Kitten Kong
Encyclopedia
"Kitten Kong" is the first BAFTA
nominated episode for Best Light Entertainment Programme of the British
comedy
television series The Goodies
.
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
The Goodies
won the Silver Rose
in 1972 for this special episode at the Rose d'Or Festival
, held in Montreux
, Switzerland
.
championships. Graeme and Tim are hungry, and want their dinner — however, there is only soggy lettuce and potato peel to eat because Bill feeds more than their normal amount of food(and wine) to a guinea pig
.
Bill is being paid £30 to look after the guinea pig, and the thought of being able to get some extra money leads to the Goodies setting up the office as the "Goodies Animal Clinic" for 'loony animals'. Graeme sends Tim and Bill out to collect them from their owners. The Goodies' animal 'patients' include a gigantic-size snake, a gold fish, a hen
(which escapes from the basket en route to the office), a large dog, a bushbaby
, a tortoise
, a mongoose
, a vampire bat
, two singing dogs, and a tiny fluffy white kitten called "Twinkle".
Graeme's specially formulated growth mixture, which he feeds to the kitten, causes Twinkle to grow to super-size proportions. Graeme keeps Twinkle inside to stop him from wandering, but Bill decides to let Twinkle out for the night — following which Twinkle destroys St Paul's Cathedral
and the Post Office Tower
, as well as squashing Michael Aspel
with his huge paw, and frightening sundry people and dogs.
Graeme makes an antidote to counteract the disastrous effect of his growth mixture and reduce Twinkle back to the normal size of a cat, but the Goodies have to disguise themselves as giant mice, and to become airborne on their trandem, to be able to get close enough to Twinkle for the antidote to be successful — following which their "hot-air trandem balloon" is carried away by a Concorde
airliner.
Twinkle returns to normal size, and all seems well. However, the Goodies discover that there is yet another unexpected and unforeseen consequence resulting from Graeme's growth mixture — they now have a king-size mouse problem on their hands.
had its first flight in 1969, it did not go into service until 1976.
The original 25 minute episode is thought to no longer exist, making it the only Goodies episode which is officially lost; however, the expanded and more elaborate version for the 1972 Montreux festival is said to have only minor differences with its 1971 prototype.
Graeme makes a reference to the episode during Earthanasia while talking about animal
science
.
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
nominated episode for Best Light Entertainment Programme of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
.
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
Award
A special episode, which was based on the original 1971 Goodies' "Kitten Kong" episode, was called "Kitten Kong: Montreux '72 Edition", and was first broadcast in 1972.The Goodies
The Goodies
The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
won the Silver Rose
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
in 1972 for this special episode at the Rose d'Or Festival
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
, held in Montreux
Montreux
Montreux is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is located on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps and has a population, , of and nearly 90,000 in the agglomeration.- History :...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Plot
Bill is cooking when Graeme and Tim return from chessChess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
championships. Graeme and Tim are hungry, and want their dinner — however, there is only soggy lettuce and potato peel to eat because Bill feeds more than their normal amount of food(and wine) to a guinea pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
.
Bill is being paid £30 to look after the guinea pig, and the thought of being able to get some extra money leads to the Goodies setting up the office as the "Goodies Animal Clinic" for 'loony animals'. Graeme sends Tim and Bill out to collect them from their owners. The Goodies' animal 'patients' include a gigantic-size snake, a gold fish, a hen
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
(which escapes from the basket en route to the office), a large dog, a bushbaby
Galago
Galagos , also known as bushbabies, bush babies or nagapies , are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa, and make up the family Galagidae...
, a tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
, a mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
, a vampire bat
Vampire bat
Vampire bats are bats whose food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy. There are three bat species that feed solely on blood: the Common Vampire Bat , the Hairy-legged Vampire Bat , and the White-winged Vampire Bat .All three species are native to the Americas, ranging from Mexico to...
, two singing dogs, and a tiny fluffy white kitten called "Twinkle".
Graeme's specially formulated growth mixture, which he feeds to the kitten, causes Twinkle to grow to super-size proportions. Graeme keeps Twinkle inside to stop him from wandering, but Bill decides to let Twinkle out for the night — following which Twinkle destroys St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
and the Post Office Tower
BT Tower
The BT Tower is a tall cylindrical building in London, United Kingdom, located at 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia W1T 4JZ, London Borough of Camden. It has been previously known as the Post Office Tower, the London Telecom Tower and the British Telecom Tower. The main structure is tall, with a...
, as well as squashing Michael Aspel
Michael Aspel
Michael Terence Aspel, OBE is an English television presenter, known for his reserved demeanour and rich speaking voice. He has been a high-profile TV personality in the United Kingdom since the 1960s, presenting programmes such as Crackerjack, Aspel and Company, This is Your Life, Strange But...
with his huge paw, and frightening sundry people and dogs.
Graeme makes an antidote to counteract the disastrous effect of his growth mixture and reduce Twinkle back to the normal size of a cat, but the Goodies have to disguise themselves as giant mice, and to become airborne on their trandem, to be able to get close enough to Twinkle for the antidote to be successful — following which their "hot-air trandem balloon" is carried away by a Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
airliner.
Twinkle returns to normal size, and all seems well. However, the Goodies discover that there is yet another unexpected and unforeseen consequence resulting from Graeme's growth mixture — they now have a king-size mouse problem on their hands.
Quote
- Graeme: "Come on — we've got to find him and catch him before he eats someone he shouldn't."
- Tim: "Don't you mean something he shouldn't?"
- Graeme: "I know what I mean!"
Spoofs and cultural references
- King KongKing KongKing Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
- Annie Get Your GunAnnie Get Your Gun (musical)Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
(with the song "Anything You Can Do")
Note
Although ConcordeConcorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
had its first flight in 1969, it did not go into service until 1976.
The original 25 minute episode is thought to no longer exist, making it the only Goodies episode which is officially lost; however, the expanded and more elaborate version for the 1972 Montreux festival is said to have only minor differences with its 1971 prototype.
Graeme makes a reference to the episode during Earthanasia while talking about animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
.