the king of kong
king kong deserves the title of
the eighth wonder of the world .
kong count # 9 – king kong (1932) the delos w. lovelace novelization
king kong was one of the first giant monsters to grace the silver screen, with his 1933 dă©but ,
king kong .
the most recent book on the making of the 1933 king kong, which includes the production, exhibition, and distribution of its sequels including the son of kong, king kong versus godzilla, the john guillermin remake of king kong (1976), his king kong escapes (1986), and peter jackson’s remake of 2005 .
additionally, epoch co. released two more lcd games featured king kong in 1982, one titled
king kong: new york
and another called
king kong: jungle .
but i’m here to do just that. see i actually like king kong lives. unashamedly and unironically. after the 1933 original and 1962’s king kong vs godzilla, king kong lives is easily my next favorite kong film. [ 1 ]
king kong was also featured in a number of pinball and pachinko games, including
king kong - the eighth wonder of the world
released by data east in 1990, a tie - in game to the 2005
king kong
called
kong: the 8th wonder of the world
for the game boy advance and a king kong pachinko game released in 2007 by taiyo elec co .
this would eventually lead to the 1986 sequel ,
king kong lives .
the simpsons also paid homage to king kong in 1992' s “treehouse of horror iii” special .
' they paint me as a son of a gun,' billy mitchell says of' king of kong.'
on top of all this, the future of king kong on both television and film looks bright as well .
through the myriad of imitators, rip - offs and wannabes, rko studios released
son of kong
nine months after the first release of
king kong .
first, that king kong was a part of the public domain, and then second, that king kong was not part of the public domain, and that universal possessed exclusive trademark rights in it .
most king kong stories tell of a group of unwitting colonialists who take kong away from skull island. boom studios’ current comic kong of skull island is different: it tells the story of a group of unwitting colonialists who brought kong to skull island in the first place !
but there is another lost japanese king kong film, 1938' s
edo ni arawareta kingu kongu ,
translated as
king kong appears in edo .
according to twin galaxies, wiebe set the top donkey kong score record in spring 2007. his efforts were documented in the film the king of kong .
the donkey kong high score record has been shattered three times this year with steve wiebe recapturing the title from his king of kong rival billy mitchell .
mario of the deep: the titular episode sees king koopa forcing king neptune and the underwater mermushrooms to loot a sunken ship of its horde of gold coins .
combining super tough materials with leather accents, the king kong tote is perfect for women on the go .
in 1966, rankin / bass productions and toho started talking about continuing the king kong film franchise, which would get audiences interested in seeing
the king kong show .
toho was eager to work with the character again, especially since king kong vs. godzilla (1962) was such a huge success. the resulting concept was operation robinson crusoe: king kong vs. ebirah, pitting king kong against a new monster called ebirah. for marquee value, mothra was also attached to the project .
after that, king kong went quiet for a while in the united states, but other parts of the world were still crazy about the eighth wonder of the world, in particular the country that is responsible for king kong' s rebirth - japan .
king kong fly egg 130 - wipping around, bad reception, many wifi spots ...
king kong backpacks are in a class of their own. built on a reputation of uncompromising quality backed by a generation guarantee .
the king kong show
was an animated adaptation of kong' s adventures, as he encounters and befriends the bond family, who eventually take kong around the world and have kong fight many threatening foes, including monsters, aliens and robots. the design of king kong was drawn by jack davis, who would eventually go on to create artwork for
mad
magazine .
beneath the surface of the release of the two toho king kong films continued the constant battle being fought over the legal rights of king kong and who had control over the character - creator merian c. cooper or the studio that produced the first film, rko studios. according to james van hise' s
hot blooded dinosaur movies
( 1993), when cooper found out that rko studios had licensed king kong to toho for king kong vs. godzilla (1962), cooper immediately opposed the project and felt his rights to kong were unassailable. in 1963, cooper filed a lawsuit against john beck and universal studios to prevent the distribution of king kong vs. godzilla (1962) in the united states. during this time, cooper became aware that rko studios had profited off of king kong for years without notifying cooper' s estate, mostly through aurora toy sets of king kong .
in this scholarly and thoughtful article, cashill theorizes about the peter jackson remake and argues that the realism of the cgi dissipates the mythic image of king kong .
in 1986, konami published two kong games based on
king kong lives .
one was called
king kong 2: ikari no megaton punch
and was released only for the famicom, a system only released in japan. the other game was
king kong 2: yomigaeru densetsu ,
for the msx computer, also only released in japan .
after all the legal trouble involving the name and brand of king kong, it had left companies uninterested in making another kong film, fearing another court case they misused the character .
