In the ship there was a cage labeled “Sumatran rat monkey”, which started the zombie epidemic in ‘Braindead’ (aka ‘Dead Alive’).
Was there any other direct references to other Jackson movies? I’d be particularly amused if there were references to ‘Bad Taste’ or ‘Meet the Feebles’ that I missed.
I didn’t know that about the “Sumatran Rat Monkey”. I noticed that phrase in the movie, but didn’t know it was a reference…I’m sort of a Peter Jackson newbie.
I even missed the pretty plain reference to the original “King Kong” movie…when Jack Black said that they couldn’t get Fay Wray for his motion picture because she was busy working on a “Cooper” movie. My friend pointed out that reference and I had to laugh.
Did anybody catch the reference to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? In *Sky Captain *there’s this one shot where, if you look in the background, you can see a gorilla climbing up the Empire State Building. Now, was Jackson perpetrating a blatant ripoff, or a respectful “homage”? I say homage.
What kind of Meet the Feebles reference could you put in King Kong; in the middle of the brontosaurus stampede they stop and raid a bakery?
I’d make a poster for the Feebles variety show, and have it in one of the many NYC scenes that showed posters (small and subtle though).
The brontos raiding a bakery is a pretty good idea too though.
The “Sumatran Rat Monkey” joke was fairly obvious, and I imagine it was the one reference that the film crew just couldn’t resist; I’d be surprised if there are any others, at least ones that can be viewed onscreen without a freeze frame/magnify capability. Compared to Peter Jackson’s other films, his King Kong has a peculiarly restrained tone to it. Consider this observation: in a modern movie that features swarms of giant bats, herds of dinosaurs, and a 25-foot tall ape, there is only one blink-and-you-miss-it poop joke. The reverence with which Jackson regards the original film is palpable, and all the other cinematic references in the new movie appear to refer back to Cooper’s, or the period when the original was made, in one way or another.
The only exception I can think of that even comes close is the presence of giant killer crickets in the chasm sequence; they’re an amped-up version of the weta, a New Zealand species that serves as the mascot for the Weta Workshop effects studio that worked on Lord of the Rings.
I guess I blinked, what was the joke?
“Camel make big mess on floor-- stain unremovable.”
Har har. Seriously, did they sneak Kong in there? I saw it twice and missed that somehow.
I remember seeing the Venture in the underwater graveyard, though.
Yuh, he’s there in the deep distance in one shot, climbing the ESB.