Eiji Tsuburaya, Co-Creator Of ‘Godzilla,’ Gets A Google Doodle

Only a few days after Eiji Tsuburaya’s 114th birthday, Google honored the co-creator of the infamous Godzilla by making a Google Doodle in his honor. Rather than doing just a Google Doodle to celebrate the creator’s legacy, Google made an interactive game of it.

If you’ve never heard of cinematic legend Tsuburaya, he’s responsible in no small part to monster movies that were enjoyed by generations of kids and adults across the globe. He was essentially responsible for creating a new genre of movies with his creative use of special effects.

Born July 7, 114 years ago, Tsuburaya is responsible to bringing to life such monsters as Ultraman, Mothra, and the infamous/famous king of all monsters, Godzilla.

Here’s a brief history of the creator, courtesy of the Washington Post.

“Tsuburaya was born on this day in 1901 in Sukugawa, north of Tokyo, and developed a keen passion for building model airplanes and then filming them. He first worked as a professional cameraman while still a teenager, but it wasn’t until he was in his 30s that, after seeing Hollywood’s “King Kong” and the visual-effects mastery of pioneers like Willis O’Brien, he literally saw a way to change Japanese cinema. He soon headed up the special effects at Toho Motion Picture Co.”

“It would be two decades, though, before Tsuburaya would create his kaiju visions within the physical and cultural climate of radioactive fallout, leading to towering irradiated monsters like 1954’s Godzilla and, a decade later, Godzilla’s epic showdown with Mothra — the kinds of creatures that continue to inspire filmmakers today.”

As someone who made an impact on kids and adults across the world, he’s certainly deserving of his own Google Doodle. His creations inspired generations, and is even responsible for such kaiju films as Guillermo del Torro’s Pacific Rim.

“After many years in the ‘monster business,’ he set up his own practical effects studio, Tsuburaya Productions, which we were lucky enough to visit for this project!” Google artist Jennifer Hom explains in a blog post.

“Having grown up as a film fan, I’ve always had a deep love for “Tokusatsu” [??], so I was eager to find a way to bring attention to Tsuburaya’s art,” continues Hom, a Long Island native in her 20s. “It’s fascinating to me how long-lasting the results of his work [have] been – it’s easy to see remnants of the Tokusatsu style in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim,’ ‘Evangelion,’ and even the Power Rangers.”

[Image via Google]