Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People
Synopsis
This documentary explores the remarkable story of Koko, the only gorilla known to use sign language to communicate, and her deep connection with Penny Patterson. Project Koko began as a PhD research initiative to teach sign language to a young gorilla, but as Koko began to interact with Penny, a strong emotional bond developed. Over the past 40 years, Penny has remained with Koko, asserting that the gorilla offers valuable perspectives into the workings of an animal's mind. The entire journey of Koko and Penny has been captured on film, with over 2,000 hours of footage documenting key moments, including Penny's efforts to prevent Koko from being returned to the zoo where she was born, her confrontations with academic skeptics who questioned her claims, and the poignant image of Koko grieving the loss of her kitten.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
Principal cast & crew: 14
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Tom Dixon SpainShot by Jonny TaylorScored by Richard Spiller
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Help complete this page
We’re missing mpaa rating, logline. Sign in to add what you know.
Cast & Crew
14 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Directors
1Producers
1Other crew
3Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Not currently streaming on any platform we track.
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to PeopleNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…