MovieChat Forums > Mighty Joe Young (1998) Discussion > Anyone remember how this was marketed?

Anyone remember how this was marketed?

posted 17 years ago by MyOpinionIsFact
6 replies | jump to latest

I had never seen this movie because I thought it was a corny Disney, kid's comedy/adventure. I just saw it on TBS and was surprised about the realism of the effects and dramatic angle of the movie. Was this movie marketed to primarily just a young audience? Why might I have thought the target age was 6-8 rather than kids of all ages? If Disney made more films like this I would like them a lot more.

I also don't understand the harsh 5.4 IMDB rating it currently has. Somewhere between 6.5 or 7.5 would bring it much more in line with what it deserves. A 7.0 seems to be about "average" at the IMDB. There's no way that Might Joe Young is way below average. It's only real flaw is its predictability but this is to be forgiven in a family film. The acting, cinematography, music, dialog, costumes, lighting, and so on are all decent at minimum.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TheSonomaDude 13 years ago

Commercials appered on Nickelodeon, the kids channel that always seems to advertise crappy movies (expecially now), but the commercials for Mighty Joe Young seemed very "kid"-ish. While Joe was quite ferosious around his enemies in the film, the trailer showed him as kind and gentle, and the PG rating just added to it. It was actually pretty ballsy for a PG movie, but no one saw it because it looked like a pussy version of King Kong. (Back then, I was the only kid who knew this was a remake.)

Its pretty good, and deserves much higher than a 5.4, I mean, REALLY? 5.4???

I have El Sonoma del Torra de Fiero Syndrome. Be happy you don't. Trust me.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] YanderePrime 13 years ago

The first trailer I remember seeing was when Godzilla was released in 1998. The teaser had this voice over followed by a scene of Joe wandering around a road way roaring and snarling at cars.

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."

[–] Astrolupine 12 years ago

I recall that one, must have been Disney's way of competing with Emmerich's awful take on Godzilla. Well, Disney succeeded review-wise, at least.

As for the trailer, it was unusual (if you were 8 or so like me at the time) to see an intense-looking trailer attached to a G or PG film, I thought it was something that was actually being released by their Touchstone or Hollywood labels instead. But nope, turned out to be a mild action-fantasy in the end. Bit of a shame, given that the aforementioned trailer sold it as something better.

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[–] YanderePrime 12 years ago

I also remember the Disney store in the mall that I normally went to selling stuffed Joes.

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."