I agree with the sentiment one can see a lot of the DNA of the Toho Kongs in the Legendary Pictures version. For one, Kong is treated a lot more like a sympathetic anti-hero than an aggressive and intelligent animal. His relationship with the natives of the island is much more peaceful as while they do revere him, he is ultimately a guardian or protector. Kong himself in the Legendary version also resembles the Toho Kongs more in some ways, such as being chiefly bipedal and brown colored. The rendition of the island and its inhabitants is also a lot more similar to the Toho versions. Instead of savage natives, the inhabitants in the Toho and Legendary films are treated much more kindly even if they are understandably wary of outsiders.
Yes, they definitely took most of their cues from the Toho versions. While the Skullcrawlers were inspired by the two-legged creature in 1933, moments like Kong fighting the Mire Squid are a direct reference to the Giant Octopus in King Kong vs. Godzilla. I feel that there should have been a second Kong movie between Skull Island and Godzilla vs. Kong to actually show the destruction of the island. A bit too abrupt of a jump there between the two films.
@@MonsterKidCory I think Legendary was just eager to get the Kong/Godzilla rematch while excitement for it was still high. Also while the ruin of Skull Island was never explained I always thought it was Ghidorah that caused it. Because of how disruptive he was to Earth's general weather patterns his activity indirectly disrupted whatever balance kept the perimeter storm surrounding Skull Island and caused it to consume the island.
@@sonicguyver7445 it was Ghidorah's storms that decimated Skull Island. He had some sort of influence and fucked with the storm that surrounded Skull Island, uktimately destroying it. We are gonna see Skull Island again in the Netflix Kong Skull Island anime.
@@MonsterKidCory We will see Skull Island again with that anime but we aren't gonna see its destruction. Ghidorahs presence somehow fucked the storm around Skull Island and i believe I read that it basically pushed the storm ON the island.
I'll never forget seeing King Kong Vs Godzilla in the post theater in Germany at the Saturday Matinee in 1964 while my family was stationed there. A gang of us kids would go to the movies every Saturday, and a couple of weeks prior , had watched Jason and the Argonauts ......we all thought that was the coolest movie ever....until we saw the King Kong movie. After that, King Kong Vs Godzilla was the coolest movie ever. That was a long time ago, but I still remember all of us sitting in the front row, eyes wide and munching popcorn.....
Kong pov: Imagine just relaxing in your home just minding your own business, then tiny figures knock you out, and drag you out to sea, and then make you fight someone who you fight again 59 years later, and draw with your enemy, and you go back home by yourself.
Just came here after another argument with a Godzilla fan who claims that the original pitch for the 60's fight to be a draw.. It's great to have this video as a reminder that you should always do your research before talking. And you did just that😊👍🏼
15:40 A lot of people hate how King Kong looks in King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962) but the reason why he looks that way is because when Toho got the rights to King Kong, RKO actually told them to make sure that their King Kong looked nothing like the original, and so Toho decided to base his looks off of the Japanese macaque.
I guess that explains why King Kong Escapes was my personal favorite Kong movie for ages. I grew up absolutely in love with Showa era Godzilla movies and that was a wonderful translation of Kong into a Toho formula. And the more I see of some of the early ideas shopped around for Frankenstein vs Kong I think it would be amazing if Toho could somehow try and recreate a Showa era movie with Godzilla fighting a Promethean monster, maybe made of parts from Komodo dragons, alligators, and other reptiles. And include the idea of Godzilla's body washing up on shore only to be revived to stop the new reptile promethean. I just found I love the idea that Godzilla might physically die but that he can simply be revived with enough radioactive energy.
Thank you SO MUCH for clearing up the "Godzilla didn't lose!" bunk about "King Kong vs. Godzilla". I love Godzilla, but you have to understand he wasn't the huge icon in Japan that he is today, nor was he the more heroic/neutral character he tends to be today. Kong was the more sympathetic character at the time (and I'd argue he always was), so Toho rightfully made him the good guy who would triumph over the villainous Godzilla. Trying to retcon who won simply muddles the history of the franchise and disservices both Godzilla and Kong. I also think that Kong resonated for so long with American and Japanese audiences because, for all of the high-faluting adventure the 1933 film had, it did have a deeper message just like the original Godzilla film. Kong is all about how a benign creature like Kong can go bad because mankind wanted to exploit him and force him to be something he was never meant to be (a stage show attraction). It was a cautionary tale about how greed and hubris could twist something into a monster.
Great video; I love that Kong and Godzilla's older works still have more and more layers continually being revealed. As for Kong, my 1st exposure to him wasn't even really him; it was the dangerous but goodhearted Titano fighting Superman and then Grape Ape. And my 1st proper Kong was the 60's cartoon. So by the time I saw the original movie and the 70s remake I went into it biased and actually fearing what the humans would do to him. It makes me wonder how different my experiences would've been had I been scared of him the way the original audience was (at least in the beginning).
I am so old I remember watching the King Kong TV show when I was a kid , King Kong you know the story on King Kong ten times as big as a man . That was theme song for the show
@@YSL8704 there doesn’t need to be an explanation lol they’re fictional giant monsters. There wasn’t an explanation in the original film he just got it because originally it was supposed to be Frankenstein vs Godzilla. If a giant dinosaur can breathe a stream of radioactive energy than a giant monkey can have electric conductivity
As far as the 62 Toho Kong suit, according to Steve Ryfle's book, Eiji Tsuburaya was a perfectionist who wanted the suit to match or surpass the 33 Kong design. They went through several suit molds but he never was happy. Eventually, he got frustrated and settled for the last mold in order to move forward on the production. I've often wondered if he wasn't so picky if we would have had a better Kong suit.
@@louisborselio8608 I've read that the face was modeled off of a Japanese macaque rather than a gorilla at the request of RKO, though I'm not sure of the veracity of that
@@mattryan1999 I just looked up what a macaque is, and that doesn't look like him either. But if RKO did request Toho not make the face look like a gorilla, that's a lot of nerve and conceit. Because the only thing RKO can really have the rights to is the name KING KONG and that exact look of Kong. RKO didn't create a gorilla. They only copied one made of clay, a metal armature, and rabbit fur. Nature created gorillas. I wish Toho would have known that and fought back.
@@theblueoctopus4494 The suit looked fine to me. Like I said the face should have been better. The hands and feet weren't so hot either. Are you talking King Kong vs Godzilla or King Kong Escapes? I'm talking KKvG. KKE has more of the carpet samples look.
I saw "King Kong Escapes" at the drive-in and grew up with the Rankin/Bass cartoon as a kid... I still have Maury Laws theme in my head ("10 times as big as a man"). I didn't make the connection between the two until now. Thank you.
King Kong is the king And the idea of them fighting came from the creator of King Kong they're both historical figures of Movie Magic that gave life to lots of people in the industry to make great films let's keep making great films The monster verse Godzilla minus one I hope universal can make a King Kong film this is what started my childhood and I'm still a fan and I'm past my 40 And it's getting better and better everyday awesome channel bro keep up the great work
Yeah, I’ve noticed something with the new Kaiju fans, the people that didn’t care about these movies until the 2014 Godzilla movie is for one I just don’t like them because they bring negative energy to the fan base and most of them have this undying hatred for King Kong were most of us old school fans just love both of them, the are trying to rewrite history and tell people that flat out Godzilla won in King Kong versus Godzilla win the makers of the movie flat out say that King Kong one they look stupid when they sit there and try to see different.
Oh, you mentioned the Lucky Number Five. That's a fascinating piece of history and it's influence upon Gojira. And I haven't seen the mechani-Kong movie in years. I remember really liking it as a kid. Thank you for the walk down the movies of the past.
I also agree that GOJIRA is a great film, as great as KK ('33) if not even better .. I read somewhere that the producer or director of KK vs G had 2 Kong suit options & decided to go with the more comical looking one, idk if's that's true but it would explain the totally goofy looking suit
I agree with you comments on Japan being the KING of Gaiju. Everything about Toho studios is done perfectly. I watched a documentary on what it takes too put one of there films together. It is nothing short of amazing in terms of the detail that go into the miniature sets, the awful pool the monster actors have too be immersed in. It's A LOT of work and practice of course. But that's what makes Toho the best at monster films in my humble opinion. Of course i also have a huge affinity for the Japanese and there culture.
