A scan of the insert from a 2002 Italian DVD release of King Kong
has been added to the Home Video Releases page.
2021-11-07
HG Toys released several King Kong jigsaw puzzles when the film was
released. Scans of the boxes of two of these puzzles in my collection
have been added to the new
King Kong Puzzles page.
Here's another eBay acquisition: a 7-inch 45 RPM vinyl single featuring
John Barry's theme from King Kong.
You can see scans of the single and sleeve here.
More soundtrack releases can be seen on the
Soundtrack page.
2021-10-18
My friend Lori sent me scans of an article about John Guillermin from the
November 1990 issue of Starlog magazine. You can see the article on the
Magazine Articles page.
Thanks, Lori!
2021-10-14
I picked up a copy of the 2009 Japanese BD release of King Kong from
StudioCanal. The disc contents are identical to the French and other
StudioCanal releases.
Scans of the wrapper and disc have been added to the
Home Video Releases page.
I finally own a set of the eight U.S. lobby cards for King Kong.
You can download high-resolution scans of the cards from the new
King Kong 1976 U.S. Lobby Cards page.
2021-09-15
I was cleaning up my hard drive the other day, and I discovered a PDF of
a scan of an actual script for King Kong. I found it somewhere out on
the 'net years ago, though I no longer remember the source. I tried searching
for it over the weekend, but couldn't find it on any current website.
The script is dated December 8, 1975. I have no idea how many prior or
subsequent revisions there were. I had previously posted
the published book version of the script. You can find PDF and CBZ download
links for both on the new Script page.
I picked up a copy of the 2003 Korean DVD release of King Kong. I
was hoping a booklet had been included, but there was nothing but the wrapper.
Scans of the wrapper and disc have been added to the
Home Video Releases page.
Though I didn't see it before, I found piano sheet music for
"Theme from King Kong" as recorded by Roger Williams
on JohnBarry.org.uk.
I've added PDF and CBZ versions to the
King Kong Songs and Sheet Music page.
2021-09-05
Last month, a sheet of uncut King Kong cards were sold at auction
by Heritage Auctions. I missed the auction, but thanks to HA, I've added
photos of the front and back of the sheet to the
King Kong Bubble Gum Cards page.
2021-09-03
A few months ago, I spotted a Japanese magazine on eBay that was devoted to the
1976 King Kong. This was different from the
Japanese souvenir program
that's constantly
listed on eBay; this was a magazine I'd never seen before. I won the auction
and was surprised to discover that the magazine was 84 pages of all-Kong
material, plus a poster. The title of the magazine translates as Screen.
This is the January 1977 issue. It has been added to the
Magazine Articles page.
Scans of King Kong content from the January 1977
issue of the British magazine Films and Filming have been added to
the Magazines page. There's not much there, but
there's a nice ad for the film included.
Thanks to Rich Hurley, photos of the King Kong children's Halloween costume
by Ben Cooper have been added to the
Ben Cooper Costume page.
2021-08-24
I have uploaded to YouTube this CBS News report from March 27, 1977, about
the special effects Academy Awards given for King Kong and
Logan's Run. It includes a brief clip of Rick Baker, who isn't happy
about not receiving his well-earned credit for his work on King Kong.
Another day, another eBay purchase has arrived. This time, it is a flyer from the
former Yugoslavia. You can see it on the
International Posters and Flyers page.
Some recent Googling turned up sheet music for a song based on John Barry's
King Kong score on JohnBarry.org.uk.
I've created a new page with YouTube videos of the songs and the available
sheet music on the
Soundtrack Releases page.
Scans of King Kong content in the March 1977
issue of the British magazine Photoplay have been added to
the Magazines page. It includes an interview with
Jessica Lange.
Thanks to Dave Ballard, an article from the February 1977 issue of the UK
magazine Films Illustrated has been added to the
Magazine Articles page. The article reviews both
the 1933 and 1976 King Kong movies.
I finally tracked down a copy of Paris Match magazine, which documents
the King Kong prop's trip to Paris to promote the film!
The article has been added to the
Magazine Articles page. I used Google Translate to
help translate the French article to English.
I also finally tracked down a copy of the January 1977 issue of
Family Circle magazine, which featured a King Kong
Iron-On Transfer! The transfer has been scanned, too. It is possible to
print it to special iron-on paper to create an iron-on, though I haven't
done it myself. You can find it on
Magazine Articles page.
When King Kong was released in Japan, a 28-page souvenir program was
printed and distributed. High-resolution scans of the program can be found
on the Japanese Souvenir Program page. It's chock full
of great stills from the film, Berkey art, and more. It's also available
to download as 300-DPI PDF and CBZ files.
Thanks to Dave Ballard, the centerfold poster from Saga magazine
has been retouched to eliminate the staples and the words from the lower
right corner. You can download the retouched image from the bottom of the
Saga magazine page.
2021-07-21
I have not actually posted this magazine, as it's still available as both
a print edition and a digital file (you can get both for just $10).
In 2012, Raymond Dowaliby's SCARS magazine devoted an entire issue
to the 1976 King Kong.
