The book is written in the form of a field guide and natural history of the version of Skull Island and its creatures as presented in the film.

The narrative in the book's introductory chapter presents the book as the result of Project Legacy, a series of seven zoological expeditions led by Carl Denham (played by Jack Black in the film) to the island between 1935 (two years after the film takes place) and 1948, when the island sank into the sea due to volcanic and geological activity.

[3] The design team at Wētā Workshop, responsible for the animal designs to be featured in the film, were inspired by the speculative evolution works of Dougal Dixon, especially his book The New Dinosaurs (1988), which speculated on what forms non-avian dinosaurs might have evolved into if they had not gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.

[6] The World of Kong, supervised by Peter Jackson, was one of several tie-in products released to accompany the film.

[7][9] The choice was also made to write the book in the style of an in-universe field guide and natural history.