The film premiered in twelve-hundred theaters in America on December 17th, just a week before the holiday, and the cinematic initiative was supported by a then-impressive fifteen million dollar promotional and marketing campaign.
It
was money well-spent.
King
Kong was absolutely
everywhere in the final days of the
Bicentennial year. Described (humorously)
as “the most exciting original motion
picture event of the year,” the John Guillermin film which introduced the
world to actress Jessica Lange, was also the first “movie merchandising” blitz,
in fact, of my lifetime, at least that I consciously remember.
The Six-Million Dollar Man (1974 –
1979), Space:1999 (1975 – 1977), Star Trek (1966 – 1969) and Planet
of the Apes (1968) were all popular franchises at the time, but King
Kong’s premiere represented the first occasion I saw a Hollywood movie
heralded in all media and merchandise simultaneously across a wide spectrum.
The
arrival of the new King Kong was feted in Time
Magazine, in a cover story called “Here Comes King Kong,” to start. The article by went behind-the-scenes of the
film’s production to interview De Laurentiis and Lange, among others, and
complimented the new Kong, essentially, as being “good trash.” The same piece offered
had the priceless (and absolutely accurate) description of the 1933 Kong
fans as a “testy, loyal” cult.
Meanwhile,
Mego participated in the Kong Mania with a toy blitz that included the
manufacture and release of Plush King Kong stuffed animals, a King Kong Bop Bag
(or punching bag), and a model kit of “Kong’s
Last Stand” at the top of the Twin Towers.
One
of the coolest Mego Kong toys -- but which I never owned -- was “King Kong against
the World”, a target game in which mini-jets could fire darts at a figure of
King Kong and knock him from his perch on one of the towers. “He
teeters, he totters, he roars, he falls…” advertised the box.
Meanwhile,
Topps released an impressive set of King Kong trading cards and stickers. There were 55 cards and 11 stickers in the
entire set, and the cards could be gathered together and assembled as a puzzle. King Seeley, meanwhile released a Kong themed
lunchbox with thermos. Colorforms also
got into the act by releasing a Kong playset.
Two
bits of 1976 merchandise that I owned at the time of Kong Mania were the Ideal
Board Game, in which players had to prevent Kong from reaching the top of the
World Trade Center, and a Viewmaster set of the movie. I still have vivid memories of watching those
color Viewmaster slides on my (dark) basement family room wall.
Down
the line -- further and further -- the King Kong merchandise grew progressively
weirder. There were four King
Kong drinking glasses sold through the Burger Chef restaurant. Two glasses featured imagery of Kong on Skull
Island, and two featured him in NYC.
Meanwhile Mego also offered a King Kong drinking straw in which the more
fluid someone drank, the higher Kong would climb the Big Apple skyscraper.
If
that wasn’t odd enough, a unique promotion was offered in which consumers would
get a King Kong keychain free when “you purchase a pair of Sedgield jeans.” It wasn’t just any keychain either, but one “containing” Kong’s “real hair from Paramount Pictures’ epic film release.”
Just
what you always wanted, right? Well, at
least each keychain came with a certificate of authenticity…
Finally,
Jim Beam released a King Kong decanter. It
was molded in the shape of Kong’s torso and head. You could snap off Kong’s skull and pour
yourself a drink, I suppose, if you wanted. Jim Beam even suggested the ingredients for a King Kong Cocktail: orange juice and grenadine.
A poster for the American release of Godzilla vs. Megalon showcased the two beasts grappling...on top of the World Trade Center buildings, though no scenes in the film occurred in New York.
And then there were other knock-off films such as A.P.E. (1976), Queen Kong (1976) and Mighty Peking Man (1977). Within two years, King Kong aired on television, and NBC, but fans of the big ape had another treat in store. The network aired an extended cut of the film, one with scenes never before integrated into the theatrical cut. It is this legendary version, actually, that many aficionados prefer to this day.
Although
a sequel, King Kong Lives (1986) arrived on the tenth anniversary of Kong
Mania, almost no merchandise was released to celebrate the film. Instead, Kong Mania had to wait to re-emerge
until 2005 and Peter Jackson’s three-hour re-do of the property.
Since
I was seven at the time of the 1976 King Kong, it remains the version of
the legend I feel most nostalgic about.
I often watched the original 1933 version on Thanksgiving Day, when WWOR Channel 9 ran a Kong Marathon (including Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young), but there’s just something special for me about the 1976 version.
I saw it in the theater – tickets were 3.00 dollars apiece as my father reminded me the other day – and remember well all the toys and merchandise. I also still recall my first visit to the World Trade Center – also in 1976 -- and riding the elevator all the way up to the observation deck.
I very much expected to see some sign of King Kong there.
I often watched the original 1933 version on Thanksgiving Day, when WWOR Channel 9 ran a Kong Marathon (including Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young), but there’s just something special for me about the 1976 version.
I saw it in the theater – tickets were 3.00 dollars apiece as my father reminded me the other day – and remember well all the toys and merchandise. I also still recall my first visit to the World Trade Center – also in 1976 -- and riding the elevator all the way up to the observation deck.
I very much expected to see some sign of King Kong there.
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