Way back in 2002, we started to make a stop-motion horror movie, which live-action scenes, in our basement. It was not finished. It won't be finished, at least not by us.
Just came across this video and subscribed. It's amazing to see just how many movie monsters\creatures there were before King Kong. Great job on the video - well researched and written. I'm looking forward to the next one!
there was also an animated short made in 1921 called "The Pet". it was about a strange creature eating anything it could find. it grew larger overtime until it began eating buildings and planes. the creature was eventually bombed.
I'm not sure "racism" can be painted over movies before actors of ethnic backgrounds were not around. When those actors rose in the industry, they more often than not portrayed their own ethnicity. An example would be The Good Earth movie from a book by Pearl S. Buck, the daughter of missionaries I believe, who was born and raised in China with Chinese as her second language and first cultural experience. The sons of the major characters are portrayed by Chinese actors who were recently trained in acting and who went on to have great careers in Hollywood and TV, notably the Kung Fu series of the seventies, starring David Carradine, who, by the way, was protested against by Chinese actors but who gained their respect after showing them his respect for their culture and his martial arts skills. When industries are first established, the most available people are put into the position to carry it out; as the industry progresses and more people are exposed to opportunities, the fabric of those industries changes with the times. In 1905, who many film actors were there? They had to make do with what was available. Also, acting is fiction; who is really who they are in a movie? Kate Blanchet is an Australian; my God, what's she doing portraying Queen Elizabeth?! Let a lone an elf!
I didn't really consider them giant monsters, but I suppose Moby Dick could be considered to be one. He was technically a sperm whale at about the size of a blue whale.
King Kong is under no criteria whatsoever the first giant monster movie, that's an absolutely insane thing to even suggest. The Lost World is uncontroversially universally recognized as the ur-example, and in order to bend the definition far enough to exclude Lost World but still include King Kong - which is more or less a remake of the Lost World conceptually - would make what you mean by "giant monster movie" so specific that it would also exclude every other giant monster movie as well. Also Melies had other giant monsters prior to Conquest of the Pole, the earliest being the cyclops from 1905's Mysterious Island.
I haven't watched this through in a while, but I don't think I suggested it was? I thought i said something to the effect of if you typed what was the first giant monster into Google back when I made this video that's what came up, which was what inspired the video. Though it may have been the first to make the monster the central character of the film. It was not the first giant monster in a film. In regard to the Conquest of the Pole, I should have said the earliest film I know about depicting a giant monster instead of we that's a mistake reading off a script I wrote. I covered The Lost World extensively in the video as well.
I love the video and the subject . That being said , I don’t totally agree with critiquing the character of the filmmakers and whether or not they were racist and failed to act in the best of light. Bare in mind the time period . I won’t argue about Griffith , he was obvious. Doyle may have been progressive in thinking, but movies were still new overall and having his work actually adapted was probably so flattering that he most likely didn’t think of his principles at the time . Many authors might do it now , and fixing it is a good thing , but in the early days things were different.
I agree. Doyle didn't have much to do with the actual making of the film. I wouldn't put any of that on him. The book treats the characters with a lot more respect.
@@filmquest9688 this time period was very non PC, and if you believe certain accounts, there were no real safety precautions while making the movies either.
The consensus is that The Lost World is pretty much complete now, with the latest restoration. Not such an unfortunate situation after all. Watching it now you’d never guess it was so butchered and partially lost for so long. Incredible job of restoration.
i often see that drawing of abunch of classic giant monsters but i was never able to see the original (i am talking about the one on the right side in 0:29)
I hadn't known before seeing this about the controversy between Dawley and O'Brien. It's very interesting because there's things about O'Brien's career that make you wonder about him. His work was served well by a model maker like Marcel Delgado, and yet when O'Brien worked on his own (The Giant Behemoth, I believe, and the Black Scorpion) the model work was less impressive, and the creature in The Giant Behemoth looks like it's right out of the silent era. (O'Brien fared a bit better with Black Scorpion, I think, but it's said some of the models seen in the underground scenes were leftovers from Kong). He couldn't seem to get projects off the ground, and so only worked sporadically. Ray Harryhausen, for instance, supposedly animated most of Mighty Joe Young. O'Brien was clearly an inventive guy--his signature animation style (best seen in Kong) is wonderful and Kong is full of character and charm, and that's obviously due in large part to O'Brien's choices. And yet he seems not to have been able to parlay his success into a solid career. Was he difficult to work with, or was he just unable to convince people that his ideas were worthy of spending money on?