Guess what, one time James Bond met Doctor Who! But, it was not THAT James Bond nor was it THAT Doctor Who, just two characters with the same name and nothing else in common. And it was only in the TV cartoon series King Kong, which itself was unofficial non-canon to THAT King Kong. So, there was a triple crossover of King Kong, Doctor Who and James Bond, just in name only.
Love this video! Your approach to the content is nothing short of spectacular! I grew up with all of the Toho and classic King Kong films and I too love King Kong Escapes. The research and analysis you've done here is fantastic. Keep it coming!
Aw man, I gotta disagree. Peter Jackson's King Kong is peak cinema and when you learn he always wanted to make a King Kong movie, it's when you realize all the passion that was put into it. Plus the game was dope
I remember watching the Cooper version of King Kong and the Peter Jackson version. The one thing the Jackson version did that Cooper’s didn’t was the introduction of Ann Darrow. In the Cooper version, Ann seemed to appear out of nowhere to steal the apple from the fruit vendor. Where as in the Jackson version, we are introduced to Ann and we see the circumstances that led to her trying to steal the apple. In both films, Ann was broke and hungry. I have read about King Kong Vs. Frankenstein in G-Fan magazine in the late 90’s. It would have been an interesting film as a sort stand alone using the technology used in the 30’s. King Kong Vs. Godzilla was classic. When it came out one VHS , I bought one that was released by Goodtimes Home Video. A friend of mine at work asked me, “Which version did you get?” I told him it was the American version. King Kong Escapes was definitely a Cold War style film without saying who the so called bad guys were. But it was established that there are evil people with evil schemes in the world. Great video presentation!
I can sympathize with Jackson's desire to spend more time with the characters and in the world, but that doesn't necessarily make a better movie. What we really need is someone to make an open world Skull Island simulator in Unreal Engine or something XD
@@MonsterKidCory I agree. Remakes are risky. And if the film is not well written, a film adaptation is merely seen through the eyes of the producer because that person is a fan. Peter Jackson and his production staff are fans of Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong. They even remade the censored spider pit scene that was edited out of the original. It was quite interesting.
King Kong Escapes can be treated as a prequel to King Kong vs. Godzilla simply by having the movie take place during the 7 year time gap that was mentioned prior, in order to establish certain changes that happen later on and open inturpitations of what happened
I stumbled on this movie on television a long time ago. It was always a part of something else though, it seemed. Years later I have the opportunity to watch the entire film. Um, 'masterpiece' just doesn't sum it up.
3:50 I disagree that American monster movies are "preachy" regarding atomic weapons. If anything, it's the opposite. The A-bomb is often just the catalyst to get everything in motion, and is then forgotten. Certainly not a deeply-rooted theme like in G'54.
Great video! I still need to see King Kong Escapes but wasn’t sure if I needed to watch the 60s show beforehand. I’ve never been into the ‘76 remake but I remember enjoying how insane the sequel was haha. Does Japan have the rights to make another Kong movie??? Like as a Toho film?
You don't need to see the cartoon to appreciate King Kong Escapes. It stands on its own (in fact, you might be a little confused if you see the cartoon first). The rights to Kong are a dog's breakfast, which I alluded to in this video. How it seems to shake out is that RKO via Warner still owns the '33 films, Universal owns the '05 film and various other ancillary things, DeLaurentis owns the '76 version and its sequel, Legendary/Warner own the MonsterVerse version, the Cooper Estate/Joe DeVito own their own version (that has been licensed to Mezco, Disney, and a VR game maker), and the original novelization is public domain. Toho probably would be into making another if there was a clear road through the copyright morass, but yeah, it's a brave soul who goes anywhere near Kong right now. That should clear up quite a lot come 2029, when the copyright on the 1933 films is set to expire.
Wow that actually confirmed that King Kong actually killed Godzilla in that movie since they was going to make a sequel I'm assuming that Godzilla was going to win a second movie that's crazy
@@MonsterKidCory so that means Godzilla would have killed him in the second movie for good they should have still did this I would have loved to see this and this is coming from a Godzilla fan
The "sequel" script reads more like an alternative movie Where they clearly don't connect to each other (Godzilla literally is released from the ice again), but rather are a what if to one another Imagine it as a Pokemon game, same basic plot But the main monster swapa role from one to the other
@@jesusramirezromo2037 well I'm just going off what I heard from watching this one guys video he said they wrote that in the plot that Godzilla was killed by King Kong because we did not know how the fight ended because they was in the water so Godzilla was dead and they found his dead body and they brung him back but this time around he was going to be King Kong
@@jesusramirezromo2037 it's a direct sequel. Godzilla is lying dead at the bottom of Sagami Bay. I don't know where your getting released from ice again from.
KING KONG ESCAPES is easily my favorite Toho non-Godzilla film, and I always thought it was superior to KING KONG VS GODZILLA. Of course, that's from someone who also grew up watching the Rankin-Bass KING KONG cartoon, which was clearly an influence on the film. It's a real shame that we'll never see MechaniKong in another film, although presumably Legendary could do something similar if they had a mind to. There was one IDW Godzilla story that included a certain white-haired "Doctor Hu", though!
Legendary would actually be our best bet for Mechanikong, because they have their own trademarked and copyrighted version of Kong to work from. Toho has to keep staying away because the rights around King Kong are otherwise such a dog's breakfast.
I also like KING KONG ESCAPES. It's a fun, colorful, comic book spinoff. I agree that the KONG remakes from '76 and '05 are terrible, although I will say the '76 version at least made an effort to be different by updating the story, and Jeff Bridges is a hoot. The less I say about the '05 abomination the better.
So, I too had always wondered WHY Kong in KK vs G is so damn... stupid looking. As did many of us. Well I recently found out that evidently RKO had stipulated to Toho that they could use Kong, but that their Kong had to look appreciably different from the original. So instead of basing their Kong's face on a gorilla, they instead based his face loosely on the look of the Japanese macacque. And you can kind of see the resemblance. How true is this? Not entirely sure, although it came from a good G-fan source. At any rate, it far better explains Kong's awful appearance better than the old rumor, which was that Toho had overspent on the new Godzilla suit, and so they couldn't budget as much to the Kong suit. I never found that terribly plausible, as Kong was the hero/star of the story, and more important to the filmmakers at the time, especially Tsuburaya (the sfx director). And apparently by the time King Kong Escapes was made, the stipulation about Kong's appearance wasn't brought up, so they were able to go with a more gorilla-ish Kong... although if you ask me, he looks more cartoonish in that film---in keeping with the source material (the Rankin Bass show).
7:28 That’s actually not true. What happened was that the original title for that film was Godzilla Vs. Mothra. However, in the early 1990s during the Heisi Era, they made another movie where Godzilla fought Mothra and they titled that one Godzilla Vs. Mothra (or Godzilla And Mothra: The Battle For Earth) and changed the title of the 1964 film to Mothra Vs. Godzilla. So, no, Godzilla actually got top billing not Mothra.
@@MonsterKidCory Oh really? I didn't know that. That's interesting, because in the actual film of both the Japanese and American version the title reads "Godzilla Vs. Mothra" (well, actually the title of the American version was "Godzilla Vs. The Thing" but regardless they both have Godzilla's name before Mothra's).
