Mighty Joe
USA 1998
Reviewed by Charles Taylor
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
Africa. Dr Ruth Young, an anthropologist studying gorillas with her ten-year-old daughter Jill, is killed during a night-time attack by poachers who also kill a mother gorilla. Jill and the gorilla's baby (whom she has named Joe) grow up together. Twelve years later, Jill is carrying on her mother's work, protecting the gorillas from poachers and trying to hide Joe, who now weighs over 2,000 pounds. Gregg O'Hara, an anthropologist, inadvertently leads poachers to Joe. Realising Joe is no longer safe, Jill accepts Gregg's offer to house Joe in the Los Angeles wildlife centre where Gregg works.
In LA, Joe has troubles settling into his new home. Strasser, the poacher who killed both Jill and Joe's mothers and swore revenge when the infant Joe bit off two of his fingers, poses as a protector of rare species. Seeing a CNN report on Joe, Strasser heads for LA and represents himself to Jill as the owner of a Bothswana preserve where Joe would be safe. At a fund-raising event, Joe goes on the rampage when he sees Strasser. About to spirit Joe to Strasser's "preserve", Jill stumbles upon Strasser's true identity and flees. Joe escapes Strasser and causes havoc in downtown LA. Jill, Gregg and Strasser track Joe to an amusement park where Joe kills Strasser and is then acclaimed a hero by saving a young boy from a ride that's aflame. Jill returns to Africa and opens a wildlife reserve where Joe is assured a safe home.
Review
The idea behind the original Mighty Joe Young (1949) was to redo King Kong (1933) as a kid's movie, and the result was uncomfortably mawkish. (It doesn't take any talent to get an audience to react by showing an animal mistreated.) Ron Underwood, the director of the new remake, brought a loose-limbed, tongue-in-cheek approach to the horror-comedy Tremors, but any hopes he can do the same thing here are dispelled in the opening sequence. The guiding sensibility of Mighty Joe appears to be the Disney studio's. The approach is epitomised by the film's opening: we're treated to shots of baby Joe the gorilla screaming and crying while his mother is murdered. We also get a ten-year-old girl huddling with the distraught gorilla while her mother is murdered.
Things brighten considerably when Joe becomes a stunning full-grown behemoth and his protector becomes a stunning full-grown Charlize Theron (and brighten even a little more when the appealing sane Regina King turns up in a supporting role). But Underwood never hits on the funky satirical tone that made John Guillermin's sadly maligned 1976 remake of King Kong such a delight, though the way he shoots Joe, emphasising his huge liquid eyes, certainly hearkens back to the Guillermin film.
Designed by Rick Baker, Joe's an endearing enough presence, but because the script calls for him to spend too much time forlornly locked up in the zoo, he becomes more cuddly than he should. He shakes that off in the best-sustained sequence where Joe gets loose in Los Angeles, acting out our fantasies of flattening all the annoyances city life offers up, like the Porsche equipped with a shrieking alarm system. (At one point Joe passes a movie theatre with a poster for John Ford's 1950 Wagon Master, a sweet tip of the hat to the star of that film, Ben Johnson, who also starred in the original Mighty Joe Young.)
At nearly six athletic feet, Charlize Theron is well suited to stand up to her co-star. This isn't the role that lets out the hell-raising comedian her performances in The Devil's Advocate and Woody Allen's forthcoming Celebrity have suggested. But she manages to be a sunny presence without being a twinkie. Theron is a saucy punchline to the movie's riddle: what kind of girl plays hide and seek with a 2,000 pound gorilla?
Credits
- Producers
- Ted Hartley
- Tom Jacobson
- Screenplay
- Mark Rosenthal
- Lawrence Konner
- Based on a screenplay by
- Ruth Rose
- and story by
- Merian C. Cooper
- Directors of Photography
- Don Peterman
- Oliver Wood
- Editor
- Paul Hirsch
- Production Designer
- Michael Corenblith
- Music/Music Conductor
- James Horner
- ©Disney Enterprises, Inc.