king kong lives
would mark the end of kong in cinema for some time. film studios were afraid of another box office bomb and that audiences had moved on from the character .
the other film that rankin / bass and toho agreed on did remain a king kong film and saw the return of the filmmakers that gave us king kong vs. godzilla (1962), including ishiro honda, tomoyuki tanaka, eiji tsuburaya and akira ifukube. this lead to the 1967 film, king kong escapes. this plan would include incorporating stories and characters from the television show into the new film, in particular kong' s most popular villain from the show, mechani - kong, a giant robot built in the shape of king kong. this also meant bringing in mechani - kong' s inventor, dr. who .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the king of kong: a fistful of quarters near you .
in the summer of 1968, universal pictures released the american version of king kong escapes (1967) on a double bill with a don knotts comedy
the shakiest gun in the west
and opened to mixed reviews, most saying that the special effects were noticeably bad. outside of japan and the united states, king kong escapes (1967) got a decent worldwide release, but under different names in most countries. its original japanese name was
kingu kongu no gyakushu
or
king kong' s counterattack .
other foreign names, according to j. d. lees' godzilla abroad (1996) included
the revenge of king kong ,
the return of king kong
and
king kong on terror island .
the most interesting name came from germany though, which was translated as
king kong: frankenstein' s son .
unfortunately ,
king kong encounter
was destroyed in a massive fire in the universal back lot in 2008 and was unsalvageable. but the ride was later replaced by
king kong: 360 3 - d
in july of 2010 .
their plan is to release a remake of
king kong vs. godzilla
in 2020, with the working title of
godzilla vs. kong .
they wish to
bring together godzilla and legendary' s king kong in an ecosystem of other giant super - species, both classic and new .
this would finally clear the way for the 1976 film
king kong
, now just around the corner from its release .
king kong escapes (1967) takes elements from particular stories of
the king kong show ,
as this new cast interacts with kong similar to the bond family did in the television show. in this case, carl nelson and susan watson befriend kong and get him to fight evil forces, in particular mechani - kong. king kong escapes (1967) also takes several elements from the 1933 film, such as kong fighting a t - rex on the island and performing a similar killing blow. the final battle also takes place at the japanese equivalent of the empire state building, the tokyo tower .
king kong fly egg 130 - wipping around, bad reception, many wifi spots... - youtube
king kong
was released in american theaters on december 17, 1976 by paramount pictures. it was highly anticipated throughout the year, as advertisements built up the film and the now - iconic poster of king kong at the top of the world trade centers was released to public .
john beck approached toho with the idea of
king kong vs. prometheus .
toho was immediately invested in the project, as the studio had been interested in making a king kong film for some time. but toho wanted to draw more people in the theaters than having kong fight a frankenstein monster, and thus decided that it would be far more profitable if the eight wonder of the world fought the king of the monsters .
and with that, we have reached the end of king kong' s current history with film and television. but while there are no other kong films, the future is bright for the eighth wonder of the world .
in 2016 netflix released a new original animated series about king kong, entitled
kong - king of the apes ,
produced by 41 entertainment and avi arad, the ceo and founder of marvel film studios. in these 13 half - hour long episode series, the year is 2050 and king kong is on the run after destroying most of the alcatraz natural history and marine preserve. it is later learned that kong was framed by an evil genius, who intends to use his army of robotic dinosaurs to take over the world, but the only one who can stop him now is king kong .
when it came to the visual effects for
king kong ,
the style of filmmaking had changed drastically since
king kong lives .
now, an entire visual effects team could produce a living breathing king kong through the use of computer generated imagery, or cgi. this method of special effects work allowed for better looking results than using a man in a suit or animatronics, since now king kong could do things that a robot could never do, like jump hundreds of feet into the air on top of a massive t - rex .
my hassle is about king kong. i created the character long before i came to rko and have always believed i retained subsequent picture rights and other rights. i sold to rko the right to make the one original picture king kong and also, later, son of kong, but that was all .
while they had a majority of the rights, they did not own the king kong name and character. the courts ruling noted that the name, title, and character of kong no longer signified a single source of origin. the courts also pointed out that the kong rights were held by three parties :
owns only those rights in the king kong name and character that rko, cooper, or ddl do not own .
