What a fantastic deep dive and a great tribute, thank you! It's a treat to see someone revel in the work we did to this degree and absorb all the little details. Loved how you compared the various species to real-world examples as well as reflecting the book against the needs of film and it's conceptual development. Thank you and keep up the great work!
Wow - thank you so much! I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed my video! I never thought one of the people responsible for creating Kong would ever see it. Thank you so much for creating a major part of my childhood and my favourite film!
@@BigBossMan538 we did exactly 1.21 gigawatts of research 😁. Jk - it was way more. The whole team are huge enthusiasts for the natural world, animals, anatomy, natural selection and so on - i think creature designers are naturally skewed that way. Ben Wootten, one of the senior designers on the project has a background in zoology and Jamie Beswarick, sculptor and designer has a deep, deep knowledge of animal anatomy that we all learned from and held ourselves against as a standard. So yes, many many gigawatts of research! 😊
@@GregBroadmore Did you hear the story of the Yi, discovered in 2015? Your Vultursaurus was an original idea: a flying dinosaur with bat/pterosaur-like wing membranes rather than feathers. A decade later, such a theropod was actually discovered! There's a term for that phenomenon; I can't recall what it is. It also happened in 1993, when the Utahraptor was classified at the same time Jurassic Park was being released. JP featured dromaeosaurs that were larger than any known genus. Then, paleontologists discovered the largest raptor ever found up to that point. It really goes to show how many grand zoological secrets are contained within the Earth's rocks, yet to be known to science.
This version of Skull Island DESERVES another movie, specifically one that takes place after the 2005 movie that covers the expeditions there and expands the lore of the island overall.
@Pedro Ortega I think the documentary format would fit better. Primal has a plot and a protagonist and a story to be nonverbaly told. Without those nonverbal is just scenery.
Something I really like is the fact that Skull Island isn't full of hyper-aggressive monsters just to be scary, but because the island's ecosystem is collapsing and the animal population is on its last legs. It's actually a pretty comparable status to the Cretaceous period following the K-T asteroid impact
That's a shaky comparison to make considering how little we actually know about the immediate aftermath of the impact. For example, we don't know what species were killed immediately and what species slowly faded over tens of thousands of years as their habitats broke down and became unsuitable to them. The Mosasaur is an example of this, as it could have theoretically escaped the most devastating effects of the impact by retreating into deeper waters, but with much of its prey gone it would have starved into extinction. Large dinosaurs on land however, which would have _probably_ died almost instantly due to their feeding requirements. There wouldn't have been enough food left for them to survive even another generation, as many plants would die due to all the material thrown into the atmosphere after the impact, which would starve the herbivores and by extension everything else unless. IMO, Skull Island has a disproportionate number of carnivores relative to its herbivore population, and the shrinking of the island, which had only been happening for a few hundred years, is inconsequential on an evolutionary scale, and therefore does not justify the presence of so many oversized hyper-aggressive carnivores.
However, the asteroid wasn't caused by the earth. It came from space. The ecosystems also weren't exactly destroyed by the animals themselves. It was the plants that caused all the problems. They didn't get enough sunlight and died.
That's just not how that works. During an ecosystem collapse hyper aggressive monsters are the first to die because they're wasting energy being hyper aggressive monsters. The survivors tend to be small adaptable generalists able to cope with changes to their diet and habitat, something hypercarnivores cannot do
@DovahFett well, for one, the kem kem beds had generally more carnivores than herbivores, yet it still managed to exist. Perhaps Skull Island was something similar before it shrank enough and before it started shrinking rapidly. The rapid shrinking of the island can however explain why they are so hyper-aggresive and have such deformed, incidentally monstrous traits like the messed up teeth.
I wish we could’ve gotten a full documentary of Skull Island, about an hour and a half long talking about the dinosaurs, natives, and other creatures of Skull Island.The introduction with how Skull Island can to be and end showing us the island sinking.
Of all the marvelous notions! What we need is a Walking with... miniseries set on Skull Island. I find it noteworthy that Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts each contain six episodes, while The World of Kong divides Skull Island into six separate habitats. It seems only too perfect, especially when you consider that the book concludes with the rock star, megaprimatus kong, just as the Walking with... series concluded with the T-rex and the mammoth, everybody's favorite dinosaur and Cenozoic mammal. If I were in charge of that series, I would take away the context of the movie's plot, because movie plots are in some ways antithetical to the style of a nature documentary: they require a strong human element, while documentaries should just allow the animals to be themselves, free from human interference. Therefore, I would present the island as undiscovered by the civilized world. I would also want to see megaprimatus kong before their kind became functionally extinct; it would be fun to see a troop of gigantic gorillas living alongside dinosaurs, browsing alongside sauropods and ceratopsians, defending their young from predatory theropods, and so on. The series would definitely end with the island's destruction, and as I said, it would go down undiscovered, since the introduction of Western explorers would only take away from the series.
@@Tyrannmon I think I would want to keep the Walking with... trope intact, so I would call it Walking with Relics. And a figure line is a cool idea. If only I had a younger sibling so I could have an excuse to play with the toys myself lol.
@@colinbaldwin313 I would watch every frame of that. Maybe have the third and second to last episodes focus on The Vastatosaurus and Kong respectively, with the finale being the destruction of the island
It’s interesting to see skull island dinosaurs having a design that’s a mix really old and new dinosaur looks, like if you mixed the first and newest versions of megalosaurus
Yeah it's almost like the old art of them juiced with the active lifestyles of more modern understandings. Made me realise I'd love some form of fictitious beast based on the crystal park dinosaur depictions too.
I so wish more monster movies created cool ecosystems like this. This was a truly fascinating dive I got the nature of the island and it’s a shame the book is out of print
@@Tyrannmon Unfortunately they're quite hard to comeby and very expensive. If you don't have money to spend on amazon, best thing I can tell you is to ask for that and only that for christmas
@@dinomaster337 Yeah they're like 150$ on eBay and Amazon. I'm guessing these were originally only bought by super fans especially since weta workshops is a fairly niche company.
I actually really respect the dedication required to make a wholeass clay model just to get a solid base for the digital model of an animal whose sole appearance is as an actual corpse.
I love the carvers too, and all the coastal scavengers. Media always rushes for theropods so it's nice to have some beasts with a very different silhouette.
Carl Denham is without a doubt the most interesting character in the whole movie. As you say, he is such a layered villain. He seems to be driven not so much by greed as by his own reckless ambition. He genuinely wants to document the world's hitherto-unknown wonders and is willing to cut corners and compromise on ethical conduct in order to accomplish that. When Mike and Herb are killed, he is genuinely upset, but tries to ennoble their deaths in the name of his grand quest. This contributes to the decline of his moral compass as the story progresses, and the destruction of his camera pushes him over the edge. What's interesting is that Denham's exploitation of Kong is in some respects at odds with his original intentions. When he had the camera, he could film the fauna of Skull Island in their natural habitat. Upon capturing Kong, however, he exhibits the ape in a grandiose dog-and-pony Broadway show. In so doing, he acquires fame and fortune, purchased at the cost of his once-fervently-held integrity. In the end, Kong's escape flips Denham back; he's left staring at the ravaged theater as the realization of who he's become finally strikes him.
Jack Black's performance deserves special praise. You wouldn't expect a primarily comedic actor to deliver the gravitas needed for this kind of role, but he absolutely nailed it.
Ah the segment for the Megaprimitus Kong was well worth the wait. Honestly the current Monsterverse's Kong can't hold a candle to the tragic old silverback, its one thing to have lost your parents at such a young age for a long lived creature, its another when they might have lived most of their life with family only to loose them one by one and be left alone at the end of its days. The way you described his desperation to find Ann Darrow to not to be alone again really hurts XD
Honestly for me I think almost every aspect of Jackson's Kong pretty soundly beats Monsterverse's Kong film! Jackson's Kong is indeed a very tragic figure.
While i agree, and do like Kong of 05 better, monsterverse kong is less of tragic character, and more of a tragic character made solely to fight Godzilla
While I prefer 2005 Kong too, I like Monsterverse Kong but for different reasons, with him it’s like following the adventure of a movie protagonist, it’s fun to see him in action as well as demonstrate his more human intelligence. Also the 2017 Skull Island def captured the Monsterish vibe that the island should have but I feel ‘05 did it better.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel While no Kong film may ever top Peter Jackson's, I believe Monsterverse Kong still has the old Kong's spirit, and is just a new incarnation carrying his mighty legacy forward.
The moster-verses Skull-Island in general is more, for lack of a better word, 'egy' with far less effort put into making you fill like it's world is real in any way.
Skull Island just isn’t the same without dinosaurs, the Peter Jackson version really made them seem hyper evolved. Especially the Rexes. The snaggle teeth looked wicked.
I always disliked that Skull Island sunk into the ocean, I always preferred the idea that Skull Island persisted in a similar way to Isla Sorna from "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", the island set to be left alone to allow the dinosaurs and other animals to live naturally, without human interference.
