A scene from “Godzilla Minus One” ((C) 2023 Toho Co.) LOS ANGELES--“Godzilla Minus One” roared into the record books on March 10 when it won the Academy Award for Visual Effects, marking the first time a Japanese film claimed the Oscar in this category.
Released worldwide last year to almost universal critical acclaim and record-setting box-office returns, Takashi Yamazaki's “Godzilla Minus One” has become the first entry in the venerable 70-year-old Godzilla franchise to win an Academy Award.
Has Godzilla Minus One won the Oscar for best visual effects?
“Godzilla Minus One” already made history at the Oscars on January 23 when it became the first film in the Godzilla franchise's 70 years to be nominated for Best Visual Effects. Now, director Takashi Yamazaki can claim the title of Japan's first ever winner of the Best Visual Effects Oscar.
What was the first Japanese animation to win an Oscar?
The seeds for a second Academy Award win for Miyazaki and Japanese animation in general (the first was for “Spirited Away” in 2003) were first planted years ago.
The movie "Godzilla Minus One," set in the waning days of World War II, won the Oscar for best visual effects, pushing aside such big-budget behemoths as "Guardians of the Galaxy 3," "Napoleon" and "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One."
'Godzilla Minus One' Wins Best Visual Effects | 96th Oscars (2024)
Who did the VFX for Godzilla Minus One?
Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ -1.0 マイナスワン , Gojira Mainasu Wan) is a 2023 Japanese epic kaiju film written, directed, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki.
As of 2023, thirteen Japanese films have been nominees for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and two films, Departures and Drive My Car, have won the award.
The oldest surviving example of Japanese animation, dating back to 1917, Namakura Gatana (Blunt Sword), was made with chalk, and is less than five minutes long. The uncertainty comes from the fact that most early Japanese films were dismantled after the reels were finished.
What was the first Japanese animation to become a hit in the US?
The 1960s – The First Wave
While animated shows had already found some popularity in Japan, the first major hit that made its way to the USA was Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy (known as Mighty Atom in Japan).
It is not so much a good Godzilla movie as it is a good movie that Godzilla happens to be in. It is a fully realized drama about life in Japan after World War II that the legendary beast stomps into (with some striking imagery and set pieces that ought to embarrass Hollywood).
The low production budget of Godzilla Minus One is largely due to lower labor costs in Japan, where wages for artists and filmmakers are kept lower compared to North America. While Godzilla Minus One's low budget is impressive, it may come at the expense of the livelihoods of the artists involved.
Godzilla Minus One was written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who also headed up the film's VFX team, which included Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima. The team is now Japan's first-ever winner of the best visual effects Oscar.
However, despite its remarkable success, the Japanese movie has been unable to reach a broader audience due to its elusive accessibility. This challenge is believed to have stemmed from the intricate arrangement between Toho and Legendary Entertainment, which remains undisclosed.
The kaiju monster movie, which takes place in a postwar Japan that's grappling with devastation and loss, took home the prize for best visual effects, the first Academy Award in the franchise's 70-year history.
There has been a ton of chatter about Godzilla Minus One's $15 million budget, which bucks Hollywood trends by coming in well under nine figures while still having stunning VFX.
Often referred to as the "father" of the Big 3, Dragon Ball, created by Akira Toriyama, paved the way for these series by popularizing the shonen battle genre and setting many of the tropes and conventions that these series would later follow.
The earliest anime that was produced in Japan to have survived into the modern day, The Dull Sword, was released on June 30, 1917, but there it is disputed which title was the first to get that honour.
Osamu Tezuka is known as the father of manga who has inspired even the likes of Hayao Miyazaki who is known for Spirited Away. His work, Astroboy is still one of the best selling manga of all time. The previous generation of authors such as Takao Saito, Takehiko Inoue and Yudetamago are themselves influenced by Tezuka.
At the 2024 Oscars, Godzilla Minus One won the award for Best Visual Effects. “As a person who's born in Japan, the Oscars — anything that's in Hollywood, anything that's in the West — is something that we feel like is just out of reach, unobtainable, and is not something that will happen.
And it wasn't that goofy American Godzilla. The superior Japanese flick “Godzilla: Minus One” got the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The guy who spoke for the team was obviously NOT fluent in English, but he read his speech off a piece of paper, and his enthusiasm was pretty awesome.
When the Academy Awards roll around on March 10, Godzilla will stretch its scaly, reptilian legs down the Oscars red carpet for the first time in the franchise's 70-year history. “Godzilla Minus One,” the 37th film in the film series, is nominated for best visual effects.
It was also nominated for three Asian Film Awards, four Blue Ribbon Awards, four Hōchi Film Awards, six Mainichi Film Awards, and four Seattle Film Critics Society Awards. The film won eight awards (including Best Film) at the Japan Academy Film Prize, becoming the most-awarded film at the 47th annual awards.
Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, it is equal parts reboot and remake and doubles as an early celebration of the franchise's 70th anniversary. Predictably, trailers for Godzilla Minus One circulated ahead of its international release in December have largely focused on the film's CGI-fueled action set pieces.
