King Kong Appears in Edo

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A purported theatrical poster from King Kong Appears in Edo.
A purported theatrical poster from King Kong Appears in Edo.[1]

King Kong Appears in Edo (江戸に現れたキングコング Edo ni Arawareta Kingu Kongu?) is a lost film released in Japan in 1938.[2][3]

An unofficial and enigmatic Japanese-made monster/period piece by studio Zenkatsu[4] in which King Kong attacks medieval Edo (the former name of Tokyo), it was one of Japan's first kaiju (giant monster) films, predating Godzilla by sixteen years. Although inaccurate to its historical setting, some Caligari-esque expressionistic buildings were added for Kong to climb.[citation needed] The film has been lost since its theatrical run in 1938. It is claimed the film either "disappeared due to negligent maintenance" or was destroyed during the bombings of Japan in World War II.[5]

Fuminori Ohashi, who would later create the suit for Godzilla in the original 1954 film, created the ape suit and special effects for this film.[6] He explained, "The first model making to be counted as "special art direction" in Japanese cinema was a giant gorilla which I did for the movie King Kong Appears in Edo fifty years ago. It was also the first movie to feature certain kinds of special effects."[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ape Movie 1900-1939
  2. ^ Morton, Ray (2005). King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson. Applause Books, 123. ISBN 1557836698. 
  3. ^ Hood, Robert (2005). Divided Kingdom: King Kong versus Godzilla. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  4. ^ Chronology of Zenkatsu films (in Japanese) (2002). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  5. ^ Hall, Phil (2007-03-01). Top 10 Lost Films. Film Threat (Gore Group Publications). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  6. ^ Brin, Ph.D., David; Wilson (2005). King Kong Is Back!: An Unauthorized Look at One Humongous Ape. BenBella Books, 213. ISBN 1932100644. 
  7. ^ Johnson, Bob; Ragone, August (2007-08-27). A Look Back at the Many Incarnations of Ambassador Magma. SciFi Japan. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.

[edit] External links