Monkeybone

''Monkeybone'' is a 2001 American black comedy fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, written by Sam Hamm, produced by Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe, and executive produced by Chris Columbus, Selick, and Hamm. The film combines live action with stop-motion animation. Loosely based on Kaja Blackley's graphic novel ''Dark Town'', the film stars Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, Chris Kattan, Giancarlo Esposito, Rose McGowan, Whoopi Goldberg and John Turturro as the voice of the titular character. It tells the story of a cartoonist who falls into a coma, where he ends up in the otherworldly Down Town where he runs into his titular creation as he tries to return to the living world while contending with an evil plot to supply Down Town with nightmares.

Theatrically released on February 23, 2001, by 20th Century Fox, the film was a box-office bomb and received generally negative critical reviews for its characters and humor, although there was some praise for the visuals. Selick later admitted his unhappiness with the final product and has since vowed to never make another live-action film again.

Plot

Stuart "Stu" Miley is a disillusioned cartoonist whose comic character, a rascal monkey named Monkeybone, is getting an animated miniseries and merchandise, at the constant pestering of his agent and friend, Herb. He plans on proposing to his girlfriend, Doctor Julie McElroy, a sleep institute worker who helped him deal with his nightmares by changing his drawing hand.

One night, Stu falls into a coma following a car crash. His spirit is taken to Down Town, a surreal and carnival-themed limbo-like landscape populated by mythical beings and figments of its visitors' imaginations, even Monkeybone. He and his creator are constantly at each other's throats during his time in Down Town until discovering people can leave Down Town once they are given Exit Passes.

Stu is then invited to a pajama party being hosted by Hypnos, the God of Sleep and ruler of Down Town. According to Hypnos, Stu has to steal an Exit Pass from his sister, Death, in order to wake up from his coma in time before the plug is pulled due to Stu and his sister Kimmy making a pact as children after their father's death. Stu and Monkeybone journey to Death's domain disguised as one of her employees and successfully manage to steal an Exit Pass, while narrowly escaping a nightmare Julie inflicts upon Stu in an attempt to wake him by using "Oneirix", a chemical solution created by Julie that causes nightmare inducement.

Back in Down Town, Monkeybone steals the Exit Pass for himself, where it is revealed that the theft was part of a plan orchestrated by Hypnos. Monkeybone enters Stu's body while Stu is imprisoned with other disillusioned or criminal figures throughout history. Hypnos reveals to Stu that he and the denizens of Down Town thrive on nightmares and made a deal with Monkeybone to spread the Oneirix amongst the living in exchange for getting Monkeybone his body all to himself, since he is fed up with being a figment.

Monkeybone is ordered by Hypnos via a nightmare to stay his course, causing Monkeybone to steal the Oneirix from the sleep institute successfully, leaving a decoy in its place. While Monkeybone puts the chemical in farting Monkeybone toys to be given out to the public at a charity banquet, Julie is growing wary due to "Stu's" new behavior. Monkeybone tests it on Stu's dog Buster, much to Hypnos' dismay. Stu manages to escape with the help of Miss Kitty, a catgirl waitress he befriends, and confronts Death to convince her to send him back to the living world to stop Monkeybone. Death complies, giving him an hour to do so as she puts him in the body of an organ donor with a cervical fracture.

Stu makes it to the banquet while Monkeybone is about to propose to Julie, while Herb is exposed to the Oneirix in the Monkeybone doll and sees his clothes coming to life in a mirror, causing him to strip naked and flee in a panic, believing his clothes are rebelling. With help from Buster, Stu finally confesses his love and regrets to Julie for never getting a chance to propose to her. Stu then manages to use Monkeybone's origin characteristics to cause him to panic which culminates in the duo battling one another on a giant Monkeybone balloon, which is soon shot down by a police officer, causing the duo to fall to their doom and be sent back to Down Town.

There, the citizens below cheer on Stu and Monkeybone's fight as they descend from the sky before being caught by a giant robot operated by Death. Monkeybone is then placed back in Stu's mind by Death, claiming it is where he belongs. She allows Stu to go back to his proper body so he can continue making his comic as Death is a big fan, preferring instead to take the "''South Park'' guys" instead as they are "dying to meet her".

Back in the living, Stu and Julie reunite and share a kiss. The still-infected Herb then emerges from a nearby fountain telling everyone to remove their clothes. The film then cuts to a traditionally animated sequence where the banquet's attendants are revealed to be monkeys in disguise.

