Q. In the opening of “King Kong,” movie director Carl Denham (Jack Black) searches for an actress to star in a jungle action picture. After rattling off a list of candidates, he asks, “What about Fay?” — only to be told that Fay is busy making a picture with RKO. Who is he talking about?
A. Fay Wray starred as Ann Darrow in the original, 1933 “King Kong.” Director Peter Jackson first asked Wray to say the movie’s immortal last line “It was beauty killed the beast,” which Black now delivers. Wray died during the remake’s production at age 96.
Q. How much of “Kong” was shot in New York City?
A. Zero percent. Jackson and his crew re-created 1930s New York on a “vacant site in Seaview, an industrial suburb” near Wellington, New Zealand, according to “The Making of King Kong.” Working from period photographs, Jackson’s Weta Digital company created the Big Apple’s skyline on top of real, blocklong physical sets.
Q. Andy Serkis is credited as playing Kong. But isn’t the beast computer animated?
A. Wearing a motion capture or “mocap” gorilla suit, Serkis performed many of Kong’s physical and facial movements, which were then transferred to computers and animated by artists. To prepare for “Kong,” Serkis watched hours of gorilla behavior on videotape — even traveling to Rwanda to study silverback gorillas with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.
Serkis, who previously played (and voiced) the computer-animated Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, can be seen in human form as Lumpy the cook in “King Kong.”
Q. With all the jostling Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) suffers in the hands of Kong, wouldn’t she have suffered whiplash?
A. If not whiplash, then certainly severe nausea. (At one point Darrow passes out during a bumpy ride in one of Kong’s mitts, as he runs through the jungle.) According to WebMD.com, whiplash can be treated with pain medications such as “aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen” — though Darrow might consider Kong’s fleas a more pressing problem. Should “King Kong” morph into a Six Flags ride, they’d almost certainly install a whiplash-reducing headrest and fleas-free section.