Voices of Dudley Moore, Jodi Benson, Randy Hamilton, and William Sage III
Directed by Art Scott
Music and Lyrics by Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman
Everything was ripe for an animated adaptation in the 90's and early 2000's. Swan Lake? The Ten Commandments? Hamlet done with lions on the African savannah? Why not? Disney made it work. Unfortunately, many of these stories weren't really suited for children and were often cut down so badly, they came off as condescending towards and barely related to their source material. Case in point, this Warners direct-to-home-media version of the beloved 1933 horror fantasy King Kong. What can an animated film do with one of the most famous and bizarre love stories in Hollywood history? To find out, we begin in New York as columnist Walter Winchell announces the closing of producer and filmmaker Carl Denham's (Moore) latest show.
The Story: Denham has bigger ideas than merely featuring fake animals onstage. Grabbing Ann Darrow (Jodi Benson), a thief and aspiring actress, off the street, he declares he'll be making a movie. They board a ship bound for the South Pacific and staffed with skeptical sailors, especially first mate Jack Driscoll (Randy Hamilton).
After being pounded by a storm, they end up at tropical Skull Island, the home of natives who practice human sacrifice to appease their "god," a giant gorilla they call King Kong (Moore). The big primate takes to Ann, fighting several dinosaurs in his jungle home for her. Denham insists on taking him back to New York and making him the star of his show. Ann realizes Kong is literally too big for New York...which Denham realizes too late after Kong frees himself and goes on a rampage down Broadway!
The Animation: Pretty much what you'd find on any Warners animated TV show of the 90's. Truth be told, while the bright colors and character design look half-way decent, the backgrounds are often too simple, especially when the action returns to New York.
The Song and Dance: Surprisingly good cast for this one. Moore is appropriately smarmy as the ambitious filmmaker who's bitten off a lot more than he can chew in displaying Kong, and even did Kong's growls. Benson makes a sweet and spunky Morrow, too.
Favorite Number: "CB Denham's Wild Animal Follies," the opening number, and the title song are too goofy spoofs of typical chorus routines, particularly "Wild Animal Follies," with its ridiculous flying animal puppets and dancing gorillas. Denham works to convince Ann to "Sign With Me"...and it's no more impressive to her than it is to us. "Sweet Dolly of Popolli," Benson's number on the ship, somehow turns into a tropical fantasy with her doing something like a hula with overly cutesy animals and bad jungle backdrops.
Trivia: Dudley Moore's last movie before his untimely death in 2002.
What I Don't Like: King Kong was never intended to be a musical of any stripe, let alone animated. It didn't work on Broadway in 2013 (where apparently the only thing worth recommending was the giant Kong puppet), and it doesn't work here. The songs are witless and boring when they're not stupid. The three chorus numbers are particularly silly and badly animated.
Ann and Jack's romance crops up suddenly mid-way through for no particular reason, complete with a dreadfully sappy ballad. Jack's sexist remarks about Ann on the ship and the native stereotypes were passable in the original film due to them being fairly typical of the time period, but are almost unthinkably offensive nowadays. Ricky the cabin boy and his monkey serve no purpose whatsoever besides being cute comic relief and a few ship-board gags involving the monkey.
The Big Finale: If you want to introduce your kids to King Kong, show them the original film on TCM and explain that the stereotypes and sexism are typical of the time, or show older kids the Peter Jackson-helmed remake. Only extreme fans of Moore, Benson, or the Sherman Brothers need apply.
Home Media: Expensive on made-to-order DVD. Streaming is your best bet if you absolutely must see this. Tubi currently has it for free.
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