Mighty Joe Young is an RKO Radio Pictures film made in 1949 by the same creative 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 her father's farm in Africa, who ends up bringing the title character — a giant ape — to Hollywood. The movie co-stars Ben Johnson, as 'Gregg', in his first major role.

Willis O'Brien, who created the animation for King Kong, was the supervisor of special effects on this film, although by some accounts the majority of the animation was performed by Ray Harryhausen. The models (constructed by Kong's builder Marcel Delgado) and animation are more sophisticated than Kong's, containing 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. (The title character is not supposed to be as large as Kong - perhaps 10-12 feet tall.)

The film has become a minor classic, and has an affectionate following. It was remade in 1998 with Charlize Theron playing 'Jill Young'.

Mighty Joe Young is a 1998 Disney family film starring Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron and directed by Danilo Fajardo. It is a remake of the 1949 film Mighty Joe Young . In this version, the ape is much larger.

Jill Young has brought up her pet gorilla since she was a child. Twelve years later, when the gorilla is fully grown, Hollywood promoter Max O'Hara travels to Tanzania, Africa, and convinces Jill to bring her extraordinarily large gorilla, Joe, back to America. While in Hollywood, Joe is used in a stage production and is exploited to no end. It doesn't take long until Joe is sick of being mistreated and he escapes to run loose in civilization. Written by Josh Pasnak

The baby gorilla left in her care grows up to become a hugely tall and broad specimen by the name of Joe, living in the mountains as a mostly unseen legend among people who live there. Along comes an eco-minded emissary from a California sanctuary, who talks the jungle girl into providing safe haven for Joe at the L.A. facility. The transition is not without discomfort, but everything is aggravated via a conspiracy of poachers to get Joe into their own greedy hands! Written by Anthony Pereyra

The movie opens with poachers attacking a group of gorillas. Animal preservationists fight the poachers, which ends with one gorilla and a young girl's mother dead. In the melee, a particularly large gorilla baby attacks the head hunter and bites his thumb and forefinger off. The films immediately passes into the future and the young girl has grown up to be Charlize Theron and the gorilla has grown to be 15' tall and weighs 2000 pounds. The two are best friends who play together. When poachers again appear, a representative (Bill Paxton) of a California wildlife refuge convinces her to transfer the gorilla she has named Joe Young to the refuge. Of course, once there the former hunter shows up seeking revenge. Terrorizing the gorilla without letting his human handlers know, the gorilla goes on a rampage across Los Angeles. Written by John Sacksteder