GIVE THANKS…AND SCREAM!: GODZILLA, KING KONG, AND A LOST THANKSGIVING MOVIE MARATHON

Wanna hear an adorable Thanksgiving memory? Well, too bad. I’m telling it anyway. 

At a ripe tender age, I stood in front of my living room television set (one of those boxy, square T.V.s, most commonly found in the 90s) watching Godzilla smack the shit out of some other rubber-faced monster. On the commercial break, my parents turned off the TV (despite my protestations), bundled me up, and we made the 5 minute shlep to my grandparents’.  Uninterested in roasting turkey, crisping potatoes, and the wafting fumes of Thanksgiving lasagne, I made my way to a secluded T.V., tuned to the appropriate channel and watched the conclusion of Godzilla’s Turkey Day brawl. 

From then on, I always associated Godzilla movies with Thanksgiving, and I’m not the only one. If you lived in the New York area between 1976 and 1985, chances are you also watched movies on Thanksgiving that featured Godzilla and his American buddies, King Kong and Mighty Joe Young. In 1976, the local New York station, WOR-TV aka Channel 9, broadcast three different monster movies on November 24th: Mighty Joe Young at 1 p.m., King Kong vs. Godzilla at 3 p.m., and Son of Kong at 5 p.m. 

The marathon became an unexpected ratings hit and touched off a yearly tradition in the New York area, both on Thanksgiving and the Day After Thanksgiving. Thereafter, Mighty Joe Young (1949, not the Charlize Theron remake), King Kong (1933), and Son of Kong (1933) were shown every Thanksgiving afternoon (the times they aired and the order in which they were shown fluctuated.) Godzilla and Japanese-made “kaiju” movies got the Day After Thanksgiving. These movies changed every year, with Channel 9 broadcasting the Americanized edits of the Japanese originals.

The Thanksgiving marathon became known as the “Holiday Film Festival” (a tad grandiose considering the movies featured stop-motion gorillas and Japanese guys in rubber lizard suits). Here’s what the schedule looked in 1977, 1978, and 1985.  

Thanksgiving Day November 24, 1977

1 p.m. — Mighty Joe Young 

3 p.m. — King Kong 

5 p.m. — Son of Kong 

The Day After Thanksgiving November 25, 1977 

1 p.m. — King Kong Escapes 

3 p.m. — King Kong vs. Godzilla 

5 p.m. — Godzilla vs The Smog Monster 

Thanksgiving Day November 24, 1978 

12:30 p.m. — Mighty Joe Young 

2:30 p.m. — King Kong 

4:30 p.m. — Son of Kong 

The Day After Thanksgiving November 25, 1978

12:30 p.m. — Son of Godzilla 

1:30 p.m. — Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster 

3 p.m. — Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster 

4:30 p.m. — Godzilla vs. Megalon 

Thanksgiving Day November 24, 1985

1 p.m. — King Kong  

3 p.m. — Mighty Joe Young 

The Day After Thanksgiving November 25, 1985 

1 p.m. — King Kong vs. Godzilla 

3 p.m. — King Kong Escapes 

After Channel 9’s parent company lost the broadcast rights to Mighty Joe Young, King Kong, and Son of Kong, the yearly Thanksgiving marathon on WOR-TV ended in 1985, though some other local stations continued showing these movies until ’89. But I wasn’t born until 1991. So what station did I watch those Godzilla movies on during multiple Thanksgivings? Likely the Sci-Fi Channel, which aired Godzilla films throughout the 1990s. 

That too came to an end. But give some thanks to Blu-rays, DVDs, On Demand, and streaming services. You can watch these classic “Thanksgiving” movies any Thanksgiving you want. Perhaps this year, you might consider inviting Godzilla, Kong, and their big, bulky, rubbery friends over for a post-turkey movie or two. 

-T.Z.