The Scorpion

Bestiary-blogging, entry 8 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Scorpion

"Scorpion" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

A warning to ill-wishers from the well-meaning master

Beware!  The scuttling scorpion, a scary vision for a prison cell

A protector of the imprisoned one, he paces relentlessly

With a striking stinger like a steeple above it

To attack with claws, the scorpion wars

In double shell armor of blood red and obsidian

Implying vicious venom to keep the vermin at bay

This steadfast soldier patrols the prescribed path

Historical Background:

Scorpius (or Scorpio), a scorpion, is probably best known as an astrological sign. According to one version of the Greek myth, Scorpius was sent by Artemis to kill the hunter Orion after he had raped a female follower of the virgin goddess of the hunt. All three were placed in the sky as constellations, with Scorpius positioned far from Orion. Scorpius rose in the Eastern hemisphere just as the constellation of Orion vanished beneath the Western horizon. Thus the myth endlessly replays in the sky: Scorpius pursues as Orion flees.

The constellation Scorpio.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price   

Pegasus

Bestiary-blogging, entry 7 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Pegasus

"Pegasus" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

Gliding gracefully across golden sunsets

With wide wings to catch the wind, the Pegasus

The offspring of Neptune, released by Perseus

From Medusa’s severed, spurting neck

And cloud-striding steed of Bellerophon

Killer of the cursed Chimera of old

With hue of hoar-frost on his hide and plumage

The star-eyed horse descends to rescue

Pure-hearted prisoners from unjust peril

And carry them to comfort and safety through the Illyian clouds

Historical Background:

The winged horse Pegasus is a famous image whose background myth often goes unmentioned in popular culture.  The story of Pegasus begins in the rivalry between Poseidon (lord of the sea, with the horse as his animal symbol) and Athena, the virgin goddess of war and wisdom.  Poseidon made love with a woman in a temple of Athena.  Revenging this sacrilege, Athena transformed the woman (named Medusa) into a snake-haired Gorgon whose eyes turned onlookers into stone.  Eventually Medusa was killed by Perseus, and an unexpected offspring, the winged horse Pegasus, leaped from her severed neck.  Pegasus would go on to assist a variety of heroes besides Perseus, most notably Bellerophon of Corinth who killed the Chimera.  The Olympian gods immortalized Pegasus as one of the great constellations.

Pegasus on a coin from Carthage,
first Punic War, 264-241 BC.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

The Lion

Bestiary-blogging, entry 6 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Lion

"Lion" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

The lord of beasts, the leaping lion

Crowned and caped in kingly gold

He paces, his protective pelt unpierceable by sword

With magnificent mane of tawny gold fur, surveying the world in majesty

And firm confidence of his conquering qualities

Serpent tailed, a sinuous end for the splendid cat

Only two have triumphantly returned from his grasp

Hercules crushed the cat in Nemea

And Daniel would have died in his den but for the Lord

Always remember and respect their royal grace

Their majesty and might, and immense pride

Historical Background:

The slaying of the Nemean Lion was one of the Twelve Labors of Heracles.  An offspring of the monsters Typhon and Echidna, the Nemean Lion was supernaturally protected by a golden pelt that no ordinary weapon could pierce.  Heracles strangled the lion, and used its pelt to create an armor usually depicted as a cape with the hero’s head exposed within the mouth like a helm.  The other story referred to in the poem, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, is the famous Biblical tale.  Daniel is thrown into the den after refusing to give up his worship of God.  God protects him during his time with the lions.  In ancient stories like these, lions are large ferocious man killers.  To survive their encounters, our heroes must rely upon something extraordinary—great strength in the case of Heracles and great faith with Daniel.  Our poetic lion gets the added twist of a serpent tail.

