# References to other Jackson movies in 'King Kong' (spoilers)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 30, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787 "2005-12-30T22:59:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/1 "2005-12-30T22:59:57Z")

</div>

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.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/2 "2005-12-31T06:37:42Z")

</div>

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.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/3 "2005-12-31T06:46:17Z")

</div>

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.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/4 "2005-12-31T07:12:58Z")

</div>

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?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/5 "2006-01-01T22:27:29Z")

</div>

> [@Robot Arm](#):
>
> 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.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/6 "2006-01-02T02:03:22Z")

</div>

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**.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/7 "2006-01-02T02:13:27Z")

</div>

> [@Terrifel](#):
>
> there is only one blink-and-you-miss-it poop joke.

I guess I blinked, what was the joke?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/8 "2006-01-02T02:16:08Z")

</div>

“Camel make big mess on floor-- stain unremovable.”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/9 "2006-01-02T02:31:52Z")

</div>

> [@lissener](#):
>
> 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.

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.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/references-to-other-jackson-movies-in-king-kong-spoilers/337787/10 "2006-01-02T04:24:45Z")

</div>

> [@Larry Mudd](#):
>
> Har har. Seriously, did they sneak Kong in there? I saw it twice and missed that somehow.

Yuh, he’s there in the deep distance in one shot, climbing the ESB.
