Monkeybone (2001)

In a coma, a cartoonist finds himself trapped within his own underground creation and must find a way to get back, while racing against his popular but treacherous character, Monkeybone.

Director:

Henry Selick

Writers:

Kaja Blackley (graphic novel "Dark Town"), Sam Hamm

Stars:

Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, John Turturro

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brendan Fraser	...	Stu Miley
Bridget Fonda	...	Julie McElroy
John Turturro	...	Voice of Monkeybone (voice)
Chris Kattan	...	Organ Donor Stu
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Hypnos
Rose McGowan	...	Miss Kitty
Dave Foley	...	Herb (as David Foley)
Megan Mullally	...	Kimmy
Bob Odenkirk	...	Head Surgeon
Pat Kilbane	...	Burger God Rep
Lisa Zane	...	Medusa
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Death
Sandra Thigpen	...	Alice
Wayne Wilderson	...	Hutch
Amy Higgins	...	Clarissa (as Amy D. Higgins)

Storyline

In a coma, Stu Miley a cartoonist who created a comic strip called Monkeybone which features a rascal monkey. He finds himself trapped within his own underground creation and must find a way to get back, while racing against his popular but treacherous character, Monkeybone. Naturally, Monkeybone himself is there, and he and Stu quickly start fighting like cats and dogs. When Stu realizes that his sister, due to a pact they once made, is preparing to pull the plug on him, Stu makes a deal with Hypnos, the god of sleep, to help him steal a golden ticket from Death himself. But when Monkeybone takes over Stu's body and escapes to wreak havoc on the real world, Stu has to find a way to stop him before his sister pulls the plug on reality forever!

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Plot Keywords:

coma | carnival | monkey | fantasy sequence | car accident | 

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Taglines:

If It Yells, If It Swings, It's Got To Be Monkeybone!

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude humor and some nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 February 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dark Town

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,685,078, 25 February 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$5,411,999

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,210,366

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox,1492 Pictures,Twentieth Century Fox Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is director Henry Selick's only film to be rated PG-13.

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Goofs

When Stu is singing in the club to Julie, as he passes a table a boom shadow is visible across his face.

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Quotes

Organ Donor Stu: What is wrong with my neck?
Doctor: You broke it, you're an organ donor!

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Crazy Credits

Following the credits a stop-motion animated statue, which gave Stu Miley his pajamas earlier in the film, is seen for a few seconds holding two flags. One reads THE and the other reads END.

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Alternate Versions

Also on the DVD is the full piano scene. In the theatrical release of the movie, the scene was split into two parts. The first part was used to introduce Monkeybone to Stu, instead of him coming out of his backpack as in the original version. A bridge between Monkeybone as Marilyn Monroe and Monkeybone as Frank Sinatra was cut to split the piano scene into two, where Sinatra talks about Monroe being "a helluva broad. I'd do her. Hey, I DID her." He then calls Julie "doable", and refers to Stu as an "eggplant". Also, there is explicit phallic imagery used, as Monkeybone tucks his tail between his legs to represent an erect penis - once when he calls Stu is "castrator" (as a play on "creator"), and when Monkeybone is singing about Julie's "loose caboose", when he simulates a sexual act.

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

Olympic Fanfare Bugler's Dream
Written by Leo Arnaud

User Reviews

Bizarre, if slightly flawed, fun

I don't know how, but somehow Henry Selick got his hands on millions of dollars to make a movie that's going to appeal to only a small handful of odd movie goers. Monkeybone is a visually delightful, darkly humorous, and totally refreshing fantasy flick full of great special effects, likable characters, and a style that mixes everything from "Brazil" and "Cool World" to "Hellraiser" and "Eraserhead". It reminded me of "Dark City", "Freaked", "Forbidden Zone" and the work of Sid and Marty Krofft, but at the same time completely fresh and original.

"Monkeybone" does suffer from some flaws, but they seem like the manipulations of some behind-the-scenes tinkering to make the movie more "normal". The most visible scars occur when our hero Stu Miley (Brendan Fraser, who is quickly becoming a great comedic actor) first arrives in Monkeybone's nightmare land. These early scenes in the fantasy world seem rushed and poorly plotted. I hope there's a special edition DVD or something to see more stuff.

But the stuff that was left in is great. I couldn't believe what I was seeing sometimes- Stu's black and white surgery nightmare was one of the creepiest things I've seen on the big screen, and Bob Odenkirk appears as a organ-hungry doctor in scenes that seem to be taken right out of his HBO series "Mr. Show". Chris Kattan is outstanding, providing some hilarious, "Re-Animator"-style hi-jinx as "Organ Doner Stu", Dave Foley is also funny as Stu's manager, and Whoopie Goldberg is really good as Death, whose head explodes when she gets mad.

But the real stars here are the fantasy characters who inhabit the nightmare town. Like in "The Nightmare Before Christmas", the background characters are just as cool-looking and diverse as the leads. It's a shame that more time isn't spent dwelling in this world or in Death's land, and that most of the movie takes place in the "real" world.

Anyway, see this movie while you can- it'll probably be out of theaters by the time I finish writing thi- too late.