Polar Lights Kong Kit

The 1960s and 70s brought us kids some sweet horror model kits to stimulate imaginations and inspire young minds. Also to separate our parents money from their wallets…. Polar Lights made some amazing monster diorama kits. Here is a King Kong one. Sure, its for the original RKO picture, but who cares, its cool anyhoo!

There is even a glow in the dark variant, though I am not sure I would like that, a Kong that is not black.

Kong on Cracked

Was more of a Mad guy growing up, but Cracked was great too. Here is a cover with their take on Kong, King Kung.

Kong on Wacky Packages

Back when I was a kid, I was very interested in Wacky Package, Topps Cards product parodies. I have a couple of sheets of some of the runs in the late 70s myself, along with two books published by Abrams Books.

Recently I found some newer Wacky Packages produced in the last 15 years or so with a Kong theme. Check them out below:

Looks like he is going to cook her….

130 Natives, 16 helicopters, & 1 hot blonde in each bottle!

Kong on Mad: 60¢, Chimp

King Kong in this 1976 Mad magazine! Unfortunately I couldn’t find any pages with the story on the internet, except for what is below. I wish I had this issue!

Not sure what this cover implies….

1966 King Kong Show

While I did know this existed, it was way before my time. Still, since there were so many shows in syndication when I was a kid, I’m sad to say I never saw this cartoon. It would have been great to see this just before I sat down to watch Speed Racer as a lad.

This was produced by Rankin/Bass, the creators of the great holiday specials Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and Santa Clause is Coming to town!

Another Kong Lobby Card from 1976

Here is another great lobby card for the 1976 King Kong movie. This one is not as cool as the other one I posted back in August, but its the only one of 2of the 12 released that were not stills from the film. Pretty awesome art of Kong showing that snake who’s boss!

Kong with his Karaoke mic, jungle style

Another Jim Beam/King Kong advert

Here is another variation of the King Kong/Jim Beam/Ripleys advertisement that appeared in newspapers in 1977. This time without the cocktail recipe (I guess nobody believed there would be a king kong drink without bananas in it!

Amazing King Kong Statue

So many years ago, while living in Los Angeles, my girlfriend and I were invited up to Malibu to visit a friend of a friend who was housesitting for some wealthy folks who probably would not have wanted a bunch of strangers partying in their house and enjoying their hot tub. The visit was not memorable and I probably would have forgotten all about it had it not been for the amazing King Kong statue they had in their living room. I had never seen anything like this, and was drooling all over it. It was nearly 2 feet tall, and very detailed.

Why didn’t I steal this when I had the chance?

Having already owned the Jim Beam Decanter, I noticed the head of this sculpture had a similar flat head, peaking at the top, and sloping down to the eyebrows. I wonder if the decanter was designed from this statue, but simplified for mass production and to hold the booze.

Decanter on Left, Statue on the Right….

I really wish I was able to snag one of these decades ago, before anyone had any idea about value. They are going from 2-4K on eBay.

King Kong Jim Beam Decanter

Years ago I found this awesome King Kong Jim Beam Decanter at a thrift store (back when you could actually find cool stuff at thrift stores). It is one of my most prized gorilla themed possessions.

After looking around the internet, I found an image of the bottle in the box. Man I wish I had one of these!

Awesome box!

King Kong Concept Art

While lurking around the internet one day, I stumbled across this wonderful oil painting of Kong. The artist, David J. Negron painted this in 1976 for the De Larentiis King Kong film. Pretty awesome, and not something you find often.

My Favorite King Kong Movie...Part 1

So there have been a few new films produced by Warner Brothers based on King Kong, and Godzilla that my friends are telling me are actually pretty good. I have not seen them. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a film snob or anything like that, it’s just that when it comes to a movie about a giant monster stamping out a city, I’m really into the olde skool special effects. It’s probably linked to my childhood and the wonder I had when I watched those movies. As a child, they looked so real, but I knew they could not be. I actually had this fantasy that Godzilla was a giant mechanical machine driven by a stuntman as he stomped out a real city. Well, when I saw these films when I was older, and reminded of my old ideas, I was quite embarrassed for myself. Still I love these guys in sweat filled suits stomping on toys and ignoring the strings on the copters and jets, and pretending that they are not swishing around in an indoor pool when there is a water scene.

This brings me to my favorite Kong movie of all. The 1976 Dino De Laurentiis King Kong remake. I do not know when I first saw this, but I did see it in the theater. It was not first run, but I do remember that when I was a kid here in Portland, in the late 70s there was a deal my parents got, where my little sister and I could see one movie a week in the summer and saw some awesome movies. This was when it was just fine to send your 2 under 10 year old kids to the movies for the day and not bat an eye.

This is a badass movie poster!

This is a badass movie poster!

Anyways, on with the flick. This movie has it all. Jeff Bridges, The Dude himself, and Jessica Lang In her first acting job, creenplay by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. of the Batman TV show fame (another favorite), and a ferocious Kong. The third act in the city where kong goes on his rampage is classic. The audience is directed to feel empathy for the ape and what he is going through. Several views of him zoom in on his eyes, as if the viewers are invited to see Kongs actual vision. The scene at the end where he climbs the twin towers of the World Trade Center, is a classic reimagining of the original where Kong climbs the Empire State Building. Special effects are sub-par by todays standards but for the 1970s they were pretty epic. There was even a 40 foot tall mechanical Kong, though it was used sparingly (it really looked bad).

I wanted to show this film to my 6 year old, but decided to watch it first. Good thing too. The part where Kong kills a giant snake is very gory, as well as when the Hueys shoot Kong off the buildings-very bloody and graphic. I guess she will need to keep watching the Toyo movies at least for now. More Kong to come!