King Kong

King Kong
Introduction
Inspiring various remakes, and adaptations, King Kong (1933), directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, is often described as the most famous and greatest classic adventure-fantasy film of all time, inspiring the most recent adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, which mimics the original in practically every aspect, with a few minor differences. The original 1933 film was the inspiration for Peter Jacksons 2005 adaptation, with several aspects, such as a pit of gigantic spiders, being reinvented into the plot, after the original film had the scenes removed. The film is a metaphorical depiction of the typical Beauty and the Beast fable. Set during the Great Depression, the films plot follows the story of a film crew, led by Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), a famous motion picture producer, who discovers a map to an uncharted island, and decides to film it as the backdrop for a new movie, but he has no lead actress, until he meets a beautiful young woman, Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). Ann Darrow is a theatre actress, out of work due to the great depression, is forced to survive through a life of thievery, until Carl Denham offers her a leading role in his film. The cast and crew must travel to the island via a tramp steamer, which is where they meet the captain and his first mate, John Driscoll (Bruce Cabot), who soon becomes the Figure 1. King Kong. (1933) love interest and saviour of Ann Darrow. With the main characters of the film introduced, the crew soon reach their destination, Skull Island, where they witness the preparation of a ceremonial offering to the beast Kong, but before the ceremony is complete, the chief of the native people spots the crew and offers to buy Ann from them, so that she may be offered to Kong as his bride. Refusing the deal, they return to the ship and plan to meet with the chief in the morning, but before in the night is over, Ann is captured by the natives and offered to Kong in a ceremony witnessed by all the natives of the island. At this moment, the audience is introduced to the creature Kong, who is portrayed as a gigantic 50 foot ape-monster (Dirks, s.d), as the crew that Ann arrived with now frantically search the

King Kong ship before landing on the island to find her, but Kong has already taken her and fled, so half of the men stay at the gate, while the other half, including Carl Denham and John Driscoll, follow him through the primeval forest of Skull Island, where all are killed by monstrous creatures, with the exceptions of Carl and John. While John continues with the search for Ann, Carl Denham returns to the enormous gate, through which they entered the forest, where Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher) and the rest of the men are keeping guard, and devises a plan to capture Kong when Ann and John return. Following Kong to his cavernous mountain lair, John is able to rescue Ann, as Kong is distracted by an enormous pterosaur, and return to the gate, where Carl and the captain are waiting to attempt to capture Kong, but the plan starts to go wrong forcing them to retreat to the boats, but before rowing to the ship, Carl throws a gas bomb, which knocks Kong unconscious, allowing the crew to capture him. Transported to New York, Kong is soon placed in chains on a stage for the paying public to view, but when the press arrive and begin to photograph him, he becomes agitated, breaking the chains, and begins running riot in the bustling streets of New York in search of Ann. Once he finds and recaptures her, the most iconic scene of the film begins, where Kong carries Ann to the top of the Empire State Building and is confronted by a flock of biplanes, which succeed in killing the great ape, after several are destroyed.
Figure 2. King Kong. (1933).

Analysis
King Kong is regarded the most famous and greatest classic adventure-fantasy film of all time, becoming a timeless film, enjoyed by many audiences, displaying the conventions of a modern film and a clear understanding of techniques and process, and introducing the public to new techniques in film, such as stop motion animation. Although stop motion films began in 1898, with The Humpty Dumpty Circus, it was not a common technique in the film industry until the arrival of The Lost World in 1925, based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and King Kong in 1933. As well as developing several techniques in the film industry, the film also reflected several aspects of the social and cultural background of the era in which it was made, causing a series of issues for the most recent remake in 2005.

