Mighty Joe Young

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"Mighty Joe Young" was the original name for the band Stone Temple Pilots.

The original Mighty Joe Young movie poster.

Mighty Joe Young is a film made in 1949 by the same design team responsible for King Kong. Written by Merian C. Cooper (who provided the story) and Ruth Rose (screenplay), and directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, it tells the story of a young woman, 'Jill Young', played by Terry Moore, living on a wildlife preserve in Africa, who ends up bringing the title character — a giant ape (not as large as King Kong - perhaps 10-12 feet tall) — to New York, New York. The movie co-stars Ben Johnson, as 'Gregg', in his first major role. Willis O'Brien, who created the animation for King Kong, was also the supervising animator on this film, although by some accounts the majority of the effects were created by Ray Harryhausen. The animation is more sophisticated than Kong's and contains more subtle gestures and even some comedic elements, such as one chase scene where Joe is riding in the back of a speeding truck and he spits at his pursuers. Despite this increased technical sophistication, this film, like Kong, features some serious scale issues, with Joe noticeably changing size between many shots.