Passes the Bechdel test
Mighty Joe Young
1998. Directed by Ron Underwood, written by Merian C. Cooper and Ruth Rose and Mark Rosenthal.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 132. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
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 amongst the people who live there. Along comes eco-minded emissary Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton), who is from a California sanctuary, and who talks jungle girl Jill Young (Charlize Theron) into providing a safe haven for Joe at the Los Angeles facility. The transition is not without discomfort, but everything is aggravated via a conspiracy of poachers to get Joe into their own greedy hands.
- Released
- 25 Dec 1998
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Family
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 5.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 51 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jill 175 lines, woman
- Gregg 154 lines, man
- Harry 58 lines, man
- Strasser 51 lines, man
- Cecily 36 lines, woman
- Pindi 35 lines, man
- Kweli 27 lines, man
- Garth 23 lines, man
- Baker 19 lines, man
- Ruth 19 lines, woman
Full cast, 52 people
- Charlize Theron as Jill Young
- Bill Paxton as Gregg O'Hara
- Rade Šerbedžija as Strasser
- Peter Firth as Garth
- David Paymer as Harry Ruben
- Regina King as Cecily Banks
- Robert Wisdom as Kweli
- Naveen Andrews as Pindi
- Lawrence Pressman as Dr. Baker
- Linda Purl as Dr. Ruth Young
- Mika Boorem as Young Jill Young
- Geoffrey Blake as Vern
- Christian Clemenson as Jack
- Cory Buck as Jason
- Liz Georges as Jason's Mother
- Richard Riehle as Commander Gorman
- Cynthia Allison as News Reporter
- Ken Taylor as News Reporter
- Ray Harryhausen as Gentleman at Party
- Terry Moore as Elegant Woman at Party
- Judson Mills as Impatient Driver
- Tony Genaro as Boxer Shorts Man
- Flo Di Re as Bambi's Owner
- Kaylan Romero as Street Kid
- Hernan Ruiz as Street Kid
- Jenilee Deal as Street Kid
- Matt Deal as Street Kid
- Bethany Bassler as Cabriolet Girl
- Vicki Davis as Cabriolet Girl
- Deborah Kellner as Cabriolet Girl
- Marguerite Moreau as Cabriolet Girl
- Tracey Walter as Conservacy Guard
- Larry Brandenburg as Animal Control Duty Officer
- Damien Leake as Cop
- Neil Kopit as Cop
- Janet Eilber as Concerned Mother
- Wiley M. Pickett as Police Sharpshooter
- John Bower as Carjack Man
- Hannah Swanson as Toddler
- Laurie Kilpatrick as Toddler's Mom
- Richard McGonagle as Panda Owner
- Reno Wilson as Poacher
- Ted Hartley as Society Man
- Dina Merrill as Society Woman
- Lily Mariye as Ticket Clerk
- John Alexander as Mighty Joe Young
- Verne Troyer as Baby Joe
- John Munro Cameron as Joe's Mother Gorilla
- David St. Pierre as Joe's Father Gorilla
- Debbie Lee Carrington as Other Gorilla
- Denise Cheshire as Other Gorilla
- Darren T. Knaus as Baby Joe (voice)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 132
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 14 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 to 15 | 10 | 9 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 18 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 21 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 14 |
| 25 to 27 | 3 | 17 |
| 28 to 30 | 9 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 18 | 16 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 17 |
| 37 to 39 | 22 | 30 |
| 40 to 42 | 3 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 5 |
| 46 to 48 | 8 | 14 |
| 49 to 51 | 12 | 13 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 9 | 19 |
| 58 to 60 | 6 | 9 |
| 61 to 63 | 11 | 12 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 18 |
| 67 to 69 | 21 | 22 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 8 | 12 |
| 76 to 78 | 9 | 33 |
| 79 to 81 | 9 | 12 |
| 82 to 84 | 5 | 2 |
| 85 to 87 | 6 | 8 |
| 88 to 90 | 7 | 14 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 6 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 2 |
| 103 to 105 | 1 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 3 | 9 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 1 |
| 112 to 114 | 2 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 4 | 3 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 8 |
| 121 to 123 | 3 | 3 |
| 124 to 126 | 17 | 14 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 0 |
| 130 to 132 | 5 | 2 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
JILL: Mommy, can I... RUTH: Stay here, Jill.
JILL: Thank you so much. CECILY: She's nice. I'm not. If you forget to order something I need, I'll knock you upside the head.
CECILY: Do you? JILL: No.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.
242 lines from women, 405 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 28 men in the cast. 4 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 59 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 33% of the words (2,041), men 67% (4,105). Women have 37% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
10
Two men
41
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ron Underwood (man)
- Written by
- Mark Rosenthal (man), Lawrence Konner (man)
- Produced by
- Tom Jacobson (man), Ted Hartley (man)
- Shot by
- Oliver Wood (man), Donald Peterman (man)
- Edited by
- Paul Hirsch (man)
- Music by
- James Horner (man)
- Production design by
- Michael Corenblith (man)
- Costumes by
- Molly Maginnis (woman)
- Cast by
- Pam Dixon (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 15 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men
-
Writing
1 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Charlize Theron 23, Regina King 27, Linda Purl 43
Men
Naveen Andrews 29, Bill Paxton 43, David Paymer 44, Peter Firth 45, Robert Wisdom 45, Rade Šerbedžija 52, Lawrence Pressman 59
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $90 million
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 132 scenes and 670 lines of dialogue. How the test works