@@nathanielschwartz425 I just double-checked... The posters, the original trailer, and the movie title card all say "モスラ対ゴジラ" モスラ is Mothra ゴジラ is Gojira
I feel this way not only about King Kong but other sci-fi/fantasy films. I can watch scifi movies from the 50's to early 60's over, and over, and over again and enjoy them. Anything after about 1970 not so much., once is generally more than enough. The newest stuff with its constant preaching, shaming, and wokism isnt even worth watching the trailers! Especially the ones where Im told if I dont like it or dont want to see it that means I'm some kind of a "________ -phobe" or "_____ -ist"
I love the original but its racism and sexism keep it from being the best for me. Peter Jackson slayed it. I don't care what anyone says. It took something amazing and made it better. Personal opinion. Yes I'm black so try to see it from my point of view. Still own and watch it because it's a good film, hands down but get real. Ots soooooo 60's America. But the stop motion and all the stuff that went on behind the scenes makes it a must watch for me. Especially if you really want to appreciate the Peter Jackson remake. That one from 70's sucks though. I think most of us agree although I like that Kong in that one is up right like the monsterverse kong. I like kong as more bigfoot style than gorilla. It makes him more of his own species. More kaiju like. Still bad ass either way.
At first I was weirded out by looks of Toho Kong, doesn't look anything like OG Kong or a gorilla for that matter. Now it's my favorite version of any Kong.
You could make a remake of a perfect film but better. Just keep the story and script your remaking as much faithful as possible but with modern upscale it with new technology.
Great video! Tho when you say King Kong is public domain, what do you mean? How does one of the most popular monsters of all time end up for free use?!
The Ho-Ho's from Toho were not officially licensed; only by changing everything about the character - his appearance, his backstory, even his mortality - were the producers able to skate by on a legal loophole. Even more tragic than the films themselves is that Willis O'Brien, the pioneering special effects magician who brought KONG to life in 1933, was absolutely heartbroken when he saw what a joke Toho had made of his creation; it was a betrayal that haunted him the remainder of his days.
Basically, King Kong was the victim of too many "gentlemen's agreements" and not enough actually written down. If you check out my video on the Mezco King Kong of Skull Island figure, I talk about it a bit in that. The short answer right now is that the original novelization from 1932 is public domain, so anyone can reprint it or base new works on it. The 1933 film and its sequel are owned by RKO, but set to enter the public domain by the end of this decade. The two Toho films are owned by Toho but they don't own Kong. English versions of the two Toho films and the 2005 version are owned by Universal, as well as various ancillary theme park rides and other properties. The MonsterVerse is co-owned by Warner and Legendary, I think, but it might just be Legendary with distribution by WB. Joe DeVito and the Cooper Estate have their own version, which has been licensed out to Mezco, VR arcade games, and now Disney for production of a streaming TV show.
@@lpquagmire3621 no loopholes: Toho licensed Kong from RKO from 1962 through 1967. The first film was King Kong vs. Godzilla, and after that Toho partnered with Rankin-Bass to produce films based on the cartoon, which was also popular in Japan.
@@MonsterKidCory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_vs._Godzilla The true story: After the success of the original King Kong film, special effects artist Willis H. O’Brien wanted to make a film where King Kong fights a monster created by Dr. Frankenstein. King Kong vs. Godzilla had its roots in an earlier concept for a new King Kong feature developed by O'Brien, animator of the original stop-motion Kong. Around 1960,[14] O'Brien came up with a proposed treatment, King Kong Meets Frankenstein,[15] where Kong would fight against a giant Frankenstein Monster in San Francisco.[16] O'Brien took the project (which consisted of some concept art[17] and a screenplay treatment) to RKO to secure permission to use the King Kong character. During this time, the story was renamed King Kong vs. the Ginko[18] when it was believed that Universal had the rights to the Frankenstein name. O'Brien was introduced to producer John Beck, who promised to find a studio to make the film (at this point, RKO was no longer a production company). Beck took the story treatment and hired George Worthing Yates to write the screenplay for the film. The story was slightly altered and the title changed to King Kong vs. Prometheus, returning the name to the original Frankenstein concept (The Modern Prometheus was the alternate title of the original novel).[14] The November 2, 1960 issue of Variety reported that Beck had even asked a filmmaker named Jerry Guran (a possible misspelling of filmmaker Nathan Juran's pseudonym Jerry Juran) to direct the film.[6] Unfortunately, the cost of stop-motion animation discouraged potential studios from putting the film into production. After shopping the script around overseas, Beck eventually attracted the interest of the Japanese studio Toho, which had long wanted to make a King Kong film.[John Beck's dealings with Willis O'Brien's project were done behind his back, and O'Brien was never credited for his idea.[26] O'Brien attempted to sue Beck, but lacked the money to do so, and on November 8, 1962, he died in his home in Los Angeles at the age of 76.[27] O'Brien's wife Darlyne later cited "the frustration of the King Kong vs. Frankenstein deal" as the cause of his death.[28] Merian C. Cooper, the producer of the 1933 King Kong film, was bitterly opposed to the project, stating in a letter addressed to his friend Douglas Burden, "I was indignant when some Japanese company made a belittling thing, to a creative mind, called King Kong vs. Godzilla." Ultimately, reviewers tended to evaluate the film as an exploitation or kiddie film. Some of the more positive reviews were from James Powers of The Hollywood Reporter who wrote "A funny monster picture? That's what Universal has in "King Kong Versus Godzilla [sic]". Audiences which patronize this kind of picture will eat it up. It should be a big success via the multiple booking, exploitation route." Much like A*P*E and QUEEN KONG, "KING KONG" VS GODZILLA and its sequel are exploitation pictures; the only films that feature the character created by Cooper and Edgar Wallace are the original 1933 movie and its sequel SON OF KONG, the 1976 remake and the 1986 sequel that followed, and Peter Jackson's 2005 blockbuster. There can be no more films starring Wallace and Cooper's creation because that character is too small; in 2022, film goers don't expect movie monsters to climb skyscrapers in defiant last stands -- they expect them to step over them.
Kong is not beating Godzilla , Beast of 20,000 fathoms would put up a better fight. They gave Kong Frankenstein powers because that was supposed to be the opponent.
Because they made Godzilla OP over time. A modest original Godzilla versus an original King Kong equally sized to match each other would be a fight on a much more even playing field.
Your take on the ending of KKvsG is bad and ridiculous. The conclusion of the fight between Godzilla and Kong is objectively ambiguous. The monsters tumble out into the ocean, Kong swims away, both monsters roar. Neither one gains the upper hand over the other, neither one conclusively injures the other, or thwarts them in any apparent way, etc. And unlike later films that end with Godzilla being carried out to sea, King Kong isn't there to protect anyone, he's just as chaotic neutral as Godzilla, and neither of them are the cause of them falling off the cliff in the first place, it isn't Kong's plan to toss Godzilla off, it isn't Godzilla's, it isn't the military's, they just bonk each other and fall over. That's not a pin, it's not a knock out, it's not anything. They both fall at the same time and once they hit the water they call it off and go their own ways. This is the content of the film, this is what's shown to the audience, this is the actual text. Of course we know what the intent was, and in the context of the time you can see how it could be interpreted as Kong winning, sure. But that's not what's actually in the movie, that's not in the text. To call the actual content of the film something that only crazy fans think sounds suspiciously like a crazy fan trying desperately to cope. And then you just keep going and going and going... And the most grating part isn't that you're transparently just trying to talk up Kong, it's that what you're suggesting is the author never dies, which is absolutely ludicrous. Context is good and important, authorial intent is good and important, but to say every other possible interpretation takes a backseat to that or is somehow invalid basically makes media criticism conceptually pointless, and isn't that... what this video is about? If any other possible interpretation of a film outside of what the authors explicitly intended is wrong... and you aren't the author... w-why is this video here? Point is, any interpretation of the film that posits King Kong as a clear winner does so in spite of the text. That's a perfectly reasonable interpretation to have because there is clearly a basis for it based on what's known about the film, but at the end of the day, that's all it is, an interpretation tied to sources outside of the text, no more correct than any other.
Wrong there’s one giant monster that japan hates our the hard core Japanese godzilla fan hate. His rival monster he soft and weak and wimpy compared to Godzilla. Except his rival debut film that he was dangerous and tough vicious monster only not being a threat to one little Japanese boy and his family. He did the one fhing that big macho Godzilla failed at made jt through his whole debut film ending still alive. Sadly after how long said rival monster be with out a film I don’t think even his creators who made him to challenge Godzilla sucess give a dang about there creation existence at all.
