September 6, 1966 (1966-09-06) – March 4, 1967 (1967-03-04)
King Kong (キングコング00+1⁄7親指トム,Kingu Kongu00+1⁄7 Oyayubi Tomu), commonly referred to asThe King Kong Show, is an Americananimated television series produced byVideocraft International andToei Animation.ABC ran the series in theUnited States on Saturday mornings between September 6, 1966, and March 4, 1967.[1] It is the first animated series produced in Japan for an American company (not counting Rankin/Bass' previous Animagicstop motion productions, which were also animated in Japan).[2]
This series is an animated adaptation of the famous film monsterKing Kong with character designs byJack Davis and Rod Willis. It is also the first animated series in theKing Kong franchise.
In this series, the giant ape namedKong befriends the Bond family, with whom he goes on various adventures, fighting monsters, robots, aliens,mad scientists and other threats.[3] Unlike his counterpart from original 1933 film, Kong is a protector of humanity.[4]
Title card for theTom of T.H.U.M.B. segment of the series
Included withKing Kong isTom of T.H.U.M.B., a parody of spy films of the 1960s calledTom of T.H.U.M.B. (based on the character in English folklore 'Tom Thumb'), about asecret agent for T.H.U.M.B. (the Tiny Human Underground Military Bureau) named Tom and his Asiansidekick Swinging Jack, who are accidentally reduced by a shrinking laserray gun to 3 in (76 mm) tall.[5] The pair are sent out in a variety of miniature vehicles by their bad-tempered boss Chief Homer J. Chief to foil the fiendish plots of M.A.D. (Maladjusted, Anti-social and Darn mean), an evil organization made up of black-hatted and black-cloaked scientists "bent on destroying the world for their own gains".
King Kong is the titular giant ape. Kong was discovered on Mondo Island (sometimes known asSkull Island) by Bobby Bond, whom he saved from being eaten by aTyrannosaurus rex. He saved Bond family from other disasters afterward. Since then, he has become the family's mascot and a hero.
Professor Carl Bond (voiced byBernard Cowan) is the head and father of the Bond family. He is the basis forRhodes Reason's character Commander Carl Nelson inKing Kong Escapes.
Susan Bond (voiced by Susan Conway) is Carl's teenage daughter. She is somewhat perplexed by Bobby and Kong's friendship and always the one that knows what Who is up to, Her fear is dreaming about snakes. She is the basis forLinda Jo Miller's character Susan Watson inKing Kong Escapes.
Bobby Bond (voiced byBillie Mae Richards) is Carl's young son and Kong's closest companion. Bobby is saved by Kong from being eaten by aTyrannosaurus rex and they are friends since then.
Captain Englehorn (voiced byCarl Banas) is Carl's ship captain and a friend to the family. He is based on the character of the same name from the original1933King Kong film andits sequel.
Dr. Who (voiced byPaul Soles) is a bald, big-headed, and bespectacledmad scientist who wants to capture Kong and use him for his own evil schemes. Despite his name, he has no relation toDoctor Who. He is the basis forHideyo Amamoto's character of the same name inKing Kong Escapes.
Mechani-Kong is amecha modeled after Kong, invented by Who, who operates it via a control room in the mecha's head. Neither the Bonds nor Englehorn ever knows (or even figure out) that Who invented it. It appears in twoKing Kong segments, "MechaniKong" (the secondKing Kong segment from episode 10) and "Anchors Away" (the secondKing Kong segment from episode 25). Each segment features a different version of Mechani-Kong. It is also Kong's archenemy inKing Kong Escapes.
Starting with the second episode, each episode begins with a six-minuteKing Kong segment, followed by a six-minuteTom of T.H.U.M.B. segment, and then a second six-minuteKing Kong segment.
"King Kong" (December 31, 1966; 56-minute long pilot episode). In American syndication, the episode was split into two parts, which were titled "A Friend in Need" and "The Key to the City".
"Under the Volcano" / "For the Last Time, Feller...I'm Not Bait!" / "The Treasure Trap"
"The Horror of Mondo Island" / "Hey, That Was A Close One World!" / "Dr. Who"
"Rocket Island" / "I Was A9+1⁄2 oz. Weakling 'Till One Day..." / "The African Bees"
"The Hunter" / "I Was A Starling for the USA!" / "The Space Men"
"The Jinx of the Sphinx" / "Cool Nerves and...Steady Hands" / "The Greeneyed Monster"
"The Top of the World" / "All Guys from Outer Space are Creeps" / "The Golden Temple"
"The Electric Circle" / "Mechanical Granma" / "Mirror of Destruction"
"Tiger Tiger" / "The Day We Almost Had It" / "The Vise of Dr. Who"
"King Kong's House" / "Tom Makes History" / "MechaniKong"
"The Giant Sloths" / "Tom Scores Again" / "The Legend of Loch Ness"
"Dr. Bone" / "Blow, Jack, Blow!" / "No Man's Snowman"
"The Desert Pirates" / "Tom and the TV Pirates" / "Command Performance"
"The Sea Surrounds Us" / "The Girl from M.A.D." / "Show Biz"
"The Wizard of Overlord" / "Just One of Those Nights" / "Perilous Porpoise"
"The Trojan Horse" / "Runt of 1,000 Faces" / "The Man from K.O.N.G."
The theme music for the series was recorded in London, England, in 1965, using primarily British studio musicians. Canadian conductor, vocalist and former Kitchener-WaterlooRecord entertainment columnist Harry Currie provided vocal talent on the recording.
Wordmark that appeared on the show's brochures and various merchandise
In Japan, the first two episodes were combined into a 56-minute special, titledKing of the World: The King Kong Show (世界の王者 キングコング大会,Sekai no Ōja: Kingu Kongu Taikai), and was broadcast onNET (now TV Asahi) on December 31, 1966. The rest of the series, with the inclusion ofTom of T.H.U.M.B., was broadcast on NET asKing Kong &00+1⁄7 Tom Thumb (キングコング00+1⁄7親指トム,Kingu Kongu00+1⁄7 Oyayubi Tomu), and aired from April 5 to October 4, 1967, with a total of 25 episodes.
On November 15, 2005,Sony Wonder released the first eight episodes (twoKing Kong cartoons separated by aTom of T.H.U.M.B. cartoon) on twoDVD releases titledKing Kong: The Animated Series Volume 1 andKing Kong: The Animated Series Volume 2. The pilot episode was included, in its two parts for American syndication, between the two DVDs.
In the 2007 bookComics Gone Ape! The Missing Link to Primates in Comics, comics historian Michael Eury writes: "The Rankin/BassKing Kong was an early case of identity theft, where the Kong name was appropriated (fully under license) to describe a new character that, at best, only remotely resembled his namesake. This was Kong done wrong".[6]
This series, in spite of the lukewarm reception, was successful enough for Rankin/Bass to extend the Kong franchise to another Japanese company,Toho (which had already produced the hit filmKing Kong vs. Godzilla in 1962). This resulted in two films:Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (originally intended to be a Kong film, withGodzilla exhibiting some of Kong's traits) andKing Kong Escapes, which was based onThe King Kong Show.
^Erickson, Hal (2005).Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 477–478.ISBN978-1476665993.
"The King Kong Show"—an in-depth article about the series, featuring rare shots of various merchandise and tie-ins related to the series (French website)
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