Episode 26 - King Kong (Peter Jackson, 2005) (with Barry J.C. Purves)
King Kong (Peter Jackson, 2005).
The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!
For Episode 26, Chris and Alex are joined by special guest Barry J.C. Purves, renowned stop-motion animator, director and screenwriter who is also the author of Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance (Burlington, MA: Focal Press, 2007). The focus of their conversation is the monster epic King Kong (Peter Jackson, 2005), the digital VFX-heavy remake of the original 1933 film of the same name, and a film upon which Barry himself worked as part of the animation department. Topics for discussion include the labour involved in the interaction between live-action and digital elements; the economy of King Kong’s symmetrical narrative structure; and the power of stop-motion’s objects as they become storytelling agents, as well as turns to William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Greek tragedy along the way.
Suggested Readings
Combe, Kirk, and Brenda Boyle. 2013. Masculinity and Monstrosity in Contemporary Hollywood Films. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Freedman, Yacov. 2012. “Is It Real . . . or Is It Motion Capture?: The Battle to Redefine Animation in the Age of Digital Performance.” The Velvet Light Trap 69 (Spring 2012): 38-49.
Furniss, Maureen. 2000. “Motion Capture: An Overview.” Animation Journal 8, no. 2 (Spring): 68-82.
Mimura, Glen. 2024. “Human, or Its Native Other? Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005) as Tragic Romance.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 1–23.