King Kong One aspect of the social world that has changed since its creation in 1933 is the cultural portrayal of other ethnicities, particularly during the ceremonial preparation scene, which portrays the natives of Skull Island as highly African-like, but the description of the location of Skull Island suggests that it is just off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. This depiction of the islanders ceremony as an African-like culture clearly implies an ignorance and disregard towards other ethnicities, suggesting that the majority of island natives are of a black African origin. During the scene, the natives are dressed in extravagant costumes, the heathen natives are costumed as gorilla-apes (Dirks, s.d), which support the African connotations, and a clear head to the culture, the chief, and a witch doctor, greatly suggesting an African ceremonial feel to the scene. Seeing as the content of the scene would cause controversy in a modern era, the scene in the 2005 adaptation of the film portrays the natives as a more barbaric and less ceremonial people, attacking and killing several members of the crew after they arrive on the island, removing the ceremonial aspects more associated with African tribes, replacing them with a lesser known, or fictional, culture. Another aspect of the film which would face much scrutiny in a modern era would be the portrayal of Anns character, of who is seen more like a possession, suggesting she is not an equal to the other characters and, in Figure 3. King Kong. (1933). particular, Kong, who is revered a deity by the island inhabitants. During the era in which the film was created, the majority of women lived a lesser quality of life, mainly fulfilling the role of a housewife, raising children, cooking and cleaning, while their husbands provided the sole incoming for the family. This oppressed lifestyle of women is clearly portrayed in the film, as Ann spends most of the film in Kongs clutches (Breese, s.d) suggesting that he is forcing a relationship between the two characters, reflecting the oppressive relationships of men and women of the era. Although Kong forces the relationship onto Ann, the emotional connections between the audience and the film create, not sympathy towards Ann, but, particularly at the end of the film, the sympathy is directed towards Kong, as he falls to his death from atop the Empire State Building, as at that moment we could care less about Wray (Breese, s.d) and that its the ape we cry for (Breese, s.d). Due to the scrutiny the film would come under from a modern audience, because of the

King Kong connotations, for Peter Jacksons 2005 remake, King Kong, the character Ann Darrows (Naomi Watts) portrayal is manipulated and transformed through the film, from being a helpless damsel-in-distress into a heroine, with the same qualities as Kong and the other male characters of the film.

Conclusion
Even though there are several aspects of the original that make it out-dated, it has had a great influence on the modern film industry, even creating a giant monster subgenre of science fiction, inspiring the film creature Godzilla. Since the films original release, there have been many adaptations and variations of the film, including one in 1976 also named King Kong, but the character, Kong, has also featured in various films, such as King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962) and King Kong Escapes (1967), both created in Japan. The film is also believed to be the inspiration for another film featuring a gigantic, Mighty Joe Young, which was originally made in 1949, with a remake in 1998. The original film also inspired Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, to create a remake in 2005. Remaking the film in 2005, Peter Jackson updated the film in many aspects, including modern cultural and social beliefs, but more importantly, the techniques used to create the appearance of a 25 foot gorilla, as a modern audience would not be as interested in a stop motion character, due to the creation of computer generated imagery (CGI). Peter Jacksons inspiration to remake the 1933 film began when he experienced the original as a young boy on television in New Zealand on a Friday night. At the age of twelve, he attempted to create his own version of the film, using a wire frame stop motion Kong and sets made from cardboard, but the film was never completed. His fascination with the film never truly went away, and in 2005 he had completed his dream, to recreate the film that began his career, with updated content that a modern audience would enjoy and understand, but still set in a 1930s era. To please all aspects of a modern audience, he made the decision that Kong should act more like an actual living gorilla, as there have been great discoveries on their behaviour since
Figure 4. King Kong. (1933).

King Kong the original film, so he utilized the same technique to create the character Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, using motion capture and CGI, but unlike Gollum, Kong was to have the appearance of and act more like a gorilla. To solve this problem, the animators of Weta Digital created Kong with the correct musculature and skeletal structure of a gorilla (King Kong, 2005) forcing them to develop the software so that they could translate human expressions into corresponding gorilla expressions (King Kong, 2005). Although the original is regarded a timeless classic, the updated remake, directed by Peter Jackson, introduced the film to a new audience used to the highly computerized film industry, utilizing various techniques of CGI, and modern interpretations and cultural influences, such the connection between Kong and Ann becoming equals, and the portrayal of Skull Islands native inhabitants, to create a spectacular remake of a classic, escalating the films fan basis across several generations. The styles and techniques of both films greatly reflect the cultural and social aspects of the different eras in which they were created, portraying how the views and beliefs of the cultures have changed through time.

Figure 5. King Kong. (1933).

King Kong

Illustration List
Figure 1. King Kong. (1933). [Poster] At: http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/880/123772king_kong_33.jpg (Accessed on 20.10.2012). Figure(s) 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6. King Kong. (1933). From: King Kong, RKO Radio Pictures. Directed by: Merian C. Cooper, & Ernest B. Schoedsack. [Film Still] U.S.A: RKO Radio Pictures. At: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQVhCUUU7tA (Accessed on 20.10.2012).

Bibliography
King Kong. (2005). Directed by Peter Jackson. [DVD Booklet] Universal Studios. Dirks, Tim. (s.d). Filmsite Movie Review: King Kong (1933). At: http://www.filmsite.org/kingk3.html (Accessed on 13.10.2012). Breese, Keith. (s.d). Movie Guide: King Kong (1933). At: http://movies.amctv.com/movie/1933/King+Kong (Accessed on 13.10.2012).

Figure 6. King Kong. (1933).