The Hudsons' 2005 Christmas Letter

King Kristmas (2005) The Eighth Blunder of the World A parody of King Kong (2005) by Peter Jackson / Universal Studios based on the 1933 version by Merian Cooper and Edgar Wallace. Original movie stills courtesy of kongisking.net. Starring (left to right) Panang as seafarer Captain Englehorn, Andrew as showman Carl Denham, Redford as playwright Jack Driscoll, Jennie as adventuress Ann Darrow, and Roxanne as actress Ann Darrow the Younger. Introducing King Kong's lesser-known but somewhat friendlier brother, King Kristmas, as himself. Dedicated to Mumb Sadly, Andrew's beloved mother Chris (also known as Ann and Mumb) passed away in March 2005. She had a rare blood disease. A wonderful mother, a great friend, and a proud grandmother, she had a lovely Cornish wit and this card is dedicated to her. Synopsis Adventurers return with something big for Christmas. Characters Budding dancer and shoe diva Roxanne (Fay Wray/Ann Darrow) has a smile to soothe savage beasts (her parents). When this lovely 21-month-old bats her beautiful blue eyes, wants to read "Good Night, Gorilla," breaks into a rockin' dance routine, or calls her brother "Reh-foo," the collective "ahhhs" are deafening. In March, she turns "1" and graduates from "baby" to "toddler" at day-care. Redford (Jack Driscoll) starts at a new school (CMP) in June and turns "three" in August with a pool party. He loves his King Kar collection, painting, jumping, learning to write, and wrestling a dinosaur (dad). Jennie (Ann Darrow, the Older) puts her efforts into calming her own internal creature. Juggling her full time job with Macy's Special Events and her rest-of-the time job with family, she also tries to fit in meditation and a regular exercise routine, reading the occasional novel, and sleeping. Andrew (Carl Denham) ventures into the island interior with open-heart surgery in February to replace a leaking valve. He sheds 12lbs (5.5Kg) and returns with a showpiece--fitness. With shackles broken, he runs rampant around the city on his first 5K race in October. He monkeys around with two new books (for Chicago and the Jersey Shore) and the band, scaling new heights, records some songs. The house (Skull Island, not pictured) gets air conditioning to cool down the restless natives. Meanwhile, Panang (Capt. Englehorn) loves dog beach and things (giant gorillas or children's food) that fall from high up. Review Have a Hairy Christmas and Go Ape for the New Year. Card printed by Shutterfly. 2005: The Year In Photos (Click on a photo for more pictures) Jan Feb Andrew has surgery; Roxanne walks Mar Andrew's mum passes away; Roxanne turns 1 Apr May Jun The band plays a gig; Redford changes day-care Jul Andrew does rehab; Redford rides a rollercoaster Aug Finters visit; Band records; Redford turns 3 Sep Roxanne walks the dog Oct Andrew's first race; Redford's first field trip; Roxanne likes shoes; Halloween Nov Trent turns 3 December coming later

How Is The Card Made? Did you go to Universal Studios? Did you buy a gorilla? No, it's just done on a computer. Since I was 18, I've been making my own Christmas cards by cutting up pieces of artwork and pasting them together. This card is done the same way but digitally, using Adobe Photoshop. I used still frames from the movie trailer (posted at kongisking.net) to make a background with all the key elements (Kong, Empire State Building, planes, main characters in costume). I moved the elements around and resized them to make an arrangement suitable for our family. Then I took photos of each of us separately on a digital camera (Canon S70). In Photoshop, I cut out our heads and pasted them onto the picture. Every piece is a separate "layer" and there were about 50 layers. Then I "flattened" the picture, saved it as a JPEG file, and sent it to Shutterfly for printing. Here are some of the original images. Phil's 2005 Card | << Previous Year | Next Year >> | | Christmas Letters Main Page | House of Hudson | Email |