@Uncanny Beagle You are very correct, but that doesnt change the fact that I am still saddened by the sinking of the island. I wish it didnt have to happen at all. Lol
Ever since I saw Tobi Kadachi, Nargacuga and Zinogre, I fell in love with the idea of dinosaurs with mammalian traits, just like how Carvers almost act like jaguars or tigers and silverceratops become deer like. I have been playing this in the background while I was working on stuff, this is an amazing video.
This comment's pretty late, but you might be interested in researching therapsids. They're basically real life 'dino mammals.' Well, technically proto-mammals, but because they're so primal they share some characteristics with their reptile cousins. Monster Hunter's fanged wyverns are heavily based on these, heck Odogaron is directly based on a gorgonopsid.
One interesting little easter egg in the book is the inclusion of the sumatran rat monkey, from an earlier PJ Horror film, where it carried a zombie virus and was first found on skull island. You can actually see one in the shadows of the big two-page spread of the bug pit in the book, on the left page.
It's a bit funny considering the drastic tonal differences between the King Kong remake and Braindead/Dead Alive -- And yet, somehow, the concept of a disgusting 'rat monkey' that carries a zombie plague still feels like it fits right at home on Jackson's nightmarishly hostile Skull Island.
I’d die for an open world game with Carl Denham as our teammate. And the more we explore, the more the island is mapped out, and with every encounter we’d get a creature dossier on a journal or something.
You would die if Carl Denham was your teammate. But he'd respect that. He'd know you died doing what you believed in. He'd finish the expedition. He'd bring back everything you and the team had learned. And he'd donate the proceeds to your wife and kids.
And while dragging along Anne Darrow who was nowhere near as fit as him. Thats kind of one of the more unbelievable things about the 1933 movie as well. There was all these dangerous animals that the pair didn’t run into while being chased by a giant gorilla.
Easily myself favorite depiction of Skull Island. Apart from the Monsterverse version, the 2005 Skull Island not only had the most lore and backstory, but Kong and the other creatures are fascinating and almost look like they could exist in the real world. Peter Jackson and his crew did a wonderful job with the island and their King Kong film in general.
You sir managed to make me watch an entire two hour video and keep me entertein for its duration ... this video is a love letter to the film and to the work of Jackson and all the artists who have worked in it
This is the documentary about Peter Jackson's "King Kong" that I WISH Universal would've produced in the wake of the film itself! The "Skull Island: A Natural History" documentary on one of the home media releases *is* good, but this takes the VERY good "World of Kong" art book (which I happen to own) and goes scientifically in-depth about this version of the classic islands' ecosystems and fauna. GOOD job (👍)!
@@abrahemsamander3967 Yep. It’s dubbed “Skull Island: A Natural History,” and it was included as a special feature on the 2-disc special edition of Peter Jackson’s “Kong.” It’s actually on UA-cam; here it is (ua-cam.com/video/vJqZ-XsLVro/v-deo.html).
Thank you for a 2-hour and 12-minute documentary on Skull Island and its unique animals that call it home. You paid a great tribute to the lost fictional ecosystem.
This is an iconic video. That someone went through the effort to research, script, and narrate this information into a public video is amazing. The unbelievable quality of the video makes it even more so. Thank you mister
This was an astonishing video. I wasn’t aware that such a rich natural history was thought of and then made for skull island. This is an amazing video and I love all your stuff.
i absolutely love how you compare the fictional animals and whatever behaviors they have to real ones. it is pretty awesome and can help with inspiration.
This is really in the running for one of, if not the most amazingly beautiful and stunningly complex, absolutely encyclopedic and compendious fantasy ecosystem in the history of modern literature or entertainment and it deserves so much more recognition for that. The creators are all legendary! They should be celebrated!
I remember I was in elementary school when this movie came out. My mom pulled me out of class just to see it in theaters. Safe to say this movie alone is one if the biggest staples of my childhood, being inspired by this to world build myself and to even write stories. As a child I would ways make scenarios with all my toys about some people getting trapped on a similar island, good thing warner bros never popped in my room and claimed copyright haha. To this day, I'll watch this movie about once every couple of months. I have the big book in my closet right now! Might pull it out and draw inspiration again haha. Great video! Look forward to seeing more of your vids!
I’ve been hoping to find this book again but it’s being sold second hand at disgustingly expensive prices. You, sir, have saved me time and money and provided me with such an insightful look and reminder of Jackson’s immense world building put into remaking Skull Island. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this. I’ve been listening to this while playing Jurassic world evolution and have been enraptured the entire time. All this lore and natural history just to flesh out Jackson and Weta’s rejected concept art - madness- but absolutely brilliant. Thank you for making this documentary.
Actually owned this book as a kid and loved it. Always thought this would be one of the worst places to actually visit. Parasites, bugs, birds, dinosaurs, the natives. 2005’s Kong and Skull Island was always more interesting to me than the newer version of Kong.
In the new kong movie, everything was just so massive all the characters could do is run away and wait for Kong or another factor to step in and save them
I’ve watched this video 3 times maybe more, and it never gets old. I loved the Peter Jackson‘s King Kong and this only makes me love it more. The detail and care put into the designs of the animals as well as the biomes just makes this feel like a once living world, lost to time.
Your videos have honestly been a pretty major inspiration for some of my own worldbuilding. Even if it has more science-fantasy tones, the creatures I try to make do have their own niches and places in the ecosystems of the different planets and dimensions they inhabit. It's honestly pretty fun playing with different mythical creatures and finding places they can fit into an ecosystem.
This was just, Incredible. I finally got a chance to sit down and watch the whole thing through and I think its easily your best video yet. It certainly helps that there was so much more information about the fauna of Skull Island compared to your average Monster Hunter beastie, but the extra mile you go with relevant zoological research makes every moment one worth hanging onto. I always though this version of Skull Island would be the worst to get stranded on. Even the MonsterVeres' had large swaths of relatively safe space to camp in, this place is just... hell. I have to wonder what a Jackson Universe Godzilla would have been like in this world.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that! And yeah, there is nowhere to hide in Jackson's skull island. Funnily enough the director of Godzilla vs Kong was actually picked by Jackson for a sequel (or prequel?) to the 2005 film, and was gifted a copy of this book to court him into the project. Sadly it fell through with time, but it's interesting fact and a thought of what could have been.
To see so much information and detail on the island and the creatures that inhabited it is amazing. I had no idea so much thought went into all of this. Most movies these days just have monsters for the sake of monsters, but not this. The concept of the venatosaurus raptors were around since 1996?? They only had three minutes of screen time in the film. That's nuts! I would love to watch an entire movie of just this island.
I've just read the book myself and it is absolutely incredible! I love the movie and I love dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures in general, so this book was paradise for me! And you have done the book justice with your video analysis and read through of it, although you skipped over the part about the native people of Skull Island, I understand why you did it. I liked how you compared particular creatures to the modern animals which they have have similarities with, showing how evolution has given some of these ancient reptiles mammal traits to help them survive. My personal favourite animal was the Foetodon, because this ugly crocodile like creature is like the tiger of Skull Island's jungle, always lurking and sneaking around, ambushing whatever prey it can.
This was an AMAZING video. I was enthralled for the entire two hours, truly incredible stuff. Thanks so much for breaking down this piece of lost media.
You should totally like, do an 1+ hour long video talking about the evolution, physiology, niches, and behavior of cryptid apes like if they were real, such as the Sasquatch, Yeti, Yowie, Orang pendek, etc. Or possibly like, the "cryptic ecology of North America" which'll explore the speculative ecology and such of cryptids from North American folklore.
Mothman and the Flatwoods monster are going to be difficult to explain, but that still sounds like an overall interesting idea for a video that I would also love to see.
Cryptids are always something I have in mind for a video (and yeah it would definitely become a meaty sized one), it'd take a lot of research but I think the assorted apes are likely the best choice as you say. Hopefully Darren Naish won't smite me for intruding on his turf too...
I think the highest praise I can give is how I didn't realize it was 2 hours long until the end. It took a very dense topic that, if covered poorly, easily could have become dry and repetitive. But you held my attention throughout it all, and covered the topic masterfully. You have easily earned a new subscriber, and now I'm off to rewatch the movie
I am most grateful for you doing this video, I had no idea this book existed! I love how in depth this Skull Island is. Compared to the other versions, it's vastly more detailed and feels like a real place with a functional ecosystem backed by history. I'd have loved a series just focusing on explorations of the island after the film.
As soon as I saw an image of the Arachno-claw I knew I NEEDED the book. I’m very privileged to still own a fairly pristine physical copy, and I still love to flit through it on a rainy day.
