Kong: King of the Apes

Kong: King of the Apes is an American/Japanese/Canadian animated web series that is produced by 41 Entertainment LLC, Arad Animation, and animated by OLM, Digital and Sprite Animation Studios. It is the third animated series in the King Kong franchise. The series was released to Netflix on April 15, 2016. The second season premiered on May 4, 2018, and was the final season of the show to be produced.

Kong: King of the Apes
GenreAnimation, adventure, science fantasy, drama
Based onKing Kong
by Merian C. Cooper
Edgar Wallace
Developed byAvi Arad
Allen Bohbot
Composer(s)Allen Bohbot
Country of originUnited States
Canada
Japan
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes23
Production
Executive producer(s)Avi Arad
Allen Bohbot
Producer(s)Alexandra Bland
Running time22 minutes
Production company(s)
DistributorNetflix Streaming Services
41 Entertainment
Release
Original networkNetflix
Original releaseApril 15, 2016 (2016-04-15) –
May 4, 2018 (2018-05-04)
Chronology
Preceded byKong: The Animated Series
Related showsTarzan and Jane

Synopsis

Entertainment Weekly provides the following synopsis: "Set in 2050, Kong becomes a wanted fugitive after wreacking [sic] havoc at Alcatraz Island’s Natural History and Marine Preserve. What most humans on the hunt for the formidable animal don’t realize, though, is that Kong was framed by an evil genius who plans to terrorize the world with an army of enormous robotic dinosaurs. As the only beast strong enough to save humanity from the mechanical dinos, Kong must rely on the help of three kids who know the truth about him."[1]

Characters

Main characters
  • Lukas Remy (voiced by Alessandro Juliani, later by Giles Panton): A wildlife enthusiast, Lukas is the son of Leo Remy and twin brother of Richard. He loves and cares about animals, and has the closest bond to Kong. He opposes his brother's wicked schemes with the help of Kong and their friends.
  • Kong (voiced by Lee Tockar): As a baby, Kong was captured by poachers but broke free and wound up befriending Lukas when he was young. Some time later when he was bigger, Kong saved Richard from a fire (from which Richard had to get a prosthetic eye) but Richard was not grateful and even tried to blame Kong for the fire. Kong is somewhat child-like (having the mentality of a three year old child) but has a strong bond with Lukas and the rest of the team. He became a fugitive of the law after being framed by Richard and so works with Lukas to fight against Richard's evil plans, before Richard's schemes were revealed to public.
  • Doug "Jonesy" Jones (voiced by Viv Leacock): Jonesy is Lukas' best (human) friend and the team technical specialist. He has a questionable attraction to Botila.
  • Amy Quon (voiced by Shannon Chan-Kent): Amy is a veterinarian and the older sister of Danny. She is of Chinese descent. Following the first 2 episodes of season 2, she leaves the team and returns to China.
  • Danny Quon (voiced by Vincent Tong): Danny is an amateur animal-whisperer, able to speak with animals and one of Kong's best friends. He is of Chinese descent.
  • Anita (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain): Anita is a Spanish housekeeper for the Remy family and was the nanny of Lukas and Richard when they were children, and later Kong, loving them all like surrogate sons. Even after they've all grown up, she cares for them deeply. Including Richard, though it breaks Anita's heart that he has changed for the worst. Her grandniece is Franciska.
  • Chatter (voiced by Alessandro Juliani, later Vincent Tong): Chatter is an aptly-named parrot a Scarlet Macaw owned by Anita, and is known as the world's first bionic bird after Leo Remy "saved" his life by replacing his damaged wing with a bionic prosthetic wing.
  • Franciska (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain): Franciska (nicknamed Panchi) is Anita's grandniece, and joined the team after they came to save her from a giant anaconda. She is very intelligent for her age and loves animals like Lukas does, and admires him to the point of wanting to work with animals and protect nature.