Scaly reptile Godzilla towers over soft fleshy mammal King Kong. Never should the two ever even be in the same movie. Of course, movie profits consistently prove me wrong. Commerce over art.
Well I wouldn't call king Kong the true king of the monsters. Because that's like saying every silverback or any ape you see inn the zoo is king of the monsters. Apes are not monsters. I would say King Kong is the king of the monsters inn America if you like . while Godzilla is the king of the monsters inn Japan. But who ever think that which ever monsters is the true king of the monsters is just based on some bodies opinions. But Godzilla holds that title no matter what anybody says. For better reasons then king Kong . because Godzilla is a real true monster not an ape .But I do agree .that the first king Kong movie will never be beat unless Hollywood starts making movies about fun again . instead of pushing libral communist idiologies inn them currently. Woke if you know what I mean .. king Kong was popular inn America. While Godzilla was popular inn Japan Godzilla never lost popularity. Inn Japan. Nor inn America. .so I disagree . Both America and Japan . Had their own version of who won . inn the end of the king Kong vs Godzilla movie. Whether this was America's idea or not is or Japan's idea is still debatable . Today. Like when king Kong fans vs Godzilla fans . .
There are no apes of kings size...hence he is a monster. It would be like saying kumonga is not a monsterbc it's a spider or rodan is a pterosaur not a monster.
Welp..he was still promoted in posters as the "king of the monsters" at the time. Until Godzilla arrived of course but still, that was one of his original names. Now he's mostly known as the eighth wonder of the world
King Kong on paper is nowhere near as powerful as Godzilla. In the story I don't care what you talking about you cannot make that monkey more powerful than a damn lizard that can fall out the sky and get back up and still fight or turn to a freaking radiate the monster or ball a freaking fire and walks around you cannot you cannot keep calm it's not in Godzilla leave. I don't care if he is the first he's not in his League
I am a Godzilla fan but I can't stand the nonsensical reasoning of other Godzilla fans sometimes! I'm a King Kong fan too, and I feel the same about other King Kong fans. But in defense of Kong to be honest, Godzilla has gone through several real power-ups over the decades since his creation. King Kong on the other hand really hasn't! Stand for the size growth and Lightning/Electrical abilities that were never revisited again. So when anyone says oh Kong could never stand in competition with Godzilla it's somewhat true, yet a bit biased.
@@xkee2013 it's all a bit weird because OBVIOUSLY a movie is going to make either monster as big and as powerful as it needs to be for the story. They talk about either monster like they're real people and not movie characters.
@@MonsterKidCory Agreed. But to be fair, I expected more from Kong's portrayal. I hate they really don't acknowledge him being King Kong. Other than a small reference in Skull Island. Honestly the Monsterverse has been (imo) kinda one sided in favor of Godzilla. I really wanted it to be an equal playing field with both of these iconic kaiju being portrayed awesomely on scale juxtaposed to one another. But Kong is handled less than when compared to Godzilla. Damn near an afterthought. He hasn't really had his own film other than Skull Island. Where in he was a young, not that powerful and barely experienced Kong. Where as Godzilla is portrayed as ancient, experienced and powerful with potential to become more powerful. My point is even though they are indeed both fictional characters, King Kong really gets the short end of the stick in this franchise. I wanted to see them both portrayed as ancient, experienced and powerful with potential to become more powerful on a equal level. With Kong getting as much respect in his development as Godzilla. With each getting their own respective films, enemies and more. All whilst taking place within the same universe, until they finally meet in an all out epic battle. Both beating each other to a pulp with neither one being a clear winner. Proving what happens when an immovable object encounters an unstoppable force! Leaving the audience with an ambiguous ending that makes the fans undecided and debating on whom actually won. Similar to the original but executed much better. Instead we got what we got. And people wonder why Kong lost. Because they left the "King" out of the Kong and of course OBVIOUS Godzilla bias. Again this is coming from a super fan of Godzilla. But I wanted a greater interpretation of King Kong worthy of battling Gojira. I mean if you really watch and pay attention to the franchise from the beginning, you can pretty much predict where they were going with it. So its no surprise we got the end result we got.
@@xkee2013 I'm not sure I entirely agree with that assessment... Kong was the clear protagonist in Godzilla vs. Kong and the movie did end in a draw (Kong LITERALLY buried the hatchet, though try convincing Godzilla fans it was a draw). Kong went through the same story beat of near-defeat that Godzilla did in KOTM when Ghidorah dropped him from orbit and Mothra saved him with her magic fairy dust. But then Kong DIDN'T get to come back and beat Godzilla because they were also using the trope of heroes who punch each other for a bit and then team up (which everyone saw coming even before the movie was released). It would have been nice for Kong to have been a little more savage, because primates are F**KING TERRIFYING and in a fight between any other animal its size and a primate, I'm putting money on the primate. People really underestimate how much a gorilla or a chimpanzee can f**k you up. There was also a natural progression from King Ghidorah to Godzilla, King of the Monsters to King Kong. Too bad the filmmakers missed it, but that's modern Hollywood for you. If I was going to rewrite it, I'd have Mechagodzilla kill Godzilla then Kong kill Mechagodzilla, with a post-credit stinger of a Godzilla egg to leave it open.
GODZILLA IS GOD IN THE MOVIEVERSE king kockless on the other hand is GAY and struggeled with a T REX who would have shredded his hands even if he killed it. Its both sad and funny because its true!!!
King Kong Escapes is always a fun watch for me.
I agree with the sentiment one can see a lot of the DNA of the Toho Kongs in the Legendary Pictures version. For one, Kong is treated a lot more like a sympathetic anti-hero than an aggressive and intelligent animal. His relationship with the natives of the island is much more peaceful as while they do revere him, he is ultimately a guardian or protector. Kong himself in the Legendary version also resembles the Toho Kongs more in some ways, such as being chiefly bipedal and brown colored. The rendition of the island and its inhabitants is also a lot more similar to the Toho versions. Instead of savage natives, the inhabitants in the Toho and Legendary films are treated much more kindly even if they are understandably wary of outsiders.
Yes, they definitely took most of their cues from the Toho versions. While the Skullcrawlers were inspired by the two-legged creature in 1933, moments like Kong fighting the Mire Squid are a direct reference to the Giant Octopus in King Kong vs. Godzilla.
I feel that there should have been a second Kong movie between Skull Island and Godzilla vs. Kong to actually show the destruction of the island. A bit too abrupt of a jump there between the two films.
@@MonsterKidCory I think Legendary was just eager to get the Kong/Godzilla rematch while excitement for it was still high. Also while the ruin of Skull Island was never explained I always thought it was Ghidorah that caused it. Because of how disruptive he was to Earth's general weather patterns his activity indirectly disrupted whatever balance kept the perimeter storm surrounding Skull Island and caused it to consume the island.
@@sonicguyver7445 it was Ghidorah's storms that decimated Skull Island. He had some sort of influence and fucked with the storm that surrounded Skull Island, uktimately destroying it.
We are gonna see Skull Island again in the Netflix Kong Skull Island anime.
@@MonsterKidCory We will see Skull Island again with that anime but we aren't gonna see its destruction. Ghidorahs presence somehow fucked the storm around Skull Island and i believe I read that it basically pushed the storm ON the island.
I'll never forget seeing King Kong Vs Godzilla in the post theater in Germany at the Saturday Matinee in 1964 while my family was stationed there. A gang of us kids would go to the movies every Saturday, and a couple of weeks prior , had watched Jason and the Argonauts ......we all thought that was the coolest movie ever....until we saw the King Kong movie. After that, King Kong Vs Godzilla was the coolest movie ever.
That was a long time ago, but I still remember all of us sitting in the front row, eyes wide and munching popcorn.....
Kong pov: Imagine just relaxing in your home just minding your own business, then tiny figures knock you out, and drag you out to sea, and then make you fight someone who you fight again 59 years later, and draw with your enemy, and you go back home by yourself.
Goji
@@kaijukid_films no
@@kaijukid_films godzilla jr
@@kaijukid_films ye
@@kaijukid_films am not
Those behind the scenes photos are great 👍 very informative video 🙂
Thank you!