I think Peter Jackson's King Kong might just be my favorite movie ever. It is so emotional and full of pathos, and I always prefer movies that gives me the feels in major ways. Other than that, it is a wonderful, but dark adventure, reminiscent of Heart of Darkness, which Hayes also quotes at one point in the film. As the crew dive deeper into the jungles and chasms, they are met with ever-growing terrors and hopelessness, trotting through a land humans were never meant to visit. This movie has hands down the best interpretation and representation of Kong and the classic King Kong narrative. He is such a tragic symbol of ultimate loneliness and, after meeting Ann, desperation and devotion. I find this movie to be much more subtle, deep, and thoughtful than people give it credit for, for example when it comes to scenes like Jack's play, like you mentioned. It makes me sad that people generally just consider it fine or straight up dislike it, and I hope that it one day gets the recognition it deserves. Rarely has a big budget movie ever felt so much like a passion project and a love letter like this one does. Thank you very much for making this video. Ever since I was a kid I have been highly interested in the book, but never had the chance to get it. This really felt like a well made deep dive for those of us who never got to read it. Cheers!
i really love these kinds of fictional biology and speculative evolution. I'm building a fantasy World for a novel i want to eventually write, and i'm doing a completely fictional ecosystem (except for humans). I got quite some inspiration from this!
I've never had the chance to see the black and white originals, but Peter Jackson's King Kong is just phenomenal. I'd say the effects still hold up, and the amount of effort put into the movie is just amazing. My favorite scenes were always the nature ones on the island, the bronto stampede was cool, but I liked it more when the group was just trekking through the woods. The work put in to make skull island feel like a otherworldly place really hit the mark for me, and while I wouldn't want to be on skull island, I'd love to see Peter Jackson make a second movie off the original plot of Carl disappearing and his son going to the island to find him.
I always felt like the idea that Kong and his skeleton being the only extant remains of Skull Island post its seismic collapse was absurd. If there was one thing naturalists on a totally brand new island would do, is to collect samples. Every colonial empire and expedition has ALWAYS without fail collected samples and specimens from new lands to document and describe. Even with as extreme as the wildlife, weather and geology Skull Island was, I'm almost 100% certain specimens were collected on the multiple Project Legacy expeditions. It's inconceivable that not even a wide variety of geologic samples of the coastal and interior rock weren't collected and analyzed for their petrological histories and traits, notwithstanding the 1,000's of zoological discoveries the island hosted. From samples of the native islander past n present carvings and tools, samples galore of the rock, ferns, moss, flora species, many different insects, arthropods, amphibians, hell even some smaller specimens of dinosaurs and potentially bones of the other larger megafauna. A funny feeling bubbled in my gut regarding the fictional nature of this spectacular work; that WW2 postponed the expeditions. I think that's total bullocks honestly. If we were to assume the tenacity of this cinematic universe's researchers and naturalists on the island are like anything our researchers are, there were other expeditions during WW2 that may have been privately funded for the sole purchase to gain patent rights to the unique specimens and collectable species that were easily transferable. Private commerce rights to exotic species would have made a monumental killing, as well as the potential microbial and micro research in the forests. This might be just the kid in me, but I seriously think between WW2 and the island's sinking in-universe, there were many, many more private expeditions hellbent on collecting as many samples of the flora, fauna, archeological history and geology off the island. 4 yrs for an all out secretly run private excavation/exploitation of the island would not be unreasonable given the monetary gain that could be wrought if even simply collecting a whole lot of egg and infant dinosaurs could bring to raise and cultivate. The islands near Madagascar and Indonesia would be opportune spots to transport and house: I would bet serious money that secretly in that universe, they collected a 1%-5% range of species since the reality of Skull Island's geologic instability risked the biggest potential loss of new zoological discovery in 1000 yrs. It would not be that difficult for anything under 100 kg nor for the more docile coastal species.
You’re right - there’s no way naturalists, conservationists, zoological societies, and everything in-between scrambling to collect every last organism they could get their hands on. Especially when it came to light the island was going to sink.
I feel very happy whenever I see one of my favorite movie adaptations be the topic of a video. Peter Jackson's iteration of Skull Island really deserves an expanded universe that further explores its history, perhaps in the form of a comic or miniseries revolving around the expeditions of Project Legacy?
This was one of the most awesome and complete videos I've seen in a while on any subject! You should also do a video on the humans of Skull Island. That would also be very interesting I reckon.
It took me over an hour to realise how long I’d been watching, a very engaging and informative video that could inspire any speculative evolution artist! Fantastic video!
I have no idea if this was intentional but this detail creates an interesting side effect in that it helps justify cases where the human protags are able to outrun the predators in more cases than should probably be feasible if say, the raptors didn't have a lower top speed and/or acceleration rate than say, a lion or something.
So glad I FINALLY had a chance to watch this and I have to say you did a phenomenal job covering the material from the book and tying it into the production of the film. Skull Island truly is one of the best spec-evo projects seen in mainstream media and really deserves a lot more attention for it. As usual the parallels you drew with real world biology were on-point (the only one I disagree with is the Liaoningasaurus comparison, since there's a lot less support for that original hypothesis of a semi-aquatic piscivorous ankylosaur). Well structured with a nice little summary at the end, very happy to see this video from you and I look forward to future topics outside of Monster Hunter you will cover next.
Thank you so much! And agreed, Weta's Skull Island I feel is so forgotten despite the steadily rising prevalence of spec-evo. And that's fair with Liaoningasaurus, since making this I've had some show me arguments against it that seem quite convincing.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel You're very welcome! I plan on doing a video on Skull Island myself in the (hopefully) near future, so hopefully it gets more recognition.
Peter Jackson's king kong was the first movie starring kong himself that I saw, I watched it past midnight because of how long it was. I think the only other movie I saw comparable in length was avengers: endgame. Edit: not to say that the movie was bad, in fact I genuinely love it. Also, great video as always! It's a shame it isn't as popular as your others, though, so I hope it gains more traction as you grow as a creator.
Thank you! And yeah the length alone will definitely put a lot of people off, but ultimately this channel is me making content I want to, and a handful of people will still enjoy it.
This video was amazing. It made me dig out my copy of the book. That book (and The Wildlife Of Star Wars( were huge influences on my world creation as a kid and even today. This was a blast to watch. Thanks for the video
People give Bruce Baxter a bad rap but he was honestly the smartest guy in the whole expedition. He goes back to base after admitting he's no hero, insists on a rescue party so he boldly comes back with reinforcements, more guns, and hesitates whenever Carl tells him to do something stupid for camera. Then, after cashing his check and taking the (kinda) deserved credit for saving the first expedition, earning an easy paycheck at Carl's first doomed showing of the Eighth Wonder of the World, then leaving just when he notices Kong getting agitated by the camera flashes.
This was amazing... Peter Jackson's King Kong is by far my favorite version of the movies and world building. The game is in my top absolute favorite games I have ever played and this book, wow, just, wow... I would have loved to have a fisical copy of my own but I never found the chance or the oportunity to be able to do so. This video was fenominal and definately some of my best spent 2 hours.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel so great to hear I look forward to every video. Out of curiosity what is your personal favorite monster from the monster hunter series? Mine is glavenus
In all honesty, I've always wanted to see more with the island and how the ecosystem works. It was such a fascinating aspect of the Peter Jackson movies that makes it my favorite rendition of Kong. However, I do feel that they should retcon the island's destruction. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it's a waste to just go 'and then the island sank' instead of having it be a world where dinosaurs and other oddities still inhabit in a 'lost land' and how humans make ventures on this place. This was a fantastic dive into the island and it's inhabitants. Great work.
That’s kind of the point, yeah? The tragedy of Skull Island is that it’s a giant idiosyncrasy. It’s a melting pot of anachronistic species, of things that have no business sharing the same place and time, and yet persist. Poetically, it is not meant to exist as it does. Nature itself seems to constantly chafe against it. Eventually, nature wins out, and it is swallowed by the sea.
Another fantastic video to join the catalogue. Two hours and twelve minutes? You spoil us. Seeing how this is essentially a reading of a field guide, there's naturally not as much room for guesswork and speculation this time around but no one's happier than me for this video anyways. I think you said almost everything there is to say about how incredible this book and its worldbuilding is, so I'll just add that I feel like there's an incredible amount of life imitating art on a meta-level with this book. Ferrucutus' and the other ceratopsians' centrosaurine affinities and diet of tougher foodstuffs playing into their survival on Skull Island, the fact that Atercurisaurus is being replaced by other herbivores in the exact same way that its mainland relatives were, and the ontogenetic niche differentiation between the different age groups of Vastatosaurus for instance. Considering all the cited studies were published after the book, that seems like an extraordinary coincidence. I guess it's just so good at portraying a functioning ecosystem that it accidentally predicted discoveries that would be made ten years after its publishing. I love the movie the book is based off too, for essentially the same reasons you do. It and Lord of the Rings were probably the first really long movies I ever saw, and they always felt so epic and grand to me in a way few things have since. Kong himself is a marvel of visual effects and I think the blending of CGI and practical effects is mostly extremely well done. I will say I am definitely not a fan of the portrayal of the natives however. Maybe they're cast in a more nuanced light in the book and they are probably meant more to be pitied than feared, but I don't think the movie did a good job of portraying that. Lastly, I really think this was a great time for this video to be made considering the giant upstick of interest in spec-evo that's come from the recent All Tomorrows fandom. And with all of these newer spec-evo projects around: Serina, The Neocene Project, The Speculative Dinosaur Project, Snaiad etc, it was really cool to go back to one of the older and more developed ones. Especially of this quality. Great video, great book! I'm glad to hear the Future Predator will be featured, do you think you'll do the other future Primeval creatures aswell? Like the Mer or the Camouflage Beast?
