The document compares the original 1933 film 'King Kong' and its 2005 remake, highlighting differences in character portrayal, technology, and thematic elements. It discusses how both versions depict the character of King Kong differently, emphasizing childlike innocence in 1933 and a more ape-like realism in 2005, thus evoking varying audience empathies. The analysis includes aspects such as storytelling techniques, special effects advancements, cultural context, and gender portrayals within each film.

1. KING KONG 1933 vs 2005
SYNOPSIS-
It is the classic story of "nature versus civilisation", a group of city people go to an exotic isolated island to
film a movie, but instead encounter the king of the island, the local terror, King Kong. Few individuals in
the group decides to brink Kong to New York City in order to make a huge sum of money by showcasing the
beast to the population of New York City. Constrained out of his habitat and paraded through the city in
chains for a show as a way of earning money from it, however, Kong escapes from the shackles and goes on
a rampage and terrorised New York City until the final climax which is at the top of the Empire State
Building.
Kong has definitely turned into an American icon. In both versions, Kong is depicted in different ways.
Kong is appeared as a half human and half ape in the 1933. They certainly indicate how human he is based
on ‘his’ body language and the way he acts. Very childlike and rather virtuous. When he kills the dinosaurs,
he looks at it like some sort of game rather than fighting for survival. His childlike persona makes us see
him from a different light so when Carl and his group catches him we feel empathise for him.
However, in the 2005 version Kong is unquestionably significantly more ape than human. How a normal ape
would he walk on his feet and knuckles and due to the advancement of visual effects and technology he
seems to look more like one and roars like a gorilla. This version of Kong has a greater effect on the
audience since we can see that despite of the fact that he’s a mammoth ape he comprises some sort of

2. humanity. Though he sides more to the animal persona, as a viewer it doesn’t take much to see his human
like side, when he chuckles, engages himself and get really furious when Ann declines to give him a chance
to flick her around. In any case, despite everything he demonstrates genuine human feelings through this.
Very comparable to the 1933 Kong, after he throws a tantrum he sits alone feeling sad, much the same as a
child would do. This version of Kong seems to be more “alive” thus I empathise more for him, though, the
vast majority would presumably say that the first Kong was the more amiable one since he doesn't look as
fake as the CGI Kong looks.
 King Kong (1933)-
The original King Kong had Fay Wray play Anne Darrow, Robert Armstrong as Carl
Denham and Bruce Cabot as Jack Driscoll. It was produced, written and directed by
Merian C. Cooper, with the assistance of Ernest B. Schoedsack and Edgar Wallace.
Amid the making of King Kong Schoedsack and Cooper was also working on the
classic hit ‘The Most Dangerous Game’.
 King Kong (2005)-
The story is still based heavily on the original though, it was re-written by the
respected director, Peter Jackson. Who also directed ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie
trilogy, thus resulting in the audience to be heavily anticipating it to be equal to those
movies. The character of Ann Darrow in this re-make was played the hit actress
Naomi Watts, with Jack Black starring as Carl Denham and Adrian Brody as Jack
Driscoll. There were numerous additional side characters included, for instance, Andy
Serkis who played Lumpy the cook as well as the acting for Kong and Collin Hanks
who played Preston, Denham’s assistant.
Character of Ann Darrow:
In The 1933 version, the character background of Ann Darrow wasn’t really explained though in the movie
before their way to the island we see her getting caught red-handed by a shop keeper stealing an apple from
a show. In the new version (2005), it was explained in a way that we feel sorry for the character making it
easier to sympathise with someone we hardly know and not even in existence. Denham makes a deal with
her by including her as one of his crew and eventually being the main character of his film. The same scene
has been duplicated in the re-make yet in a completely different manner

3. Fay Wray’s portrayal of Ann was someone who was down on her luck, benevolent and confident, but after
King Kong’s introduction her character rapidly switches to being very screechy and irritating. It didn’t affect
anything since the audience would have seen her as the damsel in distress, but when comparing it to Naomi
Watt’s portrayal of character she had more of an interesting and enjoyable persona. She was a little bit more
realistic and admirable and obtained lot more personality and very much related to women. Unlike the 1933
version, Ann’s character background story is clearly explained and the situation she was in that lead her to
stealing. She soon accepts her trap in the hands of Kong and we her trying to entertain Kong, this stopped
‘him’ from eating her and instead formed an unusual affection for her.
Character of Jack Driscoll:
Just like Ann the character of Jack Driscoll in both version is very different. In the 1933 version, Jack is
portrayed to be more tough and egocentric compared to the 2005 version where he’s a theatre script writer
and works alongside Denham to write his movie script and eventually becomes the hero. Just like Ann’s
character background story, Jack’s character background isn’t clearly explained either. The original Jack
character is portrayed as a strong and manly character and when compared to the re-make, he doesn’t
appear, sound or have that confident persona. When equating both films the original plays to be a much
better version, simply due to the fact that he has more of that hero identity and that is what he was always
meant to be in the story.
Character of Carl Denham:
Compared to Ann and Jack’s characters Carl Denham doesn’t have any significant alterations. He is yet
played as an over fixated director who will go to any degree to get his film. Regardless of the fact that he
puts his cast and crew’s life in threat, in the 2005 version they give him a reason to be so greedy and selfish.
The role of Denham is played exceptionally well by both Jack Black and Robert Armstrong yet many
individuals will concur that Armstrong did the better job of playing that particular role, I personally prefer
Jack Black’s portrayal of the character as he makes the audience empathise for him rather than looking at
him as an antagonist.

