King Klunk

Last updated

King Klunk
King Klunk Screenshot.jpg
Pooch and his girlfriend about to photograph King Klunk.
Directed by Walter Lantz
Story byWalter Lantz
Produced byWalter Lantz
StarringJoe Twerp
Tex Avery
Elvia Allman [1]
Music byJames Dietrich
Animation byManuel Moreno
Lester Kline
Fred Kopietz
Charles Hastings
Ernest Smythe
Color processB&W
Production
company
Walter Lantz Productions
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • September 4, 1933 (1933-09-04)
Running time
9 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

King Klunk is a 1933 animated short subject, produced and directed by Walter Lantz. It stars Pooch the Pup and is the twelfth of the thirteen cartoons featuring that character. The cartoon is a parody of the RKO feature King Kong , which premiered six months earlier to this cartoon's release on September 4, 1933 from Universal Pictures. [2]

Contents

Plot

Pooch and a girl coonhound sail into Africa, looking to take photographs of King Klunk, the largest gorilla in the planet.

On the continent, a pack of chimpanzees are doing a dance ritual as well preparing a meal for their gigantic gorilla leader. King Klunk immediately shows up, excited to get his lunch, but when Klunk sees that the amount of food in the platter is inadequate, he rejects it. While thinking what he should feed on, the hungry gorilla sees Pooch and the girl coonhound walk by from several yards away. King Klunk then quietly captures Pooch's partner and replaces her with a lady chimpanzee.

Pooch, unaware of the exchange, still carries on in his exploration. He even holds the hand of the lady chimpanzee. When he looks back, the pup realizes and is most surprised. As he runs, the lady chimpanzee starts following him, wanting to make Pooch her date.

When King Klunk has the girl coonhound in his grasp and is ready to devour her, the chimpanzee cupid suddenly appears and shoots him with an arrow. In this, rather than eating her, the love-stricken gorilla chooses to merely hold that dog and give warm smiles.

Pooch continues running until he loses the lady chimp. As he runs again, Pooch, without noticing, runs up to the top of King Klunk. The gorilla immediately sees and blows him away where he falls into a pond.

In the pond, Pooch swims toward what looks like a harmless boulder extending above the surface, but the rock is actually a dinosaur that rises.

The dinosaur chases Pooch on land but couldn't keep track of its prey. After losing the little dog, the dinosaur then sees the girl coonhound still being held by King Klunk, and therefore wants to make a meal out of her.

Not wanting to relinquish anything, King Klunk puts the girl coonhound safely on a tree and goes on to brawl with the dinosaur. The two beasts trade attacks. Eventually, King Klunk comes out the victor.

When the girl coonhound is back in King Klunk's paw, Pooch swings on jungle vines and rescues her. The two dogs swing their way onto a plateau. As the gorilla goes after them, Pooch and the girl coonhound find a giant egg on a nest and push it toward their chaser. Upon being pinned down by the egg, King Klunk is motionless and admits defeat.

Instead of taking pictures, Pooch and the girl coonhound tie King Klunk to the back of their boat and pull him across the Atlantic. They decide to take their creature to the United States.

On American soil, King Klunk, in chains, is presented at a theater where spectators come to see him. Suddenly, the chimpanzee cupid reappears and shoots him with another arrow. His mood is again changed from bored to in-loved. King Klunk once again set sights on the girl coonhound and starts straining the chains. The spectators panic and flee the theater.

King Klunk is able to escape and starts chasing the crowd on the main street. He eventually finds the girl coonhound, picks her up, and climbs The Empire State Building.

Determined to salvage his sweetheart, Pooch boards a fighter plane and takes off. The little dog then fires his machine gun and cannon at the scaling gorilla. After landing several impacts, Pooch ultimately brings down King Klunk who falls from the building and falls to his death. Pooch and the girl coonhound are together again.

