Giant snake
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- This article covers the giant snake from the 1976 King Kong remake. For other giant snakes, see the disambiguation page..
A giant snake native to Skull Island appeared in the 1976 Dino De Laurentiis film King Kong.
Effectively filling the role of the Meat-Eater and other prehistoric creatures from the original 1933 film, the giant snake menaced Dwan after Kong brought her to his mountain lair. Kong wrestled with the serpent, which constricted itself around him, allowing Jack Prescott to rescue Dwan and escape. Enraged, Kong freed himself from the snake's grip and brutally killed it by tearing apart its jaws.
Development
The prop built for the snake weighed 80 pounds.[1]
Design
The giant snake is an oversized serpent with a light brown body covered in yellow and black stripes and spots. It possesses unusually horizontal pupils; real snakes have vertical pupils to help them focus on their prey. While the snake's body coloration and patterns and method of attacking foes are reminiscent of a boa constrictor, its teeth and fangs more closely resemble those of venomous snakes.
History
King Kong (1976)
After King Kong brought Dwan back to his lair on Skull Island, she was suddenly menaced by a huge snake. Kong lunged at the serpent to keep it away from her. Making a loud hissing noise, the serpent constricted itself around Kong and tried to crush him. While the giant ape was distracted, Jack Prescott arrived and rescued Dwan. When Kong saw Prescott take Dwan away, he became enraged and grabbed the snake's jaws, tearing them apart. Kong tossed the giant snake's lifeless body aside and pursued his bride back to the village on the outskirts of the jungle.
Abilities
Physical strength
Like real-life boa constrictors, the giant snake, when attacking, coils around its prey and tries to strangle it by tensing its muscles and tightening its coils.
Weaknesses
The weak articulation of the vertebrae near the head makes the giant snake vulnerable to enemies like Kong with sufficiently strong arms. The battle with the giant ape ended with Kong grabbing the snake's jaws and tearing them apart. In the extended cut of the film, Kong instead tore off its head.
Gallery
Trivia
- The giant snake is the only other monster besides King Kong himself to appear in the 1976 remake. Unlike in the other versions of the story, Kong never does battle with any dinosaurs on Skull Island, and his brief skirmish with the snake is the only monster battle in the film.
- There were, however, initial plans to include a single stop motion dinosaur to battle the live action King Kong suit actor but these were dropped for time and scheduling reasons.[2]
- Kong's method of killing the snake in the theatrical cut of the film, by prying apart its jaws, echoes his slaying of the Meat-Eater in the original 1933 film.
- King Kong's fight against the giant snake is approximately two minutes longer in the extended version of the film broadcast on NBC in 1978.[3] He kills it by tearing off its head rather than ripping apart its jaws in this version of the scene.
- The giant snake is the second snake monster to battle King Kong in a film, the first being the Giant Sea Serpent from King Kong Escapes. The giant boa may also be inspired by the serpentine Elasmosaurus that battled Kong in the original 1933 film.
See also
References
This is a list of references for Giant snake. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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