Lost Project-Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah

[Monarch_SPC]

I think it would have been a very interesting battle between King Kong, Ebirah and Mothra. As most of you may know the original kaiju was to be King Kong but they replaced him with Godzilla. Also I wonder if they would have used the same suit in KK Escapes or a different one.

[gojimantis]

they would have had to make a KK suit, KKE was 67, Ebirah is 66.
Ebirah became one of my favorite G films after some time. very fun and light hearted.

[The One and Only]

I've found in the last few years, thanks in part to the fan-fics of C.L. Werner which gave me a new appreciation for the human villains of Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster, the Red Bamboo. Likewise, the DVD release of the flick also. I do think that if this project had gone off as originally planned, with Kong as the top billed daikaiju instead of Godzilla. It might've made the fights with Ebirah a little more suspenseful in the long run. Godzilla along with his being an amphibious creature, also has his trademark oral beam, which enables him to seriously outgun the giant lobster. Also it would've been more of an event for Kong to have a meet up, although briefly, with Mothra.

[Major sssspielberg!]

Kong and Ebirah would have been a good fight for sure. I forget how much I like Sea Monster sometimes, but if it was a King Kong movie I could see it being one of the classic Kong movies. Maybe even a legitimate sequel to KKvsG what with Kong being revived by lighting, and the scale of the monsters. I'm sure they would have had the Honda crew handle it but if they kept Fukuda it would have been fire!

[szmigiel]

I think this would have been even better than the movie we got for a number of reasons. Don't get me wrong I love what we got, but not because of Godzilla. I like the castaway story and the interaction between the human characters. Overall they did an okay job of integrating Godzilla in, but not enough.

A fight between Kong and Ebirah would be a little bit more evenly matched as Ebirah would have the advantage in the water, and you would understand Kong reluctancy to enter the battle. The fight with the giant condor would have made a bit more sense even if it would still probably looked silly. Kong being protective of the island girl is obvious. The only thing that might have been out of place would be Kong vs jet fighters. Even the ending with Kong not wanting to jump in the ocean, over Godzilla that always seemed to like to return to the ocean

Another reason would we may have been spared All Monster Attack since there wouldn't of been enough Godzilla on tropical Island footage to use.

[edgaguirus]

That last reason is the best one.

I would have liked to see Kong fight the planes. Besides being an homage to the original, it would have been nice to see Kong win against the fighters and get some revenge against planes.

[miguelnuva]

As much as I like Godzilla vs the Sea Monster I think this film would have made for a better match up as Godzilla acted way too much like Kong in Sea Monster.

From a fan perspective though imagine Godzilla disappears in Monster Zero and the next time we see him is Son of Godzilla.

[SonOfGorgo]

I also wonder how tall Kong would be here? Would he still be 45 metres? Bigger? Smaller?

[The Octopus]

they would have had to make a KK suit, KKE was 67, Ebirah is 66.

Ray Morton claims that that Kong suit was built in 1966 for Operation Robinson Crusoe, and Toho simply used it a year later for KKE after Crusoe was cancelled. He credits an interview with Arthur Rankin in his books credits section and Rankin along with Jules Bass were the ones co-funding those projects, so maybe this is what Rankin told him.

[Major sssspielberg!]

From a fan perspective though imagine Godzilla disappears in Monster Zero and the next time we see him is Son of Godzilla.

But honestly if they did Robinson Crusoe in 66 how do we know there would have been a Son of Godzilla next? Frankly we might not have Gargantuas that year either. Toho would have had Honda directing Kong, so if there was a Godzilla film 66 would probably still be Fukuda's first Godzilla film.
King Kong vs Ebirah probably would have changed everything about the late 60's showa output.