The two later projects he did for the money more than anything I think. I'm sure the budgets are much lower for them as well. As for his unfinished projects I think he was just a poor business man. He often had his ideas stolen out from under him. Harryhausen had a producing partner which helped him get a lot of protects off the ground.
I also believe the Black Scorpion having puppets reused from Kong is a myth likely started by Forest Ackerman. The puppets would of been far too degraded to use by that time.
@@filmquest9688 I agree he was a poor business man... that's clear from things even Harryhausen said about him, and Harryhausen was certainly not the type to badmouth people, especially friends. But anyway, I think this is what I was getting at... that O'Brien may have failed because he just didn't know how to run or sell a project, and his success with Kong was, to some degree, his most collaborative production, where he had an excellent script to work from, and talented people all around him. So it makes me wonder why he never managed to make that happen again, as Harryhausen was later able to. The poor man just doesn't seem to have had many friends in Hollywood. Maybe he just didn't know how to schmooze and play the game.
Melies also had a film, Palace of the Arabian Knights, about a would-be prince and his warriors going into caverns to fight monsters, including skeletons, and one of them is a large dragon, so that might count, too.
I’m going to turn my 82 year old mom on to Godzilla while she recovers from her knee surgery. I need to pick three movies to show her, the first will be the original movie but I can’t decide on the other two but maybe the last one with King Kong. Any suggestions? She’s never seen not one. It was something I did with my dad. Any advice?❤😊
I always liked Mothra vs Godzilla and Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster. I'm partial to the 60s and 70s Era. The legendary Godzilla movies leading up to Godzilla vs Kong are fun watches also.
Instead of depicting 'Jurassic Park', when you we're exemplifying 'Prehistoric Peeps', you should of shown something older, like in B&W. To better connect with, and to the audience, of the time period. Love your view, on D. W. Griffith. Yes, he WAS A racist. A republican-lobbying, racist. Anyone can, research it. One thing, though. The speed at which you are iterating, is WAY too rapid. You'll catch more people's interest, if you slow down a bit, and pronounce more clearly. Maybe less Red Bulls', Monsters' or coffee😏. Other than that, an EXCELLENT documentary👍!!! Thanks for bringing this genré, to light. Especially, for 'younger' viewers.
Way back in 2002, we started to make a stop-motion horror movie, which live-action scenes, in our basement. It was not finished. It won't be finished, at least not by us.
What was it about?
Buster Keaton's "Three Ages" (1923) is worth noting for the prehistoric section where he rides on a brontosaurus.
That's true. I left it out because it wasn't a first for the special effect technique and I felt like I was covering to many dinosaur movies already.
Just came across this video and subscribed. It's amazing to see just how many movie monsters\creatures there were before King Kong. Great job on the video - well researched and written. I'm looking forward to the next one!
Thank you!
Great video. Two of my favorite silent era monsters are the dragons in Die Nibelungen and The Thief of Bagdad. Thank you for this series.
Brilliant. Well Done! Very informative. Thank you.
Great work! You've earned yourself a subscriber. Looking forward to the next episode!
That footage of a stop-motion animator at work is fantastic in its own right. Also, reminds me of watching a 3D zoetrope in action.
Totally agree.
I just suscribed, greetings from México
Thank you!
Interesting. And believe me I understand the nasally sinus problems, don't worry about it.
there was also an animated short made in 1921 called "The Pet". it was about a strange creature eating anything it could find. it grew larger overtime until it began eating buildings and planes. the creature was eventually bombed.
Excellent documentary!