- Production Companies
- Walt Disney Pictures presents an RKO Pictures production in association with The Jacobson Company
- Executive Producer
- Gail Katz
- Co-executive Producers
- Mark Lisson
- Gary Stutman
- Co-producer
- Michael Fottrell
- Supervising Producer
- Ralph Winter
- Associate Producers
- Jackie Rubin Levine
- Jim Chory
- Production Supervisor
- Sara E. White
- Production Co-ordinators
- Sherry Marshall
- 2nd Unit:
- Catherine Schwenn McComb
- LA River Unit:
- Michelle Nishikawa
- Abbie Ludwig
- African Unit:
- Jeanne Ishikawa
- Unit Production Managers
- Michael Fottrell
- LA River Unit:
- George Manasse
- Location Managers
- Gregory M. Lazzaro
- LA River Unit:
- Robert Karpman
- Post-production Co-ordinator
- Joe Riley
- 2nd Unit Director
- Terry Leonard
- Assistant Directors
- Jim Chory
- David Hallinan
- Sean McCarron
- David Bernstein
- Visual Effects:
- Justin Moritt
- 2nd Unit:
- David Ticotin
- Jon C. Scheide
- Jeffrey T. Cline
- Dave Goldfarb
- LA River Unit:
- Frank Capra III
- Todd Murata
- Carlos Ramirez
- Africa, Visual Effects:
- Christian Clark
- Script Supervisors
- Judi Townsend
- 2nd Unit:
- Patience Thoreson
- Casting
- Pam Dixon Mickelson
- Associate:
- Barbara S. Allen
- 2nd Unit Director of Photography
- Keith Peterman
- Camera Operators
- Ray De La Motte
- Paul Edwards
- Gregory Smith
- 2nd Unit:
- George A. Loomis
- Donald E. Thorin Jr
- Michael L. May
- Spencer McDonald
- Jeffrey Wayne Norvert
- Steadicam Operator
- Gregory Smith
- Mighty Joe Young Creature Design/Production
- Rick Baker
- Visual Effects
- Supervisor:
- Hoyt Yeatman
- Producer:
- Robert Stadd
- Visual Effects/Computer Generated Gorilla
- DreamQuest Images
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Angelica Casillas
- Executive Producer:
- Dennis Hoffman
- Associate Visual Effects Supervisr:
- Dan DeLeeuw
- Supervising Character Animator:
- Rob Dressel
- Digital Compositing Supervisor:
- Blaine Kennison
- Digital Producer:
- Kristina Reed
- 2D Production Co-ordinator:
- Julie Fischer
- Lead Compositors:
- Saki Mitchell
- David Lauer
- Amy Pfaffinger
- Compositors:
- Brian Adams
- Michael F. Miller
- Jeffrey Arnold
- Jeff Olm
- Tony Noel
- Daniel Miller
- Marc Scott
- Cynthia Hyland
- Roto Artists:
- Dan Walker
- Daryl Klein
- Paul Kulikowski
- Animators:
- Steven F. Yamamoto
- Stephen Baker
- Jason McDade
- Steward Burris
- Robert Skiena
- Dave Mullins
- Michael Polvani
- Aaron Campbell
- Kevin Culhane
- Cory Barlog
- Bill Miller
- CG Hair Texturing/Grooming:
- Colin Eckart
- CG Lighting Artists:
- Adolph Lusinsky
- Jessi Chan
- Andrew McPhillips
- Natasha Rand
- Fredd Rokaw
- Chu Tang
- Mohammed Davoudian
- Facial Animation System:
- Patrick Taylor
- Modeller:
- Hal Lewis
- Technical Supervisors:
- Danny Speck
- Bruce Wright
- Paul Jordan
- 3D Paint/Texturing:
- Mark Siegel
- CG Effects Animator:
- Chris Biggs
- Match Movers:
- Matt Mueller
- Mike Ramirez
