz]

I love that sound almost as much as the materialization of the Tardis

[maxsmodels]

I believe the original sound was a resin covered glove over the strings of a bass.

[davim]

It's a big rusty gate being opened. I've seen a documentary stating that and they also showed the gate cuz it was still in use. They opened it and it made the roar. Probably in the early 90s when I saw it but could've been a rerun. It was a large and long parking lot security type gate where the engineers worked.

[Corsuwey]

As much as I like the Wilhelm Scream, I feel that it's getting overused these days. Familiarity is one thing... Overt redundancy is another