The Evolution of King Kong
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VOICE OVER: Ashley Bowman
WRITTEN BY: Zachary Siechen
Are you team Kong? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're exploring the history and legacy of the mighty King Kong. We'll have a look at origins, sequels, the arrival of motion capture and more!
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re exploring the history and legacy of the mighty King Kong. What’s your favorite part about King Kong’s history? Are you looking forward to his new story? Roar your thoughts in our comments section below!
In the ninety years since his introduction, Kong has inspired wonder, fear, compassion and intrigue. He’s provided a vessel for the development of special effects and a window into ways that we’ve reinvented conceptual storytelling. But in all of his iterations, the famed giant ape has never relinquished his unrelenting hold on our imagination.
Despite his association with the movies, Kong actually first appeared in a novelization by “New York Daily News” reporter Delos W. Lovelace. Though written in conjunction with Kong’s 1933 big-screen debut, the story’s publication faintly preceded the film’s March release date. Both narratives chronicled an ambitious film crew’s expedition to an undiscovered island, laden with prehistoric beasts and the eponymous giant ape. Their foolish attempt to turn the wild animal into a captive Broadway star ended disastrously. His escape terrorized New York City, leading to one of the most iconic images in all of western cinema.
Contemporary film students might know “King Kong” as the birthplace of special effects. Indeed, its stop-motion animation techniques were well ahead of their time, featuring newly invented practices that made both live-action footage and meticulously crafted miniatures appear to exist in the same space. Breathtaking sequences, like Kong’s legendary battle with the T-Rex, took months to complete and influenced countless action scenes that would follow.
“Kong” opened to the warm embrace of critical and commercial success. Audiences were enamored with this tale of a primeval beast who fell in love with the beautiful Fay Wray. Sequels were immediately on the docket, and RKO Pictures churned out “Son of Kong” within the same year. Kong’s original animator, Willis O’Brien, floated a story concept that grabbed the attention of the production company Toho. The Japanese institution saw its intellectual property, the mutated gargantuan lizard Godzilla, as a worthy rival for the primate. From O’Brien’s idea came “King Kong vs. Godzilla”, the first time these not-so-gentle giants would collide. But Godzilla continued on to enjoy a smörgåsbord of “versus” kaiju flicks, whereas Kong’s movie-monster mashups reached a temporary standstill after “King Kong Escapes”.
Then in 1976, producer Dino De Laurentis remade RKO’s classic. He imagined the great ape’s final moments as happening atop the World Trade Center, rather than the Empire State Building. This new installment was campier than the original and less loved, but it bravely sought new ways that technology could bring Kong to life. Effects artists constructed a massive animatronic gorilla, complete with multiple masks for varying facial expressions. The machine was expensive and perhaps overambitious, only making it into select frames of the final cut. But he bulldozed a path for his thirty-foot cousin, who would stand on the Universal Studios lot just a decade later.
Kong had become too big for just the silver screen, so he took up residence as part of the “world famous” Universal Studios tram tour. Veteran Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr helmed the mechanical ape’s groundbreaking design, assembling one of the most elaborate animatronics that had ever been built. Two more Kongs would soon be dwarfing guests in Universal Studios Florida’s “Kongfrontation” attraction, complete with nearly ten more feet in height and unforgettable banana-scented breath. Both spectacles were massive hits with park goers. People just couldn’t get enough of the great beast of Skull Island.
The 1976 “King Kong”, and its immediate sequel “King Kong Lives”, marked the last time that predominantly practical effects would bring the titan to life. Animation would prove to be a more sensible medium for the fantasy genre, and computer technology was dominating the playing field. Enter Peter Jackson, whose boyhood love for the Kong story made the “Lord of the Rings” director an ideal candidate to update the fable. Jackson’s 2005 masterpiece was lauded by critics, earning multiple Oscars for its state-of-the-art visual effects, sound editing and art direction. His success led Jackson to collaborate on the development of “King Kong: 360 3-D”, a new immersive experience that would replace the “King Kong Encounter”. With its vision, the production team had to foresee a circular movie screen, where guests could unpredictably look in all directions. They accomplished a two-minute theme park experience that truly feels like setting foot in Kong’s jungle.