- Digital Production Manager:
- Kathryn Liotta-Couture
- 3D Production Co-ordinator:
- Elizabeth Hitt
- Hair Rendering Software Development:
- Rev Lebaredian
- Software Development:
- Mark Rubin
- Sean Jenkins
- Jacob Sisk
- Bruce Tartaglia
- Digital Department Supervisor:
- Mitch Dobrowner
- Motion Control Stage Supervisor:
- Kevin Fitzgerald
- Production Managers:
- Tod Feaster
- David P.I. James
- Director of Miniature Photography:
- Scott Beattie
- Executive Production Manager:
- Liz Ralston
- Visual Effects Editor:
- Joe Yanuzzi
- Editorial Department Supervisor:
- Scott Sohan
- Concept Artist:
- Michael Meaker
- Special Visual Effects/Animation
- Industrial Light and Magic
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Jim Mitchell
- Animation Supervisor:
- Daniel Jeannette
- Animation/Visual Effects Producer:
- Mark S. Miller
- Visual Effects Associate Supervisor:
- Carl Frederick
- Creature Supervisor:
- Paul Giacoppo
- Lead Computer Graphics Artist:
- Robert Weaver
- Character Animators:
- Julie Nelson
- Steve Nichols
- Mark Powers
- Doug Edward Smith
- Tom St. Amand
- Glenn Sylvester
- Dan Taylor
- Computer Graphics Artists:
- Vince De Quattro
- Russell Koonce
- Jeroen Lapre
- Ken Nielsen
- Hiromi Ono
- Linda Siegel
- Eric Texier
- Michael Corcoran
- Digital Texturing Paint Artist:
- Rebecca Petrulli-Heskes
- Digital Timing Supervisor:
- Bruce Vecchitto
- Visual Effects Co-ordinator:
- Theresa Corrao
- Research/Development Supervisor:
- Christian Rouet
- Software Research/Development:
- John Anderson
- Jim Hourihan
- Florian Kainz
- Vishwa Ranjan
- Lead 3D Camera Matchmove Artist:
- Keith Johnson
- 3D Camera Matchmove Artist:
- Lanny Cermak
- Visual Effects Editor:
- Michael Gleason
- Scanning Supervisor:
- Joshua Pines
- Digital Paint/Roto Artists:
- Scott Stewart
- Cathy Burrow
- Patrick Jarvis
- Terry Molatore
- Film Scanning:
- Earl Beyer
- Mike Ellis
- Visual Effects Production Unit
- Visual Effects Co-ordinator:
- Chris Claisse
- Visual Effects Directors of Photography:
- Alex Funke
- Gary Palmer
- Visual Effects Art Director:
- Forrest A. Leathers
- Visual Effects Art Production Supervisor:
- Kent Johnson
- Digital Effects
- Computer Film Company
- Janek Sirrs
- Janet Yale
- Travis Baumann
- David Fuhrer
- Bob Chapin
- Matt Dessero
- Digital Matte Paintings
- Matte World Digital
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Craig Barron
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Krystyna Demkowicz
- Chief Digital Matte Artist:
- Chris Evans
- Digital Matte Artist:
- Brett Northcutt
- Digital Composite Supervisor:
- Paul Rivera
- Digital Compositing:
- Todd R. Smith
- Geoff Richardson
- 3D Artist:
- Morgan Trotter
- Effects Editorial:
- Ken Rogerson
- 3D Modelling:
- Brian Ringseis
- Jon Bell
- Digital Matte Paintings Re:sources
- Digital Matte Artist:
- Max Painter
- Additional Digital Compositing
- Buena Vista Imaging
- Composite Image Systems