4. The film is also best recognised as one of the first full-length movies utilize stop motion animation. In order
to make the puppets of animals look big in scale, Willis O'Brien thought of the idea to utilize a rear
projection unit so they can get the actors into shot when filming scenes with the animals. They did this by
projecting a frame of recording they had officially shot of the creatures attacking. Smaller than normal
models were additionally made by props, scenes and actors so they could get long shots of scenes and high
angle shots of buildings. This technique was not only unique but ground breaking and helped make way for
even more films to use this technique in animations.
In the 2005 version, the movements for King Kong were done by actor, Andy Serkis wearing a special
effects censor suit. This suit followed his movements and actions which were then eventually transferred to
Kong. Using this same technique but a little bit more advances, Andy went on to act as Caesar in ‘Rise of
the Planet of the Apes’ after this and in that film the apes look just as real as actual apes.
Including the creatures in King Kong they additionally utilized animation even miniatures for the boat, long
shots of the island, New York and several other things. Doing this made the scene when Kong is on top of
the Empire State Building look more realistic. They also had to make miniature models of Ann and some
other character to utilize when she’s being carried by Kong or even in one shot when she tries to escape him
on the mountain they used stop-motion models.
The remake had a budget of $207,000,000 and
made an immense sum of money, it made
$50,130,145 in opening weekend in the US alone
and shown in 6 different countries on the first
opening weekend. Though the 2005 version was
shot in colour, with high-quality picture and the
stunning utilization of special effects which enables
the audience to see the texture and details of King
Kong that makes him look extremely realistic. The
Special Effects, CGI and computer technology that
is available today was not accessible in 1933, thus
making it harder for them to create a realistic Kong toy and would have had discover different approaches to
delivering movies like this.

5. Distribution of films have transformed colossally throughout the years. At the point when the first King
Kong has released, it was accessible to purchase on 35mm film, in the 1930's digital photography had not
been designed consequently King Kong was made utilizing just photos.
The film was screening in 2 of New York's biggest theatres and managed to hit the box office quickly.
Presently, the 2005 version can be seen on a wide range of platforms of media from cinema to DVDs to
internet streaming. The marketing for movies is beginning to diminish because of the reality of individuals
illegally downloading movies for free or watching them online for free. King Kong, luckily did not confront
this issue since their financial plan was a major $207,000,000 and but gained a profit of $218,051,260.
King Kong’s generic identity has been remarkably mobile, signifying that genre possibly should be
considered as much an effect of contextual discourses as of a film’s intrinsic features. Though several classic
horror films of the 1930’s and 1940’s were successfully revived in the 1950’s, King Kong’s new status as a
king of touchstone for media trends led more than one commentator to see it as an instrumental force behind
a nostalgia horror craze that developed in the late 1950’s. A writer for the Saturday Evening Post
Commented, “Most crazes-even constantly recurring ones like horror-are kicked off by some epic event.
In the case of the current madness, that event…was the revival of…King Kong two seasons ago.”
After the introduction of the King Kong, there were numerous productions
that had a comparative storyline or utilize comparable features. In 1981
Nintendo introduced a new character that came under the name Donkey
Kong, the game included the hero rescuing his girlfriend from the massive
ape, which is the storyline of King Kong.
1933 2005

6. Fay Wray played Ann Darrow, her character appearance very much resembles to Marilyn Monroe this is due
to the fact that at that time she was considered as the most beautiful and ideal woman ever. In both versions,
they used blonde haired attractive females for sexual effects ‘the glamorous female part screaming as she is
abducted by a wild beast’ – it made an impact on the audience, especially aimed towards men as there is an
attractive factor about it.
In the remake version stars for example, Jack Black, Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Collin Hanks, Rick Baker,
Peter Jackson and numerous more big names are involved within this film. A famous actor will normally
show up in the revamps of movies, providing more mass interest, expands interest and box office takings.
Jack Black played the role of Carl Denham in the 2005 redo, involving him helped the film gain even more
audience interest and the popularity of the film climbed.
The Kong vs T-Rex scene is depicted as horror in light of the fact that younger audience might potentially
be disturbed when watching the scene due to its rough, gory and loud direction. The clearest genre of both
movies is Sci – Fi on the grounds that, in reality, isn’t realistic to see a mammoth ape battling a T-Rex, and
in modern geographic that would be completely impossible. This is just pure fiction and for the audience’s
entertainment. 2005 revamp comprises the genres, Action, Adventure, Drama and Sci-Fi. A case of action
in this film is the scene where Kong chases Jack in the taxi, we can see Kong running catching up with the
taxi, causing car collisions and Kong abolishing buildings while chasing the taxi. This is portrayed as the
action as a result of the number of things going ahead, on the scene. The drama side in the 2005 version can
be seen in the central park scene when they get to the frozen lake and Kong stats slipping until he is spinning
in circles with Ann in his grasp. Staring with drama slowing evolving to a budding “romance”.
The rating for the original was PG, reasonable in light of the principle themes are viewed as brutal,
alcoholism, drug taking and a few scenes of profanity, sexual/nudity and startling scene. The violence
identifies with the startling scenes with dinosaurs and shooting scenes, however, doesn’t contain excessive
graphical content. The 2005 version was rated 12A, though in this case it is seemed as an appropriate rate
due to the pact that the themes are more dramatized when compared to the original. CGI and special effects
by that point was already quite advanced, thus the rating doesn’t correlate to the some of the scene shown,
for instance the gory fighting scenes with the dinosaurs.

