Kong: The Animated Series

Kong: The Animated Series is an animated series that continues what happened after events of the movie King Kong (1933). Kong had aired on BKN in 2000, and was created to compete with Godzilla: The Series. In May 2001, Fox Kids began airing reruns of the first 13 episodes. Then, Jetix began airing reruns on September 9, 2005 as a prelude to the release of Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong. Also in 2005 a direct to DVD movie called Kong: King of Atlantis was released based on the series, followed by "Kong: Return to the Jungle" two years later. In King of Atlantis, Kong battles to save the mythical isle from a serpent queen. In Return to The Jungle, poachers attack Kong Island and capture its inhabitants to put on display in a zoo.

Plot

Kong: TAS is set decades after the movie's continuity, where the original Kong fell to his death from a Empire State Building, at the time of the series opening, which appears to be set well within reach of recent times (there is proof of computers and technology more advanced than the original King Kong movie’s setting).

In the opening two-part episodes "The Return", a brilliant female scientist named Dr. Lorna Jenkins took DNA samples from Kong’s body and created a clone of him. Dr. Jenkins was able to do this, through researching genetic manipulation, with the implied aid of a collection of ancient, powerful artifacts called the Primal Stones (which are part of the same island home the original Kong came from).

While still small in his infancy, this new Kong was befriended by Dr. Jenkin’s young grandson, Jason, who visited both of them early on in his childhood years.

However, Dr. Jenkins’ research fell under the attention of an ambitious man named Ramon De la Porta; an archeologist who was driven by greed and lack of morals, as well as the need to make himself a success in the scientific world. De La Porta and his men (disguised in a stealth costume) tried to get Dr. Jenkins to share her discoveries with him, but when she refused he later tried to sneak into her lab and steal them. However, he was discovered by Dr. Jenkins and they had a scuffle.

During the struggle, De la Porta had his hand splashed with a chemical that dissolved his right hand. He fled Dr. Jenkins’ lab, but a fire had started, and it burned to the ground.

Dr. Jenkins and Kong both escaped the blaze, but in order to keep Kong safe, she spirited the young ape back to his former home on "Kong Island", where she sequestered herself for nearly 20 years while she continued to raise and protect Kong, while she continued her research on the Primal Stones. She did keep in touch with her grandson Jason, who she swore to secrecy about her location.

20 years later, Jason Jenkins is attending a seminar at college with his school mate and best friend, Eric "Tann" Tanenbaum, which is being taught by a Professor (who is actually De la Porta) who has befriended Jason to some degree. He convinces Jason to take him to see his grandmother, who along with Tann (who provides the aircraft transport) travels with Jason to Kong Island.

Upon arrival on Kong Island, Jason, Tann and De la Porta are confronted by a native girl named Lua, who is the local Shaman and protector of the island. She takes the others and De La Porta to a hidden cavern, where Dr. Jenkins has been continuing her research.

It is there that De La Porta is 'outed' by Dr. Jenkins, but not before De la Porta manages to get control of the quartett, after revealing that his right hand is a cybernetic replacement for his original that was dissolved.

He takes one of Dr. Jenkins' newest inventions called a Cyberlink; a headset that allows for access to the internet, two-way communiaction and an additional effect of being able to merge the wearer with another creature on a genetic level; resulting in the formation of a massive, hybrid creature. When Jason uses the cyberlink to merge with Kong, it is revealed that when Kong gets angrier he grows in both size and power, becoming "Mega-Kong", although the more obvious benefit of the merge is that Kong acquires Jason's knowledge of hand-to-hand combat for use against his adversaries. It also works in reverse, allowing Jason to merge Kong into himself to transport the massive ape more easily.

De La Porta tries to make Dr. Jenkins reveal the location of the Primal Stones, but Kong—now grown to a massive size—intervenes and sends De la Porta scrambling for his life. Jason is forced to use the Cyberlink to stop De La Porta, but the evil scientist escapes, with the promise to return one day to take his revenge and capture the Primal Stones for himself.

The series continue

The series follows the further adventures of Jason and Kong, who are aided by Tann, Dr. Jenkins and Lua in their battles against De la Porta and his henchmen Omar, Frazetti, Giggles, and Tiger Lucy. As well, Jason learns that the Primal Stones that De la Porta stole are part of a mystical seal that holds an ancient evil being named Chiros "The Destroyer", who is trapped underneath a temple near a massive volcano on Kong Island. The original Kong was tasked with keeping the balance of the Primal Stones, so the Chiros would never rise to threaten the world. Chiros has an ally in the sub-human creature named Harpy, who strives against Kong to upset the balance and free Chiros. He also has a powerful demon named Ominous as one of his minions who battles Kong.

