Welcome back Nerd Squad!
Our good friends at King Kong, the broadway musical, have tickets going on sale today,
so to celebrate we’re counting down the top 10 alternate versions of King Kong!
The immensely talented people behind King Kong on Broadway are the same awesome people
who helped create broadway hits Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the Spider-Man musical,
so get hyped!
The show originally premiered in Melbourne Australia, was critically acclaimed, and even
called the first of it’s kind in the world.
Oh, and they have a giant ape.
So that’s pretty rad.
We’re big fans of theirs on top 10 nerd, and they’ve given us a little preview of
what to expect.
The link to musical’s website is in the description below, so check em out after the
video on there and on their social media @KingKongBWay, on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!
That being said, time to get bananas with our top 10 alternate versions of King Kong.
In at number 10 is the RKO Comic Strips If RKO sounds like a familiar name to you,
that’s because they were monumental in American film history.
RKO Pictures was one of the big five studios of Hollywood’s golden age, and responsible
for the 1933 King Kong film, along with The Son of Kong followup.
They created comic strips in their press books, published by newspapers across the country
as promotional material for both films, illustrated by Glenn Cravath, and were also published
in Spain.
Up next at number 9 is King Kong The Robot From 1964, a British comic company called
IPC Media created a character called Mytek the Mighty.
Who was essentially a giant robot ape, built by Professor Boyce.
The comic was quite successful, continuing to be published throughout the 1970s, and
eventually had it’s named changed to King Kong the Robot when it was published in comic
strips in France.
Eventually, the 32 issues it had under its belt were collected and published all together
as Super King Kong.
Getting a little cinematic at our number 8 spot with Peter Jackson’s King Kong While we’re all familiar with the original
King Kong that appeared in the 1933 film, regardless of whether you’ve seen it in
it’s entirety - it’s iconic.
Well, Peter Jackson also brought Kong to life, in a retelling of that story, which was the
director’s first major blockbuster after The Lord of the Rings.
The 2005 film starred Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody, with Andy Serkis using motion
capture to play Kong.
Costing a then record breaking $207 million to make, it went on to win 3 Academy awards
in sound editing, mixing and visual effects, and was chalk full of references to the original
1933 film.
In our number 7 spot is The Gorilla Also known as the 1960s 1970s Mexican King
Kong comics, this series was published by Editorial Orizaba, that featured full colour
covers, but sepia and white panels for the actual comics inside.
It ran for an impressive 185 issues.
These would go on to inspire another King Kong comic from Latin America, called King
Kong in the Microcosmos, released by Editorial America and published in 1979, and was all
about aliens who recruit Kong to be their warrior and help them win the war waging on
their home planet.
Up next at number 6 is Gold Key Comics’ King Kong From 1968, this oversized comic was commissioned
by Merian C Cooper, the director of the 1933 King Kong, and was based on the novelization
of the film rather than the movie itself, with a cover painted by George Wilson and
comic drawn by Alberto Giolitti of Star Trek comic fame.
Despite not being a promotional tool for the film, considering when it was published, it
would then be reprinted for the 1976 remake film, and translated into Dutch, Swedish,
German and Norwegian
Up next at the number 5 spot is The King Kong Show An animated American Japanese anime series,
The King Kong Show ran on Abc in the US between September 1966 and August 1969.
An animated adaptation of the original King Kong story, Kong befriends a family, the Bonds,
who he goes on adventures with, saving the world from aliens, mad scientists, robots
and other monsters.
The show ran three seasons, with 25 episodes, and featured a Kong with a tiny head and massive
torso.
Up next at number 4 is Marvel’s King Kong Published in a one-shot by Marvel Comics in
1967, called America’s Best TV Comics, which was based off our previous number, The King
Kong Show.
He appeared in a mini story called Kong Joins the Circus, alongside other stories in the
one shot featuring Casper the Ghost, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and other pop culture
phenomenons.
The King Kong Show also had another comic adaption in Japanese Shonen Magazine, where
Kong fights a living version of the Statue of Liberty, summoned by Doctor Who.
Up next at number 3 is King Kong on Broadway We had to include King Kong on Broadway here
on our list, which is the latest adaptation of the big gorilla beast, based on the novel
of the original 1933 screenplay.
It’s a contemporary take on the classic tale of beauty and the beast, featuring a
Kong that’s a massive, technologically enchased puppet, designed by Sonny Tilders, and, from
the looks of it, will give audiences one unforgettable experience next autumn.
Also worth noting, other impressive additions to their creative team include Jack Thorne
of recent Cursed Child fame, among many other feats, director-choreographer Drew McOnie
and songwriter Eddie Perfect.
Up next at number 2 is Monster Comics Monster Comics were an imprint of Fantagraphics
Books, which released a six issue black and white Kong series in 1991.
This version wasn’t based on the 1933 film at all, but rather the 1932 novelization,
and features many scenes the film doesn’t, including moments in a spider pit and more
encounters with dinosaurs.
This Kong is accompanied by dinosaurs when attacking the native village, and gets pretty
handsy with Ann Darrow, with her really not feeling Kong’s advances.
I mean, fair enough.
And finally in our number 1 spot are the Dark Horse Comics In the 1990’s, Dark Horse had a habit of
publishing comics based on popular cinematic monsters and creatures.
This includes Predator, Alien, Godzilla, and they wanted to include our good friend Kong
to that mix.
But due to copyright issues, Dark Horse struggled for years to bring Kong to their panels, with
their only success being a one page segment in the 1993 one shot Urban Legends concerning
a myth about the King Kong vs Godzilla film.
But in 2005, the publisher managed to strike a deal with Universal, licensing tie ins to
Peter Jackson’s film, with direct adaptions.
This eventually evolved into an authorized sequel of the 1933 film, called Kong: King
of Skull Island, that becomes a prequel, revealing Kong’s early history, and how he was crowned
king, ultimately leading to the human sacrifices he was famously offered.
There we have it friends!
Which is your favourite alternate version?
Let us know in those comments below!
And don’t forget to check out all of the King Kong musical’s social media links while
you’re at it!
We’re super excited for the show, and we’d love to see you guys in the audience, so make
sure you grab your tickets before they’re all sold out.
The link is in the description below!
In the meantime, thanks for watching!
And major thanks to the team at King Kan on Broadway for sponsoring this video.
If you guys dug this video, show us some love too and hit those like and subscribe buttons.
I’ve been Kelly Paoli and this has been top 10 nerd.
I’ll catch you all on broadway.
Bye!