King Kong Origins and Evolutions

Cinema was still young when the Eighth Wonder of the World made his debut on the big screen with Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong. The film was a cultural staple for decades and as a result has become a landmark of pop culture in countless ways, from feature films and theme park rides to spoofs and commercials with the great ape. To mark the arrival of Kong: Skull Island this week, we’ve gone back through the long timeline of King Kong, and you can read the full history in the gallery below!

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures‘ Kong: Skull Island stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson John Goodman, Jing Tian, Toby Kebbell, John Ortiz, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Terry Notary and John C. Reilly.

Directed by Vogt-Roberts, Kong: Skull Island is scripted by John Gatins and Max Borenstein. Legendary’s John Jashni and Thomas Tull are producing alongside Mary Parent. A trip back to the mysterious and dangerous home of the king of the apes, Kong: Skull Island tells the story of a diverse team of scientists, soldiers and adventurers uniting to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific, as dangerous as it is beautiful. Cut off from everything they know, the team ventures into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong.

Kong: Skull Island hits regular and IMAX theaters on March 10.

King Kong (1933)

King Kong was the brainchild of director Merian C. Cooper, who pulled his inspirations from several different nature books he'd read as a boy and a young man, including Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, which got him interested in gorillas, and The Dragon Lizards of Komodo, which put him on the path toward deciding his creature should fight dinosaurs.

King Kong (1933)

Cooper took took the stop-motion elements from another RKO picture, titled “Creation” (which was scrapped), and applied it to his feature as a means of cutting costs since real lizards wouldn't be required anymore. He continued to work on the script under its original title “The Eighth Wonder,” which would go on to become a key identifier of King Kong.

King Kong (1933)

As pre-production chugged along and the film shifted to production, Cooper directed the miniatures and special effects, while his partner Ernest B. Schoedsack directed the dialogue scenes. Production on the film lasted from May to October of 1932, a lengthy shoot for the time.

King Kong (1933)

King Kong opened in March of 1933 with most critics hailing it as groundbreaking work, and even the more critical reactions conceding that it had many elements that were great. Shockingly, the film wasn't nominated for any Academy Awards, and not even the effects were recognized by The Academy.

Novelization

A few months ahead of the release of the film, a novelization of the screenplay was written by Delos W. Lovelace. The release was quite popular, but after some years, the copyright fell into the public domain, meaning it was published by countless publishers.

King Kong Meets Mickey

The same year the film was released, a new Mickey Mouse cartoon was produced by Disney wherein the title character met a large ape, lampooning King Kong.

The Re-Releases

The film was a box office success upon release and since the home video market had yet to begin, it was re-released into theaters starting in 1938 and carrying on in 1942, 1946, 1952 and 1956. It went on to be in constant rotation on television, which helped cement its place as a classic film beloved by many.

Son of Kong

Just nine months after Kong was released, a direct follow-up titled Son of Kong debuted featuring the off-spring of the original creature in a rather kid-friendly adventure movie.

Non-Kongs

The success of King Kong triggered immitators around the world, who even used the name of the film without a licensing agreement, such as Japanese King Kong, King Kong Appears in Edo, King Kong's Adventures in the Heavenly Palace, Tarzan and King Kong, Kong Island, and Las Muñecas Del King Kong.

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

After the success of Toho's Godzilla in 1954, the company licensed the King Kong character from RKO (without the approval or acknowledgment of Cooper, but more on that later) for the two creatures to fight on the big screen. Fairly unmatched given Godzilla's abilities, Kong was given increased strength thanks to electrical lines (yes, really) and defeated the kaiju. This version of the character was the tallest version of the character there has ever been, standing at 148' tall.

The King Kong Show (1966)

Produced by Rankin/Bass (of television Christmas special fame) and animated by Toei Animation (future animators of the Dragon Ball franchise), the series saw the title character teaming up with a family for adventures. Funny enough, the series' main villain was named Dr. Who, unrelated to the British series.

King Kong Escapes (1967)

Toho later adapted The King Kong Show into a live-action feature film, using the same Kong suit they built for his fight with Godzilla.

Mad Monster Party?

