In 2025, Rusteen Honardoost traveled the country to screen his Kaiju short film “Kaiju Kid.” The film was featured at Shorts Mexico, Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Film Festival, San Diego Comic-Con International Film Festival (where it won Best Comics-Oriented Film), and SD Kids Film Festival where it won Best Animated Short. The film also got a special screening at G-FEST XXX, with Mr. Honardoost attending the convention as well. Needless to say, the brisk eight minute kaiju film really made the rounds last year, and now it’s finally releasing online!
To summarize the basic concept of the story, a sibling rivalry takes a turn and leads into an enormous kaiju rampage! The film blends stop motion and live-action together to give the film a really special feeling, although the stop motion scenes and live-action scenes don’t ever cross over. It’s a simple pitch and full of heart, so how well did it come out?
First, let’s talk about the story. Like I said, it’s pretty simple. A young boy trashes his sister’s doll house as he plays kaiju a little too rough, causing a rift between him and his sister. What really stands out is how this really feels like a situation many young kaiju fans (myself included) found themselves in! Kaiju media doesn’t make people violent, but when it’s the only form of release someone has, it can get a little dicey, especially if they don’t respect the people around them. The story moves forward and we see the boy’s room absolutely decked out in Kaiju merch and drawings, and eventually he gets trapped. In a moment of weakness, he escapes to his mind where he becomes his favorite kaiju toy!
From here the story is monster goodness, as he experiments with his new form and does anything you’d imagine a kid would in that situation: Using a train as nunchucks, eating a giant cookie on top of a cookie factory, and even getting the chance to roller skate with diecast cars! This sequence is very wonderful and the animation is absolutely stellar; the way cars crumple and birds fry from atomic breath is really well done. Everything in this short is done by hand, even the digital effects (Like the monster’s beam attack, how could you have a Godzilla homage without it?) are completely hand drawn! This is clearly a film made by Godzilla fans for Godzilla fans, and I think it’s a treat. The music emulates the Shōwa era of Godzilla beautifully, feeling like a nostalgic blast to my childhood days of watching the classic films. The story also has a very satisfying and cute ending; it’s the best case scenario for the story being told.
One of the highlights in this film is how director Rusteen Honardoost sets a scene. The exploration of the titular Kaiju Kid’s bedroom is beautifully shot, really diving into the mind of a young Godzilla fan. Honardoost continues this style of scene setting and placements when the Kaiju itself is introduced, setting up characters, sense of scale, and set pieces within the first thirty seconds of the sequence. The opening and ending of the film also mirror each other, setting the stage the exact same way but with different payoffs. The movie is well-realized and put together in a really compelling way.
Kaiju media is easily my favorite genre, and I really love supporting independent fans making truly special art within it. This is a very competent and well-made short, offering something for everyone without the huge time sink a show like Ultraman might contain. This is eight minutes of pure charm and love; I think any kaiju fan should take the time to view it! Movies like this show the passion this fandom and community has in creating art that speaks to all of us. “Kaiju Kid” is a wonderful film full of easter eggs and an expert craftsmanship that is showcased in volumes. The kaiju genre is more vast now than it ever has been, and “Kaiju Kid” is another member worthy of the genre’s historic and everlasting legacy.