- Special Effects
- Co-ordinator:
- Allen Hall
- Assistant Co-ordinator:
- Joe Montenegro
- LA River Unit Supervisor:
- Steven C. Foster
- Foremen:
- Robert G. Willard
- Steven C. Foster
- Arlen J. Johnson
- Technicians:
- Ted Bukowski
- Kevin Cox
- Curtis Decker
- Lawrence Decker
- Darryll Dodson
- Edwin J. Escobar
- Robert Espinoza
- Gene A. Grijalva
- Steve Hall
- Matthew Hall
- Gary L. Karas
- Carlos M. Rodriguez
- Randy Schiesow
- Frank L. Toro
- Animation Supervisor
- Chris Bailey
- Supervising Art Director
- Dan Webster
- Art Directors
- Charlie Daboub
- LA River Unit:
- Tom Southwell
- Set Designers
- Bill Hawkins
- Patte Strong
- Al Hobbs
- Set Decorator
- Merideth Boswell
- Illustrator
- Giacomo Ghiazza
- Conceptual/Storyboard Artist
- Tom Southwell
- Storyboard Artists
- Tim Burgard
- Trevor Goring
- Raymond W. Harvie
- Michael Davis
- Sherman Labby
- Costume Designer
- Molly Maginnis
- Costume Supervisors
- Valerie Zielonka
- James H. Lapidus
- 2nd Unit:
- Mary Lane
- Make-up
- Key Artist:
- Deborah K. Larsen
- Artists:
- Gail L. Hagopian
- Christina Criswell
- 2nd Unit:
- John Damiani
- Visual Effects
- Cinovation/Rick Baker Crew
- Creature Design:
- Rick Baker
- Joe Suit Supervisor:
- Matt Rose
- Big Joe Supervisor:
- Eddie Yang
- Baby Joe Supervisor:
- Aaron Sims
- Cosmetic Department:
- Chad Waters
- Tom Gilliland
- Mitch Devane
- Jim McPherson
- Art Sakamoto
- Ryan Peterson
- Kazuhiro 'Kazu' Tsuji
- Shop Foreman:
- Bill Sturgeon
- Mold Supervisor:
- Jim McLoughlin
- Mold Department:
- Robert Freitas
- Roger Borelli
- Gilbert Liberto
- Frank Rydberg
- Glen Griffin
- Johnnie Espiritu
- Gary Pawlowski
- Foam Department:
- Todd Heindel
- Joseph 'Yuss' Simon
- Costume Designer:
- Claire Flewin
- Costume Department:
- Janna Crawford
- Maria Sundeen
- Audrey Goetz
- Seaming Department:
- Lisa Welton
- John Shea
- Becky Cotton
- Rick Lalonde
- Hair Supervisors:
- Janice Barnes
- Sylvia Nava
- Hair Department:
- Carol Meddins-Ertl
- Denise Leibee-Behr
- Connie Grayson
- Kathy Kane McGowan
- Mechanical Supervisor:
- Mark Setrakian
- Mechanical Department:
- Jurgen Heimann
- Paul Romer
- Rick Galinson
- Mike Elizalde
- Brian Morishita
- Kyle Martin
- Steve James
- Chris Tarin
- Melissa Chang
- Eve Neimand
- Nicholas Esposito
- Baby Joe:
- Vern Troyer
- Joe's Mother Gorilla:
- John Munro Cameron
- Other Gorillas:
- Debbie Lee Carrington
- Denise Cheshire
- Joe's Stand-in:
- David St. Pierre
- Key Hairstylist
- Frances Mathias
- Main Title Sequence Design/Creation
- Imaginary Forces
- Kyle Cooper
- Opticals
- Pacific Title/Mirage
- Featured Musicians
- Tony Hinnigan
- Kazu Matsui
- Ron Aston
- Brian Kilgore
- Michael Fisher
- Robert Zimmitti
- Ian Underwood
- Orchestrations
- J.A.C. Redford
- James Horner
- Executive in Charge of Music for the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group
- Kathy Nelson
- Supervising Music Editor
- Jim Henrikson
- Music Editors
