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[[Image:Img kingkong1.jpg|thumb|right|275px|The original [[stop-motion]] animated King Kong from the 1933 movie, battling an airplane on top of the [[Empire State Building]].]]
[[Image:Img kingkong1.jpg|thumb|right|275px|The original [[stop-motion]] animated King Kong from the 1933 movie, battling an airplane on top of the [[Empire State Building]].]]


'''King Kong''' sandeeps mum name of a fictional giant gorilla from the fictional [[Skull Island]], who has appeared in several works since 1933. These include the groundbreaking [[King Kong (1933 film)|1933 film]], the film [[remakes]] of [[King Kong (1976 film)|1976]] and [[King Kong (2005 film)|2005]], and numerous [[sequel]]s. His role in the different narratives varies from source to source, ranging from rampaging [[monster]] to tragic [[antihero]]. The rights to the character are currently held by [[Universal Studios]], with limited rights held by the estate of [[Merian C. Cooper]], and perhaps certain rights in the [[public domain]] ([[King Kong#Character Rights|see below]]).
'''King Kong''' sandeeps mum is a fat ugly hairy smelly fat ape name of a fictional giant gorilla from the fictional [[Skull Island]], who has appeared in several works since 1933. These include the groundbreaking [[King Kong (1933 film)|1933 film]], the film [[remakes]] of [[King Kong (1976 film)|1976]] and [[King Kong (2005 film)|2005]], and numerous [[sequel]]s. His role in the different narratives varies from source to source, ranging from rampaging [[monster]] to tragic [[antihero]]. The rights to the character are currently held by [[Universal Studios]], with limited rights held by the estate of [[Merian C. Cooper]], and perhaps certain rights in the [[public domain]] ([[King Kong#Character Rights|see below]]).


==Overview==
==Overview==

Revision as of 16:37, 29 April 2009

For other uses, see King Kong (disambiguation).
File:Img kingkong1.jpg
The original stop-motion animated King Kong from the 1933 movie, battling an airplane on top of the Empire State Building.

King Kong sandeeps mum is a fat ugly hairy smelly fat ape name of a fictional giant gorilla from the fictional Skull Island, who has appeared in several works since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 film, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, and numerous sequels. His role in the different narratives varies from source to source, ranging from rampaging monster to tragic antihero. The rights to the character are currently held by Universal Studios, with limited rights held by the estate of Merian C. Cooper, and perhaps certain rights in the public domain (see below).

Overview

In the original film, the character's name is Kong -- a name given to him by the inhabitants of "Skull Island" in the Indian Ocean, where Kong lived along with other over-sized animals such as a plesiosaur, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs ("Kong" is actually the Danish and Norwegian word for "King", the cognate of the English word; there is no clear evidence on whether or not this was known to the filmmakers or influenced them). "King" is an appellation added by an American film crew led by Carl Denham, who captures Kong and takes him to New York City to be exhibited as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Kong escapes and climbs the Empire State Building (the World Trade Center in the 1976 remake) where he is shot and killed by aircraft. Nevertheless, as Carl comments, "it was beauty killed the beast", for he climbed the building in the first place only in an attempt to protect Ann Darrow, an actress originally offered up to Kong as a sacrifice. (In the 1976 remake the equivalent character is named Dwan.)

A mockumentary about Skull Island on the DVD for the 2005 remake (but originally seen on the Sci-Fi Channel at the time of its theatrical release) gives Kong's scientific name as Megaprimatus kong, and states that his species may have evolved from Gigantopithecus.

The King Kong character was conceived and created by US filmmaker Merian C. Cooper.