... and what better competition for godzilla than his old rival king kong? this would lead to the 2000 animated television show
kong: the animated series .
a combination of marketing and timing led to moderate success for
king kong appears in edo ,
but not with audiences .
not surprisingly the japanese apparently loved king kong lives when it was released there under the title “king kong 2. ” heisei era godzilla artist noriyoshi ohrai created a knock - out poster for the film – though i also quite like the american poster as well complete with its cheesy tagline – and two official video games based on the movie were developed and released only in japan by konami. these were “king kong 2: season of the megaton punch” for the famicom and “king kong 2: revived legend” for the msx. not surprisingly these games pushed the kaiju aspect of kong even further with the famicom game totally discarding the human aspect of the film and instead having players assume the role of king kong as he traverses the globe fighting giant robots in order to save lady kong. now there’s another sequel i’d also like to see !
the men who captured the giant ape king kong return to skull island and find his likewise gigantic but far more friendly son .
shortly after this, richard cooper sold the rights to king kong to universal pictures, outside of book and publishing rights to the character. there was one more instance of king kong legal troubles, involving the creation of the nintendo video game character donkey kong, but the court ultimately ruled that universal was in bad faith for suing nintendo for copyright infringement over their character .
the final result was a fight scene between king kong and a t - rex that took over seven weeks to film .
another guest spot! in addition to his earlier article on king kong novelizations, justin mullis also submitted this radical thesis on the oft - maligned king kong lives. many thanks to justin for the piece! without further ado, let’s get controversial !
erb’s book, revised from her earlier 1998 version, comprehensively details global and national interpretations and analyses of king kong, and includes a section on peter jackson’s king kong. it is indispensable for film studies scholars who want to situate the film within competing discourses .
the fugard theatre’s king kong is directed by jonathan munby who directed the fugard theatre' s production of a human being died that night with noma dumezweni (the only double olivier award - winning southern african actor) amongst many other international productions. following king kong munby directs sir ian mckellen in shakespeare' s king lear for the chichester festival in the uk .
provides the reader with information on the production of king kong and reception of the 1933 film, including animation of willis o’brien. includes reviews, discussions of the writing, interpretations, animation, and an interview with fay wray .
rko studios was not the only company to build off the success of
king kong
in 1933, as shochiku studios in tokyo decided to make their own movie featuring a giant ape ,
wasei kingu kongu ,
translated as
japanese king kong .
shochiku studios landed the job of translating
king kong
into japanese for their audiences, and wanted to create a comedic short to coincide with the release .
i would also argue however that king kong lives is every bit as much a kaiju movie in spirit as the giant claw and that in order to fully appreciate king kong lives and everything is has to offer fans of the genre only need to view it as if it is one. seriously, if you’re a kaiju fan who’s reading this article and who doesn’t like kong kong lives but gives king kong escapes (1967. dir. ishiro honda) a pass ask yourself “why? ” and ask yourself how much more accepting of king kong lives you might be if the movie had been made by toho rather than hollywood? [ 2 ]
when producer dino de laurentiis tried to make a sequel to his 1976 “king kong” remake (which we’ll get to shortly), the result was “king kong lives. ” this movie stumbles with the premise: kong didn’t die from falling off the twin towers. instead, he just got hurt really, really bad .
this british film is more of a parody of “king kong” than a serious contender for best kong movie, but it is worth noting for its gender reversal of the story. instead of a giant male ape after a beautiful young woman, queen kong is about a giant female ape after a handsome young man .
however, the newest revival of king kong did trigger another barrage of legal battles to decide who owned the rights kong. according to ray morton' s king kong: the history of a movie icon (2005), the initial legal battles surrounding the 1976
king kong
and the rights to the character still lingered in the courts. while the three parties of rko, universal and de laurentiis argued back and forth over the matter, colonel richard cooper, son of the deceased merian c. cooper, stepped forward for the cooper estate. shortly after, universal discovered that the copyright of the novelization of the orignal
king kong ,
written by edgar wallace, had expired without renewal. universal then claimed that this made king kong public domain and that they should be able to make a movie based on a public domain story without infringing on anyone' s rights, so long as it stayed within the context of the original story .
the series also spawned two direct - to - dvd movies long after the series had ended, with
kong: king of atlantis
being released in 2005 (which contained three musical numbers), and
kong: return to the jungle
in 2007, where poachers attempt to catch king kong and put him in a zoo .
more than half a century since the first performance in 1959, the fugard theatre’s production of this iconic and historic musical has receivedfive star reviews and rapturous audience responses. king kong tells the story of heavyweight fifties boxing champion ezekiel dlamini whose self - appointed ring name was
king kong
to the wildly exhilarating music of todd matshikiza .
it was toho’s third godzilla movie, and fortunately for the good people of japan, when the two giant monsters meet they decide to brawl rather than joining forces to wipe out the entire human population. since both godzilla and king kong seem to survive the movie, a sequel was inevitable: 1967' s king kong escapes, also helmed by honda. it featured a battle royale between the robotic mechani - kong and the king himself, and was based off the king kong show, an american / japanese animated series that ran for three years on abc .