Fragment of a Greek mosaic of the Nemean lion at the
Archaeological Museum of Paros, Greece.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

The Eagle

Bestiary-blogging, entry 5 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Eagle

"Eagle" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

The raptor rides on the roaring winds

An eagle in flight with flaming feathers of red

Prometheus breaks beneath his bloodstained beak

Voracious reaver with vicious claws

Sent by Jupiter’s fury, daily feasting on immortal flesh

Tormenting the Titan bound for eternity

Beautiful to behold and as bold as the gods

The entrusted enactor of Jupiter’s enmity and false justice

Is doomed to duel to a pre-ordained death

The mightiest hero of history, the sky king’s son, Hercules

Historical Background:

The eagle and the bull are the two most important animal symbols of Zeus (known as Jupiter in Roman times). When Prometheus stole fire from Olympus to give to humanity, Zeus grew enraged and had the disobedient Titan bound to a rock at the end of the earth, apparently located in the Caucasus Mountains. Each day, an eagle would come to peck out Prometheus’ liver and each night his liver would regenerate. The intention was for this torture to continue into eternity. He was eventually freed by Heracles (Roman name: Hercules) who slew him with an arrow given to him by Apollo. According to the playwright Aeschylus, Heracles prayed, “May hunter Apollo speed my arrow straight!”

Heracles, Prometheus, and the Eagle from a Krater
(a large two-handled bowl), circa 625-575 BC, in the
collection of the National Museum, Athens, Greece.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

Jormungand, the World Serpent

Bestiary-blogging, entry 4 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

Jormungand

"Jormungand" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

Loki’s son encircling the eternal seas

Bearer of basest venom and bane of Thor

Jormungand is released at Ragnarök

To strike at Asgard and under Yggrdrasil

In Thor the Thunderer’s final throw

Mjölnir strikes and slays the Midgard Serpent

Yet even the valiant defender falls to the viper’s venom

This greatest of wurms which once wrapped the world

Historical Background:

Jormungand (or Jormungandr) was a son of Loki by the Ice Giantess (or jotunn) Angrboda. He is the serpent brother of the Fenris Wolf and Hel, their sister who rules the Viking underworld. Jormungand is a monstrous serpent so great in length that the Norse deities were able to wrap him around Midgard (the realm of humans) with the snake able to bite his own tail at the other end. Images of Jormungand are often comparable in appearance to the Ouroboros, the tail-biting circular serpent that is used by some to represent completion or totality. At Ragnarök (the end of this age in Norse mythology), Jormungand is said to be the killer of Thor in a fight of mutual destruction. Thor falls in a bath of venom sprayed from the snake’s mouth, even as its head is crushed by Thor’s great hammer, Mjölnir.

"Battle of the Doomed Gods" from the
Nordisch-Germanische Gotter und Helder (1992).

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

The Rock Wolf

Bestiary-blogging, entry 3 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Rock Wolf

"Rock Wolf" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

The first brood of Fenris, the feral wolf king

Bring against all battlers their bestial rampant rage

Their sharp eyes glow scarlet when their howls scream

Or a graceful gray shadow growling in the night

His eyes flare in fury to reflect a red moon

Yet his carnage is contained or his course is broken

By pride, not power alone.  They pace among beasts

Yet have minds like men and, most of all, dignity

Lupine in aspect they are princes of wolves

Cunning and crafty yet quick to find

A place of peace in person and land

And when his ire is aroused it is as when Tyr lost his hand

Historical Background:

While wolves are a common motif in mythologies worldwide, the wolves described in this poem are most connected to the Viking (or Norse) traditions. By far, the most famous canine in Norse mythology is the Fenris Wolf, a son of Loki by the ice giantess (or jotunn) Angrboda. Fenris was bound until Ragnarök (the end of the current age) by the magical silken band Gleipnir, although in the course of the binding Fenris tore the hand off the brave Norse deity Tyr. At the time of Ragnarök, the Fenris wolf will escape and kill Odin, then in turn be killed by Vidar. The other major wolf to appear in the Viking tales is Garm or Garmr who is said to guard the underworld. This bloodstained wolf is sometimes said to be loosed at the end of things, ultimately dying while killing Tyr.