Advanced technology had created a new easel for movie auteurs: motion capture. The technique employed specialized markers to record the movements and expressions of actors, translating these into a digitally created construct. When casting his Eighth Wonder, Peter Jackson turned to English actor Andy Serkis. Jackson had already harnessed the mocap tool for Serkis’s celebrated performance as Gollum. Now, it would help add dramatic nuance to Kong’s facial mannerisms. There was always a touchingly human element to Kong, and Jackson understood this from his years of studying and the character’s different films and various sympathetic moments. [1] With an innovative marriage of concrete computer capabilities and ineffable theatrical talent, Kong’s true nature became more realized than ever. We no longer feared him. We cared about him.
While Kong’s image became increasingly draped in heroism, another famous behemoth would get a similar makeover. Atomic dinosaur Godzilla was revamped in 2014, ultimately saving humankind in a freshly rebooted monsterverse. Godzilla’s master production studio, Toho, remembered the success of their 1962 “King Kong vs. Godzilla”, so they and Legendary Pictures set the stage for a rematch. “Kong: Skull Island” starred a new giant ape who was considerably larger than any Kong before him. Though not canonical with other “Kongs”, “Skull Island” teased a more in-depth mythology behind its eponymous locale. The good gorilla was a solitary protector, “monster” only in size, and solely violent when forced to be. The two alphas finally clashed in “Godzilla vs. Kong”...for the first time in nearly sixty years.
Both “Skull Island” and “Godzilla vs. Kong” introduced us to Monarch, a nefarious organization charged with researching dangerous giant species that allegedly walk the Earth. Their intrusion on Skull Island, and their subsequent research on some of Godzilla’s enemies, catalyzed the events of both movies. Though the conflicts delineated the heavyweights as enemies, a greater threat satisfyingly made them allies. If the trailers for “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” are any indication, the familiar formula should lead to a similar “punch-’em-up” type showdown.
The story of King Kong is riddled with enigmatic reflections of the human psyche, among them our fascination with the unknown - and that thinly veiled line between “man” and “beast.” [1] The new “Godzilla vs. Kong” played with the possibility of an entirely unmapped ecosystem beneath the Earth’s crust. Its upcoming successor, “The New Empire”, promises to explore the foreboding biosphere even further. Andy Serkis and Peter Jackson aren’t here, but ultramodern CGI and the techniques that they revolutionized are. If you missed the subtleties upon Kong’s latest expressive face, pay close attention in this newest chapter. 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” united the lionized foes, while the current release appears to have a greater enemy in store.
King Kong’s survival in pop culture has endured decades of evolution, as his tale has astounded humanity with its genuine appeal and its ability to push our species to a technological and creative brink. The Eighth Wonder of the World is still around to barrel his chest, and it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.
In the ninety years since his introduction, Kong has inspired wonder, fear, compassion and intrigue. He’s provided a vessel for the development of special effects and a window into ways that we’ve reinvented conceptual storytelling. But in all of his iterations, the famed giant ape has never relinquished his unrelenting hold on our imagination.
Despite his association with the movies, Kong actually first appeared in a novelization by “New York Daily News” reporter Delos W. Lovelace. Though written in conjunction with Kong’s 1933 big-screen debut, the story’s publication faintly preceded the film’s March release date. Both narratives chronicled an ambitious film crew’s expedition to an undiscovered island, laden with prehistoric beasts and the eponymous giant ape. Their foolish attempt to turn the wild animal into a captive Broadway star ended disastrously. His escape terrorized New York City, leading to one of the most iconic images in all of western cinema.
Contemporary film students might know “King Kong” as the birthplace of special effects. Indeed, its stop-motion animation techniques were well ahead of their time, featuring newly invented practices that made both live-action footage and meticulously crafted miniatures appear to exist in the same space. Breathtaking sequences, like Kong’s legendary battle with the T-Rex, took months to complete and influenced countless action scenes that would follow.
“Kong” opened to the warm embrace of critical and commercial success. Audiences were enamored with this tale of a primeval beast who fell in love with the beautiful Fay Wray. Sequels were immediately on the docket, and RKO Pictures churned out “Son of Kong” within the same year. Kong’s original animator, Willis O’Brien, floated a story concept that grabbed the attention of the production company Toho. The Japanese institution saw its intellectual property, the mutated gargantuan lizard Godzilla, as a worthy rival for the primate. From O’Brien’s idea came “King Kong vs. Godzilla”, the first time these not-so-gentle giants would collide. But Godzilla continued on to enjoy a smörgåsbord of “versus” kaiju flicks, whereas Kong’s movie-monster mashups reached a temporary standstill after “King Kong Escapes”.