according to steve archer' s
willis o' brien: special effects genius
( 1993), shortly after
king kong ,
o' brien came up with the concept of king kong fighting a massive version of frankenstein' s monster. it wasn' t until about 1960 that o' brien proposed his idea to rko studios, with sketches of kong and a new frankenstein' s monster fighting in san francisco, dubbing it
king kong meets frankenstein .
there were also several tie - ins to king kong throughout video games, as well as references. konami would reuse the animations and character models from
king kong 2: ikari no megaton punch
and
king kong 2: yomigaeru denesetsu
in a crossover game they published in 1988 called
konami wai wai world ,
which was only released in japan .
taking place directly after the events of the last film, king kong survived his fall from the top of the world trade centers and was put into a coma for ten years. he was monitored by dr. amy franklin (linda hamilton), who gave kong an artificial heart to survive. however, kong loses so much blood during the surgery that dr. franklin fears kong will die, until explorer hank mitchell (brian kerwin) arrives with a captured giant female gorilla, dubbed
lady kong .
the blood transfusion is successful and king kong awakens, only to grab lady kong and escape the complex .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing king kong (2005) near you .
the success of these monster movies throughout the 1940s and 1950s would bring about the next time king kong would emerge, as an idea conceived by willis o' brien .
additionally, a new king kong film is in the works and is set to be released in 2017, entitled
kong: skull island .
the film will be a joint production between warner brothers and legendary pictures and is set to reboot the kong franchise .
a 1962 film which has godzilla clash with king kong. it was the third godzilla film and remains the greatest box - office hit in the series .
affirming that the king kong novelization and serialization were indeed in the public domain, and universal studios could make its movie as long as it did not infringe on the original elements of the 1933 rko film, which had not yet passed into public domain. universal postponed their plans to film a king kong movie, called the legend of king kong, for at least 18 months, after cutting a deal with dino de laurentiis that included a percentage of box office profits from his remake .
a pharmaceutical company captures king kong and brings him to japan, where he escapes from captivity and battles a recently released godzilla .
finally, the biggest example of a king kong video game came in the form of a tie - in to the 2005 film. released by ubisoft in 2005, they gave us
peter jackson' s king kong: the official game of the movie
for the xbox 360. this was the first game ubisoft released for the xbox 360 and was nominated for video game of the year at the spike tv awards that year .
cooper later said ,
my hassle is about king kong. i created the character long before i came to rko and have always believed i retained subsequent picture rights and other rights. i sold to rko the right to make one original picture' king kong' and also, later,' son of kong,' but that was all .
the ride combines practical effects, such as large tanks of air to simulate kong' s breath, and computer generated effects that show kong battling dinosaurs. the ride is patterend mostly off of the 2005 film, with a similar design to skull island and kong between the film and this ride .
skull island: reign of kong
uses many of the same technics as one of universal' s other big attractions
harry potter and the forbidden journey ,
where the riders are put in front of a large protector and move with the actions, in this case the movements of king kong .
king kong has had quite the run of animated renderings ever since, including a recent appearance in the lego batman movie. other kid - friendly cartoon kongs: 1998 musical the mighty kong, which has the voices of dudley moore and the little mermaid ’s jodi benson; kong: the animated series, which spawned a few straight - to - dvd movies and aired on fox kids in the early 2000s; and current netflix series kong: king of the apes, which is set in the year 2050 and features evil robotic dinosaurs .
the key example of this film changing something from the 1933 film was that, at the end of the movie, rather than climbing the iconic empire state building, king kong now climbs to the top of one of the world trade center towers, which were taller than the empire state building .
urltoken - king of kong: a fistful of quarters is a great documentary / film charting the itense rivalries of classic arcade record high score holders. it focuses in particular on billy mitchell & steve wiebe .
king kong has continued to survive through his many theme park attractions at several universal studios parks, including ones in hollywood and orlando .
so, where does king kong fit into all of this? magonojyou has a pet ape that he used to kidnap chinami, and the pet' s name is
king kong .
in fact, this pet ape looks more like a yeti than an ape, according to film historians .
the first of these attractions opened at universal studios hollywood in july of 1986, months before
king kong lives
hit theaters. this ride, pictured above, was part of the theme park' s famous studio tour. it involved the tram being confronted by king kong on the brooklyn bridge. called
king kong enounter ,
the ride used a massive animatronic kong, built by disney imagineer bob gurr. universal, however, was looking to expand its theme park footprint and to continue to challenge disney. this resulted in the opening of universal studios florida in june of 1990. one of the rides the park opened with was called
kongfrontation
.