Filmography

  • King Kong (1933). The original, classic film, is remembered for its pioneering special effects using stop motion models, animatronics (the term is applied in retrospect) and evocative story.
  • Son of Kong (1933). A sequel released the same year, it concerns a return expedition to Skull Island that discovers Kong's son. The critics' response to the film was generally mixed, but it was successful.
  • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). A film produced by Toho Studios in Japan, it brought the titular characters to life (the first time for either character to be in a film in color) via the process of suitmation. The Toho version of Kong is at least five times the size of the one in the original film. This is more than likely because of a significant difference in size between the 1933 King Kong and Godzilla (and, for that matter, all of the company's giant monsters), with Kong automatically rescaled to fit Toho's existing miniature sets.
  • King Kong Escapes (1967). Another Toho film (co-produced with Rankin/Bass) in which Kong faces both a mechanical double, dubbed Mechani-Kong, and a giant theropod dinosaur known as Gorosaurus (who would appear in Toho's Destroy All Monsters the next year). This movie was loosely based on the contemporaneous cartoon television program, as indicated by the use of its recurring villain, Dr. Who/Dr. Huu, in the same capacity, the Mechani-Kong as an enemy, Mondo Island as Kong's home and a female character named Susan.
  • King Kong (1976). An updated remake by film producer Dino De Laurentiis, released by Paramount Pictures, and director John Guillermin. Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin starred. The film received mixed reviews, but it was a commercial success, and its reputation has improved over the last few years. Co-winner of an Oscar for special effects (shared with Logan's Run).
  • King Kong Lives (1986). Released by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG). Starring Linda Hamilton, a sequel by the same producer and director as the 1976 film which involves Kong surviving his fall from the sky and requiring a coronary operation. It includes a female member of Kong's species, who, after supplying a blood transfusion that enables the life-saving surgery, escapes and mates with Kong, becoming pregnant with his offspring. Trashed by critics, this was a box-office failure.
File:Beau-ti-ful.jpg
King Kong and Naomi Watts in the 2005 remake

The literary tradition of a remote and isolated jungle populated by natives and prehistoric animals was rooted in the Lost World genre, specifically Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World, which was itself made into a silent film of that title in 1925 that Doyle lived long enough to see. The special effects of that film were created by Willis O'Brien, who went on to do those for the 1933 King Kong. Another important book in that literary genre is Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 novel The Land That Time Forgot.

A novelization of the original King Kong film was published in December 1932 as part of the film's advance marketing. The novel was credited to Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper, although it was in fact written by Delos W. Lovelace. Apparently, however, Cooper was the key creative influence, saying that he got the initial idea after he had a dream that a giant gorilla was terrorizing New York City. In an interview, comic book author Joe DeVito explains:

"From what I know, Edgar Wallace, a famous writer of the time, died very early in the process. Little if anything of his ever appeared in the final story, but his name was retained for its saleability ... King Kong was Cooper's creation, a fantasy manifestation of his real life adventures. As many have mentioned before, Cooper was Carl Denham. His actual exploits rival anything Indiana Jones ever did in the movies."[1]

This conclusion about Wallace's contribution agrees with The Making of King Kong, by Orville Goldner and George E. Turner (1975). Wallace died of pneumonia complicated by diabetes on February 10, 1932, and Cooper later said, "Actually, Edgar Wallace didn't write any of Kong, not one bloody word...I'd promised him credit and so I gave it to him" (p. 59).

In the October 28, 1933 issue of Cinema Weekly, the short story "King Kong" by Edgar Wallace and Draycott Montagu Dell (1888-1940) was published. The short story appears in Peter Haining's Movie Monsters (1988) published by Severn House in the UK. Dell was a journalist and wrote books for children, such as the 1934 story and puzzle book Stand and Deliver. He was a co-worker and close friend of Edgar Wallace.

Several differences exist in the novel from the completed film, as it reflects an earlier draft of the script that became the final shooting script. The novelization includes scenes from the screenplay that were cut from the completed movie, or were never shot altogether. These include the spider pit sequence, as well as a Styracosaurus attack, and Kong battling three Triceratops. It also does not feature the character of Charlie, the ship's Chinese cook, but instead a different one named Lumpy, subsequently used in both the 1991 comic book version and the 2005 big-screen remake.

The original publisher was Grosset & Dunlap. Paperback editions by Bantam (U.S.) and Corgi (UK) came out in the 1960s, and it has since been republished by Penguin and Random House.

