King Kong vs. Roboman was Ted Phillips' first "vs" short and made use of stop-motion animation. It was recorded on VHS-C format media on the old camera on or about February 14, 1993, but was not edited or released to the public until November 12, 2008.
King Kong turns around and begins demolishing a local man's home with his bare hands. Once the house is completely leveled, Roboman arrives to challenge King Kong. Roboman fires a plasma blast from his bazooka, knocking King Kong off his feet. King Kong rises and attempts to smother his opponent, but Roboman elbows King Kong in the face. King Kong falls to the ground and gets back up, but Roboman kicks King Kong in the anus. King Kong falls again and tries to escape, but Roboman corners him against the edge of the table. King Kong tries to grab hold of Roboman's bazooka, but Roboman shoots King Kong in the face, causing him to fall over the cliff. King Kong climbs back up, spears Roboman, and lifts him over his head. Roboman begs for mercy, but King Kong throws him off the edge and is declared the winner.
Both the figures used in this short were part of a prop loan from Rich Falantano that was originally supposed to last the duration of the shoot. Falantano went on vacation to Pennsylvania the next week, extending the period of the loan.
Later in February 1993, Ted Phillips created T.J.'s Cracked Egg Productions to oversee the principle photography of The Bloody Man. At that time, the rights to his earlier works, including King Kong vs. Roboman, were absorbed by this entity.
In April 1993, Ted Phillips made a sequel to both King Kong vs. Roboman and The Bloody Man, called King Kong 2: King Kong Comes Back Vs. The Bloody Man!.
In 1998, Ted's Fun Site listed this production under the title "King Kong vs. Robocop."
King Kong vs. Roboman became one of Cracked Egg Studios' most famous productions amongst cult fans who had access to the archival footage. For this reason, it was sometimes confused with Deep in the Woods as being the studio's earliest video production ever.
King Kong vs. Roboman grew in popularity for a number of reasons. The vocals for the character King Kong, the repetition of the voiced velar plosive consonant[2], were considered absurd. Production values were low and some shots revealed the animators themselves or their shadows. It seems the issues with the studio's first iteration of equipment had begun as early as this production, because the title sequence was recorded and cut off several times. Many thought the repetition of multiple takes to be hilarious when viewed as a whole.
For many years, scholars incorrectly dated King Kong vs. Roboman to October 1992, due to its positioning on Ted's Movies after Deep in the Woods, which had also been misdated. However, in mid-April 2022, further analysis revealed that Deep in the Woods was filmed closer to February 13, 1993. Since some Deep in the Woods set pieces also made an undamaged appearance in King Kong vs. Roboman, this suggests that Deep in the Woods was filmed no more than several days later. However, as John Phillips was only available as camera operator on weekends at the time, this led to the new dating of February 14, 1993.
Synopsis
The short begins with a view of King Kong in a triumphant pose while a fanfare plays for a few seconds. An announcer then declares the title before the fanfare resumes.King Kong turns around and begins demolishing a local man's home with his bare hands. Once the house is completely leveled, Roboman arrives to challenge King Kong. Roboman fires a plasma blast from his bazooka, knocking King Kong off his feet. King Kong rises and attempts to smother his opponent, but Roboman elbows King Kong in the face. King Kong falls to the ground and gets back up, but Roboman kicks King Kong in the anus. King Kong falls again and tries to escape, but Roboman corners him against the edge of the table. King Kong tries to grab hold of Roboman's bazooka, but Roboman shoots King Kong in the face, causing him to fall over the cliff. King Kong climbs back up, spears Roboman, and lifts him over his head. Roboman begs for mercy, but King Kong throws him off the edge and is declared the winner.
History
It's likely that Ted Phillips was inspired by the film King Kong vs. Godzilla[1] to make a King Kong vs... short. At the time, King Kong was one of Ted's favorite and most feared film characters.Both the figures used in this short were part of a prop loan from Rich Falantano that was originally supposed to last the duration of the shoot. Falantano went on vacation to Pennsylvania the next week, extending the period of the loan.
Later in February 1993, Ted Phillips created T.J.'s Cracked Egg Productions to oversee the principle photography of The Bloody Man. At that time, the rights to his earlier works, including King Kong vs. Roboman, were absorbed by this entity.
In April 1993, Ted Phillips made a sequel to both King Kong vs. Roboman and The Bloody Man, called King Kong 2: King Kong Comes Back Vs. The Bloody Man!.
In 1998, Ted's Fun Site listed this production under the title "King Kong vs. Robocop."
King Kong vs. Roboman became one of Cracked Egg Studios' most famous productions amongst cult fans who had access to the archival footage. For this reason, it was sometimes confused with Deep in the Woods as being the studio's earliest video production ever.
King Kong vs. Roboman grew in popularity for a number of reasons. The vocals for the character King Kong, the repetition of the voiced velar plosive consonant[2], were considered absurd. Production values were low and some shots revealed the animators themselves or their shadows. It seems the issues with the studio's first iteration of equipment had begun as early as this production, because the title sequence was recorded and cut off several times. Many thought the repetition of multiple takes to be hilarious when viewed as a whole.
For many years, scholars incorrectly dated King Kong vs. Roboman to October 1992, due to its positioning on Ted's Movies after Deep in the Woods, which had also been misdated. However, in mid-April 2022, further analysis revealed that Deep in the Woods was filmed closer to February 13, 1993. Since some Deep in the Woods set pieces also made an undamaged appearance in King Kong vs. Roboman, this suggests that Deep in the Woods was filmed no more than several days later. However, as John Phillips was only available as camera operator on weekends at the time, this led to the new dating of February 14, 1993.
Cultural References
- The theme song is based on that of the 1940s animated series Superman.[3]
- The local man's home was made of Waffle Blocks[4].
- The video was shot on the old table.
- In the background, you can see the wood, the bag and the roll of tar paper.
Trivia
- When applying to film school, Ted Phillips described King Kong vs. Roboman in his portfolio:
Ted Phillips said: - The local man is actually the main character from The Bloody Man, but he is only partly visible in a couple of frames.
- In the archival footage, you can hear Nick Phillips in another room watching an episode of The Human Race Club[5] called "The Lean Mean Machine."
References
Categories:
Old Camera
Stop-Motion
1993