Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley

Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley is a 1992 Nike television commercial directed by Michael Owens. Produced by Industrial Light & Magic, the commercial featured a giant-sized version of NBA star Charles Barkley challenging Godzilla to a game of basketball in the streets of downtown Tokyo.

Wieden+Kennedy employees Warren Eakins and Steve Sandoz converted the idea of Barkley contending Godzilla after Nike revealed that Barkley's face would be featured on a pair of new Nike basketball sneakers. Industrial Light & Magic began production on the commercial after Nike, Wieden + Kennedy, Barkley, and Toho approved the proposal. The crew reconstructed the miniature set used for Ghostbusters II (1989) to resemble Tokyo for Barkley and Godzilla's confrontation. Principal photography ran eight days in June 1992, with editing taking four weeks.

Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley debuted in the United States on September 9, 1992, during the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on MTV. The commercial was later adapted into a comic book.

Synopsis

Production

Wieden+Kennedy employees Warren Eakins and Steve Sandoz conceived of the idea of Charles Barkley contending Godzilla after Nike revealed that Barkley's face would be featured on a pair of new Nike basketball sneakers. Industrial Light & Magic began production on the commercial after Nike, Wieden + Kennedy, Barkley, and Toho approved the proposal.[1]

It was originally intended for Japanese audiences, but Nike was impressed enough to use it in the United States,[2] where it debuted on September 9, 1992, during the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on MTV.[3] Before the commercial's debut a trailer aired during the 1992 NBA All-Star Game.[4]

The commercial required eight days of filming during the first two weeks in June 1992 and four weeks of editing thereafter.[5] It employs suitmation techniques, which were still being used in the Godzilla films being made by Toho. Clint Goldman of ILM explained, "The idea was that we would show a modern look, but not with total 'ILM realism'. It just wouldn't be true to the subject matter." The Godzilla costume comprised many foam rubber pieces, and puppeteers produced the monster's facial expressions with radio control devices. The crew reconstructed the miniature set used for Ghostbusters II (1989) to resemble Tokyo for Barkley and Godzilla's confrontation.[1] The special effects team used mattes to create the illusion of a larger city.[6]

This commercial was the first television commercial to ever utilize 3D Audio. The Barnaby microphone invented by Jeff Gold of 3D.Audio was used by Jeff Roth of Focused Audio to create a basketball dribbling sound that would jump out of the speakers. [7]

Crew

Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, Portland
Creatives: Warren Eakins and Steve Sandoz
Agency Producer: John Adams
Production Company: Industrial Light & Magic, San Rafael
Director: Michael Owens
Producer: Clint Goldman
Director of Photography: Kim Marks
Head of Creature Department: Jeff Mann
Editor: Bob Sarles
Sound Designer: Jeff Roth at Focused Audio, San Francisco
3D Audio (Barnaby Microphone): 3D.Audio
Sound Mix Engineer: Jay Shilliday at Focused Audio, San Francisco

director	Michael Owens
producer	Clint Goldman
starring	Charles Barkley
cinematography	Kim Marks
editor	Bob Sarles
company	Industrial Light & Magic
released	September 9, 1992
runtime	30 seconds
country	United States
language	English

Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley

Synopsis

Cast

Production

Crew

Comic book adaptation

Bibliography

External links

References