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Kong Animatronic?

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Jul 1, 2013
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Offered without comment...

[video=youtube;aykrW2L1wps]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aykrW2L1wps[/video]
 
I read an article about that show a while back, and it's definitely a puppet.
That said, perhaps a giant Kong animatronic designed like a puppet/marionette would solve the technical woes that plagued Kongfrongtation and (continues to plague) the Yeti. This method of building would presumably enable them to use lighter materials and no inner mechanical 'skeleton' would be needed. With the right lighting, the appearance of the strings could be minimized.
 
That's a puppet? That is AMAZING. Curse anyone who says practical effects are out the door. The uploader of that video is a sneaky devil though, trying to throw us off with an interesting name for the video. UCProject.

Close, but you got found out!
 
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[video=youtube;y8YJwRUTK7Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8YJwRUTK7Y[/video]

Yep, from the King Kong Musical (I didn't even know there was a musical) and the movements are pretty cool.
 
Heck, Maybe King Kong the Musical can replace Beetlejuice and then we'll just have an entire King Kong New York street.
 
I saw this a while back, and while the idea of Kong as a musical was... Interesting, to say the least, the puppet was really fascinating to me. I was impressed with the subtlety of the facial movements. I agree with a previous poster - an animatronic designed like a puppet for movement would probably be a brilliant solution to the Kong animatronic dilemma. That is, if UC wants an animatronic and can't think of a solution :bonk:
 
They need to bring Bob Gurr in on this... or at least study what he did thirty years ago. His King Kong animatronic at Universal Studios Hollywood was a work of art and was simple as hell from an engineering and maintenance standpoint. It was basically a glorified puppet, resulting in tons of free animation and realistic movement.

- Andy
 
The musical has already extended it's run in Melbourne, and the word is it is eyeing a Broadway debut sometime in 2014; but there is a minor snag (to put it lightly) the only theater on Broadway that can house Kong's puppet and operating system is the Foxwoods, which is currently the home of Spider-Man; Turn Off The Dark...just fyi
 
The musical has already extended it's run in Melbourne, and the word is it is eyeing a Broadway debut sometime in 2014; but there is a minor snag (to put it lightly) the only theater on Broadway that can house Kong's puppet and operating system is the Foxwoods, which is currently the home of Spider-Man; Turn Off The Dark...just fyi

Well, they should give Spider-Man the axe. What a horrible show. :saw:
 
I suppose this'd be a bad time to mention that I actually liked Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark... :look:

To be fair, the original Julie Taymor version was flawed but impressively ambitious and had the potential to be something really special. Unfortunately, she tried to jam too much plot into the running time (Green Goblin should've been excised), insisted on that stupid Geek Chorus, and refused to play nice with others as the budget ballooned. The version playing now is still a lot of fun and has some really great numbers (with quite a few forgettable ones), but it's lost its edge and mystique that Arachne provided in the original. Right now it's a by-the-numbers Spider-Man origin story - safe, sanitized, doesn't attempt anything daring. That said, I saw it during its "official" grand opening week from Bono's box seats and had a great time... Patrick Page didn't get enough credit for his portrayal of the Goblin, and Carpio did wonderfully with the tiny bits she still had as Arachne.

I'd much rather see Kong: The Musical, but Turn off the Dark still fills seats surprisingly well, so expect it to be around for a few more years so it can recoup it's insane budget.
 
I suppose this'd be a bad time to mention that I actually liked Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark... :look:

To be fair, the original Julie Taymor version was flawed but impressively ambitious and had the potential to be something really special. Unfortunately, she tried to jam too much plot into the running time (Green Goblin should've been excised), insisted on that stupid Geek Chorus, and refused to play nice with others as the budget ballooned. The version playing now is still a lot of fun and has some really great numbers (with quite a few forgettable ones), but it's lost its edge and mystique that Arachne provided in the original. Right now it's a by-the-numbers Spider-Man origin story - safe, sanitized, doesn't attempt anything daring. That said, I saw it during its "official" grand opening week from Bono's box seats and had a great time... Patrick Page didn't get enough credit for his portrayal of the Goblin, and Carpio did wonderfully with the tiny bits she still had as Arachne.

I'd much rather see Kong: The Musical, but Turn off the Dark still fills seats surprisingly well, so expect it to be around for a few more years so it can recoup it's insane budget.

I went back and forth with my interest in the show, but I actually loved what Patrick Page did for Green Goblin, and his number is so awesome. However the show clocks in at nearly 3hrs and like you said is a bit too 'safe'. Believe it or not Spider-Man is doing quite well on Broadway, despite the very rocky opening and controversy that surrounded the show initially; it has no plans on leaving anytime soon. However I would love to see Kong make it to NYC at some point
 
That is one amazing puppet! It almost looks like a Rancor.

This makes me want to see the musical now. That looks brilliant!