In 1933, Mystery Magazine published a King Kong serial under the byline of Walter F. Ripperger. This is unrelated to the 1932 novel.

Over the decades, there have been numerous comic book adaptations of the 1933 King Kong by various comic-book publishers, and one of the 2005 remake by Dark Horse Comics.

Kong: King of Skull Island, an illustrated novel labeled as an authorized sequel to King Kong (1933), was published in 2004 by DH Press, a subsidiary of Dark Horse Comics. A large-paperback edition was released in 2005. Authorized by the family and estate of Merian C. Cooper, the book was created & illustrated by Joe DeVito, written by Brad Strickland with John Michlig, and includes an introduction by Ray Harryhausen. The novel's story ignores the existence of Son of Kong (1933) and continues the story of Skull Island with Carl Denham and Jack Driscoll in the late 1950s, through the novel's central character, Vincent Denham. (Ann Darrow does not appear, but is mentioned several times.) The novel also becomes a prequel that reveals the story of the early history of Kong, of Skull Island, and of the natives of the island. The book's official website claims a motion picture version is in development.[2]

The novelization of the 2005 movie was written by Christopher Golden, based on the screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, & Peter Jackson, which was, of course, in turn based on the original story by Merian C. Cooper & Edgar Wallace. (The Island of the Skull, a "prequel" novel to the 2005 movie, was released at nearly the same time.)

In November 2005, to coincide with the release of the 2005 movie, Weta Workshop released a collection of concept art from the film entitled The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island. While similar collections of production art have been released in the past to compliment other movies, The World of Kong is unusual - if not unique - in that it is written and designed to resemble and read like an actual nature guide and historical record, not a movie book.

Also in 2005, ibooks published Kong Reborn by Russell Blackford. Ignoring all films except the 1933 original, it is set in the present day. Carl Denham's grandson finds some genetic material from the original Kong and attempts to clone him. Late in 2005, the BBC and Hollywood trade papers reported that a 3-D stereoscopic version of the 2005 film was being created from the animation files, and live actors digitally enhanced for 3D display. This may be just an elaborate 3D short for Universal Studios Theme Park, or a digital 3D version for general release in the future.

Appearances and Abilities

In his first appearance in King Kong (1933), Kong was a gigantic prehistoric ape, or as RKO's publicity materials described him, "A prehistoric type of ape"[3]. While gorilla-like in appearance, he had a humanoid look and walked upright in an anthropomorphic manner. Indeed, Carl Denham describes him as being "neither beast nor man". Like most simians, Kong possess semi-human intelligence and great physical strength. Kong's size changes drastically throughout the course of the film. While creator Merian C. Cooper envisioned Kong as being "40 to 50 feet tall"[4], animator Willis O'Brien and his crew built the models and sets scaling Kong to be only 18 feet tall on Skull Island, and rescaled to be 24 feet tall in New York [5]. This did not stop Cooper from playing around with Kong's size as he directed the special effect sequences; by manipulating the sizes of the miniatures and the camera angles, he made Kong appear a lot larger than O'Brien wanted, even as large as 60 feet in some scenes[6]. Concurrently, the Kong bust made for the film was built in scale with a 40-foot ape,[7] while RKO's promotional materials listed Kong's official height as 50 feet [3].

In the 1960s, Toho licensed the character from RKO for a couple of films. King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes. For more details on the Toho Kong see below.

In 1975, Producer Dino De Laurentiis paid RKO for the remake rights to King Kong. This resulted in King Kong (1976). Like the original, this Kong was an upright walking anthropomorphic ape, appearing even more human-like than the original. Also like the original, this Kong had vast intelligence and strength. In the 1976 film, Kong was scaled to be 42 feet tall on Skull island and rescaled to be 55 feet tall in New York[8]. 10 years later, DDL received permission from Universal to do a sequel, King Kong Lives. Kong more or less had the same appearance and abilities, only he tended to walk on his knuckles more often and was enlarged, being scaled to be 60 feet [9].