First off, thank you as ever, and second I really agree. The Weta Workshop had a few zoologists in it's team and really I think that's why so much of it is so well thought out. Pretty cool instance of life imitating art! And yeah, the natives are the only bad spot on an otherwise true epic. Hollywood (or rather even PJ) doesn't make them like they used to. Good point with the mer too also...I think I'll probably mix them in with the FP and have an overall Primeval / spec evo vid.
I love the wording used for Kong from 2:01:56-2:02:08 because I've never thought of it that way. The last of the greatest of apes who was turned into "an aggressive loner" by being alone for years and feared by the natives was turned back into "a protector and able of achieving just a moment's peace once more" just by 1 person giving him a chance and accepted him for who he was. It highlights to me the tragedy of lonliness. It changes your core behaviors and can make you desperate for any inkling of acceptance and in Kong's case, that killed him.
This movie is honestly in my Top 5 favorites. The tension in some scenes is so unbelievably real (the ENTIRE time Ann is trying to escape the Vastatsauruses…)
This is a remarkable video, well done! I love the references to existing evolutionary history and observed behaviors to augment the Skull Island ecology. At 2+ hours of excellent, well edited content, I consider THIS the Skull Island documentary everyone is clamoring for.
The original black and white from 1933 may be my favorite movie ever. I used to watch it religiously every Thanksgiving Day when it would be aired before the Football Games would start. I even love its movie posters too.
Great video! I just gave King Kong another watch after not seeing it for almost a decade, it's still one of my favorite films. It's not a perfect film but I still get totally invested in most of the scenes. When I fist saw it when I was sixteen it completely blew my mind.
Yeah that be great. I'd also love to see some sort of (in canon) spinoff, like imagine a movie about Carl Denham's return to the island in 1934 or a prequel about the sailor that drew the map that Denham had in his possession that led him to Skull Island. - I know that will never happen, but still, I like to imagine just how those stories would have played out with them encountering some of these creatures you described in this video.
@@hewhoneverdies001 It was actually closer to happening than you think. There was originally interest in either a sequel or prequel returning to skull island as a sort of adventure film, to be directed by Godzilla vs Kong's director. But sadly this fell through. We can dream though...
@@hewhoneverdies001 I think there was a prequel novel about the story of either that sailor or the one that Lumpy and Hayes mentioned in the Extended Edition.
The Peter Jackson´s King Kong its definitely my favorite, all the lore of Skull island its beautiful and one of the best cience fiction/seculative evolution proyects in my opinion. Thanks by the awesome video, a great job.
I didn’t appreciate this movie that much when I saw it in theaters as a teenager. Now, I love its entire background and the deleted scenes on YT that weren’t included in the official release only made it better. Definitely unappreciated as a movie. I will still maintain that this movie didn’t have to have over half of its run time dedicated to the people on the mainland. That’s what many people I know couldn’t stand. A quick introduction to characters would’ve been enough, rather than a very drawn-out movie where no one remembers the first half before the island.
I remember seeing this book back around when the movie first came out. I wish I had bought it when I saw it. Glad to see this up on UA-cam so I can enjoy it.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
What a fantastic deep dive and a great tribute, thank you! It's a treat to see someone revel in the work we did to this degree and absorb all the little details. Loved how you compared the various species to real-world examples as well as reflecting the book against the needs of film and it's conceptual development. Thank you and keep up the great work!
Wow - thank you so much! I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed my video! I never thought one of the people responsible for creating Kong would ever see it. Thank you so much for creating a major part of my childhood and my favourite film!
How much research was done into real life and extinct ecology/biology in preparation for the book and the movie?
@@BigBossMan538 we did exactly 1.21 gigawatts of research 😁. Jk - it was way more. The whole team are huge enthusiasts for the natural world, animals, anatomy, natural selection and so on - i think creature designers are naturally skewed that way. Ben Wootten, one of the senior designers on the project has a background in zoology and Jamie Beswarick, sculptor and designer has a deep, deep knowledge of animal anatomy that we all learned from and held ourselves against as a standard. So yes, many many gigawatts of research! 😊
Epic
@@GregBroadmore Did you hear the story of the Yi, discovered in 2015? Your Vultursaurus was an original idea: a flying dinosaur with bat/pterosaur-like wing membranes rather than feathers. A decade later, such a theropod was actually discovered! There's a term for that phenomenon; I can't recall what it is. It also happened in 1993, when the Utahraptor was classified at the same time Jurassic Park was being released. JP featured dromaeosaurs that were larger than any known genus. Then, paleontologists discovered the largest raptor ever found up to that point. It really goes to show how many grand zoological secrets are contained within the Earth's rocks, yet to be known to science.
This version of Skull Island DESERVES another movie, specifically one that takes place after the 2005 movie that covers the expeditions there and expands the lore of the island overall.
It does, but sadly I think it won't happen. :(
I’m thinking the exact same thing , so far the closest will get to that is the Reign of Kong ride at Universal Studios.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel Agreed. By the time of World War II, Skull Island had sank beneath the ocean.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel 8⁸
It’s deserves a figure line . Who’s with me . Get Mattel to make these creatures into figures
The entire team that created the lore and history of this movie deserve the highest praise.
Couldn’t agree more
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Speculating biology fiction. If you like this video you will like this genre. It’s fascinating. My pick is Fragment by Warren Fahy.
@marshalmarrs3269 What are you basing that on?
Seriously, I wish Jackson could make a two hour mock-nature documentary about Skull Island.
Walking With Dinosaurs style!
There was a documentary on the King Kong dvd where Peter Jackson and the crew explain parts about Skull Island and it's wildlife.
@Pedro Ortega I think the documentary format would fit better. Primal has a plot and a protagonist and a story to be nonverbaly told.
Without those nonverbal is just scenery.
A horror focused expedition'd be nice
I would watch every frame of that
Something I really like is the fact that Skull Island isn't full of hyper-aggressive monsters just to be scary, but because the island's ecosystem is collapsing and the animal population is on its last legs. It's actually a pretty comparable status to the Cretaceous period following the K-T asteroid impact
That's a shaky comparison to make considering how little we actually know about the immediate aftermath of the impact. For example, we don't know what species were killed immediately and what species slowly faded over tens of thousands of years as their habitats broke down and became unsuitable to them. The Mosasaur is an example of this, as it could have theoretically escaped the most devastating effects of the impact by retreating into deeper waters, but with much of its prey gone it would have starved into extinction. Large dinosaurs on land however, which would have _probably_ died almost instantly due to their feeding requirements. There wouldn't have been enough food left for them to survive even another generation, as many plants would die due to all the material thrown into the atmosphere after the impact, which would starve the herbivores and by extension everything else unless. IMO, Skull Island has a disproportionate number of carnivores relative to its herbivore population, and the shrinking of the island, which had only been happening for a few hundred years, is inconsequential on an evolutionary scale, and therefore does not justify the presence of so many oversized hyper-aggressive carnivores.
However, the asteroid wasn't caused by the earth. It came from space. The ecosystems also weren't exactly destroyed by the animals themselves. It was the plants that caused all the problems. They didn't get enough sunlight and died.
That's just not how that works. During an ecosystem collapse hyper aggressive monsters are the first to die because they're wasting energy being hyper aggressive monsters. The survivors tend to be small adaptable generalists able to cope with changes to their diet and habitat, something hypercarnivores cannot do
@DovahFett well, for one, the kem kem beds had generally more carnivores than herbivores, yet it still managed to exist. Perhaps Skull Island was something similar before it shrank enough and before it started shrinking rapidly. The rapid shrinking of the island can however explain why they are so hyper-aggresive and have such deformed, incidentally monstrous traits like the messed up teeth.
I wish we could’ve gotten a full documentary of Skull Island, about an hour and a half long talking about the dinosaurs, natives, and other creatures of Skull Island.The introduction with how Skull Island can to be and end showing us the island sinking.
That would have been a dream
Of all the marvelous notions! What we need is a Walking with... miniseries set on Skull Island. I find it noteworthy that Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts each contain six episodes, while The World of Kong divides Skull Island into six separate habitats. It seems only too perfect, especially when you consider that the book concludes with the rock star, megaprimatus kong, just as the Walking with... series concluded with the T-rex and the mammoth, everybody's favorite dinosaur and Cenozoic mammal. If I were in charge of that series, I would take away the context of the movie's plot, because movie plots are in some ways antithetical to the style of a nature documentary: they require a strong human element, while documentaries should just allow the animals to be themselves, free from human interference. Therefore, I would present the island as undiscovered by the civilized world. I would also want to see megaprimatus kong before their kind became functionally extinct; it would be fun to see a troop of gigantic gorillas living alongside dinosaurs, browsing alongside sauropods and ceratopsians, defending their young from predatory theropods, and so on. The series would definitely end with the island's destruction, and as I said, it would go down undiscovered, since the introduction of Western explorers would only take away from the series.
