The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island

The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island
Publisher: Pocket Books
November 22, 2005
​Pages: 224
Author: Weta Workshop
​Language: English​​

Synopsis
Offers a visual tour of the artwork, design sketches, and digital effects depicting Skull Island that enhance the remake of "King Kong" directed by Peter Jackson.

It was an uncharted island somewhere off the coast of Sumatra, it was a land whispered about by merchants and sailors. It was a place so unbelievable that no one dared believe in its existence. Except one man, the extraordinary showman Carl Denham. Many will, of course, remember his show on Broadway and its tragic ending. But New York is not where the story ended, it is where it began.

​In 1935 a joint expedition of several prominent universities and organizations called Project Legacy was launched. Its stated mission goal was to create the first of several field guides to Skull Island, a land filled with creatures existing outside of their time, where dinosaurs roamed, evolved, and still lived. Only a year later it was discovered that the island was doomed; the geological forces that had formed the island were now tearing it apart. There were only seven more abbreviated expeditions to the island before its destruction and the start of World War II.

The journals, sketches, and detailed notes of the scientists who braved Skull Island would have continued to gather dust on shelves across the planet were it not for the work of the authors of this book. Here for the first time is their work, collected in a comprehensive edition of the natural history of this lost island. Here is "The World of Kong."