Although, sadly, not much exists by way of behind the scenes footage of the effects work of King Kong and Mighty Joe Young, there's still a treasure trove of special feature goodies on the discs of these two movies. King Kong has so many special features that it required a second disc. While the Son Of Kong DVD has no special features, there's still more than enough on the other two films make up for it. Here's a look.

The special features on King Kong:
The King Kong disc has a wonderful audio commentary with special effects artist Ken Ralston and the legendary Ray Harryhausen. Their modern-day comments are inter-cut with audio clips of Merian Cooper and Fay Wray talking about the production of the film. But the real special thing about the commentary is how the child-like love that Harryhausen has for the film shows through.

The second disc for King Kong has two documentaries. The first is "I'm King Kong! The Exploits Of Merian C. Cooper" which is a great documentary (that has also aired on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel) that's narrated by Alex Baldwin. It looks at the fascinating life of Cooper, who was a true adventurer long before he started making movies. My only problem with this documentary is that it does not cover Cooper's entire life. The second documentary is a mutli-part epic that looks back at the making of King Kong. Co-produced by director Peter Jackson's company, RKO Production 601: The Making Of Kong: Eight Wonder Of The World is simply magnificent. Since there are no behind the scenes records of Willis O'Brien's work on King Kong, the special effects wizards at Jackson's WETA Workshop have painstakingly recreated a King Kong model and jungle set, and then produced a scene using O'Brien's stop-motion effect--all just to show the viewer what it was like to create the effects for this classic film. The reverence that the modern day effects guys have for O'Brien and his crew is apparent as they, along with various film historians and filmmakers (including Jackson himself) all talk about the film. Each stage of Kong's production is exhustively detailed here in their own sections, which you can view one at a time, or all at once (just be sure you've got a few hours to spare). Marvelous stuff!

The special features on Mighty Joe Young:
Mighty Joe Young has another great audio commentary, featuring Harryhausen (who worked on the film) and Ralston. But this time they are joined by actress Terry Moore, who played the lead role of Jill. Moore has a funny story regarding her audition for director Ernest B. Schoedsack, who asked her if she could run. When Moore removed her heels and ran down the lot and back, Schoedsack told her she ran like a deer, and on that basis gave her the lead female role.

A Conversation With Ray Harryhausen has the master effects artist talking about his work with the three Chiodo Brothers, who are special effects artists in their own right. This is a superb interview, which uses film clips from Joe for emphasis. Ray Harryhausen And Mighty Joe Young is a shorter interview where Harryhausen talks about his work on the film by using one of the original armatures of Mighty Joe Young. --SF