King Kong

King Kong, or the Universal Studios equivalent in a Muppet Magazine centerfold

King Kong is a giant ape who became a very big movie star with his 1933 film, followed by a handful of sequels and remakes including a Japanese movie called King Kong vs. Godzilla where King Kong fights Godzilla.

He has been spoofed in numerous Muppet productions, his iconic climb up the Empire State Building being a frequent target of parody.

Appearances

• In the Jim Henson Hour special "Miss Piggy's Hollywood", Miss Piggy and Gonzo encounter an audio-animatronic Kong on the Universal Studios tour. He sings a line of the musical number "That's Entertainment" (voiced by Jerry Nelson).

• The same theme park incarnation of Kong was featured in the Winter 1988 issue of Muppet Magazine, for a feature where Miss Piggy tours Universal Studios.

Creature Shop

• Jim Henson's Creature Shop created two different animatronic versions of King Kong in 1993, one for a UK Weetabix ad and another for an Energizer Batteries spot, co-starring the Energizer Bunny.

Weetabix

Energizer

References

Sesame Street Magazine
(1974)

The Muppet Show episode 403: Quongo "It's Lonely at the Top"
(1979)

The Miss Piggy Calendar 1980

"Hey a Movie!" from The Muppets Go to the Movies
(1981)

The Muppets comic strip
(October 10, 1983)

The Muppets comic strip
(May 12, 1986)

Muppet Babies "Noisy Neighbors"
(1984)

Muppet Babies Dixie cups
(1985)

Muppet Magazine issue 10 parodies Ghostbusters
(1985)

Muppet Babies "Piggy's Hyper-Activity Book"
(1985)

Little Muppet Monsters "Space Cowboys"
(1985)

Labyrinth
(1986)

Muppet Babies "Around the Nursery in 80 Days"
(1986)

Muppet Babies "The Daily Muppet"
(1986)

Muppet Babies "The Incredible Shrinking Weirdo"
(1987)

Muppet Babies "Muppet Island"
(1987)

Animal Kong
Muppet Babies comic book
(1987)

"The New Adventures of Kermo Polo"
(1989)

Muppet Babies Visit the Fifty States
(1993)

Great Muppets in American History
(1997)

Let's Take a Trip
(2000)

Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
(2002)

Magnetic Dreams for Elmo's Potty Time
(2006)

Animal and Meredith in The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Four Seasons
(2012)

"Animal Kong"
(2018)

Animal Kong in "Block Busters"
(2020)

Cookie Monster's Twitter, (November 30, 2023)

• A gorilla drawn by Damian in Sesame Street Episode 1118 is referred to by Big Bird as "King Kong."

• The Gorilla Detector from the Muppet Labs sketch in episode 116 of The Muppet Show, is based on the head of MechaniKong from the 1966 King Kong animated series and the 1967 Japanese film King Kong Escapes.

• When Piggy tries to move a paralyzed Link Hogthrob at the beginning of the Pigs in Space sketch in episode 307 of The Muppet Show, she comments of his weight, "he's like King Kong."

• In The Muppet Movie, during "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along," Kermit sings "She made a monkey out of old King Kong."

• A poster for the movie is seen in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

• In the second season Muppet Babies episode "Piggy's Hyper-Activity Book," King Kong appeared in Baby Gonzo's imagined scenario of owning a board game hotel, the Saint Gonzo Hotel,which looks like the Empire State Building. A well behaved King Kong is working as room service by climbing up the building. After the ape makes a delivery, Gonzo places a banana is his hand saying "Your tip."

• In the "Kermit, P.I." segment seen in the Little Muppet Monsters episode "Space Cowboys," Kermit and Fozzie are on a mission to find a gorilla who has escaped from the zoo, eventually figuring that gorillas like pretty blondes on the Empire State Building.

• In the third season Muppet Babies episode "Around the Nursery in 80 Days," Baby Animal imagines King Kong as the ideal babysitter as he is "hairy and smelly," perfect for Animal's type. The other Babies are terrified of Kong, but Gonzo tries to offer King Kong a seat, who takes it in his hands and crumples it into sawdust.

• Baby Gonzo takes the Muppet Babies on a quest to find a kitty in the seventh season Muppet Babies episode "Puss N' Boots N' Babies," leading them to an alley where he reveals footage of the ape character Bonga from the serial Darkest Africa. Gonzo demands $400 for his services, but Baby Piggy incorrectly informs him that it's not a kitty, it's King Kong.

• Baby Fozzie tells a joke about King Kong in the seventh season Muppet Babies episode "The Muppet of Invention."

• During the theme for Sesame English, as Tingo's plane arrives in New York, a gorilla is seen clinging to the Empire State Building.
• On November 30, 2023, Cookie Monster's Twitter account tweeted a photo of him pitting a gingerbread King Kong against a gingerbread Godzilla in response to posters being released for the 2024 film Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.

Connections

• Carl Banas voiced Professor Bond and others in The King Kong Show (TV, 1966)
• Jamie Bell played Jimmy in King Kong (2005)
• Corbin Bernsen played a reporter in King Kong (1976)
• Jack Black played Carl Denham in King Kong (2005)
• Jeff Bridges played Jack Prescott in King Kong (1976)
• Eugene Cordero played Reles in Kong: Skull Island (2017)
• Peter Cullen provided the ape vocals in King Kong (1976)
• Peter Elliott played the title role in King Kong Lives (1986)
• John Goodman played Bill Randa in Kong: Skull Island (2017)
• Charles Grodin played Fred Wilson in King Kong (1976)
• Tom Hiddleston played James Conrad in Kong: Skull Island (2017)
• Peter Jackson directed, co-produced and co-wrote King Kong (2005)
• Samuel L. Jackson played Preston Packard in Kong: Skull Island (2017)
• Dudley Moore voiced C. B. Denham in The Mighty Kong (1998)
• Tiriel Mora played Fruit Vendor in King Kong (2005)
• Andy Serkis served as the motion capture model for the title ape (and also played Lumpy the cook) in King Kong (2005)
• Naomi Watts played Ann Darrow in King Kong (2005)