''Skull Island'' is an American animated

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

television series developed by

Brian Duffield Brian Duffield is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He directed the 2020 dark comedy '' Spontaneous'' and films he has written include '' Love and Monsters'' (2020), '' Underwater'' (2020), and '' The Babysitter'' (2017). ...

for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. It is the fifth installment and the first television series of the

MonsterVerse The MonsterVerse is an American multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other monster characters owned and created by Toho Co., Ltd. The franchise is produced by Legendary Pictures and co-produced and ...

franchise and a sequel to '' Kong: Skull Island'' (2017). The series was produced by

Powerhouse Animation Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in April 2001 with a subsidiary called Powerhouse Animation LLC, established in summer of 2014. The company develops and produces tradition ...

, JP and

Legendary Television Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has c ...

and animated by South Korean studio

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

, with Duffield and Jacob Robinson serving as

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

s, and features the voices of Nicolas Cantu,

Mae Whitman Mae Margaret Whitman (born June 9, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She began acting in commercials as a child, making her film debut at the age of six in the romantic drama '' When a Man Loves a Woman'' (1994). She achieved recognition as ...

Darren Barnet Darren Charles Barnet (born April 27, 1991) is an American actor. He is known for playing Paxton Hall-Yoshida in the Netflix series ''Never Have I Ever''. Early life and education Darren Charles Barnet was born on April 27, 1991, in Los Angele ...

Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor and producer who has worked in film and on television. He had supporting roles in the 1990s in such box office hits as ''Demolition Man'' (1993), ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), ...

and

Betty Gilpin Elizabeth Folan Gilpin (born July 21, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan in the Netflix comedy series '' GLOW'' (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards f ...

as a group of shipwrecked characters who find themselves on

Skull Island Skull Island is the name most often used to describe a fictional island that first appeared in the 1933 film ''King Kong'' and later appearing in its sequels, the three remakes, and any other King Kong-based media. It is the home of the epony ...

in the 1990s, where they encounter giant-sized prehistoric creatures, including the island's self-appointed guardian Kong. The series debuted on Netflix on June 22, 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Premise

In the 1990s, a group of well-meaning explorers venture out to sea to rescue Annie from the ocean. In doing so, they find themselves shipwrecked on the perilous Skull Island. Together, they fight to survive the dangers of the mysterious isle, which is home to large creatures and terrifying monsters, including Kong.

Voice cast

* Nicolas Cantu as Charlie *

as Annie *

as Mike *

as Cap *

as Irene *

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series ''Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include Jo ...

as Sam *

Fryda Wolff Fryda Wolff (born May 25, 1982) is an American voice actor. Biography Wolff attended Las Vegas Academy of the Arts High School during the same era as alumni Matthew Gray Gubler, Rutina Wesley, Baron Vaughn, and Ne-Yo. They identify as queer an ...

as Island Girl *

Tania Gunadi Tania Gunadi (born 29 July 1983) is an Indonesian-American actress and producer. She moved to Los Angeles when she was a teenager. Biography Gunadi was born in Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia. She won a green card lottery when she was a teenager an ...

as Islander

Episodes

Production

Development

By January 2021, a continuation of the MonsterVerse in the form of an animated television series was in development. Brian Duffield was hired to serve as writer, creator, executive producer, director, and showrunner for the show, while Jacob Robinson was hired to serve as an executive producer. The project is a joint-venture production between

, and Tractor Pants Productions and was produced with intent to release exclusively to Netflix, as

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

still owns the rights for the ''

'' franchise alongside

Legendary Legendary may refer to: * Legend, a folklore genre * Legendary (hagiography) ** Anjou Legendarium * J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium Film and television * ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film * ''Legendary'', a 2013 film fea ...

. In October 2023, Duffield stated that the script for the second season had been completed; while creatives were waiting for an official season two renewal green-lighting from Netflix.

Casting

By May 2023, the voice cast was announced with Nicolas Cantu,

, and

serving in the primary roles.

Release

''Skull Island'' was released on Netflix on June 22, 2023.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports an approval rating of 82% and an average score of 7.00/10 based on 17 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "A rousing if faintly recycled reincarnation of King Kong's latest cinematic foray, ''Skull Island'' succeeds in its aim of putting a more adult twist on Saturday morning cartoons of yore".

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 51 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Samantha Nelson of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave 5 out of 10 stating that "''Skull Island'' tries to fuse ''Kong: Skull Island'' with Jonny Quest, but dull performances, weak writing, and retreads of fights from the film blunt the pulpy action". Joey Rambles of Cultured Vultures gave an 7.5 out of 10, writing: "With fun characters, gripping action, and splendid visuals, ''Skull Island'' is a highly energized rollercoaster ride that earns its hefty title as well as its place in the ''MonsterVerse''".

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original animated series and films MonsterVerse television series 2020s American animated television series American animated television series American animated action television series American animated adventure television series American animated science fiction television series 2023 American television series debuts Interquel television series Television series set in 1993 Television series set in the 1990s Anime-influenced Western animated television series American English-language television shows Netflix original anime Television series by Legendary Television Animated television series about apes Animated television shows based on films Works by Brian Duffield King Kong (franchise) Television series by Studio Mir