Meat-Eater

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Meat-Eater
The Meat-Eater in King Kong (1933)
Alternate names Meat Eater, King Dinosaur, Man-eater, Tyrannosaurus rex, Allosaurus, Allosaur, Carnosaur, Monstro-Rex
Species Carnivorous theropod dinosaur
Height 25-30 feet[1]
Weight 12 tons[2]
Other Stats Tooth length: 16 inches[2]
Head length: 8 Feet[2]
Enemies King Kong
Played by Stop-motion animation
First appearance King Kong (1933)
Roar(s)

The Meat-Eater[3][4] is a carnivorous dinosaur that famously battled King Kong in the 1933 RKO Radio Pictures film King Kong, as well as the 1932 novelization based on its script. The meat-eater also appeared in Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland's 2005 rewrite of the novelization titled Merian C. Cooper's King Kong, and other members of its species were featured in the book's official prequel and sequel, Kong: King of Skull Island.

It has been debated for many years whether or not the theropod dinosaur that King Kong fought in the 1933 film was actually a Tyrannosaurus or an Allosaurus. In the film's script[3] and novelization, it is only referred to as a "meat-eater." Director Merian C. Cooper referred to the theropod as Allosaurus, while stop-motion animators Willis O'Brien and Marcel Delgado identified it as a Tyrannosaurus.[5] In its more recent appearances in literature, the meat-eater's description more closely matches that of a Tyrannosaurus than an Allosaurus.

Name

The dinosaur is never referred to by any specific name onscreen, however the screenplay for King Kong[3] as well as the film's novelization[4] refer to it as the "meat-eater." The dinosaur is also referred to as a "meat eater" (unhyphenated) in the 2005 rewrite of the novelization by Brad Strickland and Joe DeVito, while the novel's prequel and sequel Kong: King of Skull Island features another dinosaur more closely resembling a T-rex with the same name, which also refers to the adult individual as a king dinosaur. Willis O'Brien had stated that the dinosaur was meant to be a Tyrannosaurus rex, and as a result the creature is often considered to be such by most audiences, though director Merian C. Cooper referred to the dinosaur as an Allosaurus.[5] In Russell Blackford's 2005 sequel to the original novelization, the Meat-Eater is referred to by the narrator as an Allosaur, which, while not being specifically an Allosaurus, would point to it being in the clade Allosauridae.

Development

The Tyrannosaurus rex stop motion model used in King Kong was originally created for Willis O'Brien's canceled film Creation, as was the case with many of the creatures featured in the film.

Design

The Meat-Eater's puppet as seen in the original King Kong was based on the famous tail-dragging skeletal mount of the Tyrannosaurus rex displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in the early 20th century, which was later reconfigured in the 1980's because it was anatomically inaccurate.[5] Its bumpy skin is shown to be pinkish-brown in the colorized version of the film, however the novelization's dust jacket portrays it with smooth green skin and a crest of spines running down its back, where its head is additionally supported by a supple, serpentine neck. The novel Kong Reborn also refers to the Meat-Eater as "jungle green" in color. Its mouth is filled with sharp teeth, and it has two small, nearly useless arms that are described as only being useful for putting food into its mouth. Its strong hind legs allowed it to move around through a series of short hops. In the film and the original novelization, the Meat-Eater is depicted with three digits on its hands. In Merian C. Cooper's King Kong and Kong: King of Skull Island, the Meat-Eater is redesigned to reflect more modern reconstructions of Tyrannosaurus rex, with a more horizontal posture and its tail held suspended in the air behind it, as well as a shorter and less curved neck. The Meat-Eater still has a crest of spikes running all the way from the top of its head to its tail. In these novels, the Meat-Eater now has only two digits on its hands, like Tyrannosaurus rex is now known to have possessed.

Ecology

In Kong: King of Skull Island, the Meat-Eater is shown to be a carrion feeder, preying in the wake of Gaw and her Deathrunners. Its young bore feathers that fell off with age.[6] This is supported in Kong Reborn, in which the Meat-Eater is reported to normally bully smaller predators out of their meals while being equally capable of taking down prey for itself.

In Kong Reborn it is theorized that the Meat-Eater is a descendant from the Allosaurus that were stranded on Skull Island during tectonic migration, and that they grew to be far larger than even the Tyrannosaurus.

History

King Kong (1933)

The Meat-Eater was among the prehistoric creatures living on Skull Island in 1933. As King Kong was travelling across Skull Island with his "bride," Ann Darrow, he realized that the crew of the Venture were following him, and so he set Ann down atop a tree while he went to attack the expedition. While Kong was distracted by this, the Meat-Eater, which was walking by in the jungle, came into view of Ann Darrow. Horrified by the sight of it, Ann screamed, which only attracted the beast's attention. The beast then approached the dead tree intent on eating her. After hearing Ann's screams, Kong rushed to her aid, and tackled the dinosaur. After a long and drawn-out battle, Kong climbed on the dinosaur's back and snapped the Meat-Eater's jaws, incapacitating it, before continuing on his way with Ann. A short time later, Jack Driscoll encountered the Meat-Eater, still breathing but barely alive. As he watched, the dinosaur finally died.

