Kong: The Animated Series


Kong: The Animated Series is an animated television series that follows King Kong, the title character based on the 1933 [King King Kong|Kong (1933 film)|film of the same name]. The series was a co-production between BKN International, Ellipsanime, and M6, and premiered in France on the latter network on May 2, 2001.
Kong: The Animated Series was the first show produced by BKN to not air in syndication.

Plot

When King Kong fell to his death from the Empire State Building upon being shot down by biplanes in 1933, a scientist named Dr. Lorna Jenkins took DNA samples from him which she used to recreate a clone counterpart of the original Kong with the help of the DNA of her grandson, Jason. Many years later, Dr. Lorna Jenkins sends an e-mail to her grandson where he and his friend, Eric "Tan" Tannenbaum IV, are invited to Kong's home on Kong Island. What they didn't know is that their university professor, Ramone De La Porta, had tampered with the e-mail, so he got invited as well. Upon meeting the native girl Lua, the group is taken to Dr. Lorna Jenkin's lab, where Ramone's true colors are shown. Upon getting access to the Cyber-Link technology, Ramone uses it to steal some of the Primal Stones in a plot to take over the world. The Primal Stones were used to keep the fire demon named Chiros in his prison. With the help of his Cyber-Link that can merge him with Kong, Jason and his friends must work to reclaim the Primal Stones from De La Porta and his followers while fighting off the forces of Chiros.

Characters

Main

Kong is one of the main protagonists of the series. He is a genetically engineered clone of the original King Kong created by Lorna Jenkins by using the DNA of the deceased original Kong and from her grandson's DNA. Because of that, he has a younger brother relationship with Jason, signified by Jason calling Kong "Bro". He is known as The Protector, using his strength and the Primal Stones to protect the world from the demon Chiros. Through the use of the Cyber-Link, Jason can fuse with Kong and when he gets angry he can grow to twice his size. Both have strong wills so Kong can only stay in Jason, or vice versa, for a short period of time before causing each other harm. He has heightened instincts, able to tell if something is wrong or if someone is not who they say they are. Because Kong cannot speak, the others assume he is overreacting.Jason Jenkins is one of the main protagonists of the series. Jason is the orphaned grandson of Dr. Lorna Jenkins and is an "older brother" to Kong. With his DNA, Lorna was able to clone Kong after the original one died from falling to his death from the Empire State Building upon being taken down by planes. Jason is an archeology major at a university and best friend to classmate Tann. He is also a high-level martial artist. After being tricked by De La Porta and losing the Primal Stones, Jason, along with Tann, Lua and Kong searches for them all over the world while thwarting De La Porta's attempts of activating them for evil purposes. It is obvious Jason has feelings for Lua. In the final episode, Lua and Jason confess their feelings for each other and nearly kiss, but Kong splashes them before they can. Jason occasionally merges with something other than Kong. In "Hidden Fears" Jason merges with Soara the Pteranodon and a Tyrannosaurus when Kong is incapacitated by a giant spider's venom that was used by Harpy. In "DNA Land", he merges with a Fennec fox to get into Howling Jack Crockett's DNA Land animal park and later an eagle to get Kong out of there. In "The Renewal", Jason merges with a Pteranodon and then a Triceratops to stop a lava flow while Kong is busy fighting Ominous in a parallel world.Eric "Tann" Tannenbaum IV is Jason's best friend and a fellow college student. Though he is very muscular, he is a kind person who will go out of the way to help his friends. Tann also takes martial arts and trains with Jason, but is not as good as Jason as he was not accepted into a martial arts tournament. His parents are very wealthy and he always likes to buy new gadgets which often become very useful later on. With the trust fund his grandfather left him, Tann is wealthier than his parents. He is an accomplished pilot, always seen flying a plane. Tann has a strong love for pizza and is often seen eating it with pineapple as a topping. He often states his toes are itchy if he believes something bad is about to happen. In "Framed", it is revealed that Tann became the godfather to his friend's newborn child.Lua is a female native who serves as the shaman of Kong Island and the last of her people. She knows many secrets on Kong Island and helps Dr. Jenkins with her research as she knows Dr. Jenkins only wishes to help. Lua takes her position very seriously even though she is only at the beginning level, keeping the Island secrets from the group and several times risking her life. She also has a pet Smilodon named Chondar. Because she has lived on the island her entire life, Lua is quite naive about the outside world. It is obvious she has feelings for Jason as she always gets jealous when the mention of a past female friend of his comes up or another woman shows interest in him. In the final episode, Lua and Jason confess their feelings for each other and nearly kiss, but Kong splashes them with water before they can.Dr. Lorna Jenkins is a scientist who is Jason's grandmother and the one who cloned Kong from the DNA of King Kong. She is in the midst of researching the different species on Kong Island as well as the Primal Stones when De La Porta steals them in the first episode. During the missions, Dr. Jenkins stays back on the island giving information from her research lab in a hidden cave. She is able to help the team with her vast amount of friends in the archeological world to get the information they need. Lorna is seen to be very attractive to her male friends as they often flirt with her when they chat.