I'm not sure "racism" can be painted over movies before actors of ethnic backgrounds were not around. When those actors rose in the industry, they more often than not portrayed their own ethnicity. An example would be The Good Earth movie from a book by Pearl S. Buck, the daughter of missionaries I believe, who was born and raised in China with Chinese as her second language and first cultural experience. The sons of the major characters are portrayed by Chinese actors who were recently trained in acting and who went on to have great careers in Hollywood and TV, notably the Kung Fu series of the seventies, starring David Carradine, who, by the way, was protested against by Chinese actors but who gained their respect after showing them his respect for their culture and his martial arts skills. When industries are first established, the most available people are put into the position to carry it out; as the industry progresses and more people are exposed to opportunities, the fabric of those industries changes with the times. In 1905, who many film actors were there? They had to make do with what was available. Also, acting is fiction; who is really who they are in a movie? Kate Blanchet is an Australian; my God, what's she doing portraying Queen Elizabeth?! Let a lone an elf!
Screwed up on your request but I still shared this video on Kaiju Are Unusually Tall and look forward to the second episode.
Thank you!
1926 The Sea Beast silent version of Moby Dick with John Barrymore is worth a mention. Fritz Lang's Die Nibelugen has a great dragon slaying scene.
I didn't really consider them giant monsters, but I suppose Moby Dick could be considered to be one. He was technically a sperm whale at about the size of a blue whale.
King Kong is under no criteria whatsoever the first giant monster movie, that's an absolutely insane thing to even suggest. The Lost World is uncontroversially universally recognized as the ur-example, and in order to bend the definition far enough to exclude Lost World but still include King Kong - which is more or less a remake of the Lost World conceptually - would make what you mean by "giant monster movie" so specific that it would also exclude every other giant monster movie as well.
Also Melies had other giant monsters prior to Conquest of the Pole, the earliest being the cyclops from 1905's Mysterious Island.
I haven't watched this through in a while, but I don't think I suggested it was? I thought i said something to the effect of if you typed what was the first giant monster into Google back when I made this video that's what came up, which was what inspired the video. Though it may have been the first to make the monster the central character of the film. It was not the first giant monster in a film. In regard to the Conquest of the Pole, I should have said the earliest film I know about depicting a giant monster instead of we that's a mistake reading off a script I wrote. I covered The Lost World extensively in the video as well.
It's because of Godzilla and Japanese Monster Movies, that when my Son played with Toy Soldiers as a boy, the Japanese Army joined the Allies!
The lost film that was made for Japan was the Great Buddha from the 1930s. There should be more giant monster movies.
I love the video and the subject . That being said , I don’t totally agree with critiquing the character of the filmmakers and whether or not they were racist and failed to act in the best of light. Bare in mind the time period . I won’t argue about Griffith , he was obvious. Doyle may have been progressive in thinking, but movies were still new overall and having his work actually adapted was probably so flattering that he most likely didn’t think of his principles at the time . Many authors might do it now , and fixing it is a good thing , but in the early days things were different.
I agree. Doyle didn't have much to do with the actual making of the film. I wouldn't put any of that on him. The book treats the characters with a lot more respect.
@@filmquest9688 this time period was very non PC, and if you believe certain accounts, there were no real safety precautions while making the movies either.
The consensus is that The Lost World is pretty much complete now, with the latest restoration. Not such an unfortunate situation after all. Watching it now you’d never guess it was so butchered and partially lost for so long. Incredible job of restoration.
There is still a bit missing but yes it's for the most part there.
Has this restoration been released on DVD/BluRay? If so, which version should I look for. Don't want to end up with the wrong one!
@@Tyrconnell you want the Flicker Alley Blu-ray.
@@WaverBoy Thanks!
@@Tyrconnell I have a link to it in the description.
i often see that drawing of abunch of classic giant monsters but i was never able to see the original (i am talking about the one on the right side in 0:29)
Yep. Left a link to it in the description.
Which one? There's the giant claw (the bird) the ymir (20,000 miles to earth), the monster that challenged the earth (thecred eyed monster)..
@@tomflynn2912 the one on the right. The left one I have no idea who the original artist is and can't find anything on it.
