The Mightiest Wonder of the World
Matte Shot – a tribute to Golden Era & Traditional Special Effects
As a youngster, I, along with millions of like minded adolescents in all four corners of the globe were infatuated with that mightiest of all mighty creatures of fantasy and adventure – a certain temperamental eighteen foot tall gorilla with a penchant for lithe blonds and high places – Kong – the 8th wonder of the world!
The very name Kong stirs one’s imagination with a sense of danger, excitement, romance and impending doom – all wrapped up in an adrenalin charged mythology unlike any other. As a youngster growing up in the sixties the closest I ever managed to come to ever seeing said beast were the pictorials in Forry Ackerman’s vital and unmissable magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland and the odd lesser quality competitor journal – most of which were very short lived unlike Forry’s publication which would enjoy a long and healthy shelf life both for Ackerman and the millions of readers.
I craved everything I could get my hands on in regards to KING KONG and prayed for the day I might be able to see the actual film by some means. The nearest I ever got at that time to KONG – or at least a feeble facsimilie – was the Japanese flick man in a suit stomp fest KING KONG ESCAPES (1967) which although fun, even a kid like me saw straight through the patently ‘toy’ miniatures being stomped on! Television here in New Zealand in those days was bleak at best, with just one (count ‘em O N E ) channel – and it being in glorious monochrome until around 1973. I can still vividly remember the day I opened our local magazine The Listener- the guide to all tv shows and radio etc – and there it was….. KING KONG scheduled for television screening for the first time, I think late 1973 or early 1974. That was it….. finally the moment had come and I would be face to face with this long sought after foe! I even recall the fear of what would I do if the old black & white tv set broke down that day? What if there were a power cut? What if I fell off my bike and got mangled beyond repair and couldn’t see this movie (or anything else for that matter!)…
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A tribute to the artistry and ingenuity of traditional matte painters, this collection celebrates the hand‑crafted movie magic that once shaped cinema — from grand, epic vistas to invisible effects even seasoned viewers might miss. It’s designed for both casual fans and dedicated enthusiasts, offering a renewed appreciation for skills largely forgotten today. I’ve also reached deeper into the Matte Shot archives to bring even more of this remarkable work forward, and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do.
