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The Godzilla Power Hour was a 60-minute Saturday morning animated series co-produced between Hanna-Barbera Productions and Toho in 1978 and aired on NBC in the US and TV Tokyo in Japan.
In Japan the series was called "Godzilla: Voyage Chronicles" The series was an animated adaptation of the Japanese Godzilla films produced by Toho. The "Power Hour" aspect of the title consisted of half-hour episodes of Godzilla and Jana of the Jungle (not to be confused with the similarly-named Marvel Comics character Jann of the Jungle). The series continued to air until 1981, for a time airing in its own half-hour timeslot as simply Godzilla, until its cancellation.
The series followed the adventures of a team of scientists on the research vessel (with a hydrofoil mode) called the Calico which was headed by Captain Carl Majors. The rest of the crew included Dr. Quinn Darien (a female scientist), Brock (her African-American assistant and Carl's first mate) and her teenage nephew Pete. Also along for the ride was Godzooky, the nephew of Godzilla and Pete's best friend who had a light-hearted role in the show. He could fly using his small wings under his arms, though his Uncle Godzilla was unable to fly. Whenever he tried to breath fire, he just coughed up smoke and he never seemed to have the ability to shoot laser beams from his eyes. Godzooky was voiced by Don Messick.
The group would often call upon Godzilla by using a special communicator when in peril, such as attacks by other giant monsters. If the communicator was not present (or lost), Godzooky would use a special "howl" to summon him. Godzilla's size in the animated series shifted radically, sometimes within a single episode or even one scene. (For instance, Godzilla's claw will wrap around a large ship, and only minutes later the team of scientists fit rather neatly on Godzilla's palm.) In addition, Godzilla's trademark atomic breath was altered so he breathed simple fire. He could also shoot laser beams from his eyes much like Superman's heat vision.
Hanna-Barbera were unable to use Godzilla's trademark roar so they cast Ted Cassidy to voice the character, similar to his role in the live-action series The Incredible Hulk. In Japan, Godzilla's trademark roar was added and replaced the Ted Cassidy sound effects that Hanna-Barbera used.
The basic formula of a scientific team and research vessel in league with Godzilla investigating strange phenomena was revived in another cartoon, Godzilla: The Series, which was the animated sequel to the 1998 American Godzilla film.
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