Ernest Borgnine starred as the title role in the TV sitcom McHALE’S NAVY, and also starred in the classic FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. He played along side of William Shatner and John Travolta as a Satanist in THE DEVIL’S RAIN (a must-see!). He was also on an episode of THE SIMPSONS.
I grew up watching THE KING KONG SHOW during its initial airing, and yes, Kong always lives. The boy in the cartoon is named Bobby Bond. Mechani-Kong was featured, years before KING KONG ESCAPES. It was the first Japanese animation to air on American television.
KING KONG LIVES was a sequel that nobody asked for to a ten-year-old movie that nobody liked. It only had a small fraction of the budget of the 1976 film. I saw both films on the big screen upon their initial releases.
Traditionally, sequels are made with a smaller budget than their originals. A perfect example of this is the original PLANET OF THE APES film series, each film had a smaller budget than the last. There are exceptions, of course, such as THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, but exceptions are rarely the rule.
Bela Lugosi never wore fangs while playing Dracula in the original film or (ABBOTT AND COSTELLO) MEET FRANKENSTEIN, or Count Tesla in RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, or in Tod Browning’s MARK OF THE VAMPIRE.
When you see the original MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, you’ll fully realize why the Disney remake failed so miserably. The remake is but a pale shadow of the original, in fact, it’s rather insulting to fans of the original. I saw the remake on the big screen with two friends who are also big fans of the original, and we couldn’t have been more disappointed. Sure, Rick Baker’s Joe costume looked cool, but it’s nothing like the stop-motion model and effects created by Willis O’Brien and mainly animated by Ray Harryhausen. I grew up watching the original on television many times, and I had the pleasure of seeing it on the big screen as well. It’s pure, unadulterated movie magic!
