Comic-Con celebrates its 50th show Wednesday night and I am very excited about one particular booth and guest.
Back in May, I went up to Marketing Genome’s warehouse in Vista to watch the uncrating of something big. Employee Derrik Andreas Lemke was on hand to uncrate Godzilla.
"That was awesome. That was one of the first things to come in like that something secret, very unique," he said.
Well, it wasn't Godzilla himself, but the suit used to create the giant kaiju for Godzilla 2000.
For the first time ever Toho Co. Ltd. of Japan is having a booth at Comic-Con to showcase its legendary icon. This "Godzilla 2000" suit, worn by Tsutomu Kitagawa, will be one of the props on display for fans to enjoy.
Godzilla came to life on screen in 1954 in part through the genius of suit actor Haruo Nakajima. So to see one of the more recent suits that were actually used in a film is a thrill for a fan like me. I even got to see the buckles and zipper in the suit that allow an actor to be placed inside. When I visited Comic-Con Tuesday press was not yet allowed on the floor to see the booths going up.
"Not even we are allowed to take pictures," Lemke said, and he's helping build the booth."It’s controlled chaos inside, lots of 'no running' being yelled."
This Godzilla 2000 suit will be joined by additional props Wednesday night and even his American counterpart on the dealers’ floor at Comic-Con in Toho's Booth 3535, where a 65-year-old cinema legend is rebranding for a global market. You can even find him on Twitter and Instagram. Apparently, you can teach an old kaiju new tricks.
