Gorillas in popular culture

A poster for the 1933 film King Kong

Representations of gorillas are common in popular culture in the Western world[1] with the full range of electronic media having gorillas as mascots, gorillas behaving like humans, and humans behaving like gorillas.

Art

  • The French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet won a medal of honour at the Salon of 1887 for his masterly Gorilla Carrying off a Woman ("Gorille enlevant une Femme"). The sculpture depicts a gorilla abducting a woman, something totally alien to actual gorilla behaviour.[2] The Frémiet sculpture had somehow caught the public's imagination, as witnessed by the repeated popularity of the King Kong theme.

Animation

  • The 1942 Superman cartoon Terror on the Midway featured the Man of Steel fighting a gorilla that has escaped during a circus fire.
  • In the 1944 Donald Duck cartoon Donald Duck and the Gorilla, a gorilla named Ajax escapes from the city zoo and terrorizes Donald Duck.
  • Magilla Gorilla is a well-known Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the 1960s.
  • In the Dragon Ball franchise, the protagonist Goku and several other characters belong to an extraterrestrial species known as Saiyans that can transform into gigantic gorilla-like beings called Great Apes.
  • In the animated 1999 Disney version of Tarzan, the hero's adopted family are gorillas (unlike the "Great Apes" of the original book), including Kala (voiced by Glenn Close), Kerchak (voiced by Lance Henriksen) and Terk (voiced by Rosie O'Donnell).
  • In 2005 animated prequel film Tarzan II, several additional characters are introduced: Uto (voiced by Brad Garrett), Kago (voiced by Ron Perlman), Mama Gunda (voiced by Estelle Harris), and Zugo (voiced by George Carlin).
  • In the Tarzan-parody animated TV series George of the Jungle, George's best friend is an erudite talking gorilla named Ape. In the Disney 1997 film adaptation, Ape is voiced by John Cleese.
  • Windsor, a supporting character in the animated Cartoon Network series, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, is a gorilla.
  • In the anime series Cromartie High School, a gorilla is one of the more powerful delinquents at Cromartie High. He (she?) also plays backup guitar for "Freddie", a fellow student who may or may not be Freddie Mercury.
  • The Iron Kong in the Zoids universe is a mecha shaped like a gorilla.
  • In the Beast Wars and Beast Machines TV series, the leader of the Maximals, Optimus Primal, adopted an organic-skinned "beast mode" of a gorilla; and later in the series a TransMetal gorilla, and then (Beast Machines) he became a techno-organic gorilla.
  • In the animated television series Ben 10, the future version of Dr. Animo has a detachable human head and the body of a gorilla as seen in the episode "Ben 10,000".
  • Ultimate Spidermonkey from Ben 10: Ultimate Alien is based on a gorilla mixed with a spider.
  • Gor-illa/Gor is a gorilla made sentient by an alien race in the science fiction cartoon Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys.
  • Several gorilla characters appear in the Disney Junior series The Lion Guard, including Majinuni (voiced by Daniel Howell), Hafifu (voiced by Phil Lester), King Sokwe (voiced by John Rhys-Davies), and Shujaa (voiced by Christopher Jackson).
  • A western lowland gorilla named Momo appears in the Class of 3000 episode "Funky Monkey". He lives in the Zoo Atlanta and wants to be a drummer like Lil D.
  • In the manga One-Punch Man, there is a character named "Armored Gorilla".

Comics

  • In The Adventures of Tintin comic The Black Island, a gorilla called Ranko was featured, who people thought was a monster.
  • Gorillas were frequently used as a gimmick to sell comics during the Silver Age of Comic Books: see Gorillas in comics.
  • Several intelligent gorilla characters appear in DC Comics media: the heroes Congorilla and Solovar, and the villains Gorilla Grodd and Monsieur Mallah.
  • Marvel Apes, a Marvel Comics mini-series in which The Gibbon is transported into an alternate earth where all the Superheroes have simian counterparts (Captain Apemerica).
  • In the Planet of the Apes comic books, normal-sized gorillas fill security/military roles.
  • Grease Monkey is a science fiction series centered around intelligent gorillas.
  • In the space opera webcomic Schlock Mercenary, one of the recurring characters is an uplifted gorilla (i.e. a gorilla that has genetically enhanced, human-level sentience). This gorilla also bears the name Kerchak.

