MIGHTY JOE YOUNG: BEHIND THE SCENES

The creators of KING KONG had one more go at his legacy in the 1949 RKO production of MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. KONG was re-released three more times after its original run (1938, 1942, and 1946), and studio execs thought audiences were ready for another "giant gorilla" film. The old crew was brought back: Willis O'Brien produced with Ruth Rose scripting Obie's story; Ernest B. Shoedsack directed with Robert Armstrong starring. 

The story takes place in Africa where 7-year-old Jill Young (Lora Lee Michel, then Terry Moore as a grown-up Jill) lives with her widowed father (Ben Johnson in his first credited role) on his ranch. She raises a young gorilla, and when it is 10-years-old (and considerably larger) she is convinced to have "Joe Young" transported to Hollywood by entrepreneurs looking for an act for their nightclub after promising Jill enough money to bail out her father's struggling ranch. As one would expect, lots of drama and animated mayhem ensues.

Obie was originally planning to do most of the stop-motion animation, but he soon got tangled in various production problems and handed over the work to a young Ray Harryhausen, Pete Peterson and Marcel Delgado. As in KONG, Delgado sculpted the various models (Harry Cunningham is credited for building the armatures as he did in KING KONG).

Unfortunately, the film did not do well at the box office and aside from the effects, was met with a tepid response from critics. Plans for a remake were shelved.

Ironically, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for 1949. Perhaps it was fitting, as the Academy Awards had not yet been active in 1933. For his acceptance speech, Obie politely and succinctly said, "Thank you, very, very much."

This photo set shows rare shots from Willis O'Brien's personal collection of work that took place behind the scenes during the making of MIGHTY JOE YOUNG.

Portrait of Ray Harryhausen by RKO studio photographer Bert Six.