The Eighty Fifth Anniversary of Kong: The Eighth Wonder of the World! · 1:38pm Apr 7th, 2018
Like Peter Jackson, I remember seeing the original King Kong when I was just a kid, and well before my family moved to Kansas City. It was always a spectacle seeing the great ape fight the T. rex (and also one of the many things that got me into dinosaurs then as now and forever). Does it have flaws today? Sure, but it still holds true to my heart. And it's surprising how well the original puppets hold out; the Stegosaurus still has it's skin after all these years.
Before Peter Jackson came along, I also watched the Dino Delaurentis version. At first, I'm rather peeved that there weren't any dinosaurs, but looking at it now, this is basically the closest we get to a realistic modern time King Kong (it's set in contemporary times in light of the oil crisis of the seventies). Plus the facial gestures of the Kong suit are fun to see; if want to see better examples, try "An American Werewolf in London" and "Harry and the Hendersons."
But obviously, in my generation's answer, the Peter Jackson remake of 2005 is the most memorable to me. It always gives me a giggle on how Andy Serkis still pulls off Kong's performances and carries on to his mini studio that helps out with films such as the new Planet of the Apes movies.
I also got the chance to see Son of Kong at one point and....
Yeah, but at the least, you know that Cooper was hoping for a bigger adventure before RKO cut him down.
Let's not forget the two Toho films, especially Kong vs Godzilla. Though goofy in their own way, especially "Escapes" (Below) they're still quite fun to watch. And I can't wait to see the remake.
Following the Peter Jackson version, this animated series, first aired in the very late nineties, re-aired on the Disney channel. Like the Netflix "Tarzan," it has some weird flaws (DNA merging to fight monsters Gundam style). But it does have many of the cast from "Beast Wars," some of whom would later be in MLP: FIM. The two films that came with it.... Ehhh....
And lastly, but definitely not least. I've already written a review on this, but does it still hold up to this day? In light of the build-up to Godzilla 2 next year, it's worth it.
Sadly, I still haven't fully finished the story, "Monsters of Everfree" which features the character and a whole menagerie of creatures (not dinosaurs this time as well). And there's a lot to go around this month, a research paper to finish, a short film to make etc. However, I have written enough to show you a quick, unrefined preview to anyone who reads this blog post.
Camp Everfree, Spring of 1993
Then, as now, in every spring season, a select group of seniors from Canterlot High would take the opportunity to go on the week long retreat to Camp Everfree. They couldn’t be any more happier; some of them paddle around the lake, a few fished at the edge of the lake, and others just walked around. One in particular, a young woman, around eighteen years old with hair of greens, blues, and Easter pinks, carves a Roman numeral on a stone disk, the fifth one out of twelve surrounding a triangle.
“Phew.” Celestia huffs before wiping her brow, “Guess this calls for a little cake break, right Luna? … Luna?”
Deep in the woods, a baby possum scrounges for whatever insect it could find. It spots a butterfly perched on a fallen tree branch, and catches it without giving it a chance. After munching and swallowing the insect, it remains motionless, relaxed, ready to-
“Hi, Tiberius!”
The possum springs from the log, lands on its back and remains motionless. In its petrified state, it sees a dark figure eclipse the sun, coming closer before a young girl of several dark blue comes into focus. An honorary guest among her sister’s class, Luna wasted no time exploring the camp; “Tiberius” is one such result.
“Come on, Tiberius, do you want to play?” Luna pleads, gently poking the marsupial, rolling it over, to no avail. In a huff, the girl sits on the branch, her arms crossed. “Well, I can play this waiting game all night if I have too.”
Unfortunately, Luna doesn’t have time to wait, for her ears pick up a deep, purring sound. She turns around and screams. A mountain lion crept from the foliage, looking up at the child with a malicious hunger. With a lick of its puffy lips, it crouches down when a larger shadow looms over them. A hairy arm stamps at right of the cat, followed by another scooping it up.
The search party led by Celestia left no stone unturned as they searched for the future vice principal. With someone with a color scheme of dark blues, it's no surprise that Luna would be tough to find in the forest. Their ears pick up a screeching sound and look up just in time to see the mountain lion in mid flight across the canopy.
One danger down, one to go. And a much larger one at that. Luna stood petrified at the beast looking down casting its shadow. The view comes closer on her sapphire eyes, the faint reflection of the beast she sees growing larger. As the beast lets out a low growl, all we see now is the dark void of her pupil.
Glenview Springs, Colorado, Today
The dark void becomes a starry night just about to give way to the dawn. All is asleep, every man and every beast. Even Sci-Twi, the Twilight Sparkle native to the world of Man. But this night, she had trouble sleeping, tossing and turning.
“No, no.” Twilight groaned, not even waking her companion on the chest in front of her bed. “It can’t be, it isn’t true.”
“Uhm, Twilight?” Fluttershy whispered behind the door.
Spike awoke to a series of knocks, and trotted up the door. Twilight slowly awoke, rubbing the sleep off her eyes.
“Twilight!” - Rainbow roared - “The bus for Camp Everfree leaves in ten minutes!!”
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Twilight grabbed her glasses and rushed to her closet. Spike opened the door, letting in the other Rainbooms. “I can’t believe I overslept!”
“Me neither. That’s not like you.” Sunset added, watching the Techie grab her suitcase.