Ragnarok illustration by W. G. Collingwood from
a 1908 translation of The Elder or Poetic Edda.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

Grendel

Bestiary-blogging, entry 2 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

Grendel

"Grendel" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

Recast for a new world the rage and rending claws

Of the mighty Grendel, grandson of grievous Cain

Spawned by the serpent sleeping in the lake

With bearish strength and bracing brutality

Ever long and lean, sly like a wolf

Devilishly clever, man-like yet not man

Leap to battle this brave warrior Beowulf

Convinced that once-potent magic can protect your Grendel hide from piercing

Then flee to the fens fearful at the end

The villain, adversary, and victim of Beowulf

Historical Background:

The figure of the Grendel rises from the ancient epic poem Beowulf. Although exact details of his appearance are sparse within the poem itself, Grendel is commonly assumed to have the form of a monstrous humanoid similar to a troll or ogre (although some scholars also argue that he may have had some dragon-like qualities as well, based on a line about a scaled arm). While we may not know many visual details, we are very well acquainted with some of his powerful attributes. He had incredible strength and was able to shrug off sword blows. Also, he can be assumed to have been sneaky, choosing to carry off Herot’s occupants at night when they were most defenseless. Grendel and his equally monstrous mother were both defeated by the hero Beowulf.

Opening of the earliest manuscript of Beowulf, dating
back to sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries,
from the British Library.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

The Lindworm

Bestiary-blogging, entry 1 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Lindworm

"Lindworm" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

I summon the Grounded Wurm of great cunning

Swiftly growing to great size, gorging on ox and man

Green-scaled grasping lord of the ground

A strangling serpent, scrawny forelegs sprawled from his sides

Yellow stripes streaming down a serpentine length

His size is grand, his movements graceful, yet greed is in his coils

His scales they scrape and score the land

Caring only for the next kill, eyes cold as an iron dagger

He reaches all round and wraps about a hill

Deviously demanding his due in tribute

Historical Background:  

The lindworm (or lindorm), literally meaning “constrictor snake,” has its roots in the ancient Viking tongue. Related words are sometimes translated as dragon or serpent. The Lindworm is often portrayed in British heraldry as a large snake-like dragon that possesses a potentially venomous bite, may have two front legs but no rear legs, and generally has no wings (in contrast to a back-legged and winged wyvern). It is only rarely accounted as a fire breather, more commonly using its crushing coils and venom to overcome would-be heroes. The tale of the Lambton Worm is one of the classic depictions of this particular breed of dragon, and was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s short story “The Lair of the White Worm.” In the story of the Lambton Worm, John Lambton must wear spiked and bladed armor to fight the beast and protect himself from its wrapping—but the protection carries a curse: He must kill the first living creature he sees after his victory or be cursed for nine generations. Because his father is the first one he sees, Lambton resigns himself and subsequent generations to the curse.

For an additional Lindworm treat, here’s Emilio Perez Machado and Stephen Powys performing “The D’AmptonWorm” from Ken Russell’s The Lair of the White Worm (1988).

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price 

Kong and My Dad

Kong-blogging, essay 15 of 15 blog entries on

Skull Island in King Kong (1933)

Kong and My Dad

Kong on his ledge from King Kong (1933).

King Kong (1933) was the first movie that my father ever saw.  He was six years old and he saw it at the Southampton Theater, located just seven blocks from their house on Southampton, Long Island.  (No, not that super-wealthy Southampton, playground to the rich and famous, that you see on television but the quiet middle-class village dating back nearly 400 years that continues to exist, comfortably invisible behind all the celebrity excess.)

The Southampton Theater in the 1930s. 

In some ways, King Kong seems a poor choice for a first movie.  After all, wouldn’t all subsequent movies be a disappointment after Kong?

And I’m struck by the fact that he was six years old.  I can’t imagine not seeing a first movie until the age of six!  But this was 1933, household televisions were still science fiction, and I guess my grandparents didn’t believe it was appropriate to take really little kids to the theater.

For the occasion to see King Kong, I imagine my grandparents sat beside my dad in the theater.  And I can imagine them shifting uneasily during the movie, wondering if they hadn’t made a mistake:  Would their son be scarred for life by the giant monsters, the undressing of Ann Darrow, the brutal fights, and the sight of Kong munching on people?