It's well worth the low cost!
Here's a really cool YouTube video from Jon "LeGrandzilla" LeGrand
showcasing his customizations of a King Kong 1976 Poster kit sculpted
by Jim Groman and produced by Webbhead Enterprises.
"The Canonization of King Kong," The Los Angeles Times,
September 25, 1976
"The Hairiest Superstar," The Record, December 5, 1976
2021-07-16
One of the more unusual marketing campaigns was a giveaway of keychains
containing "Genuine Hair of King Kong," strands of hair taken
from the giant Kong! Thanks to Kevin Mulligan, photos of the Sedgefield Jeans
keychain have been added to the
Collectibles page.
I also located several newspaper ads from clothing stores around the country.
Most of the ads were nearly full-page ads.
I've added newspaper articles by Roger Ebert (The Shreveport Journal,
December 9, 1976) and Rex Reed (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution,
December 18, 1976) to the
Newspaper Articles page. Both are interesting
reads. Unsurprisingly, Rex Reed's article is sarcastic and riddled with errors.
He also calls Jessica Lange a "thunderously inept model"!
I also added two articles from The Miami News, December 18, 1976. The
first is an article about theater-goers, and the second is a review of the film.
An article about the then-emerging home video market appeared in the November 1976
issue of Playboy. The article was illustrated using the King Kong
poster art. I've added the article to the
Magazine Articles page. It's a fascinating read,
and check out the prices of the video recorders!
Images I found online of two Spanish Blu-rays have been added to the
Home Video Releases page.
2021-07-08
Last week, this solicitation flyer for the Topps King Kong bubble
gum cards popped up on eBay. Then last night, I stumbled over photos on flickr
of the concept art created by Topps for the cards! Both the flyer and the
concept art photos have been added to the
Bubble Gum Cards page.
I picked up a copy of the Italian CD release of the King Kong soundtrack.
This CD was released in 1997. It was the first release of the soundtrack
on CD, and it was the only CD until Film Score Monthly released their
remastered version in 2005. The track listing matches the original vinyl release.
Scans of the CD tray, disc, and booklet can be found on the
Soundtrack Releases page.
I found out the other day that the Japanese Blu-ray release came with a
16-page booklet, so I bought a copy of it. Scans of the Blu-ray and the
booklet have been added to the
Home Video Releases page.
I added scans of the front and back covers of Will Shephard's book,
Inside King Kong: A Journal, to the Books page.
You'll also find a link to order the book from Amazon. It's well worth the
low price, IMO.
The Paramount publicity department worked overtime to promote King Kong,
famously issuing that teaser poster a full year before the film's release.
In August and October, they published Kong News, a four-page newsletter
mailed out to fans who'd signed up for their mailing list. Those two issues
can now be found on the new
Press Books & Newsletters page.
As was standard for the time, they also created a Press Book that was sent
to members of the press, distributors, and theater owners. The King Kong
Press Book included information about the film, as well as information about
tie-in marketing efforts, and, the main point, a variety of advertising
templates to be used by local theater owners to create newspaper ads for
their screenings. A short time later, they released an "Ad Supplement"
book, and then that was followed by "2nd Ad Supplement."
Scans of an 11-page article about King Kong that appeared in the
April 1977 publication King of the Monsters have been added to the
Magazine Articles page.
2021-07-05
Thanks to Greg Plonowski, scans of the 2005 Film Score Monthly CD release
of the John Barry's King Kong soundtrack have been added to the
Soundtrack releases page.
I also added scans of the cassette release of the soundtrack. I don't own
a copy of the cassette, so I borrowed images from Discogs.com.
2021-07-01
In late 1976, Paramount publicist Bruce Bahrenburg's book The Creation
of Dino De Laurentiis' King Kong was published by Pocket in the U.S.
The book documents the making of the movie, and is liberally illustrated
with black and white photos throughout.
The book has been out-of-print since 1977 or so and can be difficult to find
today. Thanks to Greg Plonowski, the book has been scanned and can now
be downloaded from the Books page in PDF and CBZ formats!
The book was simultaneously published in the UK by Star Books. The UK edition
is the one Greg actually scanned, because it was printed using better quality
paper, and the pages and photos look better than in the U.S. edition.
A second set of magnets was posted on eBay, and I've added photos of that
differently-packaged set to the Magnets page
under Collectibles.
2021-06-30
John Barry's classic score for King Kong has been released several
times over the years in different formats. Scans of some of those releases
can be found on the new
Soundtrack releases page.
Thanks to Mark Duffield for the photos of the vinyl LP release.
2021-06-29
In 1976, Topps released a set of King Kong bubble gum/trading cards.
The set cosisted of 55 cards and eleven stickers of images from the film. Each
pack also contained a stick of bubble gum.
Scans of the King Kong review by William K. Everson from the
February 1977 issue of Films in Review have been added to the
Magazine Articles page.
2021-06-24
Scans of the King Kong content from MAD Magazine (July 1977) and
Cracked (March 1977) have been added to the bottom of the
Magazine Articles page.