@@colinbaldwin313 yes you should do that . Make your dream come true . Call is .walking on skull island. And make a figure line to promote that movie
@@Tyrannmon I think I would want to keep the Walking with... trope intact, so I would call it Walking with Relics. And a figure line is a cool idea. If only I had a younger sibling so I could have an excuse to play with the toys myself lol.
@@colinbaldwin313 I would watch every frame of that. Maybe have the third and second to last episodes focus on The Vastatosaurus and Kong respectively, with the finale being the destruction of the island
It’s interesting to see skull island dinosaurs having a design that’s a mix really old and new dinosaur looks, like if you mixed the first and newest versions of megalosaurus
Yeah it's almost like the old art of them juiced with the active lifestyles of more modern understandings. Made me realise I'd love some form of fictitious beast based on the crystal park dinosaur depictions too.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel Hey what will the next video be about just to know?
@@zeropsaft That'll be a surprise ;)
But it will be MH again
@@unnaturalhistorychannel Thanks
@@unnaturalhistorychannel Also nice icon
I so wish more monster movies created cool ecosystems like this. This was a truly fascinating dive I got the nature of the island and it’s a shame the book is out of print
If nothing else I hope this video was a worthwhile substitute!
How do I get a copy
@@Tyrannmon Unfortunately they're quite hard to comeby and very expensive. If you don't have money to spend on amazon, best thing I can tell you is to ask for that and only that for christmas
can someone pleas digitalis it
@@dinomaster337 Yeah they're like 150$ on eBay and Amazon. I'm guessing these were originally only bought by super fans especially since weta workshops is a fairly niche company.
I actually really respect the dedication required to make a wholeass clay model just to get a solid base for the digital model of an animal whose sole appearance is as an actual corpse.
I do wonder if Ligocristus had a larger role prior to filming or something, or even just as background shot. Because as you say that's big dedication.
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This is my favorite version of Skull Island and I love the unused creatures, especially nefundusaurus and the carvers.
I love the carvers too, and all the coastal scavengers. Media always rushes for theropods so it's nice to have some beasts with a very different silhouette.
same
What were the carvers repursed concept of
@@rylanbrewer3320 Probably Foetodon.
Carl Denham is without a doubt the most interesting character in the whole movie. As you say, he is such a layered villain. He seems to be driven not so much by greed as by his own reckless ambition. He genuinely wants to document the world's hitherto-unknown wonders and is willing to cut corners and compromise on ethical conduct in order to accomplish that. When Mike and Herb are killed, he is genuinely upset, but tries to ennoble their deaths in the name of his grand quest. This contributes to the decline of his moral compass as the story progresses, and the destruction of his camera pushes him over the edge. What's interesting is that Denham's exploitation of Kong is in some respects at odds with his original intentions. When he had the camera, he could film the fauna of Skull Island in their natural habitat. Upon capturing Kong, however, he exhibits the ape in a grandiose dog-and-pony Broadway show. In so doing, he acquires fame and fortune, purchased at the cost of his once-fervently-held integrity. In the end, Kong's escape flips Denham back; he's left staring at the ravaged theater as the realization of who he's become finally strikes him.
Jack Black's performance deserves special praise. You wouldn't expect a primarily comedic actor to deliver the gravitas needed for this kind of role, but he absolutely nailed it.
"That's the thing you come to learn about Carl: his unfailing ability to destroy the things he loves."
Ah the segment for the Megaprimitus Kong was well worth the wait.
Honestly the current Monsterverse's Kong can't hold a candle to the tragic old silverback, its one thing to have lost your parents at such a young age for a long lived creature, its another when they might have lived most of their life with family only to loose them one by one and be left alone at the end of its days.
The way you described his desperation to find Ann Darrow to not to be alone again really hurts XD
Honestly for me I think almost every aspect of Jackson's Kong pretty soundly beats Monsterverse's Kong film! Jackson's Kong is indeed a very tragic figure.
While i agree, and do like Kong of 05 better, monsterverse kong is less of tragic character, and more of a tragic character made solely to fight Godzilla
While I prefer 2005 Kong too, I like Monsterverse Kong but for different reasons, with him it’s like following the adventure of a movie protagonist, it’s fun to see him in action as well as demonstrate his more human intelligence. Also the 2017 Skull Island def captured the Monsterish vibe that the island should have but I feel ‘05 did it better.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel While no Kong film may ever top Peter Jackson's, I believe Monsterverse Kong still has the old Kong's spirit, and is just a new incarnation carrying his mighty legacy forward.
The moster-verses Skull-Island in general is more, for lack of a better word, 'egy' with far less effort put into making you fill like it's world is real in any way.
Skull Island just isn’t the same without dinosaurs, the Peter Jackson version really made them seem hyper evolved. Especially the Rexes. The snaggle teeth looked wicked.
I always disliked that Skull Island sunk into the ocean, I always preferred the idea that Skull Island persisted in a similar way to Isla Sorna from "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", the island set to be left alone to allow the dinosaurs and other animals to live naturally, without human interference.
The only difference was that Skull Island was in an area of the ring of fire where Earthquakes are frequent, Where Isla Sorna wasn’t
It's supposed to be some poetic tragedy, all these prehistoric creatures finally dying out, leaving only mankind's industrialized world.
Same
@Uncanny Beagle You are very correct, but that doesnt change the fact that I am still saddened by the sinking of the island. I wish it didnt have to happen at all. Lol
It seems like a silly thing to add. What narrative reason is there for the entire island to be wiped out
4:13 Coastline
14:10 Lowlands
45:36 Swamps
1:03:29 Jungles
1:33:22 The Chasms
1:41:38 Uplands
2:02:09 Conclusions
All the soundtracks of the video
liked this
Ever since I saw Tobi Kadachi, Nargacuga and Zinogre, I fell in love with the idea of dinosaurs with mammalian traits, just like how Carvers almost act like jaguars or tigers and silverceratops become deer like. I have been playing this in the background while I was working on stuff, this is an amazing video.
Agreed, I love the carvers and think an agile quadruped is such a nice change from media typically saturated with lumbering bipeds. And thank you!
This comment's pretty late, but you might be interested in researching therapsids. They're basically real life 'dino mammals.' Well, technically proto-mammals, but because they're so primal they share some characteristics with their reptile cousins. Monster Hunter's fanged wyverns are heavily based on these, heck Odogaron is directly based on a gorgonopsid.
The carvers aren't dinosaurs; they're some form of synapsid, probably descended from gorgonopsids, which were also quadrupedal.
The Synapsid developed into mammals. Diapsid into birds. You have it backwards.
One interesting little easter egg in the book is the inclusion of the sumatran rat monkey, from an earlier PJ Horror film, where it carried a zombie virus and was first found on skull island. You can actually see one in the shadows of the big two-page spread of the bug pit in the book, on the left page.
I did consider him early on but sadly he was cut in the end
It's a bit funny considering the drastic tonal differences between the King Kong remake and Braindead/Dead Alive -- And yet, somehow, the concept of a disgusting 'rat monkey' that carries a zombie plague still feels like it fits right at home on Jackson's nightmarishly hostile Skull Island.
And funny enough it is referenced by andy serkis as captain haddock in the 3D tintin movie
Love Brain-dead 😁
That F'n zombie baby lol 😂
Those guys had quite enough to deal with down in that bug-pit as it was!
Incredible video. One of the most interesting and entertaining I’ve seen on this site in awhile. Keep it up!
Hey budget
Enjoy your channel.
hi
I’d die for an open world game with Carl Denham as our teammate. And the more we explore, the more the island is mapped out, and with every encounter we’d get a creature dossier on a journal or something.
Take my money
Best we got is the gamecube game
And it was pretty good
Yay like the dossiers of ark survival evolved but instead with lore to them instead of what to use them for
PLA Skull Island Edition
You would die if Carl Denham was your teammate.
But he'd respect that. He'd know you died doing what you believed in. He'd finish the expedition. He'd bring back everything you and the team had learned. And he'd donate the proceeds to your wife and kids.
I won't lie, the name for each of the ecosystems in this video sounds like perfect monster hunter locals. Great video, very informative.
They do now you mention it 'The abyssal chasms' especially. And thank you!
Oooookkkkkk
Oookkkkkkkk.
@@unnaturalhistorychannelthat's literally just the rotten vale
It's insane that Jack Driscoll made it from the pit, through the jungle, up the mountain and back to gate without a weapon.
Maybe he used bones and spears like in the game, or was just plain lucky.
Полностью согласен
And while dragging along Anne Darrow who was nowhere near as fit as him.
