Mighty Joe Young (1998 film)

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Mighty Joe Young
Directed by	Ron Underwood
Produced by	Ted Hartley Tom Jacobson
Written by	Merian C. Cooper Ruth Rose Mark Rosenthal Lawrence Konner
Starring	Bill Paxton Charlize Theron
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Donald Peterman
Editing by	Paul Hirsch
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	25 December 1998
Running time	114 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$90,000,000 (estimated)
Gross profits	$50,632,037 (USA)
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Mighty Joe Young is a 1998 Disney family film starring Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron and directed by Ron Underwood. It is a remake of the 1949 film Mighty Joe Young. In this version, the ape is somewhat larger and astonishingly realistic looking, very closely resembling a male mountain gorilla.

Charlize Theron plays Jill Young who as a child witnesses the death of a Joe's mother by game hunters, led by Andrei Strasser as played by Rade Šerbedžija. Jill raises Joe and both are living in relative peace and solitude until a wildlife refuge director Bill Paxton convinces Jill that they would be safer from poachers if they relocated to the States.

The pair go to Hollywood, California (instead of New York as in the original film) and in a poignant scene (reminiscent of King Kong falling from the Empire State building) Joe falls from a collapsing ferris wheel located at the Santa Monica pier while saving a child.

The ape was created through a combination of computer animation and an actor in a suit. The film had a better debut than the other big monster remake of the year, Godzilla, however it was ultimately judged as a disaster by some critics as being typically 'Disney' in plot and outcome. It grossed $50,632,037 with a production budget of $90,000,000.