Just came here after another argument with a Godzilla fan who claims that the original pitch for the 60's fight to be a draw..
It's great to have this video as a reminder that you should always do your research before talking. And you did just that😊👍🏼
Linda Miller and Mie Hama were fantastic in King Kong Escapes
15:40 A lot of people hate how King Kong looks in King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962) but the reason why he looks that way is because when Toho got the rights to King Kong, RKO actually told them to make sure that their King Kong looked nothing like the original, and so Toho decided to base his looks off of the Japanese macaque.
So a big gorilla couldnt look like a big gorilla...Its funny the requests studios make for their IPs.
I guess that explains why King Kong Escapes was my personal favorite Kong movie for ages. I grew up absolutely in love with Showa era Godzilla movies and that was a wonderful translation of Kong into a Toho formula. And the more I see of some of the early ideas shopped around for Frankenstein vs Kong I think it would be amazing if Toho could somehow try and recreate a Showa era movie with Godzilla fighting a Promethean monster, maybe made of parts from Komodo dragons, alligators, and other reptiles. And include the idea of Godzilla's body washing up on shore only to be revived to stop the new reptile promethean. I just found I love the idea that Godzilla might physically die but that he can simply be revived with enough radioactive energy.
Thank you SO MUCH for clearing up the "Godzilla didn't lose!" bunk about "King Kong vs. Godzilla". I love Godzilla, but you have to understand he wasn't the huge icon in Japan that he is today, nor was he the more heroic/neutral character he tends to be today. Kong was the more sympathetic character at the time (and I'd argue he always was), so Toho rightfully made him the good guy who would triumph over the villainous Godzilla. Trying to retcon who won simply muddles the history of the franchise and disservices both Godzilla and Kong.
I also think that Kong resonated for so long with American and Japanese audiences because, for all of the high-faluting adventure the 1933 film had, it did have a deeper message just like the original Godzilla film. Kong is all about how a benign creature like Kong can go bad because mankind wanted to exploit him and force him to be something he was never meant to be (a stage show attraction). It was a cautionary tale about how greed and hubris could twist something into a monster.
Good video my friend
Well, King Kong is victorious because he has thumbs.
I came there for a King Kong video not Godzilla slander 😂😂😂
The Toho King Kong had really great potential
At least we have the Monsterverse Kong which coexists other monsters from toho and others of course
Great video; I love that Kong and Godzilla's older works still have more and more layers continually being revealed. As for Kong, my 1st exposure to him wasn't even really him; it was the dangerous but goodhearted Titano fighting Superman and then Grape Ape. And my 1st proper Kong was the 60's cartoon. So by the time I saw the original movie and the 70s remake I went into it biased and actually fearing what the humans would do to him. It makes me wonder how different my experiences would've been had I been scared of him the way the original audience was (at least in the beginning).
I have the feeling that a lot of people who went into the movie in 1933 being afraid of the giant ape left it feeling sorry for him!
I am so old I remember watching the King Kong TV show when I was a kid , King Kong you know the story on King Kong ten times as big as a man . That was theme song for the show
The 1976 King Kong remake was great too
No. Just…no.
No Dinosaurs. Dino DeLaurentis was such a cheap basturd.
Kong should be MORE than a "VERY LARGE Silverback Gorilla. Thank You for this Video 😀
I’m still disappointed that monsterverse Kong doesn’t have that Lightning conduit power. Toho Kong’s roar is so amazing too
Now... Tell me... How the hell would he evene get that power...? Is there ANY reason he would have electricity powers...?
@@YSL8704 there doesn’t need to be an explanation lol they’re fictional giant monsters. There wasn’t an explanation in the original film he just got it because originally it was supposed to be Frankenstein vs Godzilla. If a giant dinosaur can breathe a stream of radioactive energy than a giant monkey can have electric conductivity
@@YSL8704 This video explains why Kong has electricity powers.
As far as the 62 Toho Kong suit, according to Steve Ryfle's book, Eiji Tsuburaya was a perfectionist who wanted the suit to match or surpass the 33 Kong design. They went through several suit molds but he never was happy. Eventually, he got frustrated and settled for the last mold in order to move forward on the production.
I've often wondered if he wasn't so picky if we would have had a better Kong suit.
I thought the suit was fine. It's the face that ruins the whole look. It looks like it was carved out of wood with a dull knife.
@@louisborselio8608 I've read that the face was modeled off of a Japanese macaque rather than a gorilla at the request of RKO, though I'm not sure of the veracity of that
@@mattryan1999 I just looked up what a macaque is, and that doesn't look like him either. But if RKO did request Toho not make the face look like a gorilla, that's a lot of nerve and conceit. Because the only thing RKO can really have the rights to is the name KING KONG and that exact look of Kong. RKO didn't create a gorilla. They only copied one made of clay, a metal armature, and rabbit fur. Nature created gorillas. I wish Toho would have known that and fought back.
@@louisborselio8608 the suit looked like it was made out of used carpet samples.
@@theblueoctopus4494 The suit looked fine to me. Like I said the face should have been better. The hands and feet weren't so hot either. Are you talking King Kong vs Godzilla or King Kong Escapes? I'm talking KKvG. KKE has more of the carpet samples look.
I always thought Mechani Kong & Donkey Kong looked alike.
I saw "King Kong Escapes" at the drive-in and grew up with the Rankin/Bass cartoon as a kid... I still have Maury Laws theme in my head ("10 times as big as a man"). I didn't make the connection between the two until now. Thank you.
I always thought he had a friendly kinda face lol
Awesome video, I learned a lot of fun facts, thanks!
Thank you!
This is a great story. Great job putting all this together.
Thank you!
King Kong is the king And the idea of them fighting came from the creator of King Kong they're both historical figures of Movie Magic that gave life to lots of people in the industry to make great films let's keep making great films The monster verse Godzilla minus one I hope universal can make a King Kong film this is what started my childhood and I'm still a fan and I'm past my 40 And it's getting better and better everyday awesome channel bro keep up the great work
An we wish king Kong well on hes long long journey back home.
Yeah, I’ve noticed something with the new Kaiju fans, the people that didn’t care about these movies until the 2014 Godzilla movie is for one I just don’t like them because they bring negative energy to the fan base and most of them have this undying hatred for King Kong were most of us old school fans just love both of them, the are trying to rewrite history and tell people that flat out Godzilla won in King Kong versus Godzilla win the makers of the movie flat out say that King Kong one they look stupid when they sit there and try to see different.
My first 2 monster movies were Destroy All Monsters, then it was King Kong Escapes. Talk about being introduced to all of this!
Very well done and explained. Mechanikong needs his own movie.
Really good video, amazing stills, many I have not seen. Thumbs up, great job.
Thank you!
@@MonsterKidCory You should check out my channel, I also have a lot of monsters hanging out there. I think you may like it.
Oh, you mentioned the Lucky Number Five. That's a fascinating piece of history and it's influence upon Gojira. And I haven't seen the mechani-Kong movie in years. I remember really liking it as a kid. Thank you for the walk down the movies of the past.
I also agree that GOJIRA is a great film, as great as KK ('33) if not even better .. I read somewhere that the producer or director of KK vs G had 2 Kong suit options & decided to go with the more comical looking one, idk if's that's true but it would explain the totally goofy looking suit
They traded cigarettes for Kong. Total commentary on consumerism. "Look at them! Everyone's smoking!"
My favorite is King Kong
I agree with you comments on Japan being the KING of Gaiju. Everything about Toho studios is done perfectly. I watched a documentary on what it takes too put one of there films together. It is nothing short of amazing in terms of the detail that go into the miniature sets, the awful pool the monster actors have too be immersed in. It's A LOT of work and practice of course. But that's what makes Toho the best at monster films in my humble opinion. Of course i also have a huge affinity for the Japanese and there culture.
I so want a SH Monsterarts Mechanikong to go with my Mechagodzilla collection.
I don't know if I could justify the $200 Canadian, but an SH Monsterarts Kong 1933 or Mechanikong would be awfully tempting.