Reception

Motion Picture Herald (September 23, 1933): "Pooch the Pup and his girl in Africa, when a giant ape captures the girl. Pooch rescues her, and they bring back the ape to exhibit in a sideshow. Everything goes well until the ape breaks loose, captures the girl again and escapes to the top of a skyscraper with her. Pooch effects another rescue, via a cartoonist's idea of an aeroplane and destroys the monster. It is an amusing takeoff in cartoon form on King Kong ". [3]

Availability

The short is available on The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection DVD box set. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Lantz Productions</span> American animation studio

Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bimbo (Fleischer Studios)</span> 1930s cartoon dog, companion of Betty Boop

Bimbo is a fat, black and white cartoon pup created by Fleischer Studios. He is most well known for his role in the Betty Boop cartoon series, where he featured as Betty's main love interest. A precursor design of Bimbo, originally named Fitz, first appeared in the Out of the Inkwell series.

King Kong is one of the best-known figures in cinema history. He and the series of films featuring him are frequently referenced in popular culture around the world. King Kong has achieved the stature of a pop-culture icon and modern myth. King Kong has inspired advertisements, cartoons, comic books, films, magazine covers, plays, poetry, political cartoons, short stories, television programmes, and other media. The forms of references to King Kong range from straight copies to parodies and humorous references.

The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 is a three-disc DVD collection of theatrical cartoons starring Woody Woodpecker and the other Lantz characters, produced by Walter Lantz Productions for Universal Pictures between 1932 and 1965. The set was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on April 15, 2008. Included in the set are seventy-five cartoon shorts, including the next forty-five Woody Woodpecker cartoons, continuing the production order from Volume 1. The other thirty cartoons include five Andy Panda shorts, five Chilly Willy shorts, five Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts, five Musical Favorites, and ten Cartune Classics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmer the Great Dane</span> Fictional character

Elmer the Great Dane is a Walter Lantz character in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon series, who premiered in the 1935 short Elmer the Great Dane. The character's name is most likely a reference to Elmer, the Great, a 1933 film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pooch the Pup</span> 1930s cartoon dog

Pooch the Pup is a cartoon animal character, an anthropomorphic dog, appearing in Walter Lantz cartoons during the studio's black-and-white era. The character appeared in 13 shorts made in 1932 and 1933.

<i>Africa</i> (1930 film) African American 1930 filmings

Africa is a 1930 Walter Lantz cartoon short featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Lovesick is a 1937 cartoon produced by Walter Lantz Productions featuring the later, post-1935 white-furred version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, together with his dog Doxie the dachshund.

<i>The Butcher Boy</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

The Butcher Boy is an animated cartoon by Walter Lantz Productions. It is the second of the thirteen Pooch the Pup cartoons.

She Done Him Right is a 1933 short animated cartoon by Walter Lantz Productions. It is the 13th and final short of the Pooch the Pup series.

<i>The Lumber Champ</i> 1933 American film

The Lumber Champ is an animated short film distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the eighth of the thirteen Pooch the Pup cartoons.

<i>Parking Space</i> (film) 1933 film

Parking Space is a 1933 American Pre-Code short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions, starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 77th Oswald film created during the Lantz era and the 128th to feature the character.

Merry Dog is a 1933 short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions and is the sixth of the Pooch the Pup theatrical cartoons.

Hot and Cold is a short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions and is the eleventh of the thirteen Pooch the Pup cartoons.

The Crowd Snores is a short animated film produced by Walter Lantz Productions. It is the third film to feature Pooch the Pup. The film is also a parody of the Warner Bros. feature film The Crowd Roars.

The Under Dog is a 1932 short animated film produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the fourth film featuring Pooch the Pup.

Pin Feathers is a 1933 short animated film produced by Walter Lantz Productions and released by Universal Pictures. It is the 10th Pooch the Pup cartoon.

Wild and Woolly is a 1932 American Western short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions. It stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

The Stone Age is a 1931 short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions and one of many featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

References

  1. ↑ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices from the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 200. ISBN   979-8-88771-010-5.
  2. 1 2 "The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1933". The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  3. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 107. ISBN   978-0810832503.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.