| King Kong |
Article Index for King Kong |
Limousines in King |
Articles about King Kong |
Website Links For King Kong |
Information AboutKing Kong |
|
King Kong is the name of a fictional giant ape from Skull Island , who has appeared in several works since 1933 . Most of these bear his name, and include the groundbreaking 1933 Film , the film Remakes of 1976 and 2005 , and numerous Sequel s. 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 . '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, "it was beauty who killed the beast", as he only climbed the building in the first place in an attempt to protect actress Ann Darrow ( Dwan in the 1976 remake). A Mockumentary about Skull Island on the DVD for the 2005 remake 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
'' (1962)]]
]]
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 2007. PRINT MEDIA 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." {Link without Title} 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 . '''', 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 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, ''. 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. TELEVISION
RELATED FILMS
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. The 2005 remake in particular was spoofed during The Mighty Boosh live tour in 2006 - with the character of Bollo (a talking gorilla) stating that since the last TV series he had auditioned for the part of King Kong, and was fairly certain director Peter Jackson was in the bar before the show eating a flapjack. At several points during the show, he signals to Peter as he demonstrates his acting ability, oblivious to the fact that it was already available on DVD and he hadn't got the part! An animated King Kong appears in The Beatles' 1968 movie Yellow Submarine. SEE ALSO
NOTES AND REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|