kong caged: lovelace describes kong as being shackled to the floor inside a large cage when he is presented to the public as part of denham’s show, as oppose to the now iconic crucifixion pose from the 1933 film. both the 1968 comic adaptation and dino de laurentiis and john guillermin’s 1976 king kong remake share the cage imagery .
one of those upcoming monsterverse flicks is the rematch, if not the remake, that we’ve been waiting for since 1962, when ishiro honda’s king kong vs. godzilla debuted .
the fourth film in the new monsterverse cinematic universe that began with 2014’s godzilla is also essentially a remake of 1962’s king kong vs. godzilla. opens may 29, 2020 .
ah, the power of it. ah, the superpower! hail to the power! hail to the power of kong! and petrox !
these masks were composed of a plastic skull over which were placed artificial muscle groups activated by rambaldi' s cables which entered the costume through the feet of the kong model, with a latex skin over the top of the plastic skull. these masks used hydraulics to move, which required a team of operators working off - set with control boards. finally, baker put contact lenses over the eyes of the masks so kong would resemble a gorilla. baker wore the king kong suit and performed as kong throughout most of the film .
but the most difficult part of filming
king kong
was combining the live action sequences with the stop motion scenes, while making it seem like the actors were in the same place as these monsters .
so why did they make a king kong film five years after the films initial release? part of it was most likely due to
king kong
being rereleased in japanese theaters in 1938, and zensho cinema wanted to make their own film that would build off the success of this release simply by claiming their ape was giant .
the battle for king kong and its resolution made headlines. many ran articles in february of 1976 quoting universal president sid sheinberg, such as the anderson herald, as he stated :
our agreement permits mr. de laurentiis to make the best possible film, and permits universal to select the best possible approaches to its king kong venture. universal intends to produce and release a king kong film under optimum production and distribution conditions, subsequent to the de laurentiis film release .
the king kong suit, however, had a more difficult time being accepted, especially by tsuburaya, according to donald f. glut' s
classic movie monsters
( 1978). he rejected the first suit sent his way for the legs being too long and kong being far too fat. several other designs were used before the final concept was created for kong, though the end result was the birth of the largest king kong to this date at 147 feet tall in the movie .
due to the success of
king kong ,
rko studios wanted to capitalize on its success immediately, and thus green - lite a sequel as soon as possible .
the world of donkey kong competition is one of the most intriguing in retro gaming, so if you want a bit of insight into the original kong off last year, check out our interview with tournament host richie knucklez .
however, less than a month after his ruling, judge manuel real made a subsequent ruling, stating that all the rights in the name, character and story of king kong (outside of the 1933 film and
son of kong
) belonged to the cooper estate. this would become known as the
cooper judgment
and was a massive victory for richard cooper, as it proved what merian c. cooper had said for years about king kong .
the film was titled king kong vs. godzilla (1962) because, at the time filming began, king kong was more popular in japan than godzilla, so it made sense to give him top - billing. also, given that godzilla was considered a villain at this point in time, it was also decided that king kong would triumph over godzilla, but leave enough ambiguity to suggest that godzilla is still alive for future films .
but what truly stands out about king kong is that he has such a powerful legacy that has lasted this long. the first
king kong
came out 83 years ago, when talking pictures were still perfecting their craft and charlie chaplin' s character of the tramp was the most recognizable image in the world. yet, here we are in the age of computer generated imagery that can bring anything we can image to life, and we still want to see king kong duke it out with godzilla. that is the definition of a classic .
rather than wait for any legal battle to settle, de laurentiis rushed into making his king kong film instead. pouring millions into the budget, and spurring up advanced advertisements, de laurentiis made his project known to the public. faced with lengthy legals battles and the prospect of launching a king kong film immediately after paramount pictures already did, universal canceled their project under a mutual agreement with de laurentiis for a percentage of the profits from the paramount pictures film and the rights to make a king kong movie at a later date .
there were 25 episodes of
the king kong show
before it was cancelled in 1969, but it was successful enough that rankin / bass felt they could extend the kong franchise further by reaching out to an old friend: toho ...
lakeman was not the only player in the hunt for the donkey kong record in recent times .
the switch from king kong to godzilla is quite clear in ebirah, horror of the deep (1966), as godzilla performs many actions throughout the film that are uncharacteristic for him, but common place for kong, such as godzilla gaining strength from electricity (a power kong had in 1962' s king kong vs. godzilla), protecting the native girl from another monster, and throwing rocks at the titular ebirah, a giant lobster, rather than using his signature atomic breath .
