is a Fictional Island first appearing in the 1933 film '' King Kong '' and later appearing in its sequels and in the two remakes.
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In '' King Kong '', Skull Island is located at approximately 90 degrees East and 2 degrees South - somewhere off the coast of Sumatra . There is a distinctive rocky Knoll in the center of the island which is shaped like a human skull, hence its foreboding name.
At first, it is thought of as deserted, but upon further examination by the heroes of the picture, it is filled to the brim with superstitious natives, Prehistoric Creatures of all sorts, and one extremely large Gorilla , known by those on the island as " Kong ".
The native people of Skull Island appear to be of West African (or perhaps Papuan ) descent. Their barbaric portrayal in the film has provoked complaints and controversy ever since the movie's release.
In the sequel film, Son Of Kong , we last see Skull Island as it sinks into the sea. Kong's son drowns while holding Carl Denham above the water. Denham survives unscathed.
Skull Island is never referred to by name on film. In the original film, only ''Skull Mountain'' is named, while in the sequel Son Of Kong , its simply referred to as "Kong's Island". But in the novelization and screenplays the island is indeed called Skull Island.
'''', a 2004 sequel-novel which ignores ''Son of Kong'', makes an attempt to reveal the history of Skull Island before the events of the 1933 film's story.
Though not called by name in the film (it is simply referred to as the ''Beach of the Skull'' by Jack Prescott), and lacking the distinctive Skull outcropping, the island featured in the 1976 remake is referenced as Skull Island within the film's soundtrack. This incarnation is located in the Pacific and is discovered by an oil drilling expedition. As in the original, the native people appear to be of West African decent. In this films sequel King Kong Lives , the island is mistakenly referred to by Hank Mitchell as ''Kong Island''.
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The Skull Island of 2005's ''King Kong'' is very similar to that of the 1933 film. It is once again a long-forgotten place, noted as being "far west of Sumatra ", until a mysterious map leads a group of adventurers to it. It appears to be in a region that affects magnets, and is frequently shrouded in fog. The island is slowly sinking beneath the sea.
The island is shaped like a large hand with long, skeletal fingers. It is surrounded by carved stone reefs, made to resemble faces crying out in anger and pain, and is criss-crossed by an enormous stone wall and covered with jungle-swallowed ruins that are countless generations old, which are all that remain of an unknown, ancient human civilization that somehow once existed and thrived on Skull Island.
It is filled with all manner of monstrous creatures, but these beings have evolved past their primitive ancestors. The animals there have turned into violent killing machines - the harsh environment of Skull Island changing their evolutionary outcome. Aside from Dinosaurs , the island is also home to Insectoid and worm-like creatures. There are strange creatures like Arachno-Claw , Scorpio-Pede, and ''Celocimex''. See the main link above for details.
The island can be broken down into several smaller ecosystems, all shifting and changing as the animals fight amongst each other. These ecosystems are the , the '''Skull Island Lowlands''', the '''Skull Island Swamp and River System''', the '''Skull Island Jungle''', the '''Skull Island Chasms''' and the '''Skull Island Uplands'''. Each has its own unique collection of species that continuously fight with each other.
The current native people of this Skull Island appear to be of a mixed Melanesian descent, although director Peter Jackson has stated that they are supposed to look like no other people on Earth . They were portrayed by a number of different Pacific Island people, who were sprayed with a brown paint to make all of their skin tones coincide. Many wear pieces of bone in some form (such as a necklace) and some even have smaller pieces of bone embedded in their flesh, such as through the nose. Many also have bright red eyes or even what appears to be eyes with no pupils that are just white, presumably a derived trait.
The island is further explored in the later series of expeditions called Project Legacy . In 1948, the island sinks and is forever lost due to a huge earthquake, measuring 9.2 on the Richter Scale , with all of its unique animals and strange people.
The Weta Workshop book '' The World Of Kong '' documents many of the inhabitants, locations and details of Skull island, as of '' King Kong (2005 Film) ''.
- A ''''.Orville Goldner, George E Turner (1975). ''Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic''. ISBN 0498015106. See also ''Spawn of Skull Island'' (2002). ISBN 1887664459
- A long-necked '' actually eats the sailor, but it is stated in the script that the dinosaur kills and then abandons the body of a sailor identified as "Tim." The creature reappears in ''Son of Kong'', crying out as the island is sinking.
- A large 2-legged to attack Jack Driscoll . It falls back into the pit when Jack cuts the vine it is climbing. Other than the two limbs, the other distinct feature of this creature is the Iguana -like ridge of spikes down its back. Orville Goldner said it was loosely based on the features of the '' Desmatosuchus ''.