If he was scarred, it was by a life-time fondness for jungle movies.  Near the end of his life, I gave him a Johnny Weismuller Tarzan DVD collection for Christmas.  We watched them together during one of my last trips to see him in Florida—in fact, it was the last time that I spent with him at his home.  A series of strokes had token a harsh physical toll on his body but his mind was still reasonably clear.  He no longer enjoyed the effort of attempting to follow the plots of modern movies, but he could follow a Tarzan story with ease.  It was like comfort food for him.

Johnny Weismuller as Tarzan in
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932).

They were the last complete movies that my father and I ever watched together.  We’d position him in a semi-reclining position on his hospital bed and I’d pull up a chair.  Over the course of several days, we watched Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) with its introduction of the very young Johnny Weismuller and the very beautiful Maureen O’Sullivan, the juicy pre-code Tarzan and His Mate (1934) with its famous nude swim, and the lower-budget, more formulaic Tarzan Escapes (1936), Tarzan Finds a Son (1939), Tarzan’s Secret Adventure (1941), and Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942).

Neither my father nor I were ever a bit like Tarzan or Kong’s theatrical producer Carl Denham or the heroic first mate Jack Driscoll.  For most of his working life, my father owned a small grocery store.  I’ve worked behind a desk for twenty years.  Neither of us ever explored a jungle, swung from vine, or tossed a gas bomb at a giant prehistoric beast.  But we both shared a fondness for the jungles that we explored in movies.

When you think about it, there’s no real difference between the African jungle in a Tarzan movie and the Sumatran jungle of Kong.  These are not jungles you can locate with a GPS.  They’re remote landscapes of imagination, kind of like the island that Max sails to in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.  My father and I liked movies that could transport us to the places where the wild things are.

It was really nice sharing that time watching the Tarzan movies with him for one last time.  I know we both enjoyed it.

It’s been two years now since my father died.  Last year, I tried blogging for the first time, entering the love letters that he exchanged with my mother during their courtship.  And here I am today, blogging madly away about my forty-plus year obsession with King Kong, dwelling on the past as usual but trying not to get too nostalgic or sentimental.

My teenage daughter watches videos on one computer while I capture images from my King Kong DVD on the other.  She hears Fay Wray screaming, and asks “Kong again?”  Mention Kong to her and she’ll probably always roll her eyes and think of Dad.  I figure it’s not the worst thing to be associated with.

My father preferred Tarzan to Kong.  That’s not my choice but I can respect it.  I understand how those old Weismuller movies could instantly transport him back to the days when he practiced his Tarzan yell in the woods and fields of old-time Southampton.  I’ll always be glad we had that chance to revisit Tarzan in those last days.

It wouldn’t be bad to watch Kong with my son or daughter someday, I’m thinking maybe about four decades from now (I hope it’s that long!).  I’d sit up in my hospital bed for a treat like that.  While I’m sure the old movie will be looking pretty antique to their eyes, I’m confident that Kong will remain fresh for me.  They can humor me about this.  Together we can watch Kong take his stand for the last time.

Kong on Skull Island.

Reference Sources

The Making of King Kong by Orville Goldner and George E. Turner

Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper by Mark Cotta Vaz

Willis O'Brien: Special Effects Genius by Steve Archer

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 1, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 2, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Charles R. Knight: The Artist Who Saw Through Time by Richard Milner

All in the Bones: A Biography of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins by Valerie Bramwell and Robert M. Peck
Special features on the two-disc special edition, King Kong (1933) by Warner Home Video Inc.

... and an occasional sneak glance at Wikipedia entries (but always double-checking everything!)

Watch King Kong...

Purchase a King Kong DVD or Blu-Ray set at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Rent King Kong at Netflix or other rental service.

© 2012 Lee Price

Ten Amazing Shots from King Kong

Kong-blogging, essay 14 of 15 blog entries on

Skull Island in King Kong (1933)

Ten Amazing Shots from King Kong

Amaze me.  Show me things I’ve never seen before.

Watching King Kong (1933), audiences were pummeled by image after image unlike anything they’d ever seen before.  Many of these images still appear startlingly original.