2021-06-23
In March 1977, book publisher Ace released Lorenzo Semple, Jr.'s script
for King Kong as a mass-market paperback in the U.S. The book
featured great cover art by Frank Frazetta.
The book has been out-of-print since 1977 and can be difficult to find
today. Thanks to Greg Plonowski, the book has been scanned and can now
be downloaded from the Books page in PDF and CBZ formats!
I've created a Home Video Releases page to host
scans and photos of the various home video releases of King Kong 1976.
The page currently showcases three U.S. DVD releases, as well as three
Blu-ray releases. Scans of the art, the discs, and inserts are included.
The page for the Brazilian BD release from last year includes scans of the
really nice 32-page booklet included in the set!
Scans of pages from Famous Monsters of Filmland #125
can be downloaded now from the
Magazines page.
2021-06-15
Scans of pages from SuperMag Vol 1 No 2, a children's digest in the
late '70s and early '80s, can be downloaded now from the
Magazines page.
2021-06-13
Scans of The Official King Kong Poster Magazine
can be downloaded now from the Magazines page.
The source is shrouded in a fog bank.
In 1977, publisher Crestwood House published King Kong as part of
their Monsters Series of children's books. The book covers the
history of the King Kong films. Pulled from the same fog bank, CBZ and PDF
versions of the book can now be downloaded from the
Books page.
2021-06-12
New magazine article scans today:
Time, October 25, 1976
Argosy, February 1977
The scans can be downloaded in PDF and CBZ formats.
New magazine article scans today from the January 31, 1977, issue of People
and the first issue of Starlog, from August 1976.
The scans can be downloaded in PDF and CBZ formats.
Next up from my collection are scans of an article from the August 10, 1976,
issue of Circus. In addition to the John Berkey sketch on the cover,
there's a different version accompanying the article.
The scans can be downloaded in PDF and CBZ formats.
Scans of three more book covers have been added to the
Books page:
The Story Behind King Kong, a children's version of The Creation book
King Kong, the original novelization of the 1933 film with Frazetta art
The Complete Script of the Dino De Laurentiis Production of King Kong, by Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
2021-06-08
Next up from my collection are scans of two articles in James Van Hise's
Enterprise Special Number Three: King Kong Spectacular. Most
of the issue is devoted to King Kong 1933, but I scanned the
two articles related to the '76 film: a brief overview of how it came to be
and a lengthy interview with Rick Baker. The interview also includes a
wonderful Baker-related illustration by Kerry Gammill.
The scans can be downloaded in PDF
and CBZ formats.
I've added scans of the covers of the French and Spanish editions of
Bruce Bahrenburg's Creation book to the Books page.
2021-06-04
Cover scans of three editions of Bruce Bahrenburg's classic making-of book,
The Creation of Dino De Laurentiis' King Kong, have been added to the
new Books page. The U.S., UK, and German editions are
shown front and back.
Thanks to Greg Plonowski, scans of a UK King Kong Poster magazine have
been added to the Magazines page!
I've also added scans of the March 1977 issue of Movie Maker. Kong
was on the cover, and there was a two-page article inside. I don't actually
own this magazine. These scans came from an eBay auction, and while they're
not great, they're better than nothing. If you have this issue, please
contact me.
2021-06-03
Scans of two articles from the December–January 1977 issue of
American Film have been added to
the Magazines page. One article is about the
Dino De Laurentiis and the 1976 King Kong, and the other is about
Merian C. Cooper and the 1933 film. The scans can be downloaded in PDF
and CBZ formats.
Thanks to Greg Plonowski, scans of a two-part article that appeared in two
2015 issues of the UK magazine Cinema Retro have also been added
to the Magazines page.
Also thanks to Greg, scans of a UK King Kong Poster magazine have
been added to the Magazines page!
2021-06-02
Scans of an article—with a centerfold Kong—in the February 1977
issue of the British magazine Photoplay have been added to
the Magazines page. It can be downloaded in PDF
and CBZ formats.
I've created a Magazines page. This page will feature
downloadable PDF and CBZ files of scans of articles from various vintage magazines.
The first magazine is Science Fiction Illustrated: 1977, which featured
Kong on the cover, as you can see.
If you're not familiar with CBZ files, they're really just Zip files containing
JPG files. The special .cbz extension is recognized and read by various CBZ/CBR
display programs. One such free program for Windows (and the one I use) is
CDisplay Ex. On my Fire HD 10 tablet,
I use Perfect
Viewer, which is well worth the $2.99 price tag. There are other, free
options available for phones and tablets, too.
2021-05-31
The first real page of content is now available. The Newspaper
page features scans of vintage newspaper articles about the release
of King Kong, from early 1976 through the movie's release in December 1976.
Of particular note is the four-page article "Rambaldi and Co.: The men who
built the monster."
2021-05-28
Coming soon, some of my King Kong 1976 stuff....
Stuff like the King Kong plastic dinnerware from Deka:
In the meantime, check out the new Blu-ray release of King Kong
from Scream Factory!
