Yes folks, here it is - the poster for the apocryphal but highly entertaining film KING KONG VS. FRANKENSTEIN, straight out of the Owariverse! Be sure you click for a look at the full-size version to get the details of the credits! You might find some aspects of them oddly familiar.
Once again, another knockout commission by Kabuki Katze requires an explanation. It actually dates back to our discussions regarding the "Shelly After Midnight" picture. Kabuki was entertaining the notion of including a background element on the wall and ventured that perhaps Captain Satellite might have a poster for a fictional sci-fi movie hanging in his mansion. Her concept was actually "King Kong vs. Godzilla", not realizing this was an actual movie. However, this suggestion led me to offer "King Kong vs. Frankenstein" in its place.
As it turned out, the poster got squeezed out of the Shelly picture. I hadn't forgotten the idea, especially since Kabuki had indicated she had long been wanting to try something along those lines. Knowing how her schedule gets, I figured that it might never happen if I didn't make it happen. Thus, a few months later, I commissioned her to create a KING KONG VS. FRANKENSTEIN poster. There was a catch, though - I was only asking for the name and a couple of other details. The rest was solely at her discretion.
Why? Well, this had originally been HER idea, so I wanted her to have the freedom to take that idea in whatever direction she wished. I thought of myself more as a facilitator for her vision than a commissioner in this instance. If there was going to be a KING KONG VS. FRANKENSTEIN poster, I wanted it to be the one she really wanted.
What you see above is the result. She chose a more graphically-oriented, minimalist approach that is truly fascinating and eye-catching. And believe it or not, it was HER idea to render the title in Japanese! She even wrote the "対" kanji herself!
The input I did desire on this poster was to put together the credits. I wanted a listing that reflected a largely-fictional world - theoretically, the world of Captain Satellite. As a result, the cast and director are parodies/homages to those of the movie A*P*E! I included Willis O'Brien as a token of respect for the man who actually came up with the original "King Kong vs. Frankenstein" story. And as for the producer, I threw in a little in-joke that tied into PART 2 of this commission.
Do you recall the logo I commissioned KK to create for my buddy David McRobie's Xenorama? Well, adding "Xenorama Pictures" and "D.E. McRobie" to the poster just wasn't enough. I ALSO wanted to take the poster and use it to create a faux cover for Xenorama as it might exist in the world where KING KONG VS. FRANKENSTEIN is real. This is the delightful result!
Besides the necessary modifications to turn poster into cover, you will notice the addition of a tagline. This was courtesy of Kabuki and is derived from a tagline in the trailer for A*P*E! She is a clever one, she is.
As always, a big thank you to Kabuki for her exemplary work in bringing crazy ideas to life. Why not go tell the lady yourself if you like this picture? I am sure she would be delighted to hear from you!
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