# Have You Ever Seen "Son Of Kong" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736 "2011-07-12T13:16:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/1 "2011-07-12T13:16:02Z")
Son Of Kong. 1933 If you have seen it, what did you think of it? If you have not seen it, please respond anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/2 "2011-07-12T13:51:36Z")
Until your post I had never heard of it, but you asked for a response, so here one is. Is there anything in particular you wanted to share about the movie? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/3 "2011-07-12T13:54:08Z")
I think so…I may be thinking of Might Joe Young, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/4 "2011-07-12T14:02:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I think so…I may be thinking of Might Joe Young, though. 🙂 You probubly are. I had a friend who expressed great disapointment with me for seeing the movie about 30 years ago, thinking “meh”, and never caring to “give the movie a second chance”. He had a great deal to say about honor, friendship, trust and so forth. I’m thinking, it’s just a movie, lighten up Francis. So I asked 10 people at work, my mom and an out-of-state pal. No one had heard of it. Which does not surprise me. It is completely forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/5 "2011-07-12T14:06:50Z")
I think it may have been a regular feature on Ape Week on the 4:30 Movie abut forty years ago. The little nipper had white fur as I recall, and they sunk Skull Island at the end. Should that be in Spoilers? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/6 "2011-07-12T14:08:37Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I think it may have been a regular feature on Ape Week on the 4:30 Movie abut forty years ago. The little nipper had white fur as I recall, and they sunk Skull Island at the end. Should that be in Spoilers? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/7 "2011-07-12T14:08:40Z")
Surprised you’re finding this movie so obscure. It’s not as often-seen as the lesser Universal movies because it wasn’t as heavily syndicated, but it’s innocuous fun. What would you like to know? If you want heavyweight assistance, check out [this forum](http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/forums/69/Kong-8th-Wonder-of-the-World). These folks know their Kong. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/8 "2011-07-12T14:11:15Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Surprised you’re finding this movie so obscure. It’s not as often-seen as the lesser Universal movies because it wasn’t as heavily syndicated, but it’s innocuous fun. What would you like to know? > > If you want heavyweight assistance, check out [this forum](http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/forums/69/Kong-8th-Wonder-of-the-World). These folks know their Kong. My friend is probubly on that forum. But it is an old movie, with a limited appeal these days I think. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@Short\_Guy\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy_1)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/9 "2011-07-12T14:13:06Z")
I’ve seen it. In fact I own it on DVD. It’s not a good film, anyway you look at it. It’s really short, and even then, about 80% of it is spent on the journey to the island and endless, endless footage of real monkeys doing cute real monkey things. When you finally do get to the monsters, it’s a big disappointment. Kong’s son himself (I believe he’s called Kiko in the movie) is a nice enough character, but he’s somewhat underwhelming compared to his famous father. The sympathy you get for the title monster, which was such a huge and surprising thing in the original, is pretty much forced on the viewer here, and the 'heroic" ending just rings completely false. There’s a pretty good scene with a Styracosaurus (IIRC a left-over model from the first film) but all the other creatures look sloppily made and badly animated. The fact of the matter is, it was a cheap and rushed job to make a sequel to a popular film, and it looks it. _Mighty Joe Young_, on the other hand, is a delight. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/10 "2011-07-12T14:18:48Z")
I know I’ve seen it, but it’s been a long time. I see that it’s up on youtube–I’ll have to revisit it in the near future. (Probably not a good idea to watch it at work today, though. :p) It would probably make a good double feature with [Son of Godzilla](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061856/). I’d like to think the monsters’ offspring would’ve gotten along better than their parents. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/11 "2011-07-12T14:47:59Z")
SoK starts out with Carl Denham destitute, having been sued for Kong’s rampage in KK. I thought that was a nice touch. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/12 "2011-07-12T14:52:46Z")
