Mighty Joe Young (1949)
The King Kong team's gentler giant ape.
Mighty Joe Young is a 1949 black-and-white fantasy film from RKO Radio Pictures made by the creative team behind King Kong (1933). It was produced and directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, written by Ruth Rose, and stars Robert Armstrong, Terry Moore and Ben Johnson. Its animation effects were by Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Pete Peterson and Marcel Delgado, and in 1950 it won the Academy Award for special effects.
Quick Facts
- Released
- July 13, 1949
- Directors
- Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
- Studio
- RKO Radio Pictures
- Award
- Academy Award for special effects (1950)
Story
In 1937 Tanganyika, seven-year-old Jill Young trades her toys, jewellery and money for an orphaned baby mountain gorilla and names him Joe Young. Twelve years later, nightclub owner Max O'Hara and the cowboy Gregg, looking for animals for Max's Hollywood nightclub, meet the now giant Joe, and Jill later brings Joe to Hollywood as a nightclub attraction. Near the end, Joe braves a burning orphanage, climbing an adjacent tree to carry Jill to safety while Gregg lowers the children by rope.
Release
The film was released on July 13, 1949, and underperformed at the box office, though reviews were generally positive. It was remade in 1998 with Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton.
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