In order to achieve the following ten amazing shots, Willis O’Brien and his technicians, ably assisted by the set designers and cinematographers, used every trick known in the book.  These images include stop-motion animation, rear projection, matte paintings on glass, the Dunning process, traveling mattes, and various optical printer effects.  Often there are layers upon layers of visual effects combining to create the final composition.

1. Kong by the Stream

Kong quickly moves through this idyllic scene.  Willis O’Brien liked to incorporate water into his shots and so he matted a stream into the foreground.  It’s there simply to create a lovely composition.

2. The Dying Stegosaurus

As the ship’s crew walks past the dying Stegosaurus, the audience gets an opportunity to see Marcel Delgado’s awesome Stegosaurus model from close up.  Look at the wonderful textural details on the body!  For this shot, the crew is in the foreground (walking on a treadmill) and the dinosaur is rear-projected.  The easy way out for O’Brien would have been to track along the unmoving dead body of the Stegosaurus, but that’s not what he does.  O’Brien animates the final twinges of the dying animal, climaxing with the magnificent tail movements at the end.

3. Kong Approaches the Log

Here’s a wonderful choice for camera positioning, keeping the sailors fully visible as they panic at Kong’s approach. 

4. Kong Above, Lizard Below

Danger below and danger above, revealed through a tricky upward tilt of the camera.  Once again, Willis O’Brien sacrifices ease because he’s determined to go for the impressive effect.  Camera movements like this are exceedingly difficult to achieve when you’re essentially working with an animation sandwich—animated lizard below and animated Kong above with a live-action oval of film plugged in between.

5. Allosaurus in Close Proximity

Many monster movies since have shown dinosaur and human together, but this shot remains unrivaled.  The direction of the actors is fantastic in scenes like this, as their reactions maintain the conviction that humans and monsters are truly interacting.

6. The Fall

By this point, the viewer may subconsciously realize that the film employs these over-the-shoulder camera shots to draw us into the action.  But nobody could possibly expect that the camera would hold position as the tree falls, allowing us to share Ann Darrow’s dizzying vertiginous descent.

7. A Scavenger

Jack Driscoll walks by the dead Allosaurus and we’re treated to all sorts of bonus details.  Blood drips from the monster’s jaws and a giant bird perches vulture-like on his head, nervously flying off when Driscoll gets too close.  We assume he’ll be back.

8. Kong’s Lair

There’s movement going on all over the place in Kong’s lair, with lots of micro-images seamlessly pasted together to create the whole.  Ann Darrow is on the ledge on the left, Jack Driscoll is sneaking around a rock on the right, there’s bubbling lava in the foreground, steam rising from the lake in the middle, beautiful matte paintings on glass contributing to the illusion of depth, and, of course, Kong battling at the center of it all.

9. Skull Island Panorama

Our eyes are naturally focused on Ann and Driscoll making their getaway.  Who’s bothering to look at the background?  But check it out—in the distance, we can see the Great Wall of the native village, the peninsula where the natives live, the shore where the crew landed, and even the ship out in the water at far left.

10. Kong at the Gate

There’s an epic crowd scene in the foreground, panic everywhere, and then the magnificent reveal of Kong as he smashes the doors open.  I wonder if they switched to the 24-inch Kong at this point (the larger model that was built for use in the Manhattan scenes)?  Kong looks bigger, angrier, and more powerful than at any point before.  It’s a sight that must have made audiences gasp in 1933 and still remains powerful today.

Reference Sources

The Making of King Kong by Orville Goldner and George E. Turner

Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper by Mark Cotta Vaz

Willis O'Brien: Special Effects Genius by Steve Archer

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 1, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 2, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Charles R. Knight: The Artist Who Saw Through Time by Richard Milner

All in the Bones: A Biography of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins by Valerie Bramwell and Robert M. Peck
Special features on the two-disc special edition, King Kong (1933) by Warner Home Video Inc.

... and an occasional sneak glance at Wikipedia entries (but always double-checking everything!)

Watch King Kong...

Purchase a King Kong DVD or Blu-Ray set at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Rent King Kong at Netflix or other rental service.

