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Gorilla & Monkey Statues (page 1)

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Mighty Joe
Shamong, NJ
Mighty Joe was previously located in Wildwood, NJ. He was installed at the Islander Raceway and Amusement Park where he was known as George the Gorilla. Today, a sign covers the two holes in his chest that had slides projecting from them. He was installed here at Mighty Joe's Gas Grill & Deli as a tribute to the owner's son who died of cancer. There were two other gorilla statues in Wildwood which are long gone. A new King Kong statue was installed in 2015. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Gorilla
Virginia Beach, VA
This Gorilla, aka Hugh Mongous, stands in front of the Ocean Breeze Water Park. He is about 55 feet tall and wears a Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and sunglasses. The original sculpture was about 65 feet tall and installed here in 1985. It was created in 1978 by Paul Dipasquale for a Richmond bank promotion. Afterwards, the statue was trucked to Virginia Beach to Jungle Falls (later Wild Water Rapids and now Ocean Breeze). The statue was reduced to a shell by fire in 1989. He was restored with clothes and sunglasses added at that time. For more, see this website. [map]

There was another Ape statue here when the place was previously known as Wild Water Rapids.

King Kong
Natural Bridge, VA
This King Kong statue was created in 2002 by Mark Cline. It stood next to the Pink Cadillac Diner when these photos were taken in 2010. The statue was removed in 2012 and is now back at Mark Cline's Enchanted Castle Studios in Natural Bridge. For more, see this website. [map]

King Kong
Branson, MO
This King Kong statue was installed at the Hollywood Wax Museum in 2009. [map]

King Kong
Pigeon Forge, TN		 Gorilla
Clermont, FL
This King Kong statue in Pigeon Forge was installed at the Hollywood Wax Museum in 2012. [map]

This Gorilla statue in Clermont was installed next to the Showcase of Citrus around 2020. In 2022, the business moved about 1300 feet further north and east of this location. I'm sure the Gorilla was moved there. [map]

Gorilla
Chicago, IL
This Gorilla sculpture was created by John Kearney in 1977 from car bumpers. It is installed in front of an apartment building and is known as the Hull House Gorilla. [map]

Gorilla
Gatlinburg, TN
This 13-foot-tall Gorilla sculpture was created with recycled, shredded car tires. It is installed inside the lobby of Ripley's Believe It or Not! [map]

Gorillas
Albuquerque, NM
This Gorilla sculpture shown in the top row of photos was produced by Kalifano and is covered with about 60,000 spark plugs. It was installed at Southwest Silver around 2023. The stainless steel gorilla shown in the second row was also produced by Kaliano and was installed here in 2025. Kalifano has also produced a standing spark plug gorilla for its store in East Rutherford, NJ. [map]

Gorillas
Las Vegas, NV
These spark plug and recycled metal Gorilla sculptures are installed at the Kaliano wholesale showroom and corporate office. [map]

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