Episode 6: Nick Hayden vs. ‘King Kong Escapes’

(Originally published Dec. 11, 2019).

Hello, kaiju lovers!

In the latest episode of the “Kong Quest” (which is finally mentioned by name on the air!), Nathan is joined once again by author and “Golden Ticket Tourist” Nick Hayden of the Derailed Trains of Thought podcast to discuss the wacky but fun King Kong Escapes. Like with the 1933 film, this is Nick’s first time seeing this 1967 Toho classic, which was the second (and sadly last) of Toho’s Kong films, as it was made in the last year they held the rights to the Eighth Wonder. This is a first for the show as it’s the first tokusatsu film directed by the great Ishiro Honda covered on the podcast. It’s a crazy nexus of ideas borrowed from other productions and some that seemed to anticipate others. For one thing, its villain, Dr. Who, is both a derivation and a precursor to the famous British TV series! Nathan and Nick also note some funny connections to Rankin-Bass’ classic holiday special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer given that they collaborated with Toho on this live-action cartoon.

The Toku Topic is how Toho’s Japanese-American co-productions paralleled Japan-America relations.

Stay tuned after the credits for a Marvel-style stinger and an important announcement.

Timestamps:
-Intro: 0:00-3:25
-Entertaining Info Dump: 3:25-11:25
-Toku Talk: 11:25-52:57
-Toku Topic: 52:57-1:19:25
-Outro: 1:19:25-1:24:50
-Stinger: 1:24:50-end

© 2019 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:
• “The Contradictory Nature of U.S.-Japan Relations” by Roger Baker
• “How the U.S. and Japan Became Allies Even After Hiroshima and Nagasaki” by Olivia B. Waxman (Time Magazine)
• Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski
• Kaijuvision Radio:
-Episode 23: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) (Human Genome Project, Ascension of Emperor Akihito)
-Episode 37: Shin Godzilla (2016) (Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami/Fukushima Meltdowns)
• King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson by Ray Morton
• “The Kongs of Tsuburaya: Obie and Smoke” by Peter H. Brothers (G-Fan #48)
• Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda by Peter H. Brothers
• “King Kong Escapes (1967) Review - Kong-A-Thon Episode 4” (DMan1954)
• Kong Unmade: The Lost Films of Skull Island by John LeMay
• “The Myth Goes Ever Downward” by Paul di Fillipo (Kong Unbound: The Cultural Impact, Pop Mythos, and Scientific Plausibility of a Cinematic Legend [edited by Karen Haber])
• “Reflections on the History of U.S.-Japanese Relations” by Tadashi Aruda
• “Japan-United States relations” (Wikipedia)
• King Kong Escapes Wiki Articles and Etcetera:
-Wikipedia
-Gojipedia
-Wikizilla
-IMDB
-Toho Kingdom