Above, Johnny Grant is Master of Ceremonies at Godzilla's induction.Godzilla's Walk of Fame Induction: Five Years Ago!
Text and Photos by Armand Vaquer
It is a little mind-boggling that it was five years ago this month that we congregated to Hollywood, California for Godzilla's induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and attended the ceremony for the unveiling of his star.
Above, Godzilla blasts the assembled press covering the ceremony.The late Honorary Mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant, led the festivities which included an address to the throngs by Toho Executive Producer Shogo Tomiyama. There was a lot of levity in the proceedings as Grant botched the names of different Toho kaiju while reading the history of Godzilla speech (that I prepared for him).
It was a busy weekend. Besides the Walk of Fame ceremony, the premiere of Godzilla Final Wars took place at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Godzilla's star is located in front of the theater. And, the night before the star ceremony, Godzilla appeared as a float in the Hollywood Christmas Parade.
Above, Godzilla gets his star.In a way, this also marks the mid-way point for Godzilla's imposed 10-year retirement by Toho. Unless Toho changes its mind, we've another five years to go before Godzilla returns to the big screen.
It was a fun weekend for those who attended.
1 comment:
Armand - I was there, too, and yes, it's hard to believe it has already been 5 years. All I know is I got to do two of my boyhood dreams the night of the premiere. #1 was see a worldwide Godzilla movie premiere, and #2 was to meet one of my top 3 music idols, the members of the progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer (who you know did the music for Final Wars, and whose quality I won't debate here, lol).
Looking forward to Toho's next incarnation, as I'm sure you are as well.
Cheers, Mario
(formerly of "Mario's Godzilla Page" website)
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