The models of King Kong built for the island scenes were only 18 inches high. When producer/director Merian C. Cooper decided Kong needed to look bigger while in New York, a new 24-inch armature was constructed, thus changing Kong's film height from 18 feet on the island to 24 feet while in New York.
The native village huts were left over from RKO's Bird of Paradise. The Great Wall was part of the Temple of Jerusalem set for Cecil B. DeMille's Biblical epic The King of Kings. The Great Wall set was later reused in Selznick's The Garden of Allah and finally redressed with Civil War era building fronts, burned and pulled down by a tractor to film the burning of Atlanta munitions warehouses in Gone with the Wind.
The project went through numerous title changes during production, including "The Beast" (original title of draft by Edgar Wallace in RKO files), "The Eighth Wonder", "The Ape", "King Ape" and "Kong".
The remakes of this film in 1976 and 2005, show Kong with the same temperament as in the original film. In the less popular sequel _Son of Kong (1934)_ and in the successful Mighty Joe Young, a "distant cousin", the Production Code of 1934 was a strong influence on "the script" for the central characters, as they were friendlier and less destructive.
The success of this film is often credited for saving RKO from bankruptcy.
The trees and plants in the background on the stop-motion animation sets were a combination of metal models and real plants. One day during filming, a flower on the miniature set bloomed without anyone noticing. The error in continuity was not noticed until the film was developed and shown. While Kong moved, a time-lapse effect showed the flower coming into full bloom, and an entire day of animation was lost.
The two-legged lizard that attacks Jack Driscoll was actually meant to be an aetosaur, a reptile from the Triassic Period. However, because of the high price of armatures (the metal skeletons for the puppets), RKO cut costs by not having hind legs made for it. As a result, the aetosaur has two forearms, no hind legs and a snakelike appearance.
The whole idea allegedly originated when co-director/co-producer Merian C. Cooper had a dream about a massive gorilla attacking New York City.
There was more than one model of Kong used in the film. There are considerable differences between the Kong on Skull Island and the Kong in New York. For instance, the Skull Island Kong has a longer face, which the filmmakers thought made the ape look "too human".
This film was successfully reissued worldwide numerous times; some claim it was the first ever re-released film. In the 1938 reissue, several scenes of excessive violence and sex were cut to comply with the Production Code enforced in 1934. Though many of the censored scenes were restored by Janus Films in 1971 (including the censored sequence in which Kong peels off Fay Wray's clothes), one deleted scene has never been found, shown publicly only once during a preview screening in San Bernardino, California in January 1933. It was a graphic scene following Kong shaking four sailors off the log bridge, causing them to fall into a ravine where they were eaten alive by giant spiders. At the preview screening, audience members screamed and either left the theatre or talked about the grisly sequence throughout the subsequent scenes, disrupting the film. Said the film's producer, Merian C. Cooper, "It stopped the picture cold, so the next day back at the studio, I took it out myself."
This is the only film to debut at the two largest theaters in New York, the Roxy and Radio City Music Hall, simultaneously. The total searing capacity was about 10,000, and it sold out every performance at both theaters.
To keep in line with the use of most of the cast from The Most Dangerous Game the role of Jack Driscoll was intended for Joel McCrea. According to Fay Wray however, McCrea's agents demanded more money so the role was given to Bruce Cabot.
Was voted the 47th Greatest Film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
When describing Kong to Fay Wray, Merian C. Cooper said "you'll have the tallest darkest leading man in Hollywood". She thought it was Cary Grant.
When talking about the wall, Driscoll mentions being at "Angkor once". He could be referring to Angkor Wat, a huge Cambodian temple complex built in the 12th century.
In 1933's original "King Kong," the big ape is on stage when he is frightened by photographers' flashbulbs, and breaks loose of his chains. That was shot at the Shrine Auditorium (665 W. Jefferson Blvd.), near Exposition Park.