Re: How close is "Kong" to a real gorilla?

[Danvarner@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/15/2005 1:46:43 PM Eastern  Standard Time, 
MarkSabercat@aol.com writes:
<< I'm curious-- I haven't  seen the movie yet, but is there any point at 
which  
KK is ( or in the  1933 version, was), actually referred to as a gorilla?  >>
I haven't seen the new one yet, but in the  original there is some patter in 
the audience of Kong's debut in New York about  him being "some kinda gorilla".
Director/producer Merian  Cooper definitly was thinking gorilla. Willis 
O'Brien had other ideas. In the  new restoration DVD you can see a number of 
O'Brien's concept drawings which  were much more human-like. O'Brien also had 
Marcel 
Delgado create some  odd-looking human-like models. One of them looked like a 
kid on the block where  I grew up! Cooper was getting impatient. He called 
the American Museum of  Natural History and soon received a telegram back from 
Harry C. Raven on  dimensions of large male gorillas and a bibliography of the 
apes. Confronted  with this O'Brien resigned (temporarily) and headed to the 
local speakeasy (this  is from Turner and Goldner's _The Making of King Kong_). 
Curiously, the odd  concepts reappeared as a giant version of the 
Frankenstein monster for a film  O'Brien was trying to sell titled, "King Kong 
vs 
Frankenstein". DV