“Don’t you have super annoying alarm clock that goes ‘Agh! Agh! Agh! Agh!’” Pinkie Pie lifted the pillow, finding the alarm clock buzzing for four minutes straight.
“Let me just get changed.” Twilight went to her closet.
Rarity spotted a copy of Princess Twilight’s Fall Formal dress, recalling the nostalgia as she felt the custom sinews.
“We’re gonna be out in the woods.” Applejack huffed. “When is she gonna need that?”
“If we are going to the moon, I insist she packed an evening gown.” Rarity started waving her finger at the farmer. “One never knows, darling.”
As Twilight tried to make a fitting between shirts, she notices three familiar figures, women with wings like angel fish fins come to view. She turns around, and sees the figures floating in the air.
“The Dazzlings!?” The group shouted in surprise.
“How is this possible?!” Sci-Twi leered back, dropping her shirts. “You’re dead!”
Yes.” A slow, seductive voice whispers behind Sci-Twi. She turns around, seeing another Twilight Sparkle of a darker purple with violet robes, a glowing blue horn and “visor” and massive wings.
“But-!?” Sci-Twi shuffles away, “Sunset Shimmer helped me defeat you!?”
“You and your friends can never truly defeat me!” Midnight cackled as the true Twilight’s room pixelated and deleted like a virus. Even her friends aren’t spared. Twilight is left to float helplessly in space.
“You… You monster!” Twilight yelled into the digital world.
“Monster?” Midnight soared over to her kinder counterpart, easily towering her by a few inches alongside her large wingspan. “You killed Adagio and Aria! I am a part of you! I’ll always be there in the darkest shadows of your mind. I’ll be back, Twilight! And this time, I won’t stop until I have all the magic!”
Midnight transforms into a raven and phazed herself into her counterpart. Twilight gasped in horror as the gauntlets returned to her arms and legs, wings jutting out the back, and the blue visor and horn alit again. As her skin became darker, Twilight curled into a ball.
“No! STOP!!!!”
“Twilight, wake up!”
Sci-Twi’s eyes shoot open, gasping like a hooked fish. sending the puppy flying to her dirty clothes pile. Spike erupted out of the clothes, shook his body a little, then hopped towards his owner. He drew his ears back as he watched Twilight pant like made as she looked around.
Her little companion noticed a small amount of uncertainty within his mistress.
“You alright, Twilight?” Spike raised his left paw. “Aren’t you excited to go camping?”
Sunset noticed Twilight, despite seeing living breathing dinosaurs as a community, still being silent as she had throughout much of the trip.
“Hey, are you okay?” She asked
Not wanting to tell of her recent nightmare, Twilight gave a small chuckle, “Heh, I’m fine.”
“We are gonna have so much fun!” Pinkie Pie chortled before Sunset could ask anymore questions. “We’re going to roast marshmallows, and eat marshmallows, and sleep on marshmallow pillows!”
Rainbow Dash, knowing Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, turned around. “Yeah, probably not gonna do that.”
“Maybe you’re not...” Pinkie Pie beheld before them a large bag of marshmallows then snuggled it like a teddy bear.
As much as she enjoyed the conversations in the back, Principal Celestia tried her best to drown out her boredom. She turned her eyes to window, finding a rugged signpost that got her hopes up.
"Attention, students!" - Celestia called out to the back of the bus - "We’re almost there, but before we arrive, we’d just want to say how proud we are of you raising enough money to go on the class field trip!”
“When we were your age, we made some of our favorite memories in these woods.” Luna added, waving her arms at the landscape around them. “And we’re sure you will too.”
“Now who’s excited for Camp Everfree?" Cheered Celestia, rallying the entire company to cheer, making the driver cringe as the noise echoed in the bus. Twilight had this at first, but returned to her current thoughts. They do deserve a break after going on a suicide mission to a tropical island, but if not the Dazzlings, or the monsters, what if there was still another threat? She kept like this as Applejack reached for her guitar and started strumming while the others started clapping.
Will you be lost by time or be part of history?
Will your story be told or remain a mystery?
Will they sing your song, telling all that you have done?
Time to make your choice, only you can be the one
Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa
As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!)
Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa
As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey! Hey! Hey!)
Will you do something great with the time that you have here?
Will you make your mark? Will you conquer what you fear?
And when you go back home, everybody there will see
You were part of the Legend of Everfree!
Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa
As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!)
Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa
As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!)
Will you find your greatest glory?
Will you be a falling star?
Here to learn what nature teaches
Here to learn more who you are
Will you be lost by time or be part of history?
Will your story be told or remain a mystery?
And when you go back home, everybody there will see
You were part of the Legend of Everfree!
Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa
As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!)
Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa
As you join in the Legend of Everfree!
Hey!
Far over the forest, the tone and mood is different, far different. Storm clouds loom over the forest and strike the ground like mad. A most unusual creature, a blue shrew the size of two elephants, and just twice as fat from eating its daily bread, scurries over to a strange glowing cave. However, a bat with a thirty-meter wingspan already occupies the cave, dropping from the roof and lets out a sharp hiss. The shrew, having no more of this, bites the bat on the wing and pulls it out from the cave. The two tussled about, biting and clawing at each other. Suddenly a loud roar causes them to stop; they're in the presence of a common enemy as a shadow looms over them and lets out a howl in tune to another rolling thunder.
Monsters of Everfree
April 30th, 2018
Kong has influenced thousands in the past, and still influences many to this day. And I hope this carries on in the future.
Breathe Deep, Seek Peace.
