Mighty Joe Young is the most heartwarming addition to the Gorilla Is Large For 2 Hours genre, and it’s the film that made me a life-long fan of oversized gorilla movies.
This really was one of my very favorite movies as a little kid! I remember going to see it in theaters with my family, and I remember watching it every time it would come on Disney channel in the late 90s. Little me just loved Joe and Jill so much - I wanted to be exactly like Jill and have an awesome oversized gorilla BFF. I was so sad when my parents told me that gorillas did not get that large in real life.
It’s been many years since I last watched this film, but I’m really happy to report that everything I loved about it as a kid still holds up today. The practical suit work and small amounts of CGI used to bring Joe to life still look amazing. Charlize Theron is beautiful and her bond with Joe is so sweet. The end of the movie still makes me emotional - it feels like an alternate universe King Kong in way, if Kong got a happy ending.
I’m really glad I revisited this movie, it made me really happy to relive all my childhood wonder and joy.
Mighty Joe Young is the most heartwarming addition to the Gorilla Is Large For 2 Hours genre, and it’s the film that made me a life-long fan of oversized gorilla movies.
This really was one of my very favorite movies as a little kid! I remember going to see it in theaters with my family, and I remember watching it every time it would come on Disney channel in the late 90s. Little me just loved Joe and Jill so much - I wanted to be exactly like Jill and have an awesome oversized gorilla BFF. I was so sad when my parents told me that gorillas did not get that large in real life.
It’s been many years since I last watched this film, but I’m really happy to report that everything I loved about it as a kid still holds up today. The practical suit work and small amounts of CGI used to bring Joe to life still look amazing. Charlize Theron is beautiful and her bond with Joe is so sweet. The end of the movie still makes me emotional - it feels like an alternate universe King Kong in way, if Kong got a happy ending.
I’m really glad I revisited this movie, it made me really happy to relive all my childhood wonder and joy.
