Mighty Joe Young – 1949
This was a great example of a special effects winner! There was a ton of effects, all of which were impressively executed. The film’s most creative and innovative effects were those of the stop-motion animation variety, though there was also a smattering of actual hand-drawn animation as well. And these were all composited together with live actors in a clever and surprisingly seamless way!
The giant gorilla, Joseph Young was one hundred percent stop-motion animated, as were a handful of lions and any human who Joe picked up. The way they switched back and forth between live actors and fake dolls in Joe’s grasp was smart and impressively executed, though it was always a little obvious when the switch was made, because let’s be honest. Stop-motion animation is an imperfect technique, now-a-days only reserved for the likes of Tim Burton or Wallace and Gromit.
But that being said, the actual motion and body language of the beast were amazing. As jerky as the finished effect looked, the gorilla’s movements all appeared to be placed perfectly as to be otherwise natural. And that’s saying a lot because there were several action sequences which showed the giant gorilla running, fighting, and demolishing the sets. My only complaint would have been in his eyes, which were far too large and human-looking, not at all ape-like. But even that had a reason. They wanted the eyes to be large enough to display Joe’s emotions to the audience, so I’m thinking it was a necessary evil because they got everything else right.
And then there was the movie’s climax. They all come across an orphanage that is burning. The entire image on the screen is tinted red as a massive fire is destroying the tall building. Even without the giant Joe climbing up and down a tree to rescue his friends and a little girl trapped on the roof of the orphanage, the burning and collapsing building was a pretty awesome effect in its own right! And then when the tree on which Mighty Joe Young is climbing topples, he falls, all the while holding and protecting the little orphan girl. It was a very exciting climax.
There is just one negative thing I feel I should mention. Watch the scene where Joe is tearing down the nightclub. There are a bunch of lions behind large windows that are released when the gorilla smashes the glass. The lions exiting the enclosure were rear-projected into the scene. But I noticed how the exact same projected image kept being repeated over and over again, making it appear as though there was an endless stream of identical lions escaping from the cage. Did they think I wouldn’t notice the pane of broken window glass that kept reappearing and falling over every time the exact same lion stepped down onto the floor? That was actually pretty poorly done. But the rest of it was good!