I hadn't known before seeing this about the controversy between Dawley and O'Brien. It's very interesting because there's things about O'Brien's career that make you wonder about him. His work was served well by a model maker like Marcel Delgado, and yet when O'Brien worked on his own (The Giant Behemoth, I believe, and the Black Scorpion) the model work was less impressive, and the creature in The Giant Behemoth looks like it's right out of the silent era. (O'Brien fared a bit better with Black Scorpion, I think, but it's said some of the models seen in the underground scenes were leftovers from Kong). He couldn't seem to get projects off the ground, and so only worked sporadically. Ray Harryhausen, for instance, supposedly animated most of Mighty Joe Young. O'Brien was clearly an inventive guy--his signature animation style (best seen in Kong) is wonderful and Kong is full of character and charm, and that's obviously due in large part to O'Brien's choices. And yet he seems not to have been able to parlay his success into a solid career. Was he difficult to work with, or was he just unable to convince people that his ideas were worthy of spending money on?
The two later projects he did for the money more than anything I think. I'm sure the budgets are much lower for them as well. As for his unfinished projects I think he was just a poor business man. He often had his ideas stolen out from under him. Harryhausen had a producing partner which helped him get a lot of protects off the ground.
I also believe the Black Scorpion having puppets reused from Kong is a myth likely started by Forest Ackerman. The puppets would of been far too degraded to use by that time.
@@filmquest9688 I agree he was a poor business man... that's clear from things even Harryhausen said about him, and Harryhausen was certainly not the type to badmouth people, especially friends.
But anyway, I think this is what I was getting at... that O'Brien may have failed because he just didn't know how to run or sell a project, and his success with Kong was, to some degree, his most collaborative production, where he had an excellent script to work from, and talented people all around him. So it makes me wonder why he never managed to make that happen again, as Harryhausen was later able to. The poor man just doesn't seem to have had many friends in Hollywood. Maybe he just didn't know how to schmooze and play the game.
@@filmquest9688 Well that's true, of course.
Ah I see. Yeah we basically agree then.
Melies also had a film, Palace of the Arabian Knights, about a would-be prince and his warriors going into caverns to fight monsters, including skeletons, and one of them is a large dragon, so that might count, too.
I certainly think it's a monster but it looks small scale wise to me so I didn't count it as a giant monster.
@@filmquest9688 Fair enough.
The Lost World series from the 1990's is good, because of how it was more like a Gilligan's Island feal to it, but more serious than funny.
I’m going to turn my 82 year old mom on to Godzilla while she recovers from her knee surgery. I need to pick three movies to show her, the first will be the original movie but I can’t decide on the other two but maybe the last one with King Kong. Any suggestions? She’s never seen not one. It was something I did with my dad. Any advice?❤😊
Any advice on which movies?
I always liked Mothra vs Godzilla and Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster. I'm partial to the 60s and 70s Era. The legendary Godzilla movies leading up to Godzilla vs Kong are fun watches also.
@@filmquest9688 yes these are the two good ones for her! She’s so excited haha
Die Nibelungen by Fritz Lang had a dragon in 1924
4:06 they use this method for the velociraptors in Jurassic park
What about The Mysterians 1957
Instead of depicting 'Jurassic Park', when you we're exemplifying 'Prehistoric Peeps', you should of shown something older, like in B&W. To better connect with, and to the audience, of the time period. Love your view, on D. W. Griffith. Yes, he WAS A racist. A republican-lobbying, racist. Anyone can, research it.
One thing, though. The speed at which you are iterating, is WAY too rapid. You'll catch more people's interest, if you slow down a bit, and pronounce more clearly. Maybe less Red Bulls', Monsters' or coffee😏. Other than that, an EXCELLENT documentary👍!!! Thanks for bringing this genré, to light. Especially, for 'younger' viewers.
Appreciate the advice! I've just been learning how to do all this stuff as I go.
I hesitate to call Kong a giant monster. He's really just a giant gorilla. Nothing monstrous about that
Radical chic! 🤣
I wonder when a giant monster movie about my ex-wife will be made?
Very cool.