Villains

Professor Ramon De La Porta is one of the main antagonists of the series. Ramon is a man who tried to steal the research of Lorna Jenkins alongside his men years ago. However, an encounter with Jason and Kong resulted in him accidentally getting his hand badly burned by hot chemicals when trying to reach for his gun. While he and his two henchmen managed to escape, Ramon had lost his right hand and was forced to use a robotic prosthesis. Twenty years later, Ramon got a job as a professor at the university Jason and Tann attend, concealing his robotic hand with a pair of work gloves. When Lorna Jenkins sends an e-mail to her grandson, Ramon hacks it so that it appears as if he'd been invited as well. Once on Kong Island however, Ramon reveals himself to Dr. Jenkins and steals one of the Cyber-Links to merges with Lua's pet Smilodon, Chondar, whom Kong manages to fend off and eventually forces the villainous scientist to flee. Unfortunately, Ramon later succeeds in kidnapping Dr. Jenkins and forcing her to lead him to the location of the Primal Stones. While Kong manages to give chase, Ramon fights him off by merging with a cave bear, eventually discovering the temple where the Primal Stones are hidden and stealing them, even succeeding in defeating Kong whilst Cyber-Linked to a Gigantophis, though Jason manages to recover two of the Stones from him. During the series, Ramon uses the Primal Stones for his own purposes in different locations, even modifying the Cyber-Links he stole to merge with anything that resembles an animal or combining himself with two animals at once to form true monsters. In the final episode, his life force is sucked out by Harpy as part of the ritual to free Chiros. While it is returned to him once Chiros is reimprisoned, his life force is nonetheless broken by the ritual and he is later hospitalized. Ramon has used the Cyber-Link to merge with animals ranging from Chondar, a cave bear, a Gigantophis, a wild boar, both a cat and a scorpion to form a Manticore, a Tyrannosaurus statue at the La Brea Tar Pits, a jaguar, an eagle, the Loch Ness Monster, a cockatoo, a spider monkey, a dog, two German Shepherds to form a two-headed humanoid version of them, and even a strand of Jason's hair to become a clone of Jason.
  • * Omar is a tall African-American man and De La Porta's second-in-command. Throughout the series, Omar uses the Cyber-Link to merge with both a lion and an eagle to become form a Griffin, a Triceratops statue at the La Brea Tar Pits, a giant anteater, a rat twice, a dog, a mandrill, a coyote, and a thorny devil. Omar is knocked out by Jason in the penultimate episode and arrested along with Frazetti and Giggles.
  • * Frazetti is a muscular Italian-American man with a blonde, cowlick hairstyle who works for De La Porta. Throughout the series, he has used the Cyber-Link less than the other henchmen that work for De La Porta as he used it to merge with a hyena,both a quetzal and rattlesnake to become a humanoid form version of Quetzalcoatl, and a Stegosaurus. In the penultimate episode, Frazetti transformed into a giant Stegosaurus is defeated by Kong and arrested along wit Omar and Giggles.
  • * Giggles is a large, fat, unnamed man that works for De La Porta who earned his nickname from the fact he often giggles. Throughout the series, Giggles uses the Cyber-Link to merge with a Komodo dragon, a Smilodon statue offscreen, a crocodile, an eagle, a tarantula, a coyote, and a Stegosaurus. In the penultimate episode, Giggles transformed into a giant Stegosaurus is defeated by Kong and arrested along wit Omar and Frazetti.
  • * Tiger Lucy is an art dealer that once helped Tann's parents and seemed to have grown a crush on Tann, but later teams up with De La Porta and is complicit in many of his schemes....not caring what he wants to do as long as she gets paid. She primarily uses the Cyber-Link given to her by Roman to merge with her own cat and become a monstrous form version of it. Her last appearance is in The Thirteenth Stone. She is the only De La Porta's main henchmen to escape capture.
  • * Rajeev is a one-time henchman of De La Porta who appeared in "Top of the World". He is of Indian descent and assisted Ramon in obtaining an ancient parchment from a Himalayan Monastery alongside hie allies. Rajeev uses the Cyber-Link that De La Porta gave him to merge with a giant Yeti that Kong befriended, though Kong manages to defeat Rajeev by freeing the Yeti from his control. Rajeev is arrested offscreen.
  • * Wu-Chan is a Chinese man and a one-time henchman of De La Porta who appears in "Curse of the Dragon". He aids De La Porta in kidnapping Jason and Lua in China when the former was invited to compete in a karate tournament. Wu-Chan and De La Porta force Jason into going into the Tomb of China's First Emperor near the Great Wall of China to retrieve a parchment that will reveal the secrets of the Primal Stone of Life and Death in exchange for Lua's safety. It was mentioned that Wu-Chan couldn't do the job because he is claustrophobic. Tann, who'd used Jason's Cyber-Link to reverse-merge with Kong, manages to catch up to Jason and help him retrieve the parchment. Once it's retrieved and given to De La Porta, Wu-Chan is ordered to attack as he uses the Cyber-Link that De La Porta gave him to merge with both a Kingsnake and the Pekingese that De La Porta had with him to form a Chinese dragon. Once Jason merges with Kong, they manage to defeat Wu-Chan as the Pekingese rips up the parchment in De La Porta's hands. Wu-Chan escapes with De La Porta.