- A large 's depiction of a ''Tyrannosaurus''. However, it possesses three fingers per hand, unlike ''Tyrannosaurus'' which had only two (it should be noted that the number of fingers in ''Tyrannosaurus'' was disputed at the time, as a complete ''manus'' would not be uncovered until the mid-90s). In the documentary ''I'm King Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper'', included on the 2 disk DVD release of ''King Kong'', Cooper refers to this beast as an '' Allosaurus '', not a ''Tyrannosaurus'', which would help explain the number of fingers. However, the creature was originally intended to be a ''Tyrannosaurus'' designed for the canceled Willis O'Brien film ''Creation'' (1931). It may also be worth noting that the ''Tyrannosaurus'' present in Willis O'Brien's earlier project ''The Lost World'' (1925) also had a third finger. The 1932 ''King Kong'' screenplay refers to the dinosaur only as a "Meat Eater." The creature appears in the iconic scene where Kong defends Anne from its attack, killing it after a protracted fight.
- An ''.
- A '' Pteranodon ''-like Pterosaur menaces Anne and is the last major creature to appear on Skull Island. It is slain by Kong.
- '' Teratornis '': These birds can be seen flying around the dead ''Tyrannosaurus''. One is seen eating the dead tyrannosaur and is frightened off by the approaching Jack Driscoll.
- '' Rhamphorhynchus '': The tiny ''Rhamphorhynchus'' are seen flying around Skull Mountain. A few are flying around the large cave at the base of Skull Mountain, while others are seen at Kong's lair near the top of Skull Mountain.
- '' Archaeopteryx '': The tiny ''Archaeopteryx'' are seen flying around in the jungle. Most notably a few fly by when the ''Stegosaurus'' enters the clearing, and one flies out of the dead tree that Kong puts Ann in before he goes to fight the sailors on the log bridge. According to Goldner, they "were made to flit among the trees on invisible wires."
- '' Arsinotherium '': This huge prehistoric mammal chases the men onto the log bridge in the test reel. According to Goldner, Cooper had second thoughts about the ''Arsinotherium'' and "ordered the action to be refilmed using a ''Styracosaurus''. Both versions were eventually thrown out because they captured too much audience attention."
- '' Gigantophis Garstini '': According to Goldner, "This huge serpent that appeared in one scene and later cut out of the film, had its living prototype in Egypt." This giant snake menaces Ann at the base of the dead tree that Kong puts her in before he battles the sailors on the log bridge. It was in the test reel, but later cut. However, you can still see Ann Darrow's reactions to it below her just before the ''T. rex'' shows up in the clearing.
- '' Cynognathus '': created and then re-created for the "spider-pit sequence" and portrayed as a stout reptilian predator. Goldner stated that a was loosely adapted, as many of the creatures of the pit were imaginative.
- A giant crab, spider and tentacled "bug": all appear in the original notes, script, and re-created "spider-pit sequence," eating the surviving crewmen in the crevasse.
- '' Triceratops '': In the original script only, encountered by Kong on volcanic flats; he hurls boulders at a herd of them and drives them into a stampede, impaling one of the crew of the Venture.
- Giant Bear: A gigantic bear that attacks Denham and Hilda, but is driven off by the son of Kong.
- '' Styracosaurus '': Corners Hellstrom, Englehorn and Charlie into a cave in ''Son of Kong'', destroying one of their guns. Originally slated to appear in , chasing the crew onto the log bridge and keeping them trapped there.
- ''Cave Serpent'': A Dragon -like creature that attacks Denham and Hilda, but is killed by Kiko. ''King Kong: A History of a Movie Icon'' calls the creature 'The Dragon' all through its review of ''Son of Kong''.
- Second unknown, dragon-like eats Hellstrom as he attempts to flee at the end of ''Son of Kong''.
- Aside from Kong, the only other animal that appears in this incarnation of the island is a giant Snake very similar to the '' Gigantophis Garstini ''. It battles with Kong and is torn in half.
- '''', the previous record holder and possible ancestor. The average ''M. Kong'' could stand up to 6-8 meters (18-25 feet tall) and possibly weighed 5-8 tons. By 1933 , there was only one of them left. This specimen, a male, was captured and brought back to New York by Carl Denham , but escaped and was shot down off the top of the Empire State Building , rendering the species of ''Megaprimatus kong'' extinct.
- '' Vastatosaurus Rex '': Originally portrayed as a cold-hearted killer, which grew up to 16 metres (50 feet), the ''V-Rex'' was portrayed with the same general attitude, but was considerably larger than the ''T-Rex'' and had an additional finger.