king kong has also faced his share of down sides, in particular the constant legal battle over the brand and who owned him - merian c. cooper, rko studios or the public. in a way, the court case might have hurt kong in the long run, because it deterred other companies from wanting to do anything with king kong, or else they might get into more legal trouble at points in history .
cooper plainly did not obtain any trademark rights in his judgment against rko, since the california district court specifically found that king kong had no secondary meaning .
according to
chronology of zensho films (in japanese )
( 2002), the film was released by zensho cinema as a two - part drama about the giant kong kong appearing in japan' s edo period, often depicted as a feudal period filled with samurais. posters of
king kong appears in edo
show kong grasping the damsel in this film, chinami, in the palm of his hand and swatting the men trying to rescue her .
when tsuburaya heard that toho wanted him to do the special effects for a king kong film, he dropped every project he had worked on to support this film. tsuburaya had been a massive fan of the special effects used in
king kong
since he was a kid and considered it an honor to work on this film .
since hollywood has always known the importance of cashing in on one’s hot property, an insta - sequel followed: 1933' s son of kong, helmed by cooper’s king kong co - director ernest b. schoedsack. in son of kong, denham (armstrong again) returns to skull island on a treasure hunt and meets “little kong”—a smaller, much jollier, ultimately way less compelling version of his father. box office success did not repeat .
richard cooper filed a cross - claim towards rko, saying that while the novelization rights had not been renewed, the cooper estate still had control over the plot and story of
king kong .
king kong is brought in by an evil ruler to dig for precious gems in a mine when the robot mechakong is unable to do the task. this leads to the machine and the real kong engaging in a tremendous battle that threatens to level japan .
the 1932 film shares much with king kong, though its lack of a monster (unless man is the true monster ?) made me hesitate to include it here at first. however, it’s worth noting because it’s an underrated and influential classic (films from hard target to zodiac to predator draw inspiration), and because of its ties to the king kong production .
on may 6, 2015, universal also announced that they were working on a new king kong attraction, that would be known as
skull island: reign of kong
that would open in the summer of 2016 in their islands of adventure in the orlando theme park. the ride has had a few soft openings for advanced crowds, and the ride is similar to
king kong: 360 3 - d ,
as you are transported on a small truck through skull island, along with a group of cave explorers, where you encounter and are chased by dinosaurs, only to come face - to - face with king kong .
both legendary pictures and warner brothers are prepared to sign on to do more king kong films in the future if
kong: skull island
does well financially, but have already taken a large step towards something bigger .
the family that befriends kong has three principal members, professor bond, the father of the family, the teenage daughter susan bond, and little bobby bond that kong saves from a t - rex in the first episode. there is also the returning character of captain englehorn from the 1933 film, who transports kong and the bond family around the world. the bond family also has the reoccurring villain of dr. who (not the british one), a mad scientist bent on conquering the world and intends to use king kong to reach his goals .
even if you' ve never so much as eaten a single ghost in a game of ms. pac - man, king of kong is still a remarkable (and remarkably hilarious) film .
since then, universal has largely owned the rights towards king kong. while rko studios still owned the rights towards the first two films, dino de laurentiis owned the rights of his kong films (although de laurentiis eventually sold those rights to studio canal), and the cooper estate owning the book and publishing rights, universal was allowed to do as they pleased with the character. this led to king kong becoming a major attraction at universal' s theme parks .
to cut costs, o' brien reused as many old animatronics and miniature sets that he could salvage, in particular from both
king kong
and
creation
including an aluminum frame - work for king kong that would be used for little kong and many of the same monsters. o' brien was also forced to cut corners on the stop motion animation to give these scenes a more cartoonish feel .
this court case kept filmmakers from pursuing more films starring king kong for some years. it wasn' t until 1975 that interest in a new kong film would appear... only to cause another legal battle .
for king kong: our furry friend has left quite the legacy throughout film and television. one that has always been on the pioneering edge of special effects, whether that was stop motion animation in the 1930s, large - scale monster battles in the 1960s, massive animatronics in the 1970s or paving the way for motion capture in the 2000s, king kong has helped to aid the next step in movie effects .
as for king kong, his popularity was once again growing and american studios were fascinated with bringing him back to american audiences. but since the last time kong was made in the states, a new form of media had become just as popular as the cinema - television .