  • * Xepetotep is an Indian descendant of the Azteques along with his people. He is another one-time henchman of De La Porta, appeared in Quetzalcoatl. He works for Ramon because he promises him gold. During the fight between Ramon and Jason, he flees in the tunnels but he is finally arrested by his people whereas he tried to escape.Chiros is one of the main antagonists of the series. Chiros was a Shaman who sought more power and tried to steal the Primal Stones, ultimately transforming into an ancient demon. He was sealed away by the original Kong and his Shaman companion. After De La Porta steals some of the Primal Stones, Chiros is slowly released from his imprisonment. While unable to leave where he's imprisoned, Chiros often has his henchwoman Harpy act in his stead. However, whilst engaged in combat with Kong, Chiros will send out Ominous. In the final episode, he's released and fights Kong himself, but is eventually defeated when Lua casts a spell and Kong throws him into the portal while re-imprisoning him. His stone is then destroyed by Kong.
  • * Harpy is Chiros' devoted servant and second-in-command, Harpy is a female gargoyle demon. Unlike the rest of Chiros's gargoyle army, she appears more human and is able to think for herself, though she's completely devoted to Chrios' cause. In the final episode, Harpy is turned to stone after being thrown by Tann into the spell Lua recites.
  • * Ominous is a demon who serves Chiros. He is the Chiros' most powerful warrior and is even able to match the likes of Kong in terms of strength. He is killed in the finale when Kong traps him in the moving sands.Rakhir is a poacher of Arab descent who travels to Africa to hunt gorillas. He and his men then capture Kong and Lua before Jason and Tann defeat him and arrest him then free their friends with the help of other jungle animals.Howling Jack Crockett is a film director and stuntman who'd disappeared from the public after some legal trouble involving some of his film stunts, making him a subject of a news program's "Where are they now" segment. He resurfaced some time later when he sees Kong and pilots a giant robot during Kong's fight with De La Porta and Omar which results in the giant robot getting stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits. The same news program did a follow-up to the "Where are they now" segment where they covered Howling Jack's arrest as he rants that Kong is back from the dead. In the episode "DNA Land", Howling Jack managed to capture Kong and Giggles for his new animal park. This plan was thwarted by the Jason who evacuated Kong while Lua rants to the press about Howling Jack's animal exploitation. When on the news program, Howling Jack is taken off set during an interview still ranting about Kong still being alive. In the episode "Interview with a Monkey", Howling Jack Crockett filmed a special where he interviewed some people that witnessed Kong in his pre-tapped footage with some of them not going awry. De La Porta arranged for footage to be given to Howling Jack for the special, but was ultimately thwarted by Kong. However, taking pity on him, Kong offers Howling Jack a compromise, leading to the release of Howling Jack's latest film: "Kong vs. the One-Eyed Critter from Saturn".
  • * Giles is Howling Jack's butler who assisted in the development of his animal park. A running gag is that Howling Jack mispronounces his name and Giles would correct him followed by Howling Jack quoting "Whatever".Andre is a firearms dealer who sells weapons to terrorists. His first encounter with Jason, Tann, Lua, and Kong occurs when Giggles steals some weapons on behalf of De La Porta. Andre and his henchmen raid De La Porta's hideout and kidnap him and the Komodo dragon. Once at his hideout on an offshore oil platform, Andre interrogates De La Porta about how the Cyber-Link works. De La Porta demonstrates for him by having the Cyber-Link merge Andre with the Komodo dragon. As De La Porta gets away, Kong fights Andre. After Kong defeats Andre, the authorities are contacted leading to Andre and his men being arrested. In "Blue Star", Andre returns when he and his men are poaching humpback whales in the frozen parts of Greenland. When his men are stopped by Kong, he learns of this and pursues them to a lost city hidden in the ice. He manages to steal Jason's Cyber-Link and return through an underwater passage where he uses Jason's Cyber-Link to merge with a polar bear. Kong manages to defeat Andre, but he and his henchmen get away. In "Interview with a Monkey", Howling Jack Crockett interviews Andre in prison about his encounter with Kong.. It is revealed at some point that he sold Crockett a laser that is seen in "DNA Land", which Crockett tries to disavow to the public.