© 2012 Lee Price

Horror and Light

Kong-blogging, essay 13 of 15 blog entries on

Skull Island in King Kong (1933)

Part One, Kong as Horror Movie

Fay Wray as Ann Darrow in King Kong (1933).

King Kong (1933) is sometimes categorized as a horror movie and I’m okay with that.  It’s certainly got plenty of horror components:  monsters, human sacrifice, death and destruction, and the pace and look of a strange nightmare.  I’d probably peg it as a fantasy or adventure-romance first, but there’s no denying that it has strong horror credentials.

On occasion, King Kong takes the leap into no-holds-barred horror.  Continuing to restrict myself to the Skull Island portion, key horror scenes include:

Kong’s introduction:  Ann Darrow is completely vulnerable, tied to the sacrificial altar.  The horror nature of the scene mounts with the closing of the massive doors of the great wall, leaving Ann alone in the dark.  Composer Max Steiner masterfully silences the orchestra to allow the audience to hear Kong’s furtive approach and our first experience of his mighty roar.  He comes into view at a fairly unthreatening distance but then the film cuts to an extreme close-up—a subjective shot from Ann’s point of view.  That’s when the real screaming begins.  This qualifies as horror.

Kong's first appearance.

Man in tree:  One of the sailors attempts to escape from a rampaging Brontosaurus by climbing a tree.  The dinosaur sees him and moves in for the kill.  The film cuts to a remarkable shot with the terrified man in full view and the Brontosaurus in close-up as the dinosaur maneuvers into position to pluck the man off the tree.  This qualifies as horror.

Death in the chasm.

The chasm:  In a losing confrontation with Kong, the sailors fall off a log that crosses a chasm.  Originally there were giant bugs and lizards on the chasm floor to finish off the few survivors but this scene was removed before release, perhaps because it was too horrific. But even as things stand, the shrieking of the sailors and the strange way the men bounce and crumple as they hit chasm bottom is still unnerving.  This qualifies as horror.

The Allosaurus battle:  This is my favorite Skull Island scene.  Throughout the Kong-Allosaurus battle scene, the filmmakers keep positioning the camera to keep Ann Darrow in the foreground, enabling us to share her perspective while emphasizing her proximity to the danger.  In modern movies, it’s usually assumed that the best way to show a first-person perspective is with a hand-held camera showing us exactly what the character sees.  I don’t agree.  For maximum identification, give me an over-the-shoulder shot that captures the subjective view while adding a real feeling of vulnerability.  The Allosaurus is introduced in the distance in just such a shot, as we watch over Ann Darrow’s shoulder as the monster enters the frame.  That’s horror.

Ann Darrow sees the Allosaurus in the distance.

Claustrophobic view for Ann as the monsters
fight above her. 

Then it gets even more intense when, midway through the fight, Kong and the Allosaurus crash into the tree where Ann Darrow has been placed.  Once again, we get the over-the-shoulder shot but this time we follow Ann down in rapid descent as the tree falls.  Perspective shifts after the fall to capture her new viewpoint, a hallucinatory vision of the monsters thrashing above her.  A nightmare world has become even more unstable.  This qualifies as horror of the very highest order.

Part Two, How to Wrestle an Elasmosaurus

The pesky elasmosaurus from the pool in Kong's lair
proves to be a tough opponent.  It quickly wraps
itself around Kong like a constrictor.

You've got a real problem if you allow the elasmosaurus
to wrap its coils around you.  It'll go for the choke hold.

Unwind the elasmosaurus, grab it by the tail,
and whack it hard against the rocks.
They hate that.

Part Three, How to Dispose of a Pteranodon

Unwelcome visitor:  A Pteranodon drops by unexpectedly.

If a Pteranodon pesters your guests,
simply grab it by the wing, pull it back to earth...

... and if you can't talk reason with it, break the Pteranodon's jaws,
and toss it off your balcony.