for international releases, rankin / bass were in charge of the dubbing process for king kong escapes (1967), but universal still retained the rights to king kong, so they would release the film in the united states. rankin / bass decided to have different voice actors dub over the lead roles for the american release of king kong escapes (1967), with veteran voice actor paul frees handle most of the male roles, including dr. who. rhodes reason got to re - dub over his lines, but rankin / bass decided to not have linda miller re - dub her lines .
after rko sent cooper many ideas for titles for the film, including
kong: jungle beast
and
kong: the jungle king .
eventually, cooper and ruth rose simply referred to the film as
kong .
selznick approached cooper about this, saying that with a one - word title like that, audiences might get the film confused with docudrama' s at the time like
grass
and
chang ,
both films cooper had produced earlier in his career. this caused cooper to add the word
king
to the title, leading us to the now famous title of
king kong .
television the king kong show (1966). in this cartoon series, the giant gorilla befriends the bond family, with whom he goes on various adventures, fighting monsters, robots, mad scientists and other threats. produced by rankin / bass, the animation was provided in japan by toei animation, making this the very first anime series to be commissioned right out of japan by an american company. this was also the cartoon that resulted in the production of toho' s godzilla vs. the sea monster (originally planned as a kong film) and king kong escapes. kong: the animated series (2001). an animated production set many decades after the events of the original film .
kong
is cloned by a female scientist. this show, coming a few years after the release of centropolis' godzilla: the series repeated at least two of the monsters (although with vastly different backgrounds) seen in the godzilla series. a direct - to - dvd movie called kong: king of atlantis, based on the 2001 series, was released to try and cash in on the 2005 movie. both the series and the movie were then included in toon disney' s
jetix
group for a time, also to take advantage of the 2005 movie' s release. a year later, a follow up direct - to - dvd film was released called kong: return to the jungle. the king kong suit from king kong escapes appeared on ike! greenman episode 38 called greenman vs gorilla. due to copyright reasons king kong' s name was changed to gorilla .
this turn of events led to two parties approaching rko to get the rights to make a new king kong film. on one side was de laurentiis and the other universal, each approaching rko with a $ 200, 000 licensing fee but with different percentages on the earnings (3% from paramount pictures, 5% from universal) according to
king kong: the history of a movie icon
( 2005). paramount ended up signing a contract while universal claims they had a verbal agreement to the same effect. around this time, both finally discovered that two king kong films were being made ,
king kong
at paramount pictures and
the legend of king kong
at universal. both unhappy with this turn of events, a court battle ensued. universal struck first and sought $ 25 million in damages from both de laurentiis and rko. de laurentiis counter - sued for $ 90 million in damages on the grounds of copyright infringement .
a crew of explorers and filmmakers set out to investigate the myths of the legendary creature king kong. traveling to skull island, they discover a land unaffected by time as kong lives with dinosaurs that have been hidden and protected from man for centuries. as the crew struggles to survive on the treacherous island, they eventually capture kong through his fascination with a beautiful woman. taken back to new york, it may only be a matter of time before kong escapes his confines .
“the original production of king kong united audiences of all races – at the height of apartheid - and was a celebration of south african talent, ”says daniel galloway the executive director of the fugard theatre. “we have been delighted to see that audiences from all walks of life and across several generations have enjoyed the 2017 production which is itself a celebration of our outstanding local talent. ”
as for the special effects involved in
king kong ,
special effects developer rick baker and creature designer carlo rambaldi took a cue from films like
jaws
and decided to bring kong to life using large - scale animatronics .
there has also been at least one children’s book adaptation of the original king kong. first published in 1983 and then again in 1988 by random house this version was based on the lovelace novelization but rewritten for children by judith conaway with accompanying illustrations by michael berenstain. conaway was not the last to rewrite lovelace’s prose however. in 2005 writers joe devito and brad strickland also rewrote lovelace’s 1932 novelization and published it under the title merian c. cooper’s king kong: a novel. the point of this was apparently to improve upon lovelace’s original as well as to bring the novelization into the same narrative continuity as devito and strickland’s own original prequel kong novel kong: king of skull island .
according to august ragone
eiji tsuburaya: master of monsters ,
( 2007), the result was a black - and - white silent comedic short that used
king kong
as a backdrop to its story, as the main character dresses up in an ape costume in trying to woo his girlfriend and plays king kong for a vaudeville theater .
denham, who? : actor robert armstrong played movie mogul carl denham in the 1933 film, but in lovelace’s 1932 novelization the character is just called denham with no first name. this is one of the surest signs that you’re dealing with a kong adaptation that is using the novel as its basis and includes both the 1968 and 1991 king kong comic adaptations and 1998’s the mighty kong .
