''King Klunk'' is a 1933

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

, produced and directed by

Walter Lantz Walter Benjamin Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animat ...

. It stars

Pooch the Pup Pooch the Pup is a cartoon animal character, an anthropomorphic dog, appearing in Walter Lantz cartoons during the studio's black-and-white era. The character appeared in 13 shorts made in 1932 and 1933. Biography In 1931, Walter Lantz was en ...

and is the twelfth of the thirteen cartoons featuring that character. The cartoon is a

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of the RKO feature ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'', which premiered six months earlier to this cartoon's release on September 4, 1933 from

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

Plot

Pooch and a girl

coonhound A coonhound, colloquially a coon dog, is a type of scenthound, a member of the hound group. They are an American type of hunting dog developed for the hunting of raccoons and also for feral pigs, bobcats, cougars, and bears. There are six disti ...

sail into Africa, looking to take photographs of King Klunk, the largest gorilla in the planet. On the continent, a pack of

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

s are doing a dance ritual as well preparing a meal for their gigantic gorilla leader. King Klunk immediately shows up, excited to get his lunch, but when Klunk sees that the amount of food in the platter is inadequate, he rejects it. While thinking what he should feed on, the hungry gorilla sees Pooch and the girl coonhound walk by from several yards away. King Klunk then quietly captures Pooch's partner and replaces her with a lady chimpanzee. Pooch, unaware of the exchange, still carries on in his exploration. He even holds the hand of the lady chimpanzee. When he looks back, the pup realizes and is most surprised. As he runs, the lady chimpanzee starts following him, wanting to make Pooch her date. When King Klunk has the girl coonhound in his grasp and is ready to devour her, the chimpanzee

cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

suddenly appears and shoots him with an arrow. In this, rather than eating her, the love-stricken gorilla chooses to merely hold that dog and give warm smiles. Pooch continues running until he loses the lady chimp. As he runs again, Pooch, without noticing, runs up to the top of King Klunk. The gorilla immediately sees and blows him away where he falls into a pond. In the pond, Pooch swims toward what looks like a harmless boulder extending above the surface, but the rock is actually a dinosaur that rises. The dinosaur chases Pooch on land but couldn't keep track of its prey. After losing the little dog, the dinosaur then sees the girl coonhound still being held by King Klunk, and therefore wants to make a meal out of her. Not wanting to relinquish anything, King Klunk puts the girl coonhound safely on a tree and goes on to brawl with the dinosaur. The two beasts trade attacks. Eventually, King Klunk comes out the victor. When the girl coonhound is back in King Klunk's paw, Pooch swings on jungle vines and rescues her. The two dogs swing their way onto a plateau. As the gorilla goes after them, Pooch and the girl coonhound find a giant egg on a nest and push it toward their chaser. Upon being pinned down by the egg, King Klunk is motionless and admits defeat. Instead of taking pictures, Pooch and the girl coonhound tie King Klunk to the back of their boat and pull him across the Atlantic. They decide to take their creature to the United States. On American soil, King Klunk, in chains, is presented at a theater where spectators come to see him. Suddenly, the chimpanzee cupid reappears and shoots him with another arrow. His mood is again changed from bored to in-loved. King Klunk once again set sights on the girl coonhound and starts straining the chains. The spectators panic and flee the theater. King Klunk is able to escape and starts chasing the crowd on the main street. He eventually finds the girl coonhound, picks her up, and climbs The Empire State Building. Determined to salvage his sweetheart, Pooch boards a

fighter plane Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the a ...

and takes off. The little dog then fires his machine gun and cannon at the scaling gorilla. After landing several impacts, Pooch ultimately brings down King Klunk who falls from the building and falls to his death. Pooch and the girl coonhound are together again.

Reception

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' (MPH) was an American film industry trade paper first published as the ''Exhibitors Herald'' in 1915, and MPH from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals ...

'' (September 23, 1933): "Pooch the Pup and his girl in Africa, when a giant ape captures the girl. Pooch rescues her, and they bring back the ape to exhibit in a sideshow. Everything goes well until the ape breaks loose, captures the girl again and escapes to the top of a skyscraper with her. Pooch effects another rescue, via a cartoonist's idea of an aeroplane and destroys the monster. It is an amusing takeoff in cartoon form on ''

''".

Availability

The short is available on '' The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection'' DVD box set.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0142437, title=King Klunk 1933 films 1930s parody films 1930s monster movies American parody films Animated films about dinosaurs Animated films about apes Films directed by Walter Lantz Films set in Africa Giant monster films Walter Lantz Productions shorts 1930s American animated films 1933 animated short films Universal Pictures animated short films Animated films about dogs 1933 comedy films 1930s English-language films English-language science fiction horror films English-language short films American animated black-and-white films