- ''. Size is 16-24 feet long. Distinguished by its sickle-like claw, in King Kong (2005 Film) they killed Denham's cameraman, hunted in packs, and caused a '' Brontosaurus '' stampede. Another species is the smaller ''Venatosaurus impavidus''. '' Venatosaurus Saevidicus '' is the only predator on Skull Island that preys on adult ''Brontosaurus''.
- '' seen briefly by the foot of the stairway to Kong's lair. Similar to a '' Styracosaurus '' only much larger. In the extended edition, a ''Ferrucutus'' attacks the crew, but is gunned down. (Like the ''Stegosaurus'' in the original, it does not die instantly)
- '' Brontosaurus Baxteri '': A herding, herbivorous creature that tramples several of the crew during a stampede.
- '' film. They had long, bare tails, unlike real Bats , which have only vestigial, webbed tails.
- ''. No confirmed sightings are in the 2005 version, but it may be the carcass that the '' Foetodon '' are feeding on. It grew from 26-34 feet (8-10 metres) long.
- ''Decarnocimex'' (Flesh-removing bug): According to ''The World of Kong'', these are "oversized relatives of crickets with bladed forelimbs for tearing apart carcasses." Carl Denham fights these when he falls into the pit.
- Weta-Rex; ''Deinacrida rex'' (Terrible-cricket king): Dog-sized Wetas which attacked Jack Driscoll.
- Arachno-Claw; ''Arachnocidis'' ("spider-claw"): The only remake of the original pit beasts, the Arachno-Claw is what the name implies - a mix of a spider and a crab.
- ''Deplector'' (Reaper): Giant lobster-like insects that live in crevasses lining the chasm walls. They reach out of their crevices to grab prey. Females are much, much larger than males. Blind, ''Deplectors'' are tethered to their holes by excretions that are elastic. This monster kills a sailor in the movie.
- ''Carnitis sordicus'' (Vile Meat-Weasel): One of the beasts that is most memorable, ''Carnictus'' is a large worm with a sphinter-maw at one end. It undulates inside-out and exposes the mouth to its prey, allowing it to eat. These monsters end up eating Lumpy the cook in the remake.
- ''Pirahnodon'': In the extended cut, this gigantic fish attacks the Venture crew as they pass through a swamp, devouring several crewmen.
- ''Scorpiopede'': In the extended cut, several of these Eurypterid -like creatures attack the venture crew, but flee as the ''Pirahnodon'' approaches.
- ''Brutornis'': In the extended cut, Lumpy shoots this 7ft tall carnivorous bird as it approaches the crew unseen, but heard. Driscoll believes it is Anne, but is relieved to see the bird instead, dying on the ground. Lumpy then ends the bird's suffering. It is the only creature in the film to be portrayed by a puppet rather than CGI.
- The video game '' The Curse Of Monkey Island '' features a Skull Island , which is actually shaped like a duck.
- The 1992 film Braindead , released in North America as ''Dead Alive'' also features a Skull Island
- A skull-shaped island was seen in the original teaser trailers for ''.
- '' Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow '' (2004) includes an island called ''Totenkopf's'' ("Death's Head") ''Island''.
- Skull Island was one of the original attractions at Six Flags Over Texas on opening day in 1961 .
- A puzzle from the first game in the Simon The Sorcerer Series involves retrieving a herb from a place called Skull Island, in this case an actual Giant 's skull half-submerged in a swamp.
- A section of the '' takes place in the Caribbean and features a skull-shaped island called ''Zombie Island''.
- Skull Island appears in the television series '' The Simpsons '' in its Parody of ''King Kong'' in the episode " Treehouse Of Horror III ," but the island is jokingly renamed "Ape Island." Carl states his wish that they were going to "Candy Apple Island", which is also infested with apes, albeit of a smaller size than those on "Ape Island".
- Skull Island was a name given to an island in the anime and manga '' One Piece ''.
- The scientific name for the giant ape King Kong, according only to supplemental material created for the 2005 film, is ''Megaprimatus kong''. This species was said to have evolved from '' Gigantopithecus ''. King Kong was the last of the ''Megaprimatus''.
- In the film '' The Devil's Rejects '', the bounty hunter portrayed by Diamond Dallas Page says of his targets, "They're going to think King Kong came down from Skull Island!"
- In Disney's ''Peter Pan'' , there is a tiny skull-shaped island off the coast of Neverland called "skull rock".
- The actual "Skull Island" is found in Australia, Northern Territory ( {Link without Title} )
- In "I Dream of Jeannie" Season 3, Episode 20, Commander Porter brings Majors Nelson and Healey to Skull Island to "Live off the Land" as part of a diet program.
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