King Kong is undoubtedly one of the most iconic movie monsters to grace the silver screen. Created back in 1933, the fact that the giant primate has managed to stay in public consciousness after so many decades and after so many remakes is a testament to our continued fascination with him. With Kong: Skull Island hitting the big screens, let’s take a look at the history of big screen’s most iconic ape.
In the Begining
The man that created King Kong, Meriam C. CooperThe original King Kong movie was the brain child of film maker Merian C. Cooper. Cooper was no ordinary filmmaker, though. A decorated World War 1 veteran and adventurer, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he would one day create one of the world’s most iconic screen monster. Cooper already had a fascination with primates as a boy, having read Paul Du Chaillu’s
Cooper already had a fascination with primates as a boy, having read Paul Du Chaillu’s Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa. The interest was furthered into his adulthood when he studied a tribe of baboons in Africa while filming The Four Feathers movie in 1929.
It was this interest and a dream he claimed he had, of a giant gorilla wrecking havoc in New York City that eventually inspired him to set the basis of what would eventually be the original King Kong movie in 1933.
