Lesson plan

Varan

is a kaiju that first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1958 film Varan the Unbelievable, produced and distributed by Toho. The creature is depicted as a giant, dinosaurian, prehistoric reptile capable of gliding flight. He later appeared in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise. The original concept that would later become Varan was developed by Ken Kuronuma, with the design conceived by special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya, and Keizō Murase, who envisioned the kaiju as being a hybrid of Godzilla and a kappa of Japanese folklore. Suit actor Haruo Nakajima, having already portrayed Godzilla four years prior, was the first suit actor to portray the kaiju in the original 1958 film. Additionally, fellow suit actor Katsumi Tezuka performed some of Varan's water scenes. While relatively obscure compared to most of Toho's kaiju library due to only having a major role in a single film, Varan has nonetheless retained some degree of popularity over the years, being considered for many unrealized film projects and making appearances in non-film media such as comic books and video games.

Back to article

Article summary

is a kaiju that first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1958 film Varan the Unbelievable, produced and distributed by Toho. The creature is depicted as a giant, dinosaurian, prehistoric reptile capable of gliding flight. He later appeared in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise. The original concept that would later become Varan was developed by Ken Kuronuma, with the design conceived by special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya, and Keizō Murase, who envisioned the kaiju as being a hybrid of Godzilla and a kappa of Japanese folklore. Suit actor Haruo Nakajima, having already portrayed Godzilla four years prior, was the first suit actor to portray the kaiju in the original 1958 film. Additionally, fellow suit actor Katsumi Tezuka performed some of Varan's water scenes. While relatively obscure compared to most of Toho's kaiju library due to only having a major role in a single film, Varan has nonetheless retained some degree of popularity over the years, being considered for many unrealized film projects and making appearances in non-film media such as comic books and video games.

Key claims

  1. publication date: 1990-02-10 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. release date: 1962 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the publication date is "1990-02-10". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the release date is "1962". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362782574

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.