Rankin/Bass would bring the character to life again for their animated film that brought together some of the most famous movie monsters all in one place. The creature wasn't explicitly called King Kong, however, instead just “It.”

Yellow Submarine

The Beatles accidentally look into a room featuring a Kong-like ape as he reaches in for a woman.

Doctor Who

An episode of the long-running British series featured a giant robot modeled after King Kong.

King Kong (1976)

A big-screen remake of the film finally came 43 years later with one key difference being the title ape climbed the World Trade Center towers instead of the Empire State Building in the film's climax. This version of the character was also 50' tall, an upgrade from the original film's 18' tall Kong.

Legal disputes

We don't mean those countless rip-offs, but more the legal status of the copyright holder for Kong himself. Merian C. Cooper claimed to own all the rights to the character, having developed it before working with RKO and claimed to have only licensed the character to RKO, which a judge would later confirm three years after Cooper's death in the wake of the 1976 remake.

Donkey Kong

Another lawsuit would flare up with the character (after Universal Pictures had outright purchased the rights to the character from Cooper) when Nintendo revealed their video game Donkey Kong, featuring a giant ape on top of a tall building with a distressed woman. Given the rocky legal history of the character previously, a judge ruled that Universal did not actually own the trademark to the King Kong name, which meant Nintendo could carry on.

Video Games

Speaking of video games, the character has had several official video game appearances, ranging from a game for the Atari 2600 to today's hit title LEGO Dimensions.

King Kong Lives (1986)

A sequel to the 1976 remake was made ten years later with about as goofy a plot as you can have for a Kong sequel where the ape survived the fall in the first film and now needs an artificial heart and a blood transfusion from another giant ape to be kept alive. Yup.

King Kong Encounter

Based on the 1976 film, Universal Studios commissioned the first of many rides based on the character. The ride would open in 1986 and would stay as a featured attraction until 2008 when it was destroyed in a fire.

King Homer

The third “Treehouse of Horror” episode from The Simpsons featured a King Kong parody with Homer as the title ape, making multiple appearances throughout the series in the future.

King Kong sells Coke

The character eventually made his way to television as a commercial spokesperson too, promoting the likes of Coke and Energizer batteries.

Kong: The Animated Series (2000)

The series picks up many years after the original feature film and stars a scientifically created clone of the title ape.

King Kong (2005)

Another remake of the ape would came almost thirty years after the '70s film, this time as Peter Jackson's first film following the critically-acclaimed The Lord of the Rings movies. The film also marked the first time since King Kong Escapes that an actor actually played the role of the ape, with Andy Serkis performing the motion capture for Kong. Jackson long had a fascination with the character and film, setting a scene for his film Dead Alive on Skull Island back in 1992.

Be Kind Rewind remake

In the film Be King Rewind, a video store recreates feature films after their stock is erased, one of them being King Kong.

King Kong: 360 3D

Universal Studios would later rebuild their Kong attraction, this time based on the 2005 film, with a 3D experience with screens that wrap all around the riders.

King Kong The Musical (2013)

Michael Mitnick and Craig Lucas wrote the music, lyrics, and book for a stage adaptation of the classic film, featuring an 18-foot tall animatronic Kong on stage!

Kong: King of the Apes (2016)

The Netflix animated series features the ape running around in the future of 2050, fighting robot dinosaurs.

Skull Island: Reign of Kong

Universal Studios Orlando put together their own new ride based on the 2005 feature film, complete with a line that transports riders to the world of Skull Island.

King Kong Wine

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's winery released a King Kong-themed wine in 2016. It makes no sense honestly, but it's kind of cool.

The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)

The character appears as a villain in the animated film alongside The Joker, Daleks, and Voldemort.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

The latest version of Kong to hit the big screen comes from Legendary Entertainment, featuring a film set entirely on Kong's home and exploring the world he rules.

King Kong vs Godzilla (2020)

Kong: Skull Island is the second entry in Legendary's “MonsterVerse,” following 2014's Godzilla. The two titans of cinema will battle it out on the big screen once again in a film currently set for a 2020 release date, one year after the upcoming Godzilla sequel.

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King Kong Origins and Evolutions