All the while, Jason, Kong and his friends deal with other larger-than-life threats to the world, and travel the globe to save humanity; a feat made easy, thanks to the Cyberlink’s ability to reverse-merge Kong into Jason's body, allowing him to carry Kong anywhere they may need him and keep him contained until he is required, although the process can be uncomfortable due to the strong wills of both parties resulting in the occasional conflict for control.

Besides the threat of De la Porta, Jason, Kong, Tann, and Lua had some run-ins with a firearms dealer named Andre. On other occasions, movie director Howling Jack Crocket tries to prove to the world that Kong still exists.

The relationships between Jason, Tann, Kong and Lua are the foundation for their success against their foes. Jason treats Kong as a larger brother, signified by him calling Kong "bro", and he and Tann have been best friends for years. Lua, as the island Shaman has befriended Kong as part of her training, and duty to keep the island safe. Both Jason and Lua have some vested feelings for each other—hinting at a possible romance—ever since they first met (even though her and Tann did kiss once, while under the influence of two ancient rulers of a pre-Atlantian society which caused Jason to be jealous), seen where every time Lua hears of a girl Jason knows she becomes defensive and obviously jealous. As well as any new girl showing interest in him.

In what is chronologically the final episode (but isn't shown or listed as the final, as the last few episodes are mixed up), Kong, merged with Jason, throws Ominous into quicksand. De La Porta and Harpy use the Primal Stones to free Chiros, but De La Porta's life force is sucked out of him as part of the ritual. Harpy is defeated by Tann and killed when Lua uses the Primal Stones to strike her with lightning. Lua opens up a portal, and Kong defeats Chiros and throws him into the portal, sealing him back inside the rock. Kong destroys the rock, and De La Porta's life force returns to him, though it has been broken by the ritual, leaving him permanently incapacitated.

Characters

Kong: He is the genetic engineered clone created by Lorna Jenkins by using the DNA of the deceased original Kong and from her grandson's DNA. From that he has a younger brother relationship with Jason. He is known as The Protector, using his strength and the primal stones to protect the world from the demon Chrios from trying to destroy the world. Through the use of the Cyber-Link he can combine with Jason and when angry can grow to twice his sized however the rage clouds their judgment. They both have strong wills so he can only stay in Jason or vice versa for a short period of time before causing each other harm. He has heighten instincts, able to tell if something is wrong or if someone is not who they say they are, however because he cannot speak the others assume he is overreacting.

Jason Jenkins (voiced by Kirby Morrow): The orphaned grandson of Dr. Lorna Jenkins and "older brother" to Kong. With his DNA, Lorna was able to clone Kong after the original died from falling from the sky scraper. He is an Archeologist major in college and best friend to fellow classmate Tann. He is also a high level martial artists, yet it is never described what belt level but he was able to win a martial arts competition. After being tricked by Da La Porta and losing the Primal Stones, he Tann, Lua and Kong search for them all over the world while thwarting his attempts of activating them for evil purposes. It is obvious he has feelings for Lua. In the final episode, Lua and Jason confess their feelings for each other and nearly kiss, but Kong splashes them before they could. There were occasions where Jason merges with something other than Kong. In "Hidden Fears," Jason merged with Soara the Pteranodon and a Tyrannosaurus when Kong was incapacitated by a giant spider's venom that was used by Harpy. In "DNA Land," he merged with a Fennec Fox to get into Howling Jack Crockett's DNA Land animal park and later an eagle to get Kong out of there. In "The Renewal," Jason merged with a Pteranodon and then a Triceratops to stop a lava flow while Kong was busy fighting Ominous in a parallel world.

Eric “Tann” Tanenbaum (voiced by Scott McNeil): Best friend to Jason and fellow college student. He is apparently of Jewish heritage. Though he is very muscular he is a kind guy that will go out of the way to help his friends. He also takes martial arts and trains with Jason, but is not as good as Jason as he wasn't accepted to a martial arts tournament. His parents are very wealthy and always likes to buy new gadgets that later actually become very useful. He is an accomplished pilot, always seen flying the plane (or any other vehicle). He has a strong love for pizza, practically being the only thing he eats throughout the series is pineapple pizza. He often states his toes are itchy if he believes something bad is about to happen. In "Framed," he becomes a Godfather to his friend's new child.

Dr. Lorna Jenkins (voiced by Daphne Goldrick): Jason's grandmother and the one who cloned Kong. She is researching the different species on Kong Island as well as the Primal Stones before Da La Porta stole them. During the missions she stays back on the island giving information from her research lab in a hidden cave. She is able to help the team with her vast amount of friends in the archeological world to get the information they need. She is seen to be very attractive to her male friends, as they often flirt with her when they chat.