Universal Studios had planned to do a King Kong remake all the way back to 1976. They finally followed through almost 30 years later, with a three-hour film directed by Peter Jackson. Jackson opted to make Kong a gigantic silverback gorilla without any anthropomorphic features. Kong looked and behaved more like a real gorilla: he had a large herbivore's belly, walked on his knuckles without any upright posture, and even beat his chest with his palms as opposed to clenched fists. In order to ground his Kong in realism, Jackson and the Weta Digital crew gave a name to his fictitious species, Megaprimatus kong, which was said to have evolved from the Gigantopithecus. Kong was the last of his kind. He was portrayed in the film as being quite old with graying fur, and battle-worn with scars, wounds, and a crooked jaw from his many fights against rival creatures. He is the most dominant being on the island; the king of his world. Like his predecessors, he possesses great intelligence and physical strength; he also appears far more nimble and agile. This Kong was scaled to be only 25 feet tall.[10]

Jackson describes his central character: “We assumed that Kong is the last surviving member of his species. He had a mother and a father and maybe brothers and sisters, but they’re dead. He’s the last of the huge gorillas that live on Skull Island, and the last one when he goes…there will be no more. He’s a very lonely creature—absolutely solitary. It must be one of the loneliest existences you could ever possibly imagine. Every day, he has to battle for his survival against very formidable dinosaurs on the island, and it’s not easy for him. He’s carrying the scars of many former encounters with dinosaurs. I’m imagining he’s probably 100 to 120 years old by the time our story begins. And he has never felt a single bit of empathy for another living creature in his long life; it has been a brutal life that he’s lived.”[11]

Character Rights

Further information: [[:Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.]]

Even though he is one of the most famous movie icons in history, King Kong's rights have always been in question featuring in numerous allegations and court battles throughout the years. The rights to the character have always been split up with no single exclusive rights holder.

When Merian C. Cooper created King Kong, he'd always assumed that he owned his own creation, which he conceived in 1929, outright. Cooper always stated that he only licensed the character to RKO for the one film and sequel but that he otherwise had outright owned the character. In 1935, Cooper began to feel something was amiss when he was trying to get a Tarzan vs King Kong project off the ground. Because of the rights situation that ensued, he began to realize he might not have full control over a figment of his own imagination[12]

Years later in 1962, Cooper had found out that RKO was licensing the character through John Beck to Toho studios in Japan for a film project called King Kong vs Godzilla. Cooper had assumed his rights were unassailable and was bitterly opposed to the project. In 1963 he filed a lawsuit to enjoin distribution of the movie against John Beck as well as Toho and Universal (the films U.S copyright holder).[13] Furthermore RKO was making a fortune off of licensed products featuring the King Kong character such as model kits produced by Aurora Plastics Corporation. Cooper's executive assistant, Charles B FitzSimons, stated that these companies should be negotiating through him and Cooper for such licensed products and not RKO. In a letter Cooper wrote to Robert Bendick he stated:

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.[14]

Cooper and his legal team offered up various documents to bolster the case that Cooper had owned King Kong and only licensed the character to RKO for two films, rather than selling him outright. Many people vouched for Cooper's claims including David O. Selznick (who had written a letter to Mr. A Loewenthal of the Famous Artists Syndicate in Chicago in 1932 stating (in regards to Kong) The rights of this are owned by Mr. Merian C. Cooper.[14] But unfortunately Cooper had lost key documents through the years (he discovered these papers missing after he returned from his WW2 military service) such as a key informal yet binding letter from Mr. Ayelsworth (then president of the RKO Studio Corp) and a formal binding letter from Mr. B. B. Kahane (the current president of RKO studio Corp) confirming that Cooper had only licensed the rights to the character for the two RKO pictures and nothing more.[15]

Unfortunately without these letters it seemed Cooper's rights were relegated to the Lovelace novelization that he had copyrighted (He was able to make a deal for a Bantam Books paperback reprint and a Gold Key comic adaptation of the novel, but that was all he could do). Cooper's lawyer had received a letter from John Beck's lawyer, Gordon E Youngman, that stated:

