King Kong: A Brief History of a 90-Year-Old Movie Icon

As one of cinema’s best-known monsters, King Kong is an international pop culture phenomenon alongside popular superheroes and comic book characters.

The first “King Kong” movie was made in 1933 and was the brainchild of Merian C. Cooper, co-directed and produced with Ernest B. Schoedsack.

A blend of adventure, horror and fantasy, “King Kong” remains a pioneering technical masterpiece with Willis H. O’Brien’s early use of stop-motion photography and special effects.

The film was also one of the first to have a special soundtrack composed to accompany it.

Released in theaters across the United States on March 2, 1933, it became a huge hit and the inspiration for amusement park rides, video games and a series of 12 “King Kong” films.

‘King Kong’

The original “King Kong” takes as a starting point that gorilla stories were highly sought after in the 1930s, as settings that seemed “exotic” to American moviegoers often became box office hits.

So a film crew led by director Carl Denham goes in search of a giant gorilla on the fictional Skull Island, near Indonesia, where Kong is worshiped as a god by the natives.

The film crew captures him and brings him back to New York to introduce him to the public. Overwhelmed, King Kong breaks free of his shackles and escapes.

Obsessed with Ann Darrow, the lead actress of the film crew, King Kong kidnaps her and takes her to the top of the Empire State Building, where she is shot dead by an American military plane. Ann Darrow survives unharmed.

King Kong, who was much more brutal in the uncut version than he was in the final cut, is shown not only as a perpetrator, but also as a victim of human greed.

In Nazi Germany, the film was initially banned by the censors, but Adolf Hitler liked the film and allowed its release.

‘Son of Kong’

The sequel came out the same year.

The story takes place one month after Kong’s death. Carl Denham is responsible for Kong’s destruction. Facing bankruptcy from lawsuits, he flees to Captain Englehorn’s ship. After countless adventures, Denham ends up returning to Skull Island for a treasure hunt along with Englehorn, a singer named Helene, and another shady captain named Helstrom.

They find Kong’s son, a giant albino ape, who they rescue from the quicksand. In the end, Kong Junior returns the favor when the island is hit by an earthquake. He brings Denham and Helene back to the boat before drowning in the ocean around the sinking island.

‘King Kong vs. Godzilla’

The first King Kong color film was released in 1962 as a Japanese film in the Kaiju monster genre. Directed by Ishiro Honda, it was also the third Godzilla film.

“King Kong vs. Godzilla” tells the story of the prehistoric dinosaur Godzilla breaking free from an iceberg and threatening to destroy Japan. At the same time, King Kong, captured by scientists, arrives in Japan. The giant gorilla escapes, finds Godzilla, attacks him and loses. As a result, he is forced to retreat.

The scientists send Kong to fight Godzilla again. Kong feeds on electrical voltage, which makes him stronger than ever.

During their final battle on Mount Fuji, the two beasts wreak havoc and destruction. The battle culminates in a crash into the sea, where Godzilla is defeated and King Kong swims back to his island home.

‘King Kong escapes’

The 1967 Japanese sequel was also directed by Ishiro Honda. Like its predecessor and the entire Godzilla series, the film was produced by Toho.

This time, the giant gorilla Kong is clearly the good guy in the movie, in love with a nurse named Susan.

A mad scientist named Dr. Who is failing to mine a radioactive element in the Arctic with the help of his robot Mechani-Kong – created in the image of King Kong. So he kidnaps Kong, hoping he’ll finish the job.

Kong manages to escape, but Mechani-Kong chases him to Tokyo Tower for a final showdown between the two apes. Kong wins and once again swims back to his homeland.

‘King Kong’ – the first remake

In the 1976 film, King Kong gets a modernized remake of the original story: an oil company disrupts Kong’s peaceful existence on the island and kidnaps him to New York.

The film, directed by John Guillermin, stars Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges. Producer Dino De Laurentiis had a 40-foot-tall mechanical King Kong figure built especially for the film, which cost $1.7 million (€1.6 million) and was completely covered in horsehair. But unfortunately, the model was defective and could only be seen for a few seconds in the finished film. For the remaining scenes, special effects had to be used.

‘King Kong lives’

Ten years later, the sequel “King Kong Lives” followed. John Guillermin was also the director, but the cast changed completely.

Kong didn’t die in his fall from the Empire State Building, but he was in a coma for a decade, hooked up to life support. After receiving a blood transfusion from a giant ape named Lady Kong, Kong wakes up, kidnaps the female, and flees from the army.

After mating, the couple is discovered by soldiers and Lady Kong is arrested while Kong is presumed dead.

Months later, Kong kidnaps the pregnant cousin again. in the end, the couple is confronted by the military and Kong dies shot by the soldiers after witnessing the birth of his son. Lady Kong and Kong’s son are taken back to their home island of Borneo.

‘King Kong’

In 2005, famed director Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings”) fulfilled a childhood dream by venturing into the King Kong material. According to Jackson, the original “King Kong” sparked his career as a filmmaker.

Filmed in New Zealand, the Jackson remake stars Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody and Jack Black.

Jackson followed the 1933 original very closely in terms of plot. He also recreated a spider scene that was removed from the original film by censors in the 1930s.

The critically acclaimed film received multiple award nominations and won three Oscars, but got off to a slow start at the box office.

‘Kong: Skull Island’

2017’s “Kong: Skull Island” is the second film in the MonsterVerse multimedia franchise, which produces blockbuster movies starring the likes of King Kong, Godzilla, and other Toho monsters.

Hollywood stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, Samuel L. Jackson and John Goodman star in Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ fantasy adventure film.

In real life, the simian beast would have been over 30 meters (about 100 feet), making it the tallest King Kong in the franchise to date.

The remake is set in the early 1970s when a squad of soldiers, government officials and civilians explore a mysterious island. Their helicopter is shot down and they quickly discover that a giant ape lives on the island.

Although this is the “king” of the island, there are many other monsters that the party must prevail against.

The role of war photographer Weaver, played by Brie Larson, is quite different from Ann Darrow’s original character, the passive actress.

New King Kong blockbuster set to hit theaters in 2024

After the great success of “Kong: Skull Island”, which grossed $ 567 million (approx. 534 million euros) worldwide, “Godzilla vs. Kong” followed in 2021.

A Godzilla vs. Project Kong is now slated for release in 2024. It will be the fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise.

With the iconic giant ape turning 90, King Kong remains a box office star.

This article was originally written in German.