Lua (voiced by Saffron Henderson): The barefoot Shaman of Kong Island and she is also the last of her kind. She knows many secrets on Kong Island and helps Dr. Jenkins with her research as she knows Dr. Jenkins only wishes to help. She takes her position very seriously even though she is only at the beginning level, keeping the Island secrets from the group and several times risking her life. She has a pet Smilodon named Chondar. Because being on the island her entire life, she is quite naïve of the world. It is obvious she has feelings for Jason, as she always gets jealous when the mention of a past female friend of his comes up or another woman shows interest in him. In the final episode Lua and Jason confess their feelings for each other and nearly kiss, but Kong splashes them before they could. In Return to The Jungle, it is revealed that her tiger Chondar is now mother to a cub called Kip (who she named for acclaimed Indian author Rudyard Kipling, after receiving a copy of his novel The Jungle Book as a present from Dr. Jenkins).

The Antagonists:

Ramon De la Porta (voiced by David Kaye): One of the principla antagonists of the series. He is of Hispanic, presumably Mexican, descent. He and his men tried to steal the scientific secrets from Lorna Jenkins. An encounter with Jason and Kong resulted in him accidentally getting his right hand into a hot chemical when trying to reach for his gun. He and his henchmen escaped. 20 Years Later, Ramon got a job at the university where Jason and Tann attended. He is shown wearing gloves with one of them hiding a cybernetic hand to replace the one he lost. When Lorna Jenkins sends an E-Mail to her son, Ramon hacks into it to make it say that Ramon should be invited as well. Once on Kong Island when it came to meeting up with Lorna Jenkins, Ramon's true colars are shown as he steals one of the Cyber-Links and merges with Lua's smilodon Chon-Dar. Kong managed to fend him off. He does managed to sneak back and capture Dr. Jenkins in order for her to lead her to the Primal Stones. Kong managed to fight him off when he managed to merge with a Cave Bear. When Ramon discovered the temple where the Primal Stones are, he managed to steal them even when defeating Kong while merged with a giant snake. Jason managed to recover two for him. During the series, Ramon would use the Primal Stones for his own purposes in different locations even modifying the Cyber-Links he also stole to merge with even a sliver of animal DNA or merge with two animals to form a hybrid animal. In the end, his life force is sucked out by Harpy as part of the ritual to free Chiros. It is returned to him once Chiros is reimprisoned, but his life force is nonetheless broken by the ritual. Ramon has used the Cyber-Link to merge with animals the most ranging from Chon-Dar, a Cave Bear, a giant snake, a wild boar, a cat and a scorpion to form a Manticore, Tyrannosaurus DNA, a jaguar, an eagle, a cockatoo, a spider monkey (when De La Porta had a tribal invisibility gem), a dog, two German Shepherd Dogs to form a two-headed humanoid version of them, and even a strand of Jason's hair to become a clone of Jason.

Omar (voiced by Scott McNeil): He is a tall African American and De La Porta's second in command. He was last seen in the second to the last episode trapped on the island, it was never explained what happened to him. Throughout the series, Omar had used the Cyber-Link to merge with a lion and an eagle to become a Griffin, Triceratops DNA, a giant anteater, a rat, a dog, a mandrill, a coyote, and a lizard.

Frazetti (voiced by Kirby Morrow): A muscular man with a blonde cow-lick hairstyle of Italian descent that works for De La Porta. He was last seen in the second to the last episode trapped on the island, it was never explained what happened to him. Throughout the series, he has used the Cyber-Link less than the other henchmen as he used it to merge with a hyena, a Stegosaurus, and a quetzal and a rattlesnake to become this show's version of Quetzalcoatl.

Giggles: A large fat man that works for De La Porta. His real name was never revealed but his nickname comes from the fact he often giggles. He was last seen in the second to the last episode trapped on the island, it was never explained what happened to him. Throughout the series, Giggles has used the Cyber-Link to merge with a Komodo dragon, a crocodile, an eagle, a tarantula, a coyote, and a Stegosaurus.

Tiger Lucy (voiced by Nicole Oliver): An art dealer that once helped Tann's parents and seemed to grow a crush on Tann. However, she later teams up with De La Porta with many of his schemes. She doesn't care what he wants to do as long as she gets paid. Though she once used the Cyber-Link to become a monstrous cat, she does on one occasion use it to merge with her own cat.

Rajeev: A one-time Indian henchman of De La Porta. He and his allies assisted De La Porta into obtaining an ancient parchment from a Himalayan Monastery. When it came to fighting Kong, he used the Cyber-Link that De La Porta gave him to merge with a giant Yeti that Kong befriended. Jason/Mega-Kong managed to defeat the Rajeev/Yeti freeing the Yeti from Rajeev's control.