For the sake of the record, I wish to state that I am not in negotiation with you or Mr.Cooper or anyone else to define Mr.Cooper's rights in respect of King Kong. His rights are well defined, and they are non-existent, except for certain limited publication rights.[16]

In a letter addressed to Douglas Burden, Cooper lamented:

It seems my hassle over King Kong is destined to be a protracted one,...They'd make me sorry I ever invented the beast, if I weren't so fond of him! Makes me feel like Macbeth: "Bloody instructions which being taught return to plague the inventor".[16]

The rights over the character didn't flare up again until 1975, when Universal Studios and Dino De Laurentiis were fighting over who would get to do a King Kong remake for 1976. De Laurentiis came up with $200,000 to buy the remake rights from RKO[17]. When Universal got wind of this, they filed a lawsuit against RKO claiming that they had a verbal agreement from them in regards to the remake. During the legal battles that followed, which eventually included RKO counter suing Universal, as well as De Laurentiis filing a lawsuit claiming interference, Colonel Richard Cooper (Merian's son and now head of the Cooper estate) jumped into the fray.[18]

During the battles, Universal discovered that the copyright of the Lovelace novelization had expired without renewal, thus making the King Kong story a public domain one. Universal argued that they should be able to make a movie based on the novel without infringing on anyone's copyright because the characters in the story were in the public domain within the context of the public domain story.[19] Richard Cooper then filed a cross-claim against RKO claiming while the publishing rights to the novel had not been renewed, his estate still had control over the plot/story of King Kong.[18]

In a four day bench trial in Los Angeles, Judge Manuel Real made the final decision and gave his verdict on November 24 1976, affirming that the King Kong novelization and serialization were indeed in the public domain, and Universal could make its movie as long as it didn't infringe on original elements in the 1933 RKO film,[20] which had not passed into public domain.[21] (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.)[22]

However on December 6, 1976, Judge Real made a subsequent ruling, which held that all the rights in the name, character, and story of King Kong (outside of the original film and its sequel) belonged to Merian C Cooper's estate. This ruling, which became known as the Cooper Judgment expressly stated that it wouldn't change the previous ruling that publishing rights of the novel and serialization were in the public domain. It was a huge victory that affirmed the position Merian C Cooper had maintained for years.[20] Shortly thereafter, Richard Cooper sold all his rights (excluding worldwide book and periodical publishing rights) to Universal in December 1976. In 1980 Judge Real dismissed the claims that were brought forth by RKO and Universal 4 years earlier and reinstated the Cooper judgement.[23]

In 1982 Universal filed a lawsuit against Nintendo. Nintendo had created an impish ape character called Donkey Kong in 1981 and were reaping huge profits over the video game machines. Universal claimed that Nintendo was infringing on their copyright because Donkey Kong was a blatant rip-off of King Kong.[23] During the court battle and subsequent appeal, the courts ruled that Universal did not have exclusive rights to the King Kong character. They also ruled that trademark was not among the rights Cooper had sold to Universal, indicating that "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."[21] While they had a majority of the rights, they didn't outright own the King Kong name and character[24] 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 Kong rights were held by three parties:

  • RKO owned the rights to the original film and its sequel
  • The Dino De Laurentiis company (DDL) owned the rights to the 1976 remake.
  • Richard Cooper owned worldwide book and periodical publishing rights[24]

The judge then ruled that:

Universal thus owns only those rights in the King Kong name and character that RKO, Cooper, or DDL do not own.[25]

However the court of appeals noted that:

First, Universal knew that it did not have trademark rights to King Kong, yet it proceeded to broadly assert such rights anyway. This amounted to a wanton and reckless disregard of Nintendo's rights.

Second, Universal did not stop after it asserted its rights to Nintendo. It embarked on a deliberate, systematic campaign to coerce all of Nintendo's third party licensees to either stop marketing Donkey Kong products or pay Universal royalties.