I vaguely remember the movie. It was a regular Thanksgiving feature on one of the NY/NJ stations (WOR or WPIX or something…we got it on the cable package), along with Godzilla movies and the original King Kong. The baby gorilla was cute but he only appears for…what? 10 minutes? I remember thinking it was an awfully short movie, but kind of boring even for that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/13 "2011-07-12T15:12:43Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > The little nipper had white fur as I recall, Ah, Mighty Joe it was. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/14 "2011-07-12T15:13:54Z")
> [@Short\_Guy](#): > > …It’s not a good film, anyway you look at it. It’s really short, and even then, about 80% of it is spent on the journey to the island and endless, endless footage of real monkeys doing cute real monkey things. When you finally do get to the monsters, it’s a big disappointment. Kong’s son himself (I believe he’s called Kiko in the movie) is a nice enough character, but he’s somewhat underwhelming compared to his famous father. The sympathy you get for the title monster, which was such a huge and surprising thing in the original, is pretty much forced on the viewer here, and the 'heroic" ending just rings completely false. There’s a pretty good scene with a Styracosaurus (IIRC a left-over model from the first film) but all the other creatures look sloppily made and badly animated. > > The fact of the matter is, it was a cheap and rushed job to make a sequel to a popular film, and it looks it. _Mighty Joe Young_, on the other hand, is a delight. I completely agree. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/15 "2011-07-12T15:40:53Z")
Ditto. Cheap sequel. MJY is a good story, but also suffers from poor production. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/16 "2011-07-12T15:47:23Z")
I used to watch it all the time when it was on TV when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s. I enjoyed it then, though of course not as much as _King Kong_ itself, which was my favorite movie of all time. At that age, I didn’t notice any quality issues, but it pissed me off that they had to destroy Skull Island and kill off baby Kong. I probably haven’t seen the movie in 40 years. I liked _Mighty Joe Young_ too, but in my 12-year-old opinion, it suffered greatly from not having dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/17 "2011-07-12T16:07:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > …I liked _Mighty Joe Young_ too, but in my 12-year- > old opinion, it suffered greatly from not having dinosaurs. As do most films. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/18 "2011-07-12T16:20:22Z")
It’s the first film I ever saw on television. As such, it holds a special place in my memory. I also owned an abbreviated version of it on 8 mm film, long before I got my VHS and DVD copies. It’s a very good fil,m, given its limitations, by the same team that made the original **King Kong**. They were all ready to do a proper sequel, but RKO gave them only _half_ of Kong’s budgfet and only _SIX MONTHS_ (!!!) to make the film. Six months! Do you have any notion of how long it takes to properly plan, script, and produce a film of quality? Escpecially one with all the intricate special effects work as **Kong**? Especially when a lot of that work is dimensional animation, which requires 24 separate motions per freakin’ _frame_? But RKO wanted it out in time for Christmas, so six months it was. Naturally, there’s a lot of padding. This did give them time to do a lot of character study on Carl Denham and the others. Of couse, Fay Wray and Bruce Cabot didn’t return, but we had Frank Reichert back as Captain Engelhorn, and Charley the Chinese Cook, and we saw the Skull Island natives again (lead by Noble Johnson). Say what you will about Hollywood racism (and the likelihood about black non-Negrito South Pacific islanders), they treated the natives respectfully and believably. I wouldn’t be too pleased with they guy who released a catastrophe on my village. Realizing that they couldn’t produce a quality serious film in that time, they vdecided to go for humor. So they gave us a goofy albino “friendly” ape as a comic element, a goofy looking Cave Bear and Lizard for him to fight, and a sentimental story. It wasn’t all goofiness – there’s a menacing styracosaurus and a respectable “Sea Monster”. The film is still effective. I was watching it once at a college student center TV, and a female student came by during the fight with the giant reptile. “What is this?” she asked, “_King Kong vs. Goszilla_?” I told her it was _Son of Kong_. She hadn’t heard of it, and she started dragging other people over to watch _The Son of King Kong_. I like it when I can corrupt others. It’s not the best film, but I’ll watch it in preference to a lot of more recent blockbusters. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/19 "2011-07-12T16:55:26Z")
And that’s cool, you liked it. No problem. I like some movies that are depised or unheard of by the general public. But it doesn’t mean I have a moral failing. Or does it? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736/20 "2011-07-12T17:11:54Z")
I used to watch it every Thanksgiving along with the original and Mighty Joe Young. It is cheezier, cheaper looking and obviously rushed (it came out the same year as KK) but the dinosaur stuff is neat. I think it is worth seeing if you are a fan of KK. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-son-of-kong/588736.md?page=2)