I seriously hope this is more than just some rumor some fans started up… myself and many friends have been waiting for a few decades hoping that something, anything from this sequence would show up.
Just to refresh your memories of this sequence:
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This is a still from the actual pit sequence from the film
A close-up of one of the spider models, from the personal collection of Willis O'Brien[/c]
However, if there is even the slightest bit of truth to this (or even if there isn't), I really have to put one very close friend in touch with Warner Bros., because he has a certain specific exclusive item relating to the spider pit sequence that would make for a fascinating photo gallery or a mini-featurette… he has the one main spider stop motion model from the missing pit sequence! Absolutely no joke…
My buddy Josh has always been a huge fan of stop motion animation (especially Harryhausen, who sparked his love of this), and over the years has built up a nice collection of original stop motion models and armatures. Back around 1981/1982, he got an excellent lead that one of the stop motion "Kong" spider models still existed, and eventually managed to track it down to it's current whereabouts. It apparently was once a part of the collection of the former Movie World Museum in Buena Park, CA -- this fantastic museum mainly consisted of famous movie cars, but they also had a huge collection of props and other items, most of which were never placed on display. Movie World closed down sometime in the very late 70's (or early 80's at the latest. What remained of their enormous collection -- which consisted of tens of thousands of pieces minimum -- were stored inside their enormous, three-story tall, football-field length warehouse in Ventura County (located about 20 minutes northwest of Magic Mountain).
Josh made an appointment, and we spent much of the day there, trying to locate the spider as well as having a blast just poking around and examing their amazing collection of movie props and cars. The custodians there had a "general" idea of where certain items were "likely located" -- supposedly the spider in question was somewhere on the second floor, west side -- which was still an enormous area to cover. So we spent hours looking through displays, pulling tarps off of items, opening boxes, and we finally found… it. I was a very large spider stop-motion model (at least 2-feet across), and in very good shape for being nearly 50 years old. From the research Josh did and the photos he located, the spider matched perfectly, and from all appearances WAS the actual spider from "King Kong" and not from some other movie -- like the various "original" Kong models/armatures that were actually from "Mighty Joe Young" or elsewhere.
Josh was thrilled more than I could ever say -- not only because his leads were correct, and we actually managed to find it in the warehouse, but that it did in fact seem to be the real mccoy. Don't even ask what he had to pay for this thing -- back then it was an enormous amount (especially for an 18 year old), although now, 23 years later, it would be considered a miniscule amount to pay for such a prize. Needless to say, the spider is one of the gems of his collection!
Just as an FYI, it was later confirmed/authenticated to be THE spider from the sequence -- it's the main one seen in the actual film still up top (it's not the the O'Brien one with the face & fangs). I'll see if I can get Josh to provide me with a recent picture, and if so, I'll post it up here for you folks.
Another cool item we discovered nearby was the King Kong stop motion model that David Allen created for the 1974 Volkswagen commercials. It was in it's own display care, and has Kong standing on top of the miniature top part of the Empire State Building… oh, just look at the picture below. This was an outstanding piece -- but with what the spider cost, there was no way Josh could also afford to purchase this (nor, for that matter, could I, since it was waaay out of my range!) … not that it mattered, since it was already on hold for someone else. At least we now know that it did find a good home, because it's a part of Bob Burns' amazing collection. Just for the hell of it, here's a copy of the VW Kong as it now exists:
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Lastly, my one major thrill for the day was poking around inside the "Movie Cars" section, and finding both the "Leslie Special" and the "Hannibal 8" (the two cars from "The Great Race") sitting in a corner. Wow!!! Let's just say that I wasted no time sitting inside the "Hannibal 8" and instructing Josh to "Push the button, Max!" Unfortunately, the cannon didn't pop out of the hood, since the keys were obviously not in the ignition, which means we also couldn't have it go up on its hydraulic jacks. (In a strange twist of fate, a large close/small room was located next to this car room, and it was filled with what looked like hundreds of thousands of different keys, piled up in huge, er, piles everywhere. It's possible the Hannibal keys were in there somewhere, but it wasn't worth the effort of finding, obviously. I guess this was the remain of some "key" museum display they had at some point… Even the custodian we asked didn't know why there was a roomful of keys. It was just "there" and something they had. Very strange… ) Still, great fun and a dream come true for me. Oh, and if anyone cares, both the Hannibal 8 and Leslie Special are now on display at the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles… but I doubt they'll let you sit in it and play around. I could kick myself for not bringing along a camera at the time, but who knew what I'd find there.) Here some old postcard pics from the museum of the cars:
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After spending most of the day at this warehouse, we were famished and stopped into a local small restaurant for a late lunch. After finally finding the spider, Josh wasn't going to let it out of his sight for a single moment, so we took it into the restaurant with us. We got some very surprised looks, but the best reaction was from the waitress when we placed our order, and asked for a plate of flies for our pet spider. She didn't actually see if at first on the chair, and said "Flies?"… but then noticed it, and without a hitch, said she's see if she could find some extra mosquitos as a tasty garnish. Ah, teenage fun… (The manager did have an initial issue with our bringing in this giant, um, spider, to his establishment, but after a quick explanation of its history and rarity, and not wanting to chance it being stolen from the car, he understood perfectly.)
Anyway, that's the end of my tale, and I hope you found the spider pit story interesting… or at the very least, at least being able to see a picture of the pit sequence being discussed here. I'm not sure if Josh has heard the rumor yet regarding the supposedly-found footage (I myself only heard this yesterday), but if this turns out to be true, he'd definitely know about it or be able to find out what's up through various connections.
I'll give him a call later and see if he can provide any additional information on the subject (and to make sure he contacts Warner about his spider so they can get hopefully get some shots of it onto the set if it's not too late).
Regards to all,
Jeff
Peter Jackson CG's the classic missing spider scene from Kong, maybe. Kong purists are probably contemplating Hara-kiri at this defilement of a cinema treasure, but I for one can't wait to see what they've done with it. If it is true I hope they have a seamless branching option so we can also view the King of Kongs without the modern age tinkerings.