Finally, Universal's conduct amounted to an abuse of judicial process, and in that sense caused a longer harm to the public as a whole. Depending on the commercial results, Universal alternatively argued to the courts, 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. Universal's assertions in court were based not on any good faith belief in their truth, but on the mistaken belief that it could use the courts to turn a profit.[26]

Universal was found in bad faith, (see Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.), and is not even sure its self over the degree of which it holds the rights to King Kong.

Because Universal didn't have exclusive ownership of the King Kong name and character (only the majority of the rights but not all of them) and because the courts ruled that there was simply no likelihood of people confusing Donkey Kong with King Kong.[24] Universal lost the case and the subsequent appeal.

Since the court case, Universal still retains the majority of the character rights. In 1986 they opened a King Kong ride called King Kong Encounter at their Universal Studios Tour theme park in Hollywood (which was destroyed in 2008 by a backlot fire), and followed it up with the Kongfrontation ride at their Orlando park in 1990 (which was closed down in 2002 due to maintenance issues). They also finally made a King Kong film of their own, King Kong (2005).

The Cooper estate still retains publishing rights. In 1990 they licensed a six issue comic book adaptation of the story to Monster Comics, and commissioned an illustrated novel in 1994 called Anthony Browne's King Kong. In 2004 and 2005, they commissioned a new novelization to be written called Merian C Cooper's King Kong to replace the original Lovelace novel, (The original novel's publishing rights are still in the public domain.) and Kong: King of Skull Island, a prequel/sequel novel that's tied into the original story.

RKO (whose rights consisted of only the original film and its sequel) had its film library acquired by Ted Turner in 1986 via his company Turner Entertainment. Turner merged his company into Time Warner in 1995, which is how they own the rights to those two films today.

DDL (whose rights were limited to only their 1976 remake) did a sequel in 1986 called King Kong Lives (but they still needed Universal's permission to do it[27]). Today most of DDL's film library is owned by Studio Canal, which includes the rights to those two films.

King Kong (Toho)

Toho character
File:Kongtoho.jpg
King Kong
Species Irradiated Gorilla
Alias Kong
Gorilla
Height 20-45 metres
Weight 1,000-25,000 tons
Relationships Mechani-Kong (Robot Replica)
King Kong (American Counterpart)
Major enemies Oodako
Godzilla
Gorosaurus
Mechani-Kong
Greenman
First appearance King Kong vs. Godzilla
Created by Merian C. Cooper
Portrayed by Shoichi Hirose
Haruo Nakajima

This King Kong is a Toho rendition of the original Hollywood version. He appeared in Toho Studios' successful film King Kong vs. Godzilla and later King Kong Escapes. This Kong differed greatly from the original in size and abilities.

Among kaiju, King Kong was suggested to be among the most powerful in terms of raw physical force, possessing strength and durability that rivalled that of Godzilla. As one of the few mammal-based kaiju, Kong's most distinctive feature was his intelligence. He demonstrated the ability to learn and adapt to an opponent's fighting style, identify and exploit weaknesses in an enemy, and utilize his environment to stage ambushes and traps.

In King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Kong was scaled to be 45 meters (140 feet) tall. Like most kaiju, Kong was given a power weapon: he possessed the ability to become stronger by drawing power from electric energy. When fully charged, Kaiju Kong could direct this power against an opponent by means of an electric touch attack. [28]

In King Kong Escapes (1967), a stand-alone movie loosely based on the animated television series The King Kong Show, Kong was scaled to be 20 meters (65 feet) tall. He was more similar to the original Kong in that he had no special powers beyond his great strength and intelligence.[29]

Unlike the Hollywood version, this Kong did not reside on Skull Island. In the first film he lived on Faroe Island, while in the second film he lived on Mondo Island.

