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Mighty Joe Young Overview:

Mighty Joe Young (1949) was a Adventure - Fantasy Film directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and produced by John Ford and Merian C. Cooper.

Mighty Joe Young BlogHub Articles:

Mighty Joe Young (1949, Ernest B. Schoedsack)

From the first scene, Mighty Joe Young is concerning. There’s a nice establishing shot of an Africa plantation, with some great matte work, then little White girl on the plantation Lora Lee Michel sees a couple African men passing with a basket. She wants what’s in the basket, so there’s a nic... Read full article


Mighty Joe Young (1949)

Mighty Joe Young Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack Written by Ruth Rose from an original story by Merian C. Cooper 1949/USA Argosy Pictures First viewing/Netflix rental Sometimes it is good just to sit there like a little kid and marvel at some awesome special effects.  This is a particularly... Read full article


Classic Films in Focus: MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)

King Kong (1933) gave rise to a whole host of subsequent gorilla movies, beginning with The Son of Kong (1933), but Mighty Joe Young (1949) merits special attention because it marks the feature film debut of one of the greatest innovators in special effects history, Ray Harryhausen, who worked on th... Read full article


Classic Films in Focus: MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)

King Kong (1933) gave rise to a whole host of subsequent gorilla movies, beginning with The Son of Kong (1933), but Mighty Joe Young (1949) merits special attention because it marks the feature film debut of one of the greatest innovators in special effects history, Ray Harryhausen, who worked on th... Read full article


Classic Films in Focus: MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)

King Kong (1933) gave rise to a whole host of subsequent gorilla movies, beginning with The Son of Kong (1933), but Mighty Joe Young (1949) merits special attention because it marks the feature film debut of one of the greatest innovators in special effects history, Ray Harryhausen, who worked on th... Read full article


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Mighty Joe Young Quotes:

Jill Young: [after O'Hara and Crawford have fled] Aren't you afraid of Joe?
Gregg Johnson: I sure am, but I don't want him to know it.

Max O'Hara: We're goin' to Africa- we're gonna lassoo lions.
Windy: But Maxie, you can buy all the lions you want in California!
Windy: [Dramatically] But don't you understand? I'm going to be in terrible danger - in darkest Africa!

Agent: Maxie, I can get you a great act; it can work on a raft.
Max O'Hara: What?
Agent: Monkeys!
Max O'Hara: Aw, nix, cut it out, will ya'?

Max O'Hara: Come on, Windy, I got a million things to do.
Windy: You got time for this.
[turns on movie projector. Jill and Gregg come into the scene]
Max O'Hara: Hey, it's the kids!
Windy: Crawford told me to spring it on you. He shot it when he was down there.
Max O'Hara: [calling to the screen] Hey, Jill.
Jill Young: [silently] Hello Max.
Max O'Hara: Hey, they said "Hello, Max".
Max O'Hara: [Joe walks into the scene. O'Hara steps back] *Yipe*.

Max O'Hara: Don't worry kid. There's nobody in the world gonna shoot Joe now.
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Mighty Joe Young Facts
A sequel called "Joe Meets Tarzan" was planned in 1950 and would have had Mighty Joe Young team up with Tarzan, played by Lex Barker, who had just filmed Tarzan and the Slave Girl. The film was canceled due to the disappointing box office of "Mighty Joe Young".

The strongmen who appeared in the "tug-of-war" scene with Joe were all professional wrestlers. They were: Sammy Stein, Slammin' Sammy Meneker, Max the Iron Man, Bomber Henry Kulky, Killer Karl Davis, Rasputin the Mad Russian, Wee Willie Davis, Man Mountain Dean, The Swedish Angel, and Primo Carnera. Carnera had briefly been the World Heavywight Boxing Champion. Dean, Kulky, and Davis also had careers in movies and TV.

Though Willis H. O'Brien gets top special-effects billing, Ray Harryhausen actually did 85%-90% of the stop-motion animation for this film, although the animation is based on O'Brien's designs and storyboards.

This film was stop-motion animator Pete Peterson's first animating job. He was hired as a grip but became so enamored with stop-motion while watching Ray Harryhausen work that Willis H. O'Brien allowed him to try his hand at animating some scenes.

The night club set was based on a real-life night club called the Cocoanut Grove, which was located at the famous Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

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