Recurring characters
  • Leo Remy (voiced by Lee Tockar): Leo was the father of Lukas and Richard. He clearly favored Lukas, as he could never convince Richard to appreciate nature as Richard favored bionics. After a falling out the two of them became distanced both physically and emotionally. He developed a wildlife research center (partly to house Kong) but eventually passed away, leaving the research center (dubbed "Kong Island" by fans) to his sons.
  • Lucky Liger: Lucky is a Liger cub and the son of Lady. He lives with the team and is a beloved friend of Kong.
  • Lady Liger: Lady was the mother of Lucky until the internal injuries of a robot attack and extreme stress caused her to die. Richard cloned her into three bionic Ligers but they were rescued and sent to live in the wild to live peacefully. Although they are clones, they all share the same loving bond the original Lady had with Lucky.
  • Decker (voiced by Lee Tockar): The police commissioner, Decker leads his police forces in pursuing Kong, Lukas, and their friends, mistakenly believing them to be criminals (due to Richard framing them). After Richard's criminal activities are revealed, Decker apologizes to Kong and his friends.
  • Zippi (voiced by Kathleen Barr): A baby dinosaur.
  • Apex (voiced by Samuel Vincent): Leader of a clan of Apes.
  • Mummo (voiced by Kathleen Barr): The Apes' resident cook, who becomes friends with fellow cook Anita.

Antagonists
  • Richard Remy (voiced by Samuel Vincent): The evil twin brother of Lukas and the son of Leo. Since childhood, Richard he has always irrationally hated nature and Kong. He was also so obsessed with bionics that he would even turn himself into the world's first "bionoman". As a child, his reckless misuse of his father's laser equipment almost got him killed in an accidental fire. Luckily, Kong saved Richard's life. Unfortunately, his eye was damaged and had to be replaced with a bionic one. He tried to blame Kong for the fire in an attempt to banish Kong from his life. However, his ruse was seen through by everyone immediately. When they defend Kong for saving him, Richard expresses no gratitude to the ape for saving him and when they refuse Richard's final demand to get rid of Kong he chooses to leave his father and brother to live with his mother in Boston. As an adult, Richard has turned out the polar opposite of his brother, especially in morality. After his father dies, Richard tries to take control over Kong Island. When Lukas gets in the way of Richard's bionic research, he frames Kong to turn public opinion against him, resulting in Kong and Lukas becoming fugitives. They work against Richard to stop his nefarious schemes. However, at the end of season one, he is exposed as a criminal and ultimately betrayed by Botila, plotting his revenge before getting arrested in the series finale.
  • Botila (voiced by Kathleen Barr): Botila is a bionic gynoid and personal assistant of Richard. She behaves in a mostly robotic manner but after enduring Richard's abuse for long enough, she turns against him, although they soon come to an uneasy truce and continue to conspire against Kong. In the season one finale, Botila ultimately betrays Richard, and takes over his Bionobots, declaring herself "Empress Botila" of the AI Liberation Front. Her servant abuse eventually turned her army against her, and she was incarcerated in the finale.
  • Richie: The very first robotic creation of Richard, it later becomes a servant of Botila before reforming in a new life.
  • Brag and Wheeler: Two poachers that tried to hunt Kong as a baby. The duo were dropped in season 2.
  • Bionobots: The Bionobots are Richard's creations and serve as his personal army. Due to his love of dinosaurs, they are all designed after various species of dinos. After Botila's betrayal, they become part of her AI Liberation Front. Several "Frankenbots" were created as a security measure on Kong Island by Botila, before being reprogrammed by Richard for his revenge.
    • Bionobotic Tyrannosaurus
    • Bionobotic Triceratops
    • Bionobotic Pteranodons
    • Bionobotic Squid
    • Bionobotic Megalodon
    • Botila clones (voiced by Kathleen Barr): Three clones of Botila who serve as her servants. They later turn against Botila and ultimately help in stopping her and Richard.
    • Bionobot Richard
    • a mind controlled Anaconda though the anaconda seems to be the size of a Titanoboa or 48 feet although they are extinct.

Cast

Episodes

There are also battle videos which are unlocked by watching specific episodes.