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 unofficial animated production set many decades after the events of the original film. "Kong" is cloned by a female scientist.
  • King Kong made an appearance in the 2nd episode of Where My Dogs At? in the background of the MTV Movie Awards.
  • 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.
  • In the Kappa Mikey episode, Night of the Werepuff, the monster captures Lily (Ann Darrow). It then scales LilyMu studios (Empire State Building). Similar to the movies' ending, it is shot down, here by Guano.
A photo supposedly from the allegedly lost film Wasei Kingu Kongu[30]
  • The premise of a giant gorilla brought to the United States for entertainment purposes, and subsequently wreaking havoc, was recycled in Mighty Joe Young, (1949, through the same studio and with much of the same principal talent as the 1933 original. It was remade in 1998).
  • King Kong bears some similarities with an earlier effort by special effects head Willis O'Brien, The Lost World (1925), in which dinosaurs are found living on an isolated plateau. Scenes from a failed O'Brien project, Creation, were cannibalized for the 1933 Kong. Creation was also about a group of people stumbling into an environment where prehistoric creatures have survived extinction.
  • An obscure Japanese clone, Japanese King Kong (和製キングコング, Wasei Kingu Kongu), directed by Torajiro Saito featuring an all-Japanese cast and produced by the Shochiku company, was also released in 1933. Detailed information outside of Japan about this film cannot be found.[31]
  • King Kong Appears in Edo (江戸に現れたキングコング, Edo ni Arawareta Kingu Kongu). A claimed Japanese-made monster/period piece that was allegedly produced by a company called Zensho Kinema in which King Kong attacks medieval Edo (modern Tokyo), and arguably Japan's first kaiju (giant monster) film, predating Godzilla by sixteen years.
  • The Mighty Kong, an unofficial (this is why it was called Mighty Kong rather than King Kong) straight to video 1998 animated musical/remake of the 1933 film. It featured the voices of Jodi Benson and Dudley Moore. This film also featured a song score by the Sherman Brothers.
  • Other similar films include the Korean A*P*E.[32] the Hong Kong made The Mighty Peking Man, the British Konga and Queen Kong, the Italian Kong Island (1968) (which capitalizes on the "Kong" name, even though the gorillas in the movie are normal size), and the American Mighty Gorga.
  • The corpse of the 1976 King Kong makes an unauthorized appearance in the film Bye Bye Monkey.
  • King Kong appears in the 1996 Imax film Special Effects: Anything Can Happen. In this film, the classic climax of the 1933 film is recreated with modern (at the time) digital special effects.
  • King of the Lost World, a direct-to-video movie produced by The Asylum, taking elements from both King Kong and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. The film was released on December 13, 2005, just one day before the theatrical release of Peter Jackson's version of King Kong.

Electronic games

Tiger Electronics released various King Kong games in the early 1980s. These include

  • A Tabletop LCD game in 1981[33]
  • A game for the Atari 2600 home video game system in 1982[34]
  • A handheld game in 1982 in both a regular edition[35] and a large screen edition[36]
  • An "Orlitronic" game (for the international markets) in 1983[37]
  • A color "Flip-Up" game in 1984.[38]

Epoch Co. released two LCD games in 1982. One was King Kong: New York,[39] and the other was King Kong: Jungle[40]

Konami released 2 games based on the film King Kong Lives in 1986. The first game was King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch for the Famicom, and the second was King Kong 2,[41] for the MSX computer. These games were only released in Japan.

Data East released a pinball game[42] in 1990.

Planet Interactive released a Game Boy Advance game based on Kong: The Animated Series in 2002.[43]

Majesco Games released a Game Boy Advance game based on the straight to video animated film Kong: King of Atlantis in 2005.[44]

Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie which is based on the 2005 remake was released on all video game platforms. It was the first game released by Ubisoft on the Xbox 360.

Taiyo Elec Co released a King Kong Pachinko game in 2007.[45]

Pop culture references

Main article: King Kong in popular culture

King Kong, as well as the series of films featuring him, have been featured many times in popular culture outside of the films themselves, in forms ranging from straight copies to parodies and joke references, and in media from comics to video games.

