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, commonly referred to as ''The King Kong Show'', is an anime-influenced series produced by Videocraft International and Toei Animation.
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
ran the series in the United States on Saturday mornings between September 10, 1966, and August 31, 1969. It is the first anime series produced in Japan for an American company (not counting Rankin/Bass' previous Animagic stop motion productions, which were also animated in Japan). This series is an animated adaptation of the famous film monster King Kong with character designs by Jack Davis and
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. In this series, the giant ape befriends the Bond family, with whom he goes on various adventures, fighting monsters, robots, aliens, mad scientists and other threats. Unlike King Kong's destructive roles in his films, the cartoon turned him into a protector of humanity. Included is a parody of spy films of the 1960s called ''Tom of T.H.U.M.B.'', about a secret agent for T.H.U.M.B. (the Tiny Human Underground Military Bureau) named Tom and his Asian "sidekick" Swinging Jack, who are accidentally reduced by a shrinking laser ray gun to tall. The pair are sent out in a variety of miniature vehicles by their bad-tempered boss Chief Homer J. Chief to foil the fiendish plots of M.A.D. (Maladjusted, Anti-social and Darn mean), an evil organization made up of black-hatted and black-cloaked scientists "bent on destroying the world for their own gains". In Japan, the first two episodes were combined into a 56-minute special, titled , and was broadcast on NET (now TV Asahi) on December 31, 1966. The rest of the series, with the inclusion of ''Tom of T.H.U.M.B.'', was broadcast on NET as , and aired from April 5 to October 4, 1967, with a total of 25 episodes. This series was successful enough for Rankin/Bass to extend the Kong franchise to another Japanese company, Toho (which had already produced the hit film ''
King Kong vs. Godzilla is a 1962 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the third film in both the ''Godzilla'' and ''King Kong'' franchises, as well as the first T ...
'' in 1962). This resulted in two films: ''
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep is a 1966 Japanese '' kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda and produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. The film stars Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Akihiko Hirata and Eisei Amamoto, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, M ...
'' (originally intended to be a Kong film) and '' King Kong Escapes'', which was based on ''The King Kong Show''. On November 15, 2005, Sony Wonder released the first eight episodes (two ''King Kong'' cartoons separated by a ''Tom of T.H.U.M.B.'' cartoon) on two DVD releases titled ''King Kong: The Animated Series Volume 1'' and ''King Kong: The Animated Series Volume 2''. The pilot episode was included, in its two parts for American syndication, between the two DVDs.


Characters

* King Kong - The title character. The Eighth Wonder of the World, Kong was discovered on Mondo Island (sometimes known as Skull Island) by Bobby Bond, whom he saved from being eaten by a '' Tyrannosaurus rex''. He has also saved Bobby and his family from other disasters afterward. Ever since he has become the family's mascot and a hero. * Professor Bond - The head/father of the Bond family. * Susan Bond - The teenage daughter. She is always somewhat perplexed by Bobby and Kong's friendship. She is the basis for Susan Watson (Linda Miller) in '' King Kong Escapes''. Susan is always the one that knows what Dr. Who is up to and her fear is dreaming about snakes. * Bobby Bond - The young son and Kong's closest companion. Saved by Kong from being eaten by a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', and they have been friends ever since. * Captain Englehorn - A friend to the family and Professor Bond's ship captain. Based on the character from the original '' King Kong'' film. *
Dr. Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
- The popular recurring villain. A bald, big-headed, and bespectacled mad scientist who wants to capture Kong and use him for his own evil schemes. He has no relation to the character from the British sci-fi TV series. He is the basis for Hideyo Amamoto's character Dr. Hu in '' King Kong Escapes''. *
Mechani-Kong is a remote-controlled robot double of King Kong#King Kong (Toho), King Kong introduced in the 1966 animated television series ''The King Kong Show'' and featured again in the 1967 film ''King Kong Escapes''. The robot was created by Dr. Who (who ...
- Kong's robot double, invented by Dr. Who, who operates it via a control room in the robot's head. Neither the Bonds nor Captain Englehorn ever knows (or even figure out) that Dr. Who invented it, however. It appears in two ''King Kong'' segments, "MechaniKong" (the second ''King Kong'' segment from Episode 10) and "Anchors Away" (the second ''King Kong'' segment from Episode 25). Each segment features a different version of the robot. It is also Kong's nemesis in '' King Kong Escapes''.