Season 1 (2016)
  1. Kong: King of the Apes (April 15, 2016) – As baby Kong grows into a powerful ape, Lukas and his scientist father do all they can to protect him. But someone else wants Kong out of the picture.
  2. Snake in the Grass (April 15, 2016) – Lukas, Kong and friends race to save Anita's niece from a giant anaconda, while Richard plots to turn the snake into a high-tech fighting machine.
  3. Kong In 3D (April 15, 2016) – When Kong is caught stealing diamonds on live TV, Lukas knows something fishy is going on.
  4. Poacher's Prize (April 15, 2016) – As the team heads to Richard's lab to rescue liger clones, Jonesy finds a way to make Kong invisible. But the camouflage keeps wearing off too soon!
  5. King's Ransom (April 15, 2016) – Richard captures one of the team and lays a trap for the others. Kong must confront his biggest fear to save Lukas from a pair of nasty robo-sharks.
  6. Little Bots, Big Problems (April 15, 2016) – In public, Richard plays the hero to set an evil new plan in motion. Danny and Panchi visit the island in disguise to find out what he's up to.
  7. Botila-Zilla (April 15, 2016) – Kong and team scramble to hide from the police and come face-to-face with Richard's latest creation: a robotic T. rex with the mind of Botila.
  8. Bionic Arms Race (April 15, 2016) – As Richard sells his bionobots to armies around the world, Jonesy tries to hack into Botila's system to uncover the grand plan.
  9. Honey, I Shrunk the Kong (April 15, 2016) – A shrink-ray attack leaves a tiny Kong in the clutches of Richard and Botila. And this time, he can't rely on his super strength to survive.
  10. Kong On Ice (April 15, 2016) – As the team races to stop an alarming new threat in the Arctic, Kong learns to fight on ice and Botila takes a defiant step.
  11. Takeover (April 15, 2016) – Botila turns the tables on Richard and picks up a disturbing new habit. Lukas and friends consider a surprising request.
  12. Robosquitoes (April 15, 2016) – As Richard prepares to unleash a swarm of insects armed with sinister powers, Panchi's birthday makes Kong curious about his own birth family.
  13. Missing (April 15, 2016) – While Jonesy and Amy deliver the antidote, Lukas and the kids search for Kong. Richard lures the team into a final showdown on the rim of a volcano.

Season 2 (2018)
  1. (14) The Primordial World Below (May 4, 2018) – After falling into a volcano, Kong and pals end up in an underground world crawling with real dinosaur! On Kong Island, Botila plots a revolution.
  2. (15) Lost Civilization...Found! (May 4, 2018) – The gang braves geysers, stampedes and other nasty surprises to get to the temple, where they discover new clues to Kong's past.
  3. (16) Emergence (May 4, 2018) – At the other end of the tunnel, the team finds the giant creatures wreaking havoc in Egypt, and Richard learns he is a wanted man.
  4. (17) Redemption (May 4, 2018) – Happy to be seen as a hero again, Kong basks in the spotlight at a ceremony in New York. But when Botila shows up, the party turns into a showdown.
  5. (18) No Place Like Home (May 4, 2018) – In need of a new home base, the team heads to Kong Island, only to find it overrun with mischievous monkeys and other bionobots.
  6. (19) Cave-In (May 4, 2018) – Back at the temple, Danny and Zippi explore a secret tunnel while the others deal with a sudden cave-in. Botila meets her match in a ship's computer.
  7. (20) Sky's the Limit (May 4, 2018) – Lukas helps rescue a stranged baby dino, the apes reveal what Danny's key can do, and Botila puts her new powers to use in space.
  8. (21) Lab Rat (May 4, 2018) – When Botila threatens to blow up Earth, Kong and pals blast off on a mission to disarm the satellite. But Jonesy ends up stuck on the wrong ship.
  9. (22) Rise of Evil (May 4, 2018) – Fed up with Botila, the clones and bionobots stage a rebellion. While chasing Zippi, Kong is captured by a mysterious figure.
  10. (23) Battle Royale (May 4, 2018) – Following Kong's signal back to Kong Island, Lukas and friends face off against a supersized enemy and get help from a surprising source.

Reception

The series was met with negative reviews by critics and King Kong fans alike. MiscRave noted that while the show had potential it had a young demographic in mind which ultimately meant the show did not have compelling stories to tell.[2]

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References
  1. Netflix sets plans for animated series 'Kong - King of the Apes'
  2. miscrave (2017-03-14). "Looking back on.. Kong King of the Apes » MiscRave". MiscRave. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
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