The evolution of King Kong: over 90 years of design changes

Images of the original King Kong and MonsterVerse King Kong showing the character design evolution
(Image credit: RKO / Universal Pictures / Legendary / Future)

King Kong has been reigning over the world of movie monsters for more than 90 years since he was first discovered on Skull Island way back in 1933. In that time, he's been portrayed as both a hero and a villain, a creature of horror and a saviour of the planet. And the design of the creature has pushed the boundaries of special effects along the way.

With the king of beasts about to appear on the big screen again in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, we look back at how the character design has evolved, from stop motion and rubber suits to motion capture CGI with massive scale. For a history of Kong's counterpart, see our piece on the evolution of Godzilla design.

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Joe Foley

Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.

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