7. During the release of the original King Kong, America was at its highest poverty rate where the
unemployment shot up and there wasn’t much money incoming, thus it really affected the social order. In
addition to this, racism was very much alive and slavery was on going and there were several hidden
meanings and synergy behind the movie. When the crew go over to skull island to capture him to bring him
back in a cage symbolises the white men going over to different countries and reeling back African
American’s in cage for slavery. The comparison is undoubtedly and ironically similar.
Regulatory issues weren’t really looked out for in movies in the early 20th century since the world wasn’t
taught about forbidden topics and sex and violence wasn’t projected for everyone to see as they weren’t so
open about those topics back then. They also wouldn’t show scenes that comprises even a single grain of
sexual nature, if they did it would be expressed in an innocent manner.
The film came out 4 years after the 9/11 incident which has scarred New York for life, and in the last fight
scene where King Kong fights off the choppers with Ann in his grasp, the elimination of the monster also
destroyed New York by all the chaos. When looking at regulatory issues subtle inappropriate visualisation is
shown-nudity and swearing in the movie. Society is prone to these topics, thus, is it important that directors
and producers are careful with what they show in their movies due to the fact that regulatory companies are
firming their regulatory issues.
In the 2005 remake, some of the music in the original film soundtrack was included, for instance, amid the
theatre scene towards the end of the film, a similar melody was utilized from the original. This offers credit
to the producers of the original. The story lines have altered a little from the first however, some scene and
stories were kept very similar.
The films structure is horizontal due to the fact that it integrates several forms of media- stop-motion
animation, Kong plays and interpreted dance, live musical and a huge merchandise line; including comics,
books, games and toys etc. The fact that it contains a wide form of media, it maximises the whole branding,
which results in a multi-billion satire that began with one black and white movie. In conclusion, the 2 films
are distinctive comparing the picture quality and special effects. CGI and graphics wise the re-make
definitely steals the show, it additional figured out how to pour more emotion and feeling across allowing
the audience to identify with the characters and empowers them to see a greater amount of what is
happening. The whole King Kong franchise and brand has expanded over a wide range of media. Both films
are similar in some ways but they both have made different impressions on the audience, one is a beautiful
love story made to confuse people on the emotions they are feeling towards Kong and the other one was
made to educate people back in the day before going abroad was commercially available to anyone and to
scare and intrigue people into the mystery of Kong and skull island. The original is still observed as the best
film famous for its full-length stop-motion animation and the amount of time and effort put into the making
of the film, which prompts King Kong is a great success.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHIES
 "King Kong (1933 Film)". En.wikipedia.org. Web. 11 June 2017.
 Latson, Jennifer. "How 'King Kong' Gripped Audiences, Despite Ham-Handed Effects". Time.com. N.p.,
2015. Web. 11 June 2017.
 Fraley, Jason. "King Kong (1933) | The Film Spectrum". Thefilmspectrum.com. N.p.,2012. Web. 11 June
2017.
 "King Kong (2005 Film)". King Kong Wiki.Web. 11 June 2017.
 Ebert, Roger. "King Kong Movie Review & Film Summary (2005) | Roger Ebert". Rogerebert.com. N.p.,
2005. Web. 11 June 2017.
 Astronomonov, Rennet. "King Kong ( 2005 )". 2016. Presentation.
 Vera,Noel. "King Kong 2005". Critic Dark.N.p.,2008. Web. 11 June 2017.
 Theiapolis.com. (2012). B/W - HD Photo- Jack Black asCarl Denhamin King Kong. [online] Available at:
http://media.theiapolis.com/d4-i1OPJ-k4-l1P3T/jack-black-as-carl-denham-in-king-kong-2005.html
[Accessed 11 Jun. 2017].
 Fanpop, I. (n.d.). Ann DarrowPhoto: Ann Darrow.[online] Fanpop.com. Available at:
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/ann-darrow/images/31750226/title/ann-darrow-photo [Accessed 11 Jun. 2017].