- Joe E. Rand
- Bob Badami
- Music Scoring Mixer
- Simon Rhodes
- Additional Music Recording
- David Marquette
- Soundtrack
- "Windsong" by James Horner, Will Jennings, choir direction/arrangement by Lebo M.; "Imam Assani Cisse" by/performed by Chuck Jonkey; "Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Foster, performed by Jay Richardson; "Calliope Music" by/performed by Richard Gibbs
- Additional Audio
- Marc Ormandy
- Sound Mixers
- Richard Bryce Goodman
- 2nd Unit:
- Frank Menges
- Sound Mixed by
- Steve Maslow
- Gregg Landaker
- Supervising Sound Editors
- Wylie Stateman
- Kelly Cabral
- Dialogue Editors
- Lauren Stephens
- Richard Dwan
- Sound Effects Design
- Jon Title
- Gorilla Recordist
- Toby Dalsgaard
- Sound Effects Editors
- Tony Lamberti
- Hector Gika
- Randy Kelley
- Dino DiMuro
- ADR
- Recordist:
- Doc Kane
- Editor:
- Jennifer Mann
- Foley
- Artists:
- Catherine Harper
- Jim Moriana
- Recordist:
- Julie Lucas
- Mixer:
- David Alstadter
- Editors:
- Kelly Oxford
- Craig Jaeger
- Dan Hegeman
- Aerial Co-ordinator
- Kevin Larosa
- Swahili Consultant
- Sarah Mirza
- Stunt Co-ordinators
- Terry Leonard
- LA River Unit:
- Chris Tuck
- Animal Co-ordinators
- Gary Gero
- Birds and Animals Unlimited
- Head Animal Trainer
- Larry Madrid
- Cast
- Bill Paxton
- Gregg O'Hara
- Charlize Theron
- Jill Young
- Rade Serbedzija
- Strasser
- Regina King
- Cecily Banks
- Peter Firth
- Garth
- Naveen Andrews
- Pindi
- David Paymer
- Harry Ruben
- Robert Wisdom
- Kweli
- Christian Clemenson
- Jack
- Geoffrey Blake
- Vern
- Lawrence Pressman
- Doctor Baker
- Linda Purl
- Dr Ruth Young
- Mika Boorem
- young Jill Young
- Cory Buck
- Jason
- Liz Georges
- Jason's mother
- Richard Riehle
- Commander Gorman
- Cynthia Allison
- Ken Taylor
- news reporters
- Ray Harryhausen
- gentleman at party
- Terry Moore
- elegant woman at party
- Judson Mills
- impatient driver
- Tony Genaro
- boxer shorts man
- Flo Di Re
- Bambi's owner
- Kaylan Romero
- Hernan Ruiz
- Jenilee Deal
- Matt Deal
- street kids
- Bethany Bassler
- Vicki Davis
- Deborah Kellner
- Marguerite Moreau
- cabriolet girls
- Tracey Walter
- Conservancy guard
- Larry Brandenburg
- Animal Control duty officer
- Damien Leake
- Neal Kopit
- cops
- Janet Eilber
- concerned mother
- Wiley Pickett
- police sharpshooter
- John T. Bower
- carjack man
- Hannah Swanson
- toddler
- Laurie Kilpatrick
- toddler's mom
- Richard McGonagle
- panda owner
- Reno Wilson
- poacher
- Theodore R. Hartley
- society man
- Dina Merrill
- society woman
- Lily Mariye
- ticket clerk
- Gary Hecker
- special vocal effects
- John Alexander
- Mighty Joe Young
- Darren Knaus
- Baby Joe Vocals
- [uncredited]
- Scarlett Pomers
- Charlotte
- Certificate
- PG
- Distributor
- Buena Vista International (UK)
- 10,275 feet
- 114 minutes 10 seconds
- SDDS/Dolby digital/Digital DTS sound
- In Colour
- Anamorphic [Panavision]
- US Release Title
- Mighty Joe Young