Post #496717 by JOHN-O on Tue, Dec 1, 2009 6:36 PM

Actually I'm not ready to leave the 1930's just yet.

I forgot to include one of the more infamous mid-century portrayals of exotic "African" culture - the jungle natives of Skull Island in the original 1933 "King Kong".

Here's a colorized version of them (Damn you, Ted Turner !!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMyPFDMSG_M

This was the stereotypical American flip-side to the more affectionate European pop culture interpretations of Africa that BigBro and Mister Naufrago shared (although there was a 20-year gap). How embarrassing !! :(

Also Skull Island was the first in a long line of mysterious jungle islands to have dark-skinned inhabitants. My childhood favorite was the "Danger Island" serial on the Banana Splits TV show in the late 1960's. "Uh-oh Chongo, it's Danger Island time !!" Dig that jazzy score which was typical of so many of TV's opening themes of the time. Also notice the wild mixture of exotic elements. I saw Caribbean pirates, South American Indians, animals indigenous to Africa, and check out the guy in the fez !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ql7dIIItdo

And if you want to ask "So where there any Tikis on Danger Island?", please start a separate thread. :) (Sorry for jumping ahead 3 decades but my childhood nostalgia got the better of me.)

And yeah, I know I probably should be focusing more on an "academic" analysis of African Pop Primitism and its role in Tiki-style, but sorry my mid-century cultural tastes lean towards the low brow and kitschy.

Coming up next from me, more Jungle Girls.....