massive mechanical arms would be built by baker and rambaldi also, used to fit jessica lange in the palm of kong' s arm. like the masks used for kong' s face and the giant mechanical kong, the arms used hydraulics, and required another large team of operators to handle its movement .
but kong would be saved in the form of a new challenger, in an entirely different setting and vastly different period of filmmaking .
then we have the video games that tied into the
kong: the animated series
television show. in 2002, bam! entertainment released a tie - in for the game boy advance, while mga entertainment released another in 2003 for their own electronic handheld that also came with a small figurine of king kong. also, majesco games released a tie - in to the straight - to - video animated film
kong: king of atlantis
in 2005 for the game boy advanced by the same title .
in the original script, the gorilla is named
kong
. the film was then entitled the eighth wonder and press booklets were sent off to thousands of movie theaters in 1932 to excite the theatre owners into placing
the eighth wonder
onto their advertisements. the
king
was added to the title by studio publicists. apart from the opening titles, the only time the name
king kong
appears in the picture is on the marquee above the theater where kong is being exhibited, and the marquee was in fact added to the scene as an optical composite after the live footage of the theater entrance had been shot. however, denham does refer to kong in his speech as
a king and a god in the world he knew .
the giant gate used in the 1933 movie was burned along with other old studio sets for the burning of atlanta scene in gone with the wind. the gate was originally constructed for the 1927 biblical epic the king of kings. it can also be seen in the bela lugosi serial the return of chandu.
the king of kong : a fistful of quarters is a 2007 american documentary film . highlighting the popular 1981 arcade game donkey kong , it follows steve wiebe in his attempts to take the world high score for the arcade game from billy mitchell , whom the film presents as reigning champion . the film premiered january 22 , 2007 , at the 2007 slamdance film festival and has been shown at the newport beach film festival , the seattle international film festival , the sxsw film festival , the tribeca film festival , the true/false film festival , the aspen comedy festival , and the fantasia festival . the film opened in limited release in the united states on august 17 , 2007 in five theaters , and by september 9 , 2007 , the film had expanded to 39 theaters in the u.s. the film 's original title was simply the king of kong but later received the subtitle a fistful of quarters . a scripted film adaptation is also in the works . director seth gordon has said that the movie might be a sequel instead of a remake , telling the story of how the documentary changed both men 's lives , as well as their continuing rivalry . the film 's dvd release was on january 29 , 2008 . ed cunningham and seth gordon shot more than 300 hours of film to make the documentary . the film was dedicated to the memory of doris self , who appeared in the film but died before its release . 
the king of kong: a fistful of quarters is a 2007 american documentary film. highlighting the popular 1981 arcade game donkey kong, it follows steve wiebe in his attempts to take the world high score for the arcade game from billy mitchell, whom the film presents as reigning champion. the film premiered january 22, 2007, at the 2007 slamdance film festival and has been shown at the newport beach film festival, the seattle international film festival, the sxsw film festival, the tribeca film festival, the true/false film festival, the aspen comedy festival, and the fantasia festival. the film opened in limited release in the united states on august 17, 2007 in five theaters, and by september 9, 2007, the film had expanded to 39 theaters in the u.s. the film's original title was simply the king of kong but later received the subtitle a fistful of quarters. a scripted film adaptation is also in the works. director seth gordon has said that the movie might be a sequel instead of a remake, telling the story of how the documentary changed both men's lives, as well as their continuing rivalry. the film's dvd release was on january 29, 2008. ed cunningham and seth gordon shot more than 300 hours of film to make the documentary. the film was dedicated to the memory of doris self, who appeared in the film but died before its release.
the king of kong: a fistful of quarters is a 2007 american documentary film. highlighting the popular 1981 arcade game donkey kong, it follows steve wiebe in his attempts to take the world high score for the arcade game from billy mitchell, whom the film presents as reigning champion. the film premiered january 22, 2007, at the 2007 slamdance film festival and has been shown at the newport beach film festival, the seattle international film festival, the sxsw film festival, the tribeca film festival, the true/false film festival, the aspen comedy festival, and the fantasia festival. the film opened in limited release in the united states on august 17, 2007 in five theaters, and by september 9, 2007, the film had expanded to 39 theaters in the u.s. the film's original title was simply the king of kong but later received the subtitle a fistful of quarters. a scripted film adaptation is also in the works. director seth gordon has said that the movie might be a sequel instead of a remake, telling the story of how the documentary changed both men's lives, as well as their continuing rivalry. the film's dvd release was on january 29, 2008. ed cunningham and seth gordon shot more than 300 hours of film to make the documentary. the film was dedicated to the memory of doris self, who appeared in the film but died before its release.