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.

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 Muppet Magazine issue 21, in a feature where Miss Piggy tours Universal Studios.

Other AppearancesEdit

• 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.

ReferencesEdit

Sesame Street Magazine (1974)

The Muppet Show (1979)

The Miss Piggy Calendar 1980

The Muppets Go to the Movies (1981)

The Muppets comic strip

Muppet Magazine issue 10 (1985)

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

"Space Cowboys" (1985)

Muppet Magazine issue 21 centerfold (1988)

"The New Adventures of Kermo Polo" (1989)

UK Weetabix commercial (1993)

Muppet Babies Visit the Fifty States (1993)

Great Muppets in American History (1997)

Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic (2002)

Elmo's Potty Time (2006)

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Four Seasons (2012)

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• The Gorilla Detector from the Muppet Labs sketch in episode 116 of The Muppet Show, is based on the head of Mecha Kong from 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 Episode 403: Shields & Yarnell of The Muppet Show, a gorilla parodies King Kong and sings "It's Lonely at the Top" while perched on a tall building.

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

• The "Hey a Movie!" opening number in the 1981 special The Muppets Go to the Movies features film clips from classic movies, including King Kong.

• The Muppet Babies episode "Piggy's Hyper-Activity Book" features a giant gorilla who climbs the side of the Empire State building to bring Baby Gonzo room service.

• In the Muppet Babies episode "The New Adventures of Kermo Polo," Baby Gonzo is cast as "The Great Khan," but mistakenly thinks he's supposed to be "Gonzo Kong."

• Muppet Magazine issue 10 includes a Ghostbusters parody comic in which the "Grossbusters" accidentally create a giant monster of trash which nabs Piggy and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building.

• A 2006 film animated by Magnetic Dreams (Traction Jackson) for Elmo's Potty Time features a giant King Kong-esque gorilla in the streets of a big city who must listen to his body and figure out its needs.

• King Kong comes to see Miss Piggy backstage in a Muppet comic strip by Guy and Brad Gilchrist.

• Guy Gilchrist would again draw King Kong for the Dixie Muppet Babies cups.

• During the theme for Sesame English, as Tingo's plane arrives in New York, a gorilla is seen clinging to the Empire State Building.

• 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.

• A poster of this movie is seen in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

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

• In the 2012 comic The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Four Seasons, Animal and Meredith the Mountain Gorilla end their romantic date with a viewing of King Kong.

ConnectionsEdit

• Carl Banas voiced Professor Bond and others in The King Kong Show (TV, 1966)
• Corbin Bernsen played a reporter in King Kong (1976)
• Jack Black played Carl Denham in King Kong (2005)
• Peter Cullen provided the ape vocals in King Kong (1976)
• Peter Elliott played the title role in King Kong Lives (1986)
• Charles Grodin played Fred Wilson in King Kong (1976)
• Dudley Moore voiced C. B. Denham in The Mighty Kong (1998)
• 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)