An animated King Kong appears in The Beatles' 1968 movie Yellow Submarine, and The Simpsons spoofed King Kong during a segment of their "Treehouse of Horror III" Halloween episode. King Kong appears among the good guys in an episode of South Park in "Imaginationland" Episode.

A science fiction short story, Andrew Fox's "The Man Who Would be Kong", is about an old man with memories of having starred - as Kong himself - in the 1933 film.

Theme Park Rides

Universal Studios had two popular King Kong rides at their theme parks in Hollywood and Orlando.

The first King Kong ride was part of the Universal Studios Studio Tour (Hollywood) in Hollywood. The ride opened in 1986 and was destroyed in 2008 in a major fire. Days after the fire it was announced that the Kong attraction would not be rebuilt and would be replaced by something else[46]. However, Universal changed their minds and will build a new ride based around their own 2005 film.

A second more elaborate ride was constructed at the Orlando park in 1990. It was called Kongfrontation. The ride was closed down in 2002.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.scifidimensions.com/Dec04/joedevito.htm
  2. ^ Official site
  3. ^ a b "1933 RKO Press Page Scan". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  4. ^ Orville Goldner and George E. Turner, The Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic, A.S Barnes and Co. Inc. 1975 Pg.37
  5. ^ Orville Goldner and George E. Turner Pg. 159
  6. ^ James Van Hise, Hot Bloodied Dinosaur Movies, Pioneer Books Inc. 1993 Pg.66
  7. ^ Ray Morton, King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon. Applause Theater and Cinema Books, 2005 Pg.36
  8. ^ Ray Morton Pg. 205
  9. ^ Ray Morton Pg. 264
  10. ^ Weta Workshop, The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island. Pocket Books. 2005
  11. ^ "King Kong- Building a Shrewder Ape". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. ^ Vaz, Mark Cotta (2005). Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong. Villard. p. 277. ISBN 1400062764.
  13. ^ Mark Cotta Vaz, Pg.361
  14. ^ a b Mark Cotta Vaz, Pgs.362 & 455
  15. ^ Mark Cotta Vaz, Pg.362
  16. ^ a b Mark Cotta Vaz, Pgs.363 & 456
  17. ^ Ray Morton, Pg.150
  18. ^ a b Mark Cotta Vaz, Pg.386
  19. ^ Ray Morton, Pg.158
  20. ^ a b Mark Cotta Vaz, Pg.387
  21. ^ a b Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo 55 USLW 2152 797 F.2d 70; 230 U.S.P.Q. 409, (2nd Cir., July 15, 1986).
  22. ^ Ray Morton, Pg.166
  23. ^ a b Mark Cotta Vaz, Pg.388
  24. ^ a b c Mark Cotta Vaz, Pg.389
  25. ^ According to Mark Cotta Vaz's book on Pg. 389, and citation 9 on Pg. 458, this quote is taken from a court summary from the document Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., 578 F. Supp. at 924.
  26. ^ Second Court of Appeals, 1986, 77–8.
  27. ^ Ray Morton, Pgs.239 & 241
  28. ^ "King Kong". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  29. ^ "King Kong (2nd Generation)". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  30. ^ Ape Movie 1900-1939
  31. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0440913/
  32. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074148/
  33. ^ http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/KingKong.htm
  34. ^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/a2600/image/563246.html?box=28936
  35. ^ http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/KingKongLCD.htm
  36. ^ http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/KingKongLS.htm
  37. ^ http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/KingKongOrlitronic.htm
  38. ^ http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/KingKongColor.htm
  39. ^ http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Grandstand/KingKong.htm
  40. ^ http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Epoch/KKJungle.htm
  41. ^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/msx/image/918126.html
  42. ^ http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=king+kong&searchtype=quick#3194
  43. ^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/image/567519.html?box=7985
  44. ^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/image/930471.html?box=70998
  45. ^ http://www.taiyoelec.co.jp/user/pachinko/products/kingkong/
  46. ^ travel.latimes.com, Universal Studios Hollywood to replace ‘King Kong’ with new attraction


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