Young Bobby Bond has a very unusual friend: the 8th Wonder of the World, King Kong. Together with the help of his father Professor Bond, his sister Susan, and crusty old Captain Englehorn, they lead a life of adventure on Mondo (Skull) Island.
This particular disc has episodes dealing with hunters from this world and beyond, underworld civilizations, disgruntled dinosaurs, and more. Also contained there in is our heroes first encounter with their chief enemy, the evil Doctor Who, as well as their first meeting and adventures.
In the list of great theme songs, the theme to The King Kong Show (TKKS) stands... well, “ten times as big as a man.” It lingers pleasantly in the mind, as good theme songs should. For the longest time it, as well as a few small moments, was all I remembered of this childhood favorite.
By the time TKKS finally came out on DVD, I had been well burned on a lot of the cartoons I loved as a kid. For every one series I could still enjoy, there were five or so I couldn't. My hopes were so low, I only bought one of the two DVD's available. I wasn't expecting much.
Which is probably why I ended up liking the thing as much as I did. My expectations were really, really low.
TKKS suffers the same problems as Battle of the Planet (BotP), namely it doesn't always make a lot of logical sense. For instance, in the story “The Spacemen” has a group of Alien Hunters threatening Kong, Bobby, and Captain Englehorn. The aliens state their demands and give our heroes to the count of three to comply. When Kong and co. fail to act according to their wishes, they demonstrate a terrible weapon, then give another three count.
Meanwhile, Bobby and Englehorn discuss their options as the aliens countdown. (For reasons unknown they assume the two are Kong's pets, never minding the fact that the aliens and the humans are all speaking the same language.) The first time through the captain is for running while Bobby wants to stand and fight. The second time, they reverse positions, with Bobby for flight and Englehorn for staying. Ridiculous padding.
Three things put TKKS over BotP. First off, TKKS hasn't been dumbed down for the kiddies like BtoP was. Granted, it's still talking down to a degree. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how serious some of the episodes were.
Secondly, there is a degree of wit in TKKS that BotP doesn't quite possess. The same episode has the aliens bragging as they flee in terror:
We are strong and powerful [Kong growls] and in a hurry!
Also, in the story “Doctor Who”, Susan Bond proves far more capable of dealing with the Doctor's (admittedly stupid) henchman than either her father or her brother, coming up with a means of distracting the man all on her own.* How often did the female characters prove so useful back then?
Finally, each story is short. A usual episode contains two Kong stories that run about seven minutes. Even the lamer stories (I'm looking at you, “Hunter”) zip right past.
All in all, not too too bad. I'm not sure I'd pick up the other discs. But, in fairness, I have on occasion thought about getting more BotP, and that suckers way more painful.
End Notes
- Each episode of TKKS also has a Tom of T.H.U.M.B. Story, of equal length. I can't say much about them, as I've (re)watched only one story. Very dumb. Fortunately, the disc allows you to watch chose to watch individual stories, meaning you don't have to watch anything you don't want to watch.
- The pilot episode, “Friend in Need”, is a two parter, ending as Kong is being brought by the Bonds to the mainland. Apparently the second part is on disc 2. Bummer.
- I can't tell you how many times I tried to write Jimmy Bond instead of Bobby Bond...
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