Cast

* Billie Mae Richards - Bobby Bond * Carl Banas - Professor Bond * Susan Conway - Susan Bond *
John Drainie John Robert Roy Drainie (April 1, 1916 – October 30, 1966) was a Canadian actor and television presenter, who was called "the greatest radio actor in the world" by Orson Welles. Drainie was most famous in Canada for two long-running roles: the ...
*
Alfie Scopp Alfred Scopp (15 September 1919 – 24 July 2021) was a Canadian actor who worked mostly in television series, including as a voice actor. He also worked in theatre, radio, and films. He was part of the voice cast for the 1964 Christmas special ...
- Captain Englehorn * Paul Soles - Dr. Who


Crew

* Producer -
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* Executive Producers -
Arthur Rankin Jr. Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. (July 19, 1924 – January 30, 2014) was an American director, producer and writer, who mostly worked in animation. Co-creator of Rankin/Bass Productions with his friend Jules Bass, he created stop-motion animation ...
,
Jules Bass Julius Bass (September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer, and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft Interna ...
* Associate Producer -
Larry Roemer Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer * Larry Boo ...
* Music/Lyrics - Maury Laws, Jules Bass * Recording Supervisor - Bernard Cowan * Sound/Effects - Bill Giles,
Stephen Frohock Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
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, Frederick Tudor * Animation Production - Toei Studios * Character Designs - Jack Davis,
Rod Willis Rod, Ror, Ród, Rőd, Rød, Röd, ROD, or R.O.D. may refer to: Devices * Birch rod, made out of twigs from birch or other trees for corporal punishment * Ceremonial rod, used to indicate a position of authority * Connecting rod, main, coupling, ...
* Animation Continuity -
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* Story Editor -
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List of episodes

# "King Kong" (December 31, 1966; 56-minute long pilot episode). In American syndication, the episode was split into two parts, which were titled "A Friend in Need" and "The Key to the City".
The following episode list describes the show as it originally aired from April 5 to October 4, 1967, with each episode beginning with a six-minute ''King Kong'' segment, followed by a six-minute ''Tom of T.H.U.M.B.'' segment, then followed by a second six-minute ''King Kong'' segment. # "Under the Volcano"/"For the Last Time, Feller...I'm Not Bait!"/"The Treasure Trap" # "The Horror of Mondo Island"/"Hey, That Was A Close One World!"/"Dr. Who" # "Rocket Island"/"I Was A 9 oz. Weakling 'Till One Day..."/"The African Bees" # "The Hunter"/"I Was A Starling for the USA!"/"The Space Men" # "The Jinx of the Sphinx"/"Cool Nerves and...Steady Hands"/"The Greeneyed Monster" # "The Top of the World"/"All Guys from Outer Space are Creeps"/"The Golden Temple" # "The Electric Circle"/"Mechanical Granma"/"Mirror of Destruction" # "Tiger Tiger"/"The Day We Almost Had It"/"The Vise of Dr. Who" # "King Kong's House"/"Tom Makes History"/"MechaniKong" # "The Giant Sloths"/"Tom Scores Again"/"The Legend of Loch Ness" # "Dr. Bone"/"Blow, Jack, Blow!"/"No Man's Snowman" # "The Desert Pirates"/"Tom and the TV Pirates"/"Command Performance" # "The Sea Surrounds Us"/"The Girl from M.A.D."/"Show Biz" # "The Wizard of Overlord"/"Just One of Those Nights"/"Perilous Porpoise" # "The Trojan Horse"/"Runt of 1,000 Faces"/"The Man from K.O.N.G." # "Caribbean Cruise"/"Hello, Dollies!"/"Diver's Dilemma" # "The Great Sun Spots"/"Pardner"/"Kong is Missing" # "In the Land of the Giant Trees"/"Beans is Beans"/"Captain Kong" # "Statue of Liberty Play"/"What Goes Up..."/"Pandora's Box" # "Thousand Year Knockout"/"Our Man, the Monster"/"Desert City" # "Eagle Squadron"/"Never Trust A Clam"/"The Kong of Stone" # "Murderer's Maze"/"Drop that Ocean, Feller"/"The Great Gold Strike" # "It Wasn't There Again Today"/"Plug that Leak"/"The Mad Whale" # "King Kong Diamond"/"The Scooby"/"Anchors Away"


Music

The theme music for the series was recorded in London, England, in 1965, using primarily British studio musicians. Canadian conductor, vocalist and former Kitchener-Waterloo ''Record'' entertainment columnist Harry Currie provided vocal talent on the recording.


Reception

In the 2007 book ''Comics Gone Ape! The Missing Link to Primates in Comics'', comics historian Michael Eury writes, "The Rankin/Bass ''King Kong'' was an early case of identity theft, where the Kong name was appropriated (fully under license) to describe a new character that, at best, only remotely resembled his namesake. This was Kong done wrong."


References


External links


''The King Kong Show'' overview
an in-depth Japanese website about the series
''Sekai no Ôja · King Kong Daikai''
in Animemorial (the Japanese name of the pilot episode)
''King Kong · 001 / 7 Oyayubi Tom''
in Animemorial (contains Japanese episode list, cast and staff) * —an in-depth article about the series, featuring rare shots of various merchandise and tie-ins related to the series (French website) * —an in-depth article about the series * * *
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{{DEFAULTSORT:King Kong Show, The King Kong (franchise) 1966 anime television series debuts 1966 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings 1960s American animated television series Action anime and manga American Broadcasting Company original programming American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series Japanese children's animated action television series Japanese children's animated adventure television series Japanese children's animated science fantasy television series American prequel television series Fantasy anime and manga Animated television shows based on films Rankin/Bass Productions television series Anime-influenced Western animated television series Animated television series about apes