Thats kind of one of the more unbelievable things about the 1933 movie as well. There was all these dangerous animals that the pair didn’t run into while being chased by a giant gorilla.
Easily myself favorite depiction of Skull Island. Apart from the Monsterverse version, the 2005 Skull Island not only had the most lore and backstory, but Kong and the other creatures are fascinating and almost look like they could exist in the real world. Peter Jackson and his crew did a wonderful job with the island and their King Kong film in general.
The incredible Hulk Season 1
The incredible Hulk Season 2!!
You sir managed to make me watch an entire two hour video and keep me entertein for its duration ...
this video is a love letter to the film and to the work of Jackson and all the artists who have worked in it
I'm very pleased to hear I kept you seated for the whole thing!
And it's the best one I could muster for perhaps this more forgotten epic.
😮😮😅😅
I'm so angry this book was discontinued. I'm not buying a priced up copy from someone, so I appreciate this
I'm glad I can provide at least some of the experience!
@@unnaturalhistorychannel it's honestly better with some narration too.
I've been using this as background noise while drawing
Hey hey hey.
@@The_PokeSaurus don’t forget one chance to have a great history of the island turned into a terrible marred
This is the documentary about Peter Jackson's "King Kong" that I WISH Universal would've produced in the wake of the film itself! The "Skull Island: A Natural History" documentary on one of the home media releases *is* good, but this takes the VERY good "World of Kong" art book (which I happen to own) and goes scientifically in-depth about this version of the classic islands' ecosystems and fauna. GOOD job (👍)!
Thank you so much!
@@unnaturalhistorychannel No problem (😉)! BTW, have you considered a video about the ecosystem & fauna of the MonsterVerse version of Skull Island?
Ooh! There’s a documentary?
@@abrahemsamander3967 Yep. It’s dubbed “Skull Island: A Natural History,” and it was included as a special feature on the 2-disc special edition of Peter Jackson’s “Kong.” It’s actually on UA-cam; here it is (ua-cam.com/video/vJqZ-XsLVro/v-deo.html).
Have you ever considered sending off your copy for digitization and putting it up on Z library?
Thank you for a 2-hour and 12-minute documentary on Skull Island and its unique animals that call it home. You paid a great tribute to the lost fictional ecosystem.
Why didn’t he mention the tribe that lives in the island
@@AhmedNourMostafa yes the mix of survivors and those shipwrecked over the thousands of years became quite the singular hybrid society.
This is an iconic video. That someone went through the effort to research, script, and narrate this information into a public video is amazing. The unbelievable quality of the video makes it even more so. Thank you mister
Thank you! You’re very welcome
Oh wow, a flightless pterosaur is something I haven’t seen done often. That’s hella creative.
Read Dougal Dixon's The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution (1988). That book features a few different flightless pterosaur designs.
The prehistoric animals..
Along with the Star Wars galactic ecosystem, the ecosystem of the skull island never ceases to amaze me with its bio diversity.
Agreed
This was an astonishing video. I wasn’t aware that such a rich natural history was thought of and then made for skull island.
This is an amazing video and I love all your stuff.
Thank you! Glad I was able to shine a light on it.
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i absolutely love how you compare the fictional animals and whatever behaviors they have to real ones. it is pretty awesome and can help with inspiration.
This is really in the running for one of, if not the most amazingly beautiful and stunningly complex, absolutely encyclopedic and compendious fantasy ecosystem in the history of modern literature or entertainment and it deserves so much more recognition for that. The creators are all legendary! They should be celebrated!
I remember I was in elementary school when this movie came out. My mom pulled me out of class just to see it in theaters. Safe to say this movie alone is one if the biggest staples of my childhood, being inspired by this to world build myself and to even write stories. As a child I would ways make scenarios with all my toys about some people getting trapped on a similar island, good thing warner bros never popped in my room and claimed copyright haha.
To this day, I'll watch this movie about once every couple of months. I have the big book in my closet right now! Might pull it out and draw inspiration again haha.
Great video! Look forward to seeing more of your vids!
I’ve been hoping to find this book again but it’s being sold second hand at disgustingly expensive prices.
You, sir, have saved me time and money and provided me with such an insightful look and reminder of Jackson’s immense world building put into remaking Skull Island.
Thank you for the time and effort you put into this. I’ve been listening to this while playing Jurassic world evolution and have been enraptured the entire time. All this lore and natural history just to flesh out Jackson and Weta’s rejected concept art - madness- but absolutely brilliant. Thank you for making this documentary.
Thank you so much for you kind words - glad you enjoyed it!
Oooook.
Actually owned this book as a kid and loved it. Always thought this would be one of the worst places to actually visit. Parasites, bugs, birds, dinosaurs, the natives. 2005’s Kong and Skull Island was always more interesting to me than the newer version of Kong.
In the new kong movie, everything was just so massive all the characters could do is run away and wait for Kong or another factor to step in and save them
I’ve watched this video 3 times maybe more, and it never gets old. I loved the Peter Jackson‘s King Kong and this only makes me love it more. The detail and care put into the designs of the animals as well as the biomes just makes this feel like a once living world, lost to time.
The fauna of Skull Island-in any adaptation-has always fascinated me and still does.
Your videos have honestly been a pretty major inspiration for some of my own worldbuilding. Even if it has more science-fantasy tones, the creatures I try to make do have their own niches and places in the ecosystems of the different planets and dimensions they inhabit. It's honestly pretty fun playing with different mythical creatures and finding places they can fit into an ecosystem.
Thank you, I'm glad I can be of help!
Ooohhhhhhh.
This was just, Incredible. I finally got a chance to sit down and watch the whole thing through and I think its easily your best video yet. It certainly helps that there was so much more information about the fauna of Skull Island compared to your average Monster Hunter beastie, but the extra mile you go with relevant zoological research makes every moment one worth hanging onto.
I always though this version of Skull Island would be the worst to get stranded on. Even the MonsterVeres' had large swaths of relatively safe space to camp in, this place is just... hell. I have to wonder what a Jackson Universe Godzilla would have been like in this world.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!
And yeah, there is nowhere to hide in Jackson's skull island. Funnily enough the director of Godzilla vs Kong was actually picked by Jackson for a sequel (or prequel?) to the 2005 film, and was gifted a copy of this book to court him into the project. Sadly it fell through with time, but it's interesting fact and a thought of what could have been.
GODZILLA RULES 😎😎
Probably like the undone 1994 Godzilla except that it's a part of a dying species instead of a bioweapon and can absorb nuclear radiation.
Man, Peter Jackson’s King Kong is incredible. An absolute classic with so much awesome lore. Much love to you for making such a detailed video.
Peter Jackson’s King Kong is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Amazing to see it still be so loved sixteen years later :)) great vid
Thank you! Glad some others remember it fondly too!
As someone who wanted the Natural History book, I say this is a great substitute. Love this video!
Thank you, I hope it satisfies!
To see so much information and detail on the island and the creatures that inhabited it is amazing. I had no idea so much thought went into all of this. Most movies these days just have monsters for the sake of monsters, but not this. The concept of the venatosaurus raptors were around since 1996?? They only had three minutes of screen time in the film. That's nuts! I would love to watch an entire movie of just this island.
I've just read the book myself and it is absolutely incredible! I love the movie and I love dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures in general, so this book was paradise for me! And you have done the book justice with your video analysis and read through of it, although you skipped over the part about the native people of Skull Island, I understand why you did it. I liked how you compared particular creatures to the modern animals which they have have similarities with, showing how evolution has given some of these ancient reptiles mammal traits to help them survive. My personal favourite animal was the Foetodon, because this ugly crocodile like creature is like the tiger of Skull Island's jungle, always lurking and sneaking around, ambushing whatever prey it can.
This was an AMAZING video. I was enthralled for the entire two hours, truly incredible stuff. Thanks so much for breaking down this piece of lost media.
And thank you for your kind words! Was very happy to do it.
You should totally like, do an 1+ hour long video talking about the evolution, physiology, niches, and behavior of cryptid apes like if they were real, such as the Sasquatch, Yeti, Yowie, Orang pendek, etc. Or possibly like, the "cryptic ecology of North America" which'll explore the speculative ecology and such of cryptids from North American folklore.
Mothman and the Flatwoods monster are going to be difficult to explain, but that still sounds like an overall interesting idea for a video that I would also love to see.
Cryptids are always something I have in mind for a video (and yeah it would definitely become a meaty sized one), it'd take a lot of research but I think the assorted apes are likely the best choice as you say.
Hopefully Darren Naish won't smite me for intruding on his turf too...
@@unnaturalhistorychannel poggers!
@@unnaturalhistorychannel A North American one would be great! Really wanna learn more about it
As cryptozoologicon?
I think the highest praise I can give is how I didn't realize it was 2 hours long until the end. It took a very dense topic that, if covered poorly, easily could have become dry and repetitive. But you held my attention throughout it all, and covered the topic masterfully. You have easily earned a new subscriber, and now I'm off to rewatch the movie
Thank you so much for your kind words! And enjoy - I hope it’s the extended edition!
