In 1966, somebody had the bright idea of turning "King Kong" into a nice guy. Or as the theme song puts it, "a friend to man." Just to make it a little creepier, the immense gorilla, "ten times as big as a man," is totally devoted to a little boy. Forget about that scene from the 1933 classic in which Kong peels away Fay Wray's garments and sniffs at them. Now he's into a little boy. What's the kid looking up to? Bollocks!
If you think it couldn't get worse, listen to the theme song, which dutifully covers the show's warped premise. This isn't the original soundtrack version of "King Kong" but a cover by Wade Denning and his Port Washingtons (guys who dress up like George Washington and get bombed on port).
Their version might be better than the cartoon soundtrack. Here, instead of a friendly chorus of moms and dads, tepid percussion and a bit of a flurry from a French horn (trying to be an elephant) we've got a suspiciously enthusiastic bunch of men, a bit of "George of the Jungle" kettle drum, a J. Arthur Rank gong, and the periodic blast of Herb Alpert-styled trumpets working in counterpoint against the trombones. Bones, not boners. Only somebody truly perverse would watch the cartoons again on DVD, with a little boy and his gorilla (one who incidentally has pretty big knockers).
PS, it should be noted that not only is it a bad idea for your boy to have a gorilla for a pet, it is not wise for you, or anyone else, to even have a pet chimp. But you can Google "Charla Nash" for yourself. We'll keep it nostalgic and ridiculous in offering you...
THE KING KONG THEME SONG COVER VERSION
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