It’s a long tradition. The “cute baby version” of a popular cartoon character. Sometimes it’s junior versions of Fred Flintstone or the Muppets. And sometimes, it’s Scrappy-Doo. But did you know that the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, also had an adorable baby version of himself in his own ’70s cartoon series? He sure did. And his name was Godzooky.
But half of the animated adventures of Godzilla and Godzooky have been unavailable to the public for decades, for unknown reasons. But just announced by Toho, the long-lost second season of Godzilla is coming exclusively to their Godzilla Official YouTube channel, starting on June 6. You can watch the trailer for Godzilla season two right here:
Godzilla premiered in 1978, and was created by Hanna-Barbera, the kings of Saturday morning cartoons in the ’70s and ’80s. In the cartoon, Godzilla was in full “good guy mode,” helping the crew of the Calico, a hydrofoil research ship. Whenever bad kaiju reared their ugly heads out of the water, the Calico crew had a signal with which they could summon Godzilla. And he’d always bring his little nephew along, Godzooky.
Hanna-Barbera never answered who the heck Godzilla’s sibling was that spawned this nephew, figuring kids wouldn’t care where he came from. (Spoiler alert: We DID want to know). Godzooky had little wings and always tried to breathe fire like his Uncle, but they were usually just smoke rings. Honestly, Godzooky kind of got in the way, but we loved him anyway. Who wouldn’t love a baby Godzilla?? Hanna-Barbera knew their audience.
The show ran for two seasons on NBC, with its final episode airing in 1979. It also ran on Tokyo Channel 12 in Japan. Twenty years later, in 1998, there was another Godzilla cartoon show. But that one was tied into the 1998 movie, which had the totally wrong-looking Godzilla. Also, there was no Godzooky, which instantly made the 1978 series superior. Fans will soon be able to binge the original (and best) Godzilla toon in its entirety on June 6.
