The Wing Commander movie club has put their seats up and their tray tables in the upright position following the conclusion of Die Hard 2. Next week, we're going a little further back in the past… to 1933 for the original King Kong! King Kong is a massively important film for how it defined the kind of blockbuster movies whose evolution continues to this day… and it's always fun to watch a giant ape wreck things. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
The direct connection to Wing Commander this time around is a fun one: the island that Blair, Grunt and Kulrag crash land on in Wing Commander Academy's Word of Honor is based on the island where Kong is discovered in the original movie (later named Skull Island). USA originally aired a 'Kids Club' bumper with the series' background artists explaining this; unfortunately, it has been lost to time!
There's also a big connection to Chris Roberts' history. His very first game, programmed in BASIC and printed in a magazine in 1983, was… King Kong! It's a simple arcade game that pits you against the fearsome ape in a take on the film's final climactic battle atop the Empire State building. You can read all about the game's history at Pix's Origin Adventures and even play it in your browser here. Let's compare high scores this week! We've mirrored a copy of the King Kong tape here for anyone wanting to use an emulator.
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
King Kong is available to download free from the Internet Archive and to stream via YouTube. It is also available for rent or purchase on all the standard services. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on BluRay in 2010 and remains in print around the world. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.
How do we watch the movie together?
It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!
Last month, we held a special Saturday morning cartoon watch party in #WingNut where we watched the entire 'Warrior King' crossover saga that included Wing Commander Academy. Well, we had so much fun that we've decided to do it again! It's not possible to find anything quite as epic as the Warrior King saga so instead we've pulled together a collection of other Saturday morning shows that reference Wing Commander in some way! Here's the lineup:
Doug - Doug's Lost Weekend (1992, s2e25): This early episode of Doug (pre-Disney's Doug) will be extremely relatable to any Wing Commander fan: Doug becomes addicted to a space sim that is full of nods to the original Wing Commander!
Gridman the Hyper Agent - A Lonely Hacker (1993, s1e17): Gridman is a Japanese "tokusatsu" superhero show similar to the ones used as the basis for shows like Power Rangers in the United States. Watch carefully for the slightest of cameos from an unusual port of the original Wing Commander!
Viper - Ghosts (1994, s1e04): Viper was part of the mid-1990s 'magic vehicle' craze kicked off by earlier programs like Airwolf and Knight Rider. The producers contacted origin asking for a free copy of Privateer when it came out… and then everyone was surprised by just how much the game featured in the final show!
ReBoot - The Tearing (1994, s1e01): The very first episode of Canada's famous ReBoot, the show that introduced full CG to television, pays a pretty big tribute to Wing Commander by having a parody of the series be one of the very first 'games' Bob and company have to enter!
So JOIN US on Saturday, May 10th at noon Eastern when we'll enjoy them all together! Last time we had big fun wearing pajamas and eating cereal… so we recommend you plan to do the same again! You will need to download the episodes from the CIC before we start. Like last time, we're going to start things off with a classic Looney Tunes short… the sequel to the original Duck Dodgers, Duck Dodgers in the Return of the 24½th Century from 1980! Here are the links:
We've also uploaded a zip of all five shows together for ease of downloading. You can get that here.
How do we watch the shows together?
It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Saturday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the shows in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should download their own copies from the CIC and we will count down to play them one at a time together starting with the short at noon EST on Saturday. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!
Will there be custom certificates made for the attendees this time?
Yes.
Why are you still calling it a 'cartoon party' when two of the shows are live action?
Shut up.
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