Other characters

Chondar - Lua's Smilodon companion. De La Porta once merged with Chondar when his true colors were shown. In Kong: Return to the Jungle, Chondar is revealed to be female and has become the mother to a cub called Kip.Soara - Lua's Pteranodon companion who is often used for air travel around Kong Island. Jason once merged with Soara once in "Hidden Fears" to help fight off Chiros' minions.

Cast

Additional

Movies

''Kong: King of Atlantis'' (2005)

In 2005, BKN produced a film called Kong: King of Atlantis, which served as a continuation to the series in order to try and cash in on the 2005 King Kong remake. The film centres on Kong trying to protect the titular mythic island from a tyrannical human/snake hybridous queen Reptilla who plans on making Kong as ruler of Atlantis.
It's the 8th entry in the King Kong franchise.
The film was released on DVD in most regions by Warner Home Video.

''Kong: Return to the Jungle'' (2006)

A stand-alone sequel, titled Kong: Return to the Jungle was produced in 2006, and was computer-animated, unlike the first film and the series. In the film, hunters capture Kong and other animals from his island for a special zoo.
The film was released on DVD by Genius Entertainment in the United States, Morningstar Entertainment in Canada, and BKN Home Entertainment in the United Kingdom.
It's the 10th entry in the King Kong franchise.

Development

The series first began production in 1999, simply called Kong, being deemed as a "futuristic" version of the character.

Broadcast

On April 4, 2001, the series was pre-sold in the US to air on Fox's Fox Kids block. The show later premiered on June 2 of that year, and was also confirmed that the series had been pre-sold to M6 in France as well. Fox Kids aired half of the series before taking it off air.
In March 2005, Super RTL acquired the German broadcast rights to the Kong: King of Atlantis movie.
In July 2005, Disney Channels Worldwide purchased the US cable rights to the series alongside Kong: King of Atlantis to air on Toon Disney's Jetix block in anticipation of the release of Peter Jackson's King Kong remake. The series began on Jetix on September 9 and aired the rest of the episodes that Fox didn't. The film aired on November 1 of that year.
In October 2005, Turner Broadcasting System Europe acquired the UK broadcast rights to the series to air on Toonami. Kong: King of Atlantis was also acquired for a November airing on the channel alongside Cartoon Network.

Other media

Home media

United States

On March 20, 2007, Genius Entertainment released two two-disc volumes which make up the whole series. A boxset containing both volumes and the Kong: Return to the Jungle movie was later released.

Video games

Two video games were released based on the series, both on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. The first, called simply Kong: The Animated Series, was released by Planet Interactive in 2002. The second was released by Majesco Entertainment in 2005, and was based on the direct-to-video film Kong: King of Atlantis.