King Kong Vs. Godzilla - Legacy

Legacy

Due to this film's great box office success, Toho announced plans to do a sequel almost immediately. The sequel was simply called Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla. Apparently though, the project never evolved past that announcement.

Also due to the great box office success of this film, Toho was convinced to build a franchise around the character of Godzilla and started producing sequels on a yearly basis. The next project was to pit Godzilla against another famous movie monster icon: a giant version of the Frankenstein monster. In 1963, Kaoru Mabuchi (a.k.a. Takeshi Kimura) wrote a script called Frankenshutain tai Gojira. Ultimately, Toho rejected the script and the next year pitted Mothra against Godzilla instead, in the 1964 film Mothra vs. Godzilla. This began an intra-company style crossover where kaiju from other Toho kaiju films would be brought into the Godzilla series.

Toho was eager to build a series around their version of King Kong but were refused by RKO. They worked with the character again in 1967 though, when they helped Rankin/Bass co produce their film King Kong Escapes (which was loosely based on a cartoon series R/B had produced). That film, however, was not a sequel to King Kong vs. Godzilla.

Henry Saperstein (whose company UPA co-produced the 1965 film Frankenstein Conquers the World and the 1966 film War of the Gargantuas with Toho) was so impressed with the octopus sequence that he requested the creature to appear in these two productions. The giant octopus appeared in an alternate ending in Frankenstein Conquers the World that was intended specifically for the American market but was ultimately never used. The creature did reappear at the beginning of the films sequel War of the Gargantuas this time being retained in the finished film.

Even though it was only featured in this one film (although it was used for a couple of brief shots in Mothra vs. Godzilla), this Godzilla suit was always one of the more popular designs among fans from both sides of the Pacific. It formed the basis for some early merchandise in the US in the 1960s, such as a popular model kit by Aurora Plastics Corporation, and a popular board game by Ideal Toys.

The King Kong suit from this film was redressed into the giant monkey Goro for episode 2 (GORO and Goro) of the television show Ultra Q. Afterwards it was reused for the water scenes (although it was given a new mask/head) for the film King Kong Escapes.

Scenes of the giant octopus attack were reused in black and white for episode 23 (Fury of the South Seas) of the television show Ultra Q.

A scene from this film was reused as stock footage in the 1972 film Godzilla vs. Gigan. The scene of the construction vehicles digging the giant pit to trap Godzilla, was reused to portray the construction vehicles building the World Children's Land theme park in Godzilla vs Gigan.

In 1992 (to coincide with the company's 60th anniversary), Toho wanted to remake this film as Godzilla vs. King Kong as part of the Heisei series of Godzilla films. However, according to the late Tomoyuki Tanaka, it proved to be difficult to obtain permission to use King Kong. Next, Toho thought to make Godzilla vs. Mechani-Kong but, (according to Koichi Kawakita), it was discovered that obtaining permission even to use the likeness of King Kong would be difficult. Mechani-Kong was replaced by Mechagodzilla, and the project eventually evolved into Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II in 1993.

The film was referenced in Da Lench Mob's 1992 single "Guerillas in tha Mist".

In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the special effects crew was instructed to watch the giant octopus scene to get reference for the Kraken.

King Kong and Godzilla were reunited again in a Bembos burger commercial from Peru. Over the years, the film would be a cult classic and was reworked and parodied on YouTube and other media. Reaction to the original movie is still mixed, and TV Guide called it a "laughable clash between the two greatest movie monsters".