Guess what, one time James Bond met Doctor Who! But, it was not THAT James Bond nor was it THAT Doctor Who, just two characters with the same name and nothing else in common. And it was only in the TV cartoon series King Kong, which itself was unofficial non-canon to THAT King Kong. So, there was a triple crossover of King Kong, Doctor Who and James Bond, just in name only.
Excellent video. Thank you so much.
Love this video! Your approach to the content is nothing short of spectacular! I grew up with all of the Toho and classic King Kong films and I too love King Kong Escapes. The research and analysis you've done here is fantastic. Keep it coming!
Thank you!
Excellent documentary! Thanks for doing this!
Bandai needs to release a movie monster series Japanese Kong , long overdue
YES!!
They paid tribute to Kong in episode 28 of Ultraman Dyna.
This video was great
Thank you!
It's kind of ironic that Universal is making a Mario movie with Donkey Kong seeing how they tried to sue Nintendo over him.
I know! When they made Super Nintendo Land in Universal Japan I thought "well, I guess they worked out their problems!" XD
Aw man, I gotta disagree. Peter Jackson's King Kong is peak cinema and when you learn he always wanted to make a King Kong movie, it's when you realize all the passion that was put into it. Plus the game was dope
Japan "liked" King Kong but thats the best gorilla costume they could come up with...😒
It's one step removed from the kind of Gorilla Costume you'd see in reuns of Gilligan's Island or the Beverly hillbillies.
Loved the video dude. Keep it up. Deserve way more than 88 subs!!!
Thanks! I'm up to 91 right now. If this keeps going, I will have gone from about 20 subs at the beginning of December to over 100 by New Year!
I remember watching the Cooper version of King Kong and the Peter Jackson version. The one thing the Jackson version did that Cooper’s didn’t was the introduction of Ann Darrow. In the Cooper version, Ann seemed to appear out of nowhere to steal the apple from the fruit vendor. Where as in the Jackson version, we are introduced to Ann and we see the circumstances that led to her trying to steal the apple. In both films, Ann was broke and hungry.
I have read about King Kong Vs. Frankenstein in G-Fan magazine in the late 90’s. It would have been an interesting film as a sort stand alone using the technology used in the 30’s.
King Kong Vs. Godzilla was classic. When it came out one VHS , I bought one that was released by Goodtimes Home Video. A friend of mine at work asked me, “Which version did you get?” I told him it was the American version.
King Kong Escapes was definitely a Cold War style film without saying who the so called bad guys were. But it was established that there are evil people with evil schemes in the world.
Great video presentation!
I can sympathize with Jackson's desire to spend more time with the characters and in the world, but that doesn't necessarily make a better movie. What we really need is someone to make an open world Skull Island simulator in Unreal Engine or something XD
@@MonsterKidCory I agree. Remakes are risky. And if the film is not well written, a film adaptation is merely seen through the eyes of the producer because that person is a fan. Peter Jackson and his production staff are fans of Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong. They even remade the censored spider pit scene that was edited out of the original. It was quite interesting.
Funny how the sequel plot of KKvsG w/ Kong caring for a child was reused for the MV GvK, the 2nd film w/ the two giants.
King Kong Escapes can be treated as a prequel to King Kong vs. Godzilla simply by having the movie take place during the 7 year time gap that was mentioned prior, in order to establish certain changes that happen later on and open inturpitations of what happened
Toho King Kong was a drunken lush.
Correct!
The original version of "The Hangover" - solo version.
Yeah😆
And still won
The remake was good too and it had extra scenes
I stumbled on this movie on television a long time ago. It was always a part of something else though, it seemed. Years later I have the opportunity to watch the entire film. Um, 'masterpiece' just doesn't sum it up.
3:50 I disagree that American monster movies are "preachy" regarding atomic weapons. If anything, it's the opposite. The A-bomb is often just the catalyst to get everything in motion, and is then forgotten. Certainly not a deeply-rooted theme like in G'54.
Very interesting.
Great video! I still need to see King Kong Escapes but wasn’t sure if I needed to watch the 60s show beforehand. I’ve never been into the ‘76 remake but I remember enjoying how insane the sequel was haha. Does Japan have the rights to make another Kong movie??? Like as a Toho film?
You don't need to see the cartoon to appreciate King Kong Escapes. It stands on its own (in fact, you might be a little confused if you see the cartoon first).
The rights to Kong are a dog's breakfast, which I alluded to in this video. How it seems to shake out is that RKO via Warner still owns the '33 films, Universal owns the '05 film and various other ancillary things, DeLaurentis owns the '76 version and its sequel, Legendary/Warner own the MonsterVerse version, the Cooper Estate/Joe DeVito own their own version (that has been licensed to Mezco, Disney, and a VR game maker), and the original novelization is public domain. Toho probably would be into making another if there was a clear road through the copyright morass, but yeah, it's a brave soul who goes anywhere near Kong right now. That should clear up quite a lot come 2029, when the copyright on the 1933 films is set to expire.
I had no idea it was that complex haha. I’d like to see another Godzilla and Kong battle from Toho though someday
"Mothra is a Commie" ::insert Russian national anthem::
Wow that actually confirmed that King Kong actually killed Godzilla in that movie since they was going to make a sequel I'm assuming that Godzilla was going to win a second movie that's crazy
Yeah! The story apparently would have had a resurrected Godzilla saving Japan FROM Kong, which is pretty wild.
@@MonsterKidCory so that means Godzilla would have killed him in the second movie for good they should have still did this I would have loved to see this and this is coming from a Godzilla fan
The "sequel" script reads more like an alternative movie
Where they clearly don't connect to each other (Godzilla literally is released from the ice again), but rather are a what if to one another
Imagine it as a Pokemon game, same basic plot
But the main monster swapa role from one to the other
@@jesusramirezromo2037 well I'm just going off what I heard from watching this one guys video he said they wrote that in the plot that Godzilla was killed by King Kong because we did not know how the fight ended because they was in the water so Godzilla was dead and they found his dead body and they brung him back but this time around he was going to be King Kong
@@jesusramirezromo2037 it's a direct sequel. Godzilla is lying dead at the bottom of Sagami Bay. I don't know where your getting released from ice again from.
KING KONG ESCAPES is easily my favorite Toho non-Godzilla film, and I always thought it was superior to KING KONG VS GODZILLA. Of course, that's from someone who also grew up watching the Rankin-Bass KING KONG cartoon, which was clearly an influence on the film. It's a real shame that we'll never see MechaniKong in another film, although presumably Legendary could do something similar if they had a mind to. There was one IDW Godzilla story that included a certain white-haired "Doctor Hu", though!
Legendary would actually be our best bet for Mechanikong, because they have their own trademarked and copyrighted version of Kong to work from. Toho has to keep staying away because the rights around King Kong are otherwise such a dog's breakfast.
I misheard 'kami' as 'commie,' so now I want to see the movie where Mothra helps the laboring class gain control of the means of production.
I also like KING KONG ESCAPES. It's a fun, colorful, comic book spinoff. I agree that the KONG remakes from '76 and '05 are terrible, although I will say the '76 version at least made an effort to be different by updating the story, and Jeff Bridges is a hoot. The less I say about the '05 abomination the better.
So, I too had always wondered WHY Kong in KK vs G is so damn... stupid looking. As did many of us. Well I recently found out that evidently RKO had stipulated to Toho that they could use Kong, but that their Kong had to look appreciably different from the original. So instead of basing their Kong's face on a gorilla, they instead based his face loosely on the look of the Japanese macacque. And you can kind of see the resemblance.
How true is this? Not entirely sure, although it came from a good G-fan source. At any rate, it far better explains Kong's awful appearance better than the old rumor, which was that Toho had overspent on the new Godzilla suit, and so they couldn't budget as much to the Kong suit. I never found that terribly plausible, as Kong was the hero/star of the story, and more important to the filmmakers at the time, especially Tsuburaya (the sfx director).
And apparently by the time King Kong Escapes was made, the stipulation about Kong's appearance wasn't brought up, so they were able to go with a more gorilla-ish Kong... although if you ask me, he looks more cartoonish in that film---in keeping with the source material (the Rankin Bass show).