Wu-Chan (voiced by Scott McNeil): A one-time Chinese henchman of De La Porta. He aided De La Porta into kidnapping Jason and Lua in China where Jason was invited to compete in a karate tournament. He and De La Porta forced Jason into going into the Tomb of China's First Emperor near the Great Wall of China to retrieve a parchment that will reveal the secrets of the Primal Stone of Life and Death in exchange for Lua's safety. Tann (who used Jason's Cyber-Link to reverse-merge with Kong) managed to catch up to Jason and help him retrieve the parchment. Once it was retrieved and given to De La Porta, Wu-Chan was ordered to attack as he uses the Cyber-Link that De La Porta gave him to merge with a snake and the dog De La Porta had with him to form a Chinese Dragon. Jason merged with Kong and defeated the Wu-Chan/Chinese Dragon.

Chiros (voiced by Paul Dobson): One of the principal antagonists of the series. He was once a Shaman who sought more power and tried to steal the primal stones, ultimately transformed into an ancient demon who was sealed away by the original Kong and his shaman companion. After De La Porta stole some of the Primal Stones, Chiros was slowly released from his imprisonment. Unable to leave where he was imprisoned, he would usually have Harpy handle some jobs he gives her. To combat Kong, Chiros would often send Ominous to fight Kong. In the final episode, he was released and fought Kong, but was eventually defeated when Lua cast a spell and Kong threw him into the portal, reimprisoning him. His stone was then destroyed by Kong.

Harpy (voiced by Pauline Newstone): She is Chiros' devoted servant and second in command. She is a female gargoyle and unlike the rest of Chrios's gargoyle army she appears more human is able to think for herself, though is completely devoted towards Chrios' cause. In the final episode after being thrown into the spell Lua was reciting Harpy was turned to stone. Her name is a possible reference to the harpies, a race of half-bird women in Greek mythology.

Rakhir (voiced by Kirby Morrow): He is an Arab poacher who travels to Africa to hunt gorillas. He and his men capture Lua and Kong, but they are defeated by Jason and Tan, accompanied by the animals of the jungle.

Ominous: Chiros' strongest warrior that is able to match even Kong in strength.

Andre (voiced by Ron Halder): A firearms dealer. His first encounter with Jason, Tann, Lua, and Kong occurred when Giggles (who merged with a Komodo dragon) stole some weapons on behalf of De La Porta. Andre and his henchmen raided De La Porta's hideout and kidnapped him and the Komodo dragon. When on Andre's hideout at an offshore oil platform, Andre interrogated De La Porta on how the Cyber-Link worked. De La Porta demonstrated for him by having the Cyber-Link merge Andre with the Komodo dragon. As De La Porta got away, Kong fought the Andre/Komodo dragon. After Kong defeated the Andre/Komodo dragon, the authorities were contacts and Andre and his men were arrested. In "Blue Star," Andre returned when he and men were poaching Humpback Whales in the frozen parts of Greenland. When his men were stopped by Kong, he learned of this and pursued them to a lost city hidden in the ice. He manages to steal Jason's Cyber-Link and return through an underwater passage where he uses Jason's Cyber-Link to merge with a Polar Bear (which his henchmen had captured for Andre's attack). Kong manages to defeat the Andre/Polar Bear as Andre and his henchmen get away. However, Andre was captured and imprisoned sometime after. In "Interview with a Monkey," Howling Jack Crockett interviewed Andre in prison about his encounter with Kong. It was revealed at some point that he sold Crockett a laser that was seen in "DNA Land" which Crockett tries to disavow to the public.

Primal stones

There are 13 Primal Stones, yet only 13 had their names revealed. These were the mystic stones that kept the demon Chiros locked in his imprisonment. The Primal Stones that are mentioned and/or used are:

Primal Stone of Earth and/or Metal
Primal Stone of Air
Primal Stone of Fire
Primal Stone of Water and Ice
Primal Stone of Lightning
Primal Stone of Stones
Primal Stone of Infinity
Primal Stone of Space-Time
Primal Stone of Matter/Antimatter (Invisibility)
Primal Stone of Soul
Primal Stone of Life and Death
Primal Stone of Eternity
Primal Stone of Power

Episodes

The Return (1)
The Return (2)
Primal Power
Dark Force Rising
The Giant Claw Robberies
Dragon Fire
Mistress of the Game
Reborn
The Infinity Stone
Night of the Talons
Howling Jack
Hidden Fears
The Sleeping City
Top of the World
Master of Souls
Billy
Enlil's Wrath
Indian Summer
Welcome to Ramon's
DNA Land
Curse of the Great Dragon
Blue Star
The Renewal
Chiros Child
The Aquanauts
Cobra God
Windigo
Dangerous Melody
Green Fear
Twilight of the Gods
Framed
The Invisible Threat
Sir James Alex's Legacy
Lies
Return To Redwoods (1)
Scared Songs
Apocalypse
Quetzalcoatl
The Thirteenth Stone (2)
Interview with a Monkey

Links

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