Favorite Flicks: Mighty Joe Young

© 1998 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Running time: 112 min. Rated PG
Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron

 

 

PLOT

Dr. Ruth Young and her daughter, Jill, live in an African jungle, where they study a family of rare gorillas. Jill befriends a baby gorilla —Joe—who is enormous due to a genetic disorder. One night, a poacher named Strasser tracks down the gorillas and kills Joe’s mother as well as Dr. Young. In rage, Joe attacks the man, biting off his thumb and trigger finger, and the hunter vows revenge. Jill manages to keep the orphaned gorilla safe for many years but knows it’s only a matter of time before poachers find him. Eventually, zoologist Gregg O’Hara convinces Jill to bring Joe to the safety of a California animal conservancy. When Strasser’s plan to kidnap him from the conservancy goes awry, Joe breaks free. At a seaside amusement park, he faces two challenges: his armed enemy, Strasser, and a burning Ferris wheel with a young boy trapped inside.

HUMANE MESSAGES & OTHER GOOD POINTS

• Depicts people defending and speaking up for animals. When Jill promises her dying mother that she will take care of Joe, she makes a lifelong commitment to protect him from poachers. Fearing his life is in danger, she agrees to bring him to an animal conservancy on the condition that she remains his primary caretaker. When Joe is moved to a small cage at the conservancy after an outburst triggered by Strasser, Gregg, Jill, and others protest his confinement and plot to move him to a better location.

• Encourages empathy by showing that animals can experience emotions, such as joy, sadness, anger, and fear. Scenes that highlight Joe’s feelings include the following: the death of his mother, fleeing from poachers, playing and cuddling with Jill, and being confined in a small cage.

• Raises the issues of poaching (illegal hunting) and the trade in exotic animals. Strasser makes money by killing exotic and rare animals, such as gorillas and rhinos, and selling their body parts. Because of his unusual size, Joe is extremely valuable to poachers.

• Emphasizes that wild animals belong in the wild. Realizing that Joe would be happiest in his natural habitat, Gregg and Jill establish a sanctuary for him in Africa.

POINTS TO PONDER

From a humane perspective, few movies are perfect. Following are potential problems with the film that you may wish to address with your children or students.

• We strongly recommend that parents and teachers preview this movie before showing it to children. Although Mighty Joe Young carries a humane message and addresses the important issue of poaching, the movie is quite violent, particularly at the end: When Strasser threatens to shoot Jill, Joe throws him onto a live electrical wire.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Is that gorilla for real? Explain to students that while gigantic Joe is pure Hollywood fiction, mountain gorillas and the problems they face are very real. War, poaching, and habitat loss have taken a big toll on populations of these endangered animals. Have students use wildlife encyclopedias, books, or the Internet to research mountain gorillas and develop a plan for protecting them. One site they’ll find useful is the Gorilla Foundation, at www.koko.org.

Women working for animals. Explain to students that the character of Dr. Ruth Young was likely inspired by Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas, three women who conducted groundbreaking studies of chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. Have students write a short biography of one of these women, focusing on her work for animals. For information on Goodall, students can visit www.janegoodall.org or read her autobiographical book My Life with the Chimpanzees (New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1988). Information on Fossey can be found at www.gorillafund.org. To learn about Galdikas, students should read Among the Orangutans: The Biruté Galdikas Story, by Evelyn Gallardo (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1993). For additional recommended reading, click here.

Hairy heroes. Have students search the Internet, magazines, newspapers, or books for stories about real-life animal heroes, such as Binti Jua—a gorilla who, like Joe, rescued a young boy. (One site they’ll find useful is www.myhero.com/animal/animal_content.asp.) Ask students to write about and illustrate the animals’ act of heroism or kindness. Post their write-ups and illustrations on a bulletin board titled "Animal Heroes’ Hall of Fame."