Very interesting video
Thank you!
I am interested in checking the silent short Wasei Kingu Kongu someday
We ALL are... It's a lost film. If you find a copy, please let everyone else know 😆
Yeah..John Beck screwed us out of some good Kong movies
We need a new Japanese domestic produced King Kong film.
7:28 That’s actually not true. What happened was that the original title for that film was Godzilla Vs. Mothra. However, in the early 1990s during the Heisi Era, they made another movie where Godzilla fought Mothra and they titled that one Godzilla Vs. Mothra (or Godzilla And Mothra: The Battle For Earth) and changed the title of the 1964 film to Mothra Vs. Godzilla. So, no, Godzilla actually got top billing not Mothra.
Except that the posters from 1964 say Mothra vs. Godzilla. In Japanese, she comes first.
@@MonsterKidCory Oh really? I didn't know that. That's interesting, because in the actual film of both the Japanese and American version the title reads "Godzilla Vs. Mothra" (well, actually the title of the American version was "Godzilla Vs. The Thing" but regardless they both have Godzilla's name before Mothra's).
@@nathanielschwartz425 I just double-checked... The posters, the original trailer, and the movie title card all say "モスラ対ゴジラ"
モスラ is Mothra
ゴジラ is Gojira
I feel this way not only about King Kong but other sci-fi/fantasy films. I can watch scifi movies from the 50's to early 60's over, and over, and over again and enjoy them. Anything after about 1970 not so much., once is generally more than enough. The newest stuff with its constant preaching, shaming, and wokism isnt even worth watching the trailers! Especially the ones where Im told if I dont like it or dont want to see it that means I'm some kind of a "________ -phobe" or "_____ -ist"
I love the original but its racism and sexism keep it from being the best for me. Peter Jackson slayed it. I don't care what anyone says. It took something amazing and made it better. Personal opinion. Yes I'm black so try to see it from my point of view. Still own and watch it because it's a good film, hands down but get real. Ots soooooo 60's America. But the stop motion and all the stuff that went on behind the scenes makes it a must watch for me. Especially if you really want to appreciate the Peter Jackson remake. That one from 70's sucks though. I think most of us agree although I like that Kong in that one is up right like the monsterverse kong. I like kong as more bigfoot style than gorilla. It makes him more of his own species. More kaiju like. Still bad ass either way.
At first I was weirded out by looks of Toho Kong, doesn't look anything like OG Kong or a gorilla for that matter. Now it's my favorite version of any Kong.
You could make a remake of a perfect film but better. Just keep the story and script your remaking as much faithful as possible but with modern upscale it with new technology.
They tried that with a remake of Psycho. It really highlighted the question of "why?"
Nope
Great video! Tho when you say King Kong is public domain, what do you mean? How does one of the most popular monsters of all time end up for free use?!
The Ho-Ho's from Toho were not officially licensed; only by changing everything about the character - his appearance, his backstory, even his mortality - were the producers able to skate by on a legal loophole. Even more tragic than the films themselves is that Willis O'Brien, the pioneering special effects magician who brought KONG to life in 1933, was absolutely heartbroken when he saw what a joke Toho had made of his creation; it was a betrayal that haunted him the remainder of his days.
Basically, King Kong was the victim of too many "gentlemen's agreements" and not enough actually written down. If you check out my video on the Mezco King Kong of Skull Island figure, I talk about it a bit in that.
The short answer right now is that the original novelization from 1932 is public domain, so anyone can reprint it or base new works on it. The 1933 film and its sequel are owned by RKO, but set to enter the public domain by the end of this decade. The two Toho films are owned by Toho but they don't own Kong. English versions of the two Toho films and the 2005 version are owned by Universal, as well as various ancillary theme park rides and other properties. The MonsterVerse is co-owned by Warner and Legendary, I think, but it might just be Legendary with distribution by WB. Joe DeVito and the Cooper Estate have their own version, which has been licensed out to Mezco, VR arcade games, and now Disney for production of a streaming TV show.
@@lpquagmire3621 no loopholes: Toho licensed Kong from RKO from 1962 through 1967. The first film was King Kong vs. Godzilla, and after that Toho partnered with Rankin-Bass to produce films based on the cartoon, which was also popular in Japan.
@@lpquagmire3621 Damn! A lot of owners for one monkey! 😂 But I can make my own kong series (like a game series) based on the 1932 novel and be a-ok?!
@@MonsterKidCory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_vs._Godzilla The true story: After the success of the original King Kong film, special effects artist Willis H. O’Brien wanted to make a film where King Kong fights a monster created by Dr. Frankenstein. King Kong vs. Godzilla had its roots in an earlier concept for a new King Kong feature developed by O'Brien, animator of the original stop-motion Kong. Around 1960,[14] O'Brien came up with a proposed treatment, King Kong Meets Frankenstein,[15] where Kong would fight against a giant Frankenstein Monster in San Francisco.[16] O'Brien took the project (which consisted of some concept art[17] and a screenplay treatment) to RKO to secure permission to use the King Kong character. During this time, the story was renamed King Kong vs. the Ginko[18] when it was believed that Universal had the rights to the Frankenstein name. O'Brien was introduced to producer John Beck, who promised to find a studio to make the film (at this point, RKO was no longer a production company). Beck took the story treatment and hired George Worthing Yates to write the screenplay for the film. The story was slightly altered and the title changed to King Kong vs. Prometheus, returning the name to the original Frankenstein concept (The Modern Prometheus was the alternate title of the original novel).[14] The November 2, 1960 issue of Variety reported that Beck had even asked a filmmaker named Jerry Guran (a possible misspelling of filmmaker Nathan Juran's pseudonym Jerry Juran) to direct the film.[6] Unfortunately, the cost of stop-motion animation discouraged potential studios from putting the film into production. After shopping the script around overseas, Beck eventually attracted the interest of the Japanese studio Toho, which had long wanted to make a King Kong film.[John Beck's dealings with Willis O'Brien's project were done behind his back, and O'Brien was never credited for his idea.[26] O'Brien attempted to sue Beck, but lacked the money to do so, and on November 8, 1962, he died in his home in Los Angeles at the age of 76.[27] O'Brien's wife Darlyne later cited "the frustration of the King Kong vs. Frankenstein deal" as the cause of his death.[28] Merian C. Cooper, the producer of the 1933 King Kong film, was bitterly opposed to the project, stating in a letter addressed to his friend Douglas Burden, "I was indignant when some Japanese company made a belittling thing, to a creative mind, called King Kong vs. Godzilla." Ultimately, reviewers tended to evaluate the film as an exploitation or kiddie film. Some of the more positive reviews were from James Powers of The Hollywood Reporter who wrote "A funny monster picture? That's what Universal has in "King Kong Versus Godzilla [sic]". Audiences which patronize this kind of picture will eat it up. It should be a big success via the multiple booking, exploitation route." Much like A*P*E and QUEEN KONG, "KING KONG" VS GODZILLA and its sequel are exploitation pictures; the only films that feature the character created by Cooper and Edgar Wallace are the original 1933 movie and its sequel SON OF KONG, the 1976 remake and the 1986 sequel that followed, and Peter Jackson's 2005 blockbuster. There can be no more films starring Wallace and Cooper's creation because that character is too small; in 2022, film goers don't expect movie monsters to climb skyscrapers in defiant last stands -- they expect them to step over them.
He's shorter and alot cleaner
Dr. Wu and NOT Dr. Who😁
No, he actually is Dr. Who! Just not THAT Dr. Who ;)
Kong is not beating Godzilla , Beast of 20,000 fathoms would put up a better fight. They gave Kong Frankenstein powers because that was supposed to be the opponent.
Because they made Godzilla OP over time. A modest original Godzilla versus an original King Kong equally sized to match each other would be a fight on a much more even playing field.
In his current state maybe..