Books

King Kong (1932)

The Meat-Eater in The Illustrated King Kong

After hopping out of the jungle, the Meat-Eater saw Ann Darrow in a tree while Kong was distracted by shaking the crew of the S.S. Venture off of a log bridging a chasm. After Ann screamed in terror, Kong threw the log into the pit and sprang on the Meat-Eater. The dinosaur quickly kicked Kong off with its incredible hind leg strength, but Kong was able to circumvent this by injuring one of its legs. Kong then easily overpowered the Meat-Eater and pried open its jaws, leaving them broken, and the creature dead.

Merian C. Cooper's King Kong

The Meat Eater discovered Darrow high up in a tree, and extended to its full height to examine her before Kong came running. Kong beat the beast back, and it snapped to try and retaliate, but Kong pushed the beast over. The bulky Meat-Eater flailed about in an attempt to regain its footing while Kong roared in victory. The Meat-Eater roared back in defiance, and was nearly back on its feet before Kong began beating it again. The Meat Eater, once again, pushed Kong away with a kick before he returned and tried to attack it again. The Meat-Eater however, turned around and struck him with its tail. Kong grabbed the tail, and began to pound the Meat Eater’s hips mercilessly, causing one of its legs to give way and break under the weight. AS the Meat-Eater attempted to get up, Kong grabbed its skull from behind and beat the reptile’s head, shattering many of its teeth. The Meat-Eater attempted to thrash Kong off to the bitter end, when he snapped its jaws.

Kong: King of Skull Island

After Gaw and her vicious pack of Deathrunners slaughtered a mother and father kong and left their adolescent son for dead, a meat eater and its offspring scavenging for food came upon the carcass of the father kong and began to eat it. Mistaking the meat eater as being responsible for killing his parents, the young kong attacked the dinosaur. The meat eater managed to knock the young kong into a ravine by hitting him with its tail, then it and its offspring returned to their meal.

Kong Reborn

After lumbering out of the jungle to a nearby watering hole searching for food, the Meat-Eater decided not to challenge a pack of raptors for their hadrosaur calf and instead it set its sights on a limping gigantic rhinoceros. After a brief battle, the Meat-Eater took a considerable bite out of the rhino's back and while it did continue to fight, the Meat-Eater leaped on its back and bit down on its neck, killing it. The Meat-Eater then dragged the carcass away to eat it and to digest it for a few days, reveling in its position as Skull Island's uncontested top predator.

In January of 2009, a Meat-Eater spotted a Giant Guar grazing near the Skull Island Wall. The bull ran away, but the Carnosaur chased after it and quickly caught up. It killed its prey completely oblivious to the humans that had invaded its home. A few days later, and far deeper into the jungle, a Meat-Eater, either the one that had taken the Guar, or another, came across a much larger party of humans and attacked. It crushed one of the humans underfoot while charging, and tore another in half with its jaws. It quickly turned around and used its muscular tail to injure a great deal of the party. The rest of the humans attacked with tranquilizer darts and live rounds as Kong attacked. Not being fully grown, Kong maneuvered under the Meat-Eater and begat biting at its throat. Despite the reptile's best efforts, it eventually succumbed to the onslaught of man and ape.

Video games

King Kong: Skull Island Adventure

Denham's sketch of the Meat-Eater in King Kong: Skull Island Adventure

During the events of Kong: King of Skull Island, Vincent Denham looked over the Skull Island Wall and saw a Meat-Eater, which he noted only as a previously unidentified species, feasting on the corpse of a giant snail. Whether or not the Meat-Eater killed the mollusk or simply found it as carrion was unclear.

Gallery

Main article: Meat-Eater/Gallery.

Video

Wikizilla: YouTube Kyoryu Profile: Meat-Eater

See also

References

This is a list of references for Meat-Eater. 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]

  1. Russell Blackford (November 1, 2005). Kong Reborn. ibooks. p. 214. ISBN 1596871334.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Russell Blackford (November 1, 2005). Kong Reborn. ibooks. pp. Prologue: Skull Island. ISBN 1596871334.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 King Kong - 1933 Screenplay (3/5)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Delos W. Lovelace (1932). King Kong. Grosset and Dunlap. p. 135-137. ISBN 0448439131.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Morton, Ray. (2005) King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson, p. 37
  6. Brad Strickland, John Michlig (18 October 2005). Kong: King of Skull Island. Dark Horse. p. 55. ISBN 1595820213. Unknown parameter |ed= ignored (|edition= suggested) (help)

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