Thanks man, gonna use this for monsters and lore for my jungle dnd campaign.
I am most grateful for you doing this video, I had no idea this book existed! I love how in depth this Skull Island is. Compared to the other versions, it's vastly more detailed and feels like a real place with a functional ecosystem backed by history. I'd have loved a series just focusing on explorations of the island after the film.
The Lord of the Rings
Eragon (2006)
The amount of work and quality for this vid, damn that’s dedication allright.
Happy to do it for a favourite book and film, and thank you!
As soon as I saw an image of the Arachno-claw I knew I NEEDED the book. I’m very privileged to still own a fairly pristine physical copy, and I still love to flit through it on a rainy day.
I remember buying it in Waterstones the weekend I saw the film. Read it as soon as I was home and my mind was blown.
Lucky you. There are no copies left anywhere anymore.
This is awesome, as someone who’s always wanted the book but never managed to find one I thank you for bringing it to life here.
Happy to do so!
😅😅😅😅😅😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤
I think Peter Jackson's King Kong might just be my favorite movie ever. It is so emotional and full of pathos, and I always prefer movies that gives me the feels in major ways. Other than that, it is a wonderful, but dark adventure, reminiscent of Heart of Darkness, which Hayes also quotes at one point in the film. As the crew dive deeper into the jungles and chasms, they are met with ever-growing terrors and hopelessness, trotting through a land humans were never meant to visit.
This movie has hands down the best interpretation and representation of Kong and the classic King Kong narrative. He is such a tragic symbol of ultimate loneliness and, after meeting Ann, desperation and devotion.
I find this movie to be much more subtle, deep, and thoughtful than people give it credit for, for example when it comes to scenes like Jack's play, like you mentioned. It makes me sad that people generally just consider it fine or straight up dislike it, and I hope that it one day gets the recognition it deserves. Rarely has a big budget movie ever felt so much like a passion project and a love letter like this one does.
Thank you very much for making this video. Ever since I was a kid I have been highly interested in the book, but never had the chance to get it. This really felt like a well made deep dive for those of us who never got to read it. Cheers!
Thank you for saying, and I’m glad I could provide the experience!
Peter Jackson's Skull is the best incarnation of skull island, and all the creatures are creative and unique.
So better then 2017 version
@@canonbehenna612 it's not like the monsterverse is trying to be realistic, it has Godzilla for Christ's sake
@@indorfan with the square cube law shot to pieces
i really love these kinds of fictional biology and speculative evolution. I'm building a fantasy World for a novel i want to eventually write, and i'm doing a completely fictional ecosystem (except for humans). I got quite some inspiration from this!
I've never had the chance to see the black and white originals, but Peter Jackson's King Kong is just phenomenal. I'd say the effects still hold up, and the amount of effort put into the movie is just amazing. My favorite scenes were always the nature ones on the island, the bronto stampede was cool, but I liked it more when the group was just trekking through the woods. The work put in to make skull island feel like a otherworldly place really hit the mark for me, and while I wouldn't want to be on skull island, I'd love to see Peter Jackson make a second movie off the original plot of Carl disappearing and his son going to the island to find him.
I always felt like the idea that Kong and his skeleton being the only extant remains of Skull Island post its seismic collapse was absurd. If there was one thing naturalists on a totally brand new island would do, is to collect samples. Every colonial empire and expedition has ALWAYS without fail collected samples and specimens from new lands to document and describe. Even with as extreme as the wildlife, weather and geology Skull Island was, I'm almost 100% certain specimens were collected on the multiple Project Legacy expeditions. It's inconceivable that not even a wide variety of geologic samples of the coastal and interior rock weren't collected and analyzed for their petrological histories and traits, notwithstanding the 1,000's of zoological discoveries the island hosted.
From samples of the native islander past n present carvings and tools, samples galore of the rock, ferns, moss, flora species, many different insects, arthropods, amphibians, hell even some smaller specimens of dinosaurs and potentially bones of the other larger megafauna.
A funny feeling bubbled in my gut regarding the fictional nature of this spectacular work; that WW2 postponed the expeditions.
I think that's total bullocks honestly. If we were to assume the tenacity of this cinematic universe's researchers and naturalists on the island are like anything our researchers are, there were other expeditions during WW2 that may have been privately funded for the sole purchase to gain patent rights to the unique specimens and collectable species that were easily transferable. Private commerce rights to exotic species would have made a monumental killing, as well as the potential microbial and micro research in the forests.
This might be just the kid in me, but I seriously think between WW2 and the island's sinking in-universe, there were many, many more private expeditions hellbent on collecting as many samples of the flora, fauna, archeological history and geology off the island. 4 yrs for an all out secretly run private excavation/exploitation of the island would not be unreasonable given the monetary gain that could be wrought if even simply collecting a whole lot of egg and infant dinosaurs could bring to raise and cultivate. The islands near Madagascar and Indonesia would be opportune spots to transport and house: I would bet serious money that secretly in that universe, they collected a 1%-5% range of species since the reality of Skull Island's geologic instability risked the biggest potential loss of new zoological discovery in 1000 yrs. It would not be that difficult for anything under 100 kg nor for the more docile coastal species.
You’re right - there’s no way naturalists, conservationists, zoological societies, and everything in-between scrambling to collect every last organism they could get their hands on. Especially when it came to light the island was going to sink.
I always thought the island sinking was some sort of cover-up to prevent people from trying to go there
Would've been cool but cliche to see the Allies fight the axis powers over skull island
Considering the island can change locations I don't believe it shrank and sank.
@@TheEnigmaticBM39 the Island wouldn't have allowed it. You may end up teleported half way around the world.
I feel very happy whenever I see one of my favorite movie adaptations be the topic of a video. Peter Jackson's iteration of Skull Island really deserves an expanded universe that further explores its history, perhaps in the form of a comic or miniseries revolving around the expeditions of Project Legacy?
Agreed, it's almost got a sequel devoted to the island itself but it sadly fell though.
Genuinely one of my favorite channels,
Much appreciated!
This was one of the most awesome and complete videos I've seen in a while on any subject! You should also do a video on the humans of Skull Island. That would also be very interesting I reckon.
Thank you! Humans aren't quite my arena but if another channel doing something similar albeit with fictitious cultures wanted to collab I'd be down.
It took me over an hour to realise how long I’d been watching, a very engaging and informative video that could inspire any speculative evolution artist!
Fantastic video!
this his very impressive spec evo stuff. it seems that alot of skull island inhabitants has traded their speed for agility and dexterity
Yeah it does seem that way; with so much broken terrain and forest, plus slow prey it seems genuine speed is rare on the island.
Makes sense as there’s only so much land. This Skull Island is about the same size as Monserrat
I have no idea if this was intentional but this detail creates an interesting side effect in that it helps justify cases where the human protags are able to outrun the predators in more cases than should probably be feasible if say, the raptors didn't have a lower top speed and/or acceleration rate than say, a lion or something.
So glad I FINALLY had a chance to watch this and I have to say you did a phenomenal job covering the material from the book and tying it into the production of the film. Skull Island truly is one of the best spec-evo projects seen in mainstream media and really deserves a lot more attention for it. As usual the parallels you drew with real world biology were on-point (the only one I disagree with is the Liaoningasaurus comparison, since there's a lot less support for that original hypothesis of a semi-aquatic piscivorous ankylosaur). Well structured with a nice little summary at the end, very happy to see this video from you and I look forward to future topics outside of Monster Hunter you will cover next.
Thank you so much! And agreed, Weta's Skull Island I feel is so forgotten despite the steadily rising prevalence of spec-evo.
And that's fair with Liaoningasaurus, since making this I've had some show me arguments against it that seem quite convincing.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel You're very welcome! I plan on doing a video on Skull Island myself in the (hopefully) near future, so hopefully it gets more recognition.
Peter Jackson's king kong was the first movie starring kong himself that I saw, I watched it past midnight because of how long it was. I think the only other movie I saw comparable in length was avengers: endgame.
Edit: not to say that the movie was bad, in fact I genuinely love it. Also, great video as always! It's a shame it isn't as popular as your others, though, so I hope it gains more traction as you grow as a creator.
Thank you! And yeah the length alone will definitely put a lot of people off, but ultimately this channel is me making content I want to, and a handful of people will still enjoy it.
Did the bug seen scare you
This video is awesome. I am really glad I found your channel. :)
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This video was amazing. It made me dig out my copy of the book. That book (and The Wildlife Of Star Wars( were huge influences on my world creation as a kid and even today. This was a blast to watch. Thanks for the video
Glad you enjoyed and had a flip back through your own copy!
I always love when the imaginary creatures are so realistic in a movie.
There is nothing I can add that many others have not already. This popped up on my feed and whiten 10 minutes I was hooked. Simply Outstanding!
That commentary on Skull Island (Bonus Disc/Kong 2005) was done so good, I thought it was real at first.