But back in the 60's he won Godzilla (as ambiguous as it was portrayed). And 2 years ago Godzilla settled the score
How are the original King Kong versus Godzilla movie ended King Kong and Godzilla thrown to the river and King Kong swim away Godzilla died
Godzilla didn’t die
Godzilla didn't die
But he swam away defeated
5:32 Mothra is a commie
Your take on the ending of KKvsG is bad and ridiculous. The conclusion of the fight between Godzilla and Kong is objectively ambiguous. The monsters tumble out into the ocean, Kong swims away, both monsters roar. Neither one gains the upper hand over the other, neither one conclusively injures the other, or thwarts them in any apparent way, etc. And unlike later films that end with Godzilla being carried out to sea, King Kong isn't there to protect anyone, he's just as chaotic neutral as Godzilla, and neither of them are the cause of them falling off the cliff in the first place, it isn't Kong's plan to toss Godzilla off, it isn't Godzilla's, it isn't the military's, they just bonk each other and fall over. That's not a pin, it's not a knock out, it's not anything. They both fall at the same time and once they hit the water they call it off and go their own ways. This is the content of the film, this is what's shown to the audience, this is the actual text.
Of course we know what the intent was, and in the context of the time you can see how it could be interpreted as Kong winning, sure. But that's not what's actually in the movie, that's not in the text. To call the actual content of the film something that only crazy fans think sounds suspiciously like a crazy fan trying desperately to cope. And then you just keep going and going and going... And the most grating part isn't that you're transparently just trying to talk up Kong, it's that what you're suggesting is the author never dies, which is absolutely ludicrous. Context is good and important, authorial intent is good and important, but to say every other possible interpretation takes a backseat to that or is somehow invalid basically makes media criticism conceptually pointless, and isn't that... what this video is about? If any other possible interpretation of a film outside of what the authors explicitly intended is wrong... and you aren't the author... w-why is this video here?
Point is, any interpretation of the film that posits King Kong as a clear winner does so in spite of the text. That's a perfectly reasonable interpretation to have because there is clearly a basis for it based on what's known about the film, but at the end of the day, that's all it is, an interpretation tied to sources outside of the text, no more correct than any other.
And you're welcome to believe all that if you want. I made my case in the video.
Wrong there’s one giant monster that japan hates our the hard core Japanese godzilla fan hate. His rival monster he soft and weak and wimpy compared to Godzilla. Except his rival debut film that he was dangerous and tough vicious monster only not being a threat to one little Japanese boy and his family. He did the one fhing that big macho Godzilla failed at made jt through his whole debut film ending still alive. Sadly after how long said rival monster be with out a film I don’t think even his creators who made him to challenge Godzilla sucess give a dang about there creation existence at all.
Scaly reptile Godzilla towers over soft fleshy mammal King Kong. Never should the two ever even be in the same movie. Of course, movie profits consistently prove me wrong. Commerce over art.
Well I wouldn't call king Kong the true king of the monsters. Because that's like saying every silverback or any ape you see inn the zoo is king of the monsters. Apes are not monsters. I would say King Kong is the king of the monsters inn America if you like . while Godzilla is the king of the monsters inn Japan. But who ever think that which ever monsters is the true king of the monsters is just based on some bodies opinions. But Godzilla holds that title no matter what anybody says. For better reasons then king Kong . because Godzilla is a real true monster not an ape .But I do agree .that the first king Kong movie will never be beat unless Hollywood starts making movies about fun again . instead of pushing libral communist idiologies inn them currently. Woke if you know what I mean .. king Kong was popular inn America. While Godzilla was popular inn Japan Godzilla never lost popularity. Inn Japan. Nor inn America. .so I disagree . Both America and Japan . Had their own version of who won . inn the end of the king Kong vs Godzilla movie. Whether this was America's idea or not is or Japan's idea is still debatable . Today. Like when king Kong fans vs Godzilla fans . .
There are no apes of kings size...hence he is a monster. It would be like saying kumonga is not a monsterbc it's a spider or rodan is a pterosaur not a monster.
@@Digitizeddragon "There are no apes of kings size".
You obviously haven't met my mother-in-law.😂
Welp..he was still promoted in posters as the "king of the monsters" at the time. Until Godzilla arrived of course but still, that was one of his original names. Now he's mostly known as the eighth wonder of the world
King Kong on paper is nowhere near as powerful as Godzilla. In the story I don't care what you talking about you cannot make that monkey more powerful than a damn lizard that can fall out the sky and get back up and still fight or turn to a freaking radiate the monster or ball a freaking fire and walks around you cannot you cannot keep calm it's not in Godzilla leave. I don't care if he is the first he's not in his League
Chill out dude. You're exactly the kind of person I talk about in the video.
I am a Godzilla fan but I can't stand the nonsensical reasoning of other Godzilla fans sometimes! I'm a King Kong fan too, and I feel the same about other King Kong fans. But in defense of Kong to be honest, Godzilla has gone through several real power-ups over the decades since his creation. King Kong on the other hand really hasn't! Stand for the size growth and Lightning/Electrical abilities that were never revisited again. So when anyone says oh Kong could never stand in competition with Godzilla it's somewhat true, yet a bit biased.
@@xkee2013 it's all a bit weird because OBVIOUSLY a movie is going to make either monster as big and as powerful as it needs to be for the story. They talk about either monster like they're real people and not movie characters.
@@MonsterKidCory Agreed. But to be fair, I expected more from Kong's portrayal. I hate they really don't acknowledge him being King Kong. Other than a small reference in Skull Island. Honestly the Monsterverse has been (imo) kinda one sided in favor of Godzilla. I really wanted it to be an equal playing field with both of these iconic kaiju being portrayed awesomely on scale juxtaposed to one another. But Kong is handled less than when compared to Godzilla. Damn near an afterthought. He hasn't really had his own film other than Skull Island. Where in he was a young, not that powerful and barely experienced Kong. Where as Godzilla is portrayed as ancient, experienced and powerful with potential to become more powerful. My point is even though they are indeed both fictional characters, King Kong really gets the short end of the stick in this franchise. I wanted to see them both portrayed as ancient, experienced and powerful with potential to become more powerful on a equal level. With Kong getting as much respect in his development as Godzilla. With each getting their own respective films, enemies and more. All whilst taking place within the same universe, until they finally meet in an all out epic battle. Both beating each other to a pulp with neither one being a clear winner. Proving what happens when an immovable object encounters an unstoppable force! Leaving the audience with an ambiguous ending that makes the fans undecided and debating on whom actually won. Similar to the original but executed much better. Instead we got what we got. And people wonder why Kong lost. Because they left the "King" out of the Kong and of course OBVIOUS Godzilla bias. Again this is coming from a super fan of Godzilla. But I wanted a greater interpretation of King Kong worthy of battling Gojira. I mean if you really watch and pay attention to the franchise from the beginning, you can pretty much predict where they were going with it. So its no surprise we got the end result we got.
@@xkee2013 I'm not sure I entirely agree with that assessment... Kong was the clear protagonist in Godzilla vs. Kong and the movie did end in a draw (Kong LITERALLY buried the hatchet, though try convincing Godzilla fans it was a draw). Kong went through the same story beat of near-defeat that Godzilla did in KOTM when Ghidorah dropped him from orbit and Mothra saved him with her magic fairy dust. But then Kong DIDN'T get to come back and beat Godzilla because they were also using the trope of heroes who punch each other for a bit and then team up (which everyone saw coming even before the movie was released).
It would have been nice for Kong to have been a little more savage, because primates are F**KING TERRIFYING and in a fight between any other animal its size and a primate, I'm putting money on the primate. People really underestimate how much a gorilla or a chimpanzee can f**k you up. There was also a natural progression from King Ghidorah to Godzilla, King of the Monsters to King Kong. Too bad the filmmakers missed it, but that's modern Hollywood for you. If I was going to rewrite it, I'd have Mechagodzilla kill Godzilla then Kong kill Mechagodzilla, with a post-credit stinger of a Godzilla egg to leave it open.
Greatly embarrassing.
GODZILLA IS GOD IN THE MOVIEVERSE king kockless on the other hand is GAY and struggeled with a T REX who would have shredded his hands even if he killed it. Its both sad and funny because its true!!!
Someone didn't take his logic pills today I see..
Figures.
No he's not.