King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon -- Revised and Updated Edition
The 1933 KING KONG was not just a terrifying monster movie. It was also an epic fairy tale, a tragic love story, and a landmark piece of cinema that introduced one of the most beloved characters in motion picture history-a universally recognizable cultural icon whose legacy encompasses a vast multimedia universe consisting of more than ten feature films as well as numerous television shows, books, comics, toys, collectibles, and even a Broadway musical.
Ray Morton’s 2005 King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon was the first book to chronicle the entire King Kong phenomenon. Two decades later, Morton has extensively revised and updated his original tome to produce the definitive account of the most famous simian in pop-culture history. King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon -- Revised and Updated Edition spans the whole of the Eighth Wonder's filmography, chronicling in detail the making of every Kong movie beginning with the 1933 original and continuing through the giant gorilla's Japanese adventures and the epic Dino De Laurentiis and Peter Jackson remakes before concluding with the most recent films that place the great ape within an ever-expanding “Monsterverse.” Author and Kongophile Ray Morton also offers entertaining looks at the character's appearances in other media, along with plenty of trivia and reflections on the franchise's enduring appeal. Packed with photographs and based on extensive new research and exclusive interviews, this is by far the most complete and comprehensive guide to all things Kong.
Included here are:
The creation of the Kong character by Merian C. Cooper
The development, production, and release of the original 1933 film and its many successors
The Cartoon Kong: the giant gorilla's animated incarnations.
Kong on the Stage: theatrical productions featuring the Eighth Wonder.
Kong on the Page: the many publications devoted to the great ape.
The Sons of Kong: Kong variants, spoofs, and rip-offs such as Mighty Joe Young, Queen Kong, and A*P*E*.
The Kongs that Never Were: Kong projects that never made it to the screen
The innumerable Kong-related products generated over the past century
Based on in-depth research, the book contains interviews with many of the surviving members of each production and is generously illustrated with photographs, production art, and promotional material, much of it from the author’s extensive personal collection
King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon -- Revised and Updated Edition is published by Bloomsbury Academic, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. 1359 Broadway, 12th Floor, New York, New York 10018, USA and Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP UK.
It is available in print in bookstores and in print and as an e-book at Bloomsbury.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Bookshop.org., and other online retailers.
Reviews
Appearances
Ray appeared on the CBS Sunday Morning program on December 11, 2005 to discuss the origins and screen history of King Kong.
Ray also hosted the Q&A following the American Cinematheque’s fortieth anniversary screening of the 1976 King Kong at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica on December 10, 2016. Special guests included Rick Baker, Richard H. Kline, Jack O’Halloran, and Martha De Laurentiis.
Interviews
Ray discussed Kong in the following interviews:
The Hollywood Reporter: The Unbelievable True Story of Hollywood's Favorite Giant Ape
Forbes: Why King Kong Remains the Greatest Movie Spectacle of All-TIme
Film School Rejects: We Can't Escape King Kong
SyFy: How King Kong Came Out of a Real-Life Scrapped Komodo Dragon Vs. Gorilla Fight