Then in 1976, producer Dino De Laurentis remade RKO’s classic. He imagined the great ape’s final moments as happening atop the World Trade Center, rather than the Empire State Building. This new installment was campier than the original and less loved, but it bravely sought new ways that technology could bring Kong to life. Effects artists constructed a massive animatronic gorilla, complete with multiple masks for varying facial expressions. The machine was expensive and perhaps overambitious, only making it into select frames of the final cut. But he bulldozed a path for his thirty-foot cousin, who would stand on the Universal Studios lot just a decade later.
Kong had become too big for just the silver screen, so he took up residence as part of the “world famous” Universal Studios tram tour. Veteran Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr helmed the mechanical ape’s groundbreaking design, assembling one of the most elaborate animatronics that had ever been built. Two more Kongs would soon be dwarfing guests in Universal Studios Florida’s “Kongfrontation” attraction, complete with nearly ten more feet in height and unforgettable banana-scented breath. Both spectacles were massive hits with park goers. People just couldn’t get enough of the great beast of Skull Island.
The 1976 “King Kong”, and its immediate sequel “King Kong Lives”, marked the last time that predominantly practical effects would bring the titan to life. Animation would prove to be a more sensible medium for the fantasy genre, and computer technology was dominating the playing field. Enter Peter Jackson, whose boyhood love for the Kong story made the “Lord of the Rings” director an ideal candidate to update the fable. Jackson’s 2005 masterpiece was lauded by critics, earning multiple Oscars for its state-of-the-art visual effects, sound editing and art direction. His success led Jackson to collaborate on the development of “King Kong: 360 3-D”, a new immersive experience that would replace the “King Kong Encounter”. With its vision, the production team had to foresee a circular movie screen, where guests could unpredictably look in all directions. They accomplished a two-minute theme park experience that truly feels like setting foot in Kong’s jungle.
Advanced technology had created a new easel for movie auteurs: motion capture. The technique employed specialized markers to record the movements and expressions of actors, translating these into a digitally created construct. When casting his Eighth Wonder, Peter Jackson turned to English actor Andy Serkis. Jackson had already harnessed the mocap tool for Serkis’s celebrated performance as Gollum. Now, it would help add dramatic nuance to Kong’s facial mannerisms. There was always a touchingly human element to Kong, and Jackson understood this from his years of studying and the character’s different films and various sympathetic moments. [1] With an innovative marriage of concrete computer capabilities and ineffable theatrical talent, Kong’s true nature became more realized than ever. We no longer feared him. We cared about him.
While Kong’s image became increasingly draped in heroism, another famous behemoth would get a similar makeover. Atomic dinosaur Godzilla was revamped in 2014, ultimately saving humankind in a freshly rebooted monsterverse. Godzilla’s master production studio, Toho, remembered the success of their 1962 “King Kong vs. Godzilla”, so they and Legendary Pictures set the stage for a rematch. “Kong: Skull Island” starred a new giant ape who was considerably larger than any Kong before him. Though not canonical with other “Kongs”, “Skull Island” teased a more in-depth mythology behind its eponymous locale. The good gorilla was a solitary protector, “monster” only in size, and solely violent when forced to be. The two alphas finally clashed in “Godzilla vs. Kong”...for the first time in nearly sixty years.
Both “Skull Island” and “Godzilla vs. Kong” introduced us to Monarch, a nefarious organization charged with researching dangerous giant species that allegedly walk the Earth. Their intrusion on Skull Island, and their subsequent research on some of Godzilla’s enemies, catalyzed the events of both movies. Though the conflicts delineated the heavyweights as enemies, a greater threat satisfyingly made them allies. If the trailers for “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” are any indication, the familiar formula should lead to a similar “punch-’em-up” type showdown.
The story of King Kong is riddled with enigmatic reflections of the human psyche, among them our fascination with the unknown - and that thinly veiled line between “man” and “beast.” [1] The new “Godzilla vs. Kong” played with the possibility of an entirely unmapped ecosystem beneath the Earth’s crust. Its upcoming successor, “The New Empire”, promises to explore the foreboding biosphere even further. Andy Serkis and Peter Jackson aren’t here, but ultramodern CGI and the techniques that they revolutionized are. If you missed the subtleties upon Kong’s latest expressive face, pay close attention in this newest chapter. 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” united the lionized foes, while the current release appears to have a greater enemy in store.
King Kong’s survival in pop culture has endured decades of evolution, as his tale has astounded humanity with its genuine appeal and its ability to push our species to a technological and creative brink. The Eighth Wonder of the World is still around to barrel his chest, and it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.
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