Film

Magazines and literature

A monstrous German gorilla in a World War I propaganda poster (Harry R. Hopps; 1917)
  • Fester Bestertester, the protagonist of Don Martin's Mad strip National Gorilla-Suit Day is beset by gorillas (or persons dressed as gorillas). "National Gorilla-Suit Day" is celebrated every year on January 31.
  • In the award-winning novel Ishmael, written by Daniel Quinn, a gorilla teaches the protagonist about the history of humanity and the effect "civilized" culture has had on other species.
  • The novel Congo features "killer" gorillas
  • In The Uplift War, a science-fiction novel by David Brin, gorillas transported to the planet Garth for experiments in uplift play a significant role in the plot.
  • In the North American Confederacy alternate history series by L. Neil Smith, gorillas (along with other greater primates) are recognized as sentient beings and are granted full citizenship in the eponymous political entity. In the first novel in the series, The Probability Broach, a gorilla, Olongo Featherstone-Haugh (pronounced "Fanshaw"), is mentioned as having served as the largely ceremonial Vice-President of the NAC. The second novel, The Venus Belt, states that he was then elected as the equally ceremonial President of the NAC from 1996 to 2000, retiring after one term.
  • In the Animorphs book series, one of the main characters, Marco, shapeshifts into the form of a gorilla as his main 'battle morph'.

Music

Online games

  • Gorillas are also Beasts in the popular fantasy MMO World of Warcraft some can be tamed and used by the Hunter Class in the game though they are not nearly as commonly used as other potential pets.
  • In the popular superhero-themed MMO Champions Online, Dr. Silverback is one of the most important heroes of the setting and a contact for the players.
  • The team-based multiplayer shooter Overwatch features a hero named Winston, a gorilla who was born and raised on a futuristic lunar colony and received an education in science, enabling him to become an advanced engineer and scientist himself.

Schools

Sports

Television

Video games

  • George is a giant monster gorilla from the Rampage who mutated from a human in contrast to his film counterpart.
  • The namesake of the Donkey Kong video game franchise and the Mario franchise is a gorilla, as is much of his supporting cast.
  • The Crash Bash character Rilla Roo is a gorilla with the lower body of a kangaroo.
  • Blizzard and Chaos from Primal Rage.
  • Gorilla in Gekido.
  • Gorilla Mask, from God Hand.
  • Silverback and various apes from Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes
  • In Rogue Galaxy, there are three gorilla-like species. A gorra is a simple gorilla found in Juraika.
  • The Pokémon Slaking is based on a gorilla mixed loosely with a sloth. Rillaboom, the final evolution of the Grass-type starter Pokémon from Pokémon Sword and Shield, Grookey, also greatly resembles a gorilla with elements of drummers. The region where Sword/Shield is set is intended as reference to England, making this likely a reference to the Cadbury's advert.
  • A zombified gorilla, the Cosmic Silverback, appears as a boss antagonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops minigame, Dead Ops Arcade.
  • Several types of gorillas appear in Everquest 2, anywhere there is jungle, or in the Shard of Fear.
  • Winston, a genetically engineered Gorilla scientist, from Overwatch.
  • In the Mega Man 6, Gorilla Tank was a boss.
  • The Great Circus Mystery character Jungle Ape is a gorilla dressed as a savage and the boss of the second level.

Other

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Quammen, David (April 4, 2013). "Book Review: Planet of the Ape -'Between Man and Beast,' by Monte Reel". New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  2. ^ Gott, Ted (2005). "Stowed Away:Emmanuel Frémiet's Gorlla Carrying Off A Woman". Art Journal. 45. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Cooper, Alice. "Thrill My Gorilla." Constrictor. [S.l.]: Premium Masters, 1994.
  4. ^ Dead Milkmen (Musical group). Big Lizard in My Backyard. El Segundo, CA: Restless, 1985.
  5. ^ Flaming Lips. "Shaved Gorilla." Telepathic Surgery. Culver City, CA: Restless Records, 1989.
  6. ^ GabbaniVEVO (2017-02-09), Francesco Gabbani - Occidentali's Karma, archived from the original on 2021-12-19, retrieved 2017-04-08
  7. ^ Scarpone, Cristian (2017-02-15). ""Occidentali's Karma" lyrics - Francesco Gabbani (Italy, Eurovision 2017)". Eurovision 2017 Predictions, Polls, Odds, Rankings | wiwibloggs. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  8. ^ Ghostface Killah. "Gorilla Hood." The Pretty Tony Collection Chapter 2. n.p., n.p., 2008
  9. ^ Project Pat. "Gorilla Pimp." Mista Don't Play Everythangs Workin. New York: Hypnotize Minds/Loud Records, 2001.
  10. ^ Spin Doctors. "Gorilla Boy." Here Comes the Bride. New York: DAS, 1999.
  11. ^ Taylor, James. "Gorilla." Gorilla. Burbank, Calif: Warner Bros, 1975.
  12. ^ Zevon, Warren. Warren Zevon. Los Angeles, Calif: Imperial, 1969.
  13. ^ Zevon, Warren. "Gorilla, You're a Desperado." Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School. [Miami, Fla.]: Columbia Pictures Publications, 1980.
  14. ^ Z-Ro. Screwed Up Click Representa. Houston, TX: Presidential Records, 2002.
  15. ^ Spot the link between a gorilla and chocolate Archived 6 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, 14 May 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2007.

External links