People give Bruce Baxter a bad rap but he was honestly the smartest guy in the whole expedition. He goes back to base after admitting he's no hero, insists on a rescue party so he boldly comes back with reinforcements, more guns, and hesitates whenever Carl tells him to do something stupid for camera. Then, after cashing his check and taking the (kinda) deserved credit for saving the first expedition, earning an easy paycheck at Carl's first doomed showing of the Eighth Wonder of the World, then leaving just when he notices Kong getting agitated by the camera flashes.
All the money in the world isn't any use if you die getting it.
This was amazing... Peter Jackson's King Kong is by far my favorite version of the movies and world building. The game is in my top absolute favorite games I have ever played and this book, wow, just, wow... I would have loved to have a fisical copy of my own but I never found the chance or the oportunity to be able to do so. This video was fenominal and definately some of my best spent 2 hours.
Thank you so much!
Omg I’m so excited to watch this! I absolutely love your content man keep up the incredible work!!!!!
Thank you! And more to come!
@@unnaturalhistorychannel so great to hear I look forward to every video. Out of curiosity what is your personal favorite monster from the monster hunter series? Mine is glavenus
@@zachtopritzhofer7161 Probably either Tigrex or Monoblos.
@@unnaturalhistorychannel just hunted my first monoblos in 4 ultimate within the last week
The Legend of The ice age!!
This is incredible. One of the best videos I’ve come across in quite awhile. Looking forward to watching your other videos. Thanks.
In all honesty, I've always wanted to see more with the island and how the ecosystem works. It was such a fascinating aspect of the Peter Jackson movies that makes it my favorite rendition of Kong. However, I do feel that they should retcon the island's destruction. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it's a waste to just go 'and then the island sank' instead of having it be a world where dinosaurs and other oddities still inhabit in a 'lost land' and how humans make ventures on this place.
This was a fantastic dive into the island and it's inhabitants. Great work.
I'd retcon that as well. This ecosystem would make for a great open-world game. Imagine a Far Cry game taking place here.
That’s kind of the point, yeah? The tragedy of Skull Island is that it’s a giant idiosyncrasy.
It’s a melting pot of anachronistic species, of things that have no business sharing the same place and time, and yet persist.
Poetically, it is not meant to exist as it does. Nature itself seems to constantly chafe against it. Eventually, nature wins out, and it is swallowed by the sea.
And then Universal would milk it dry
@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick they were recreated they don't persist as such.
Another fantastic video to join the catalogue. Two hours and twelve minutes? You spoil us. Seeing how this is essentially a reading of a field guide, there's naturally not as much room for guesswork and speculation this time around but no one's happier than me for this video anyways. I think you said almost everything there is to say about how incredible this book and its worldbuilding is, so I'll just add that I feel like there's an incredible amount of life imitating art on a meta-level with this book.
Ferrucutus' and the other ceratopsians' centrosaurine affinities and diet of tougher foodstuffs playing into their survival on Skull Island, the fact that Atercurisaurus is being replaced by other herbivores in the exact same way that its mainland relatives were, and the ontogenetic niche differentiation between the different age groups of Vastatosaurus for instance. Considering all the cited studies were published after the book, that seems like an extraordinary coincidence. I guess it's just so good at portraying a functioning ecosystem that it accidentally predicted discoveries that would be made ten years after its publishing.
I love the movie the book is based off too, for essentially the same reasons you do. It and Lord of the Rings were probably the first really long movies I ever saw, and they always felt so epic and grand to me in a way few things have since. Kong himself is a marvel of visual effects and I think the blending of CGI and practical effects is mostly extremely well done. I will say I am definitely not a fan of the portrayal of the natives however. Maybe they're cast in a more nuanced light in the book and they are probably meant more to be pitied than feared, but I don't think the movie did a good job of portraying that.
Lastly, I really think this was a great time for this video to be made considering the giant upstick of interest in spec-evo that's come from the recent All Tomorrows fandom. And with all of these newer spec-evo projects around: Serina, The Neocene Project, The Speculative Dinosaur Project, Snaiad etc, it was really cool to go back to one of the older and more developed ones. Especially of this quality. Great video, great book! I'm glad to hear the Future Predator will be featured, do you think you'll do the other future Primeval creatures aswell? Like the Mer or the Camouflage Beast?
First off, thank you as ever, and second I really agree. The Weta Workshop had a few zoologists in it's team and really I think that's why so much of it is so well thought out. Pretty cool instance of life imitating art!
And yeah, the natives are the only bad spot on an otherwise true epic. Hollywood (or rather even PJ) doesn't make them like they used to.
Good point with the mer too also...I think I'll probably mix them in with the FP and have an overall Primeval / spec evo vid.
Keep coming back to this video, so well made and very entertaining.
Loved this one, subscribed! the amount of cross cuting to real live animals was top tier. A shame is so hard to get the book...
I love the wording used for Kong from 2:01:56-2:02:08 because I've never thought of it that way. The last of the greatest of apes who was turned into "an aggressive loner" by being alone for years and feared by the natives was turned back into "a protector and able of achieving just a moment's peace once more" just by 1 person giving him a chance and accepted him for who he was. It highlights to me the tragedy of lonliness. It changes your core behaviors and can make you desperate for any inkling of acceptance and in Kong's case, that killed him.
This movie is honestly in my Top 5 favorites. The tension in some scenes is so unbelievably real (the ENTIRE time Ann is trying to escape the Vastatsauruses…)
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2 hours worth of entertainment 😊
Enjoy!
This is a remarkable video, well done! I love the references to existing evolutionary history and observed behaviors to augment the Skull Island ecology. At 2+ hours of excellent, well edited content, I consider THIS the Skull Island documentary everyone is clamoring for.
Two hours of pure passion
Great job on the video, mate
Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!
The original black and white from 1933 may be my favorite movie ever. I used to watch it religiously every Thanksgiving Day when it would be aired before the Football Games would start. I even love its movie posters too.
Great video! I just gave King Kong another watch after not seeing it for almost a decade, it's still one of my favorite films. It's not a perfect film but I still get totally invested in most of the scenes. When I fist saw it when I was sixteen it completely blew my mind.
Thank you! And same, I still cherish the memory of seeing it in cinema. Hope one day it may be re-released too!
Yeah that be great. I'd also love to see some sort of (in canon) spinoff, like imagine a movie about Carl Denham's return to the island in 1934 or a prequel about the sailor that drew the map that Denham had in his possession that led him to Skull Island. - I know that will never happen, but still, I like to imagine just how those stories would have played out with them encountering some of these creatures you described in this video.
@@hewhoneverdies001 It was actually closer to happening than you think. There was originally interest in either a sequel or prequel returning to skull island as a sort of adventure film, to be directed by Godzilla vs Kong's director. But sadly this fell through. We can dream though...
@@hewhoneverdies001 I think there was a prequel novel about the story of either that sailor or the one that Lumpy and Hayes mentioned in the Extended Edition.
This is fantastic from start to finish, thanks for narrating and expanding a setting that I love.
My pleasure!
a skull island survival game would be sick
Always loved King Kong as a kid. It’s so cool how much world building there is.
Finding Books like this one is the reason I love going to 2nd hand books shops anytime I go into town.
Peter Jackson's Skull island needs an entire movie just about the island.
Just wish the skull island series was based of the book
Bro this was amazing! I just found your channel & I can't wait to see what you have in store for us! Subscribed for life!
Thank you so much!
This video is incredible, and I’m lucky to have discovered it via the algorithm.
Universal King Kong is one of my favorite childhood movies ever. I remember being so excited when kong arrives dinosaurs 🦖
The Peter Jackson´s King Kong its definitely my favorite, all the lore of Skull island its beautiful and one of the best cience fiction/seculative evolution proyects in my opinion. Thanks by the awesome video, a great job.
Thank you so much!
I didn’t appreciate this movie that much when I saw it in theaters as a teenager.
Now, I love its entire background and the deleted scenes on YT that weren’t included in the official release only made it better. Definitely unappreciated as a movie. I will still maintain that this movie didn’t have to have over half of its run time dedicated to the people on the mainland. That’s what many people I know couldn’t stand.
A quick introduction to characters would’ve been enough, rather than a very drawn-out movie where no one remembers the first half before the island.
With some tweaking of the timeline, it’s fun to think that Jimmy would go on to become the boat captain in Jaws. 😆😂😃
Now this is something I hadn't considered...
Damn you even sliped up genddys primal in here, feels like im listening to my clone. Amazing video btw
Thank you! And more on Primal in the future too...
I remember seeing this book back around when the movie first came out. I wish I had bought it when I saw it. Glad to see this up on UA-cam so I can enjoy it.
Glad to have filled that gap!
Thanks for doing a video like this man I've always loved skull island and this documentary was AMAZING!!! 👏
Thank you! Glad I could shine a light on it.
How did a video talking about an islands ecosystem get me so entertained for 2 hours
The magic of kong!
Thank you for doing this video! I've never been able to find this book, despite always wanting to, so this was the next best thing.
Glad you enjoyed it!