Reference Sources

The Making of King Kong by Orville Goldner and George E. Turner

Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper by Mark Cotta Vaz

Willis O'Brien: Special Effects Genius by Steve Archer

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 1, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 2, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Charles R. Knight: The Artist Who Saw Through Time by Richard Milner

All in the Bones: A Biography of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins by Valerie Bramwell and Robert M. Peck
Special features on the two-disc special edition, King Kong (1933) by Warner Home Video Inc.

... and an occasional sneak glance at Wikipedia entries (but always double-checking everything!)

Watch King Kong...

Purchase a King Kong DVD or Blu-Ray set at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Rent King Kong at Netflix or other rental service.

© 2012 Lee Price

The Meanest Brontosaurus of Them All

Kong-blogging, essay 12 of 15 blog entries on

Skull Island in King Kong (1933)

Part One, Beware of Brontosaurus

A Brontosaurus encounter in the fog in King Kong (1933).

The Brontosaurus wreaking havoc.

The Brontosaurus on land, chasing the surviving sailors.

The Brontosaurus nears a tree in which he will trap a sailor.

Part Two, Reversal of Expectations

He's one mean Brontosaurus.

First, a note on the dinosaur’s name:  Throughout these essays, I’ve been attempting to restrict myself to the terms familiar to the makers of King Kong in 1932 and 1933.  Back in 1932, Merian C. Cooper, Willis O’Brien, Marcel Delgado, and the rest of the film crew would have called this beast a Brontosaurus.  The scientific switch-over to Apatosaurus (a name that pre-dated Brontosaurus but never caught on with the public) came several decades later.

Anyway, what’s in a name?  That which we call a Brontosaurus would by any other name look as big.

Now let’s take a look at this bad boy.  Kong has crossed the river.  The ship’s crew follows in a makeshift raft but midway across the river they are attacked by a Brontosaurus.

And this is one mean dinosaur.  Who would have ever expected a mean Brontosaurus?

Friendly-looking Brontosaurs in an 1897 painting by
Charles R. Knight.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

This is a Brontosaurus that brazenly breaks the stereotype, running full-tilt against popular sentiment.  From the late days of the 19th century when Brontosaurus first seized the public imagination, they have generally been regarded as among the most cuddly of dinosaurs.  As one famous example, the title character Brontosaurus in Winsor McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) had a typically sweet and endearing personality, like an overgrown puppy who just happens to be the size of a house.

The Brontosaurus brought back by Professor Challenger’s expedition in The Lost World (1925) was a born victim (terrorized by a bully Allosaurus) and only dangerous in London because of his huge size and strength.  The Brontosaurus is quite happy to peacefully swim off towards South America at the movie’s close.

The Brontosaurus moves in
for the kill.

But the Brontosaurus in King Kong is nothing like its relatively harmless predecessors.  He sadistically tosses the men about in the water, chases them onto land, and maliciously toys with one of the crew members before savagely mauling him.

Basically, he behaves like a hippopotamus (one of the most dangerous man-killers in nature AND a committed herbivore).  And why shouldn’t a Brontosaurus be surly and vicious?  There’s nothing that says herbivores have to have nice dispositions.  The Brontosaurus doesn’t appear to go against his natural inclinations by eating the men—he simply kills them and moves on.  It’s actually a healthy reminder for all of us: be respectful to wild animals.  Regardless of how cuddly they may look, they can be dangerous.

And I love the way his lips curl into a snarl—like a 1930s gangster, James Cagney style—as he goes in for the kill.

Part Three, Classic Snarls

James Cagney snarls in
The Public Enemy (1931).

Boris Karloff snarls in Frankenstein (1931).

The Brontosaurus snarls in King Kong (1933).

Reference Sources

The Making of King Kong by Orville Goldner and George E. Turner

Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper by Mark Cotta Vaz

Willis O'Brien: Special Effects Genius by Steve Archer

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 1, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volume 2, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Charles R. Knight: The Artist Who Saw Through Time by Richard Milner

All in the Bones: A Biography of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins by Valerie Bramwell and Robert M. Peck
Special features on the two-disc special edition, King Kong (1933) by Warner Home Video Inc.

... and an occasional sneak glance at Wikipedia entries (but always double-checking everything!)

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© 2012 Lee Price