Cast

* Brendan Fraser as Stuart "Stu" Miley, a cartoonist and the creator of the ''Monkeybone'' franchise. Fraser also plays Monkeybone when he is in Stu's body.
* Bridget Fonda as Doctor Julie McElroy, a sleep therapist and Stu's love interest.
* Chris Kattan as an organ donor that Stu briefly possesses.
* Giancarlo Esposito as Hypnos, the malicious satyr-like God of Sleep and ruler of Down Town.
* Rose McGowan as Miss Kitty, a catgirl waitress at Down Town's Coma Bar whom Stu befriends.
* Whoopi Goldberg as Death, Hypnos' sister.
* Dave Foley as Herb, Stu's agent and friend.
* Megan Mullally as Kimmy Miley, Stu's sister.
* Lisa Zane as Medusa, an inhabitant of Down Town who sings at Hypnos' pajama party. An extended scene shows that the snakes that make up her hair are her back-up singers.
* Sandra Thigpen as Alice, Julie's friend and co-worker.
* Lou Romano as the police officer who shoots down the Monkeybone balloon its namesake likeness and Stu fight on.
* Harper Roisman as Earl Biegler, an old man in Down Town who receives an exit pass from one of the Reapers.
* Scott Workman as Arnold the Super Reaper, a partially-armored Reaper who is one of Death's minions and tries to catch Stu and Monkeybone.
* Mary Stein as Lulu, a woman in Down Town who is claimed at Death's domain. A deleted scene showed that she was taken from Hypnos' pajama party.
* Christopher Franciosa as a Reaper who takes Lulu
* Fred Pierce as a Reaper in Death's office
* Jon Bruno as Stephen King, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town who was previously tricked into infiltrating Death's domain to steal an exit pass, which was then stolen by his figment of Cujo. He is only credited as "Man in the Dungeon".
* Owen Masterson as Jack the Ripper, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town.
* Shawnee Free Jones as Lizzie Borden, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town.
* Jen Sung Outerbridge as Attila the Hun, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town.
* Ilia Volok as Grigori Rasputin, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town.
* Claudette Mink as Typhoid Mary, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town.
* Edgar Allan Poe IV as Edgar Allan Poe, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town.
* Bob Odenkirk as a head surgeon
* Leon Laderach as a surgeon in a nightmare
* Veena Bidasha as a Statue Woman, a statue of a female on a mobile round stand who is an inhabitant of Down Town.
* Michael Anthony Jackson as the Bug Man, an inhabitant of Down Town with the head of a male human and the body of an insect.
* Doug Jones as Yeti, an inhabitant of Down Town with a long nose and white and blue fur who works in the box office of its nightmare-showing movie theater called the Morpheum Theater.
* Arturo Gil as the rat-like guard of Down Town's prison that works for Hypnos.
* Jody St. Michael as the Centaur, a half-human half-horse inhabitant of Down Town that wears cowboy attire. An original scene upon Stu's arrival has him offering Stu a "pony ride".
* Frit Fuller and Frat Fuller as the Three-Headed Devil, an inhabitant of Down Town depicted with three heads and three legs. An original scene had him complimenting Stu's work and asking for his autograph in blood upon his arrival in Down Town.
* Brian Steele as Jumbo, a Ganesha-like being who works as the piano player at Down Town's Coma Bar.
* Leif Tilden as the Cyclops, an inhabitant of Down Town with a large head and arms and a smaller torso and legs.
* Tom Fisher as the Community Service Cigarette Sweeper, a humanoid camel inhabitant of Down Town.
* Joseph S. Griffo as the BBQ Pig, an anthropomorphic pig who is a barbecued pork vendor in Down Town.
* Kim Timbers-Patteri as the Wasp Woman, an insectoid inhabitant of Down Town that is often seen with Hypnos.
* Lisa Ebeyer as Betty the Bovine, an anthropomorphic cow who is a prize vendor in Down Town.
* Wayne Doba as the Scorpion, an inhabitant of Down Town with namesake legs and tails surrounding his face.
* Mark Vinello as Ass Backwards, a bizarre green fish-like inhabitant of Down Town with a pair of noses, bird-like wings, a red tongue-like structure beneath its jaw, and reversed reptilian legs living in Down Town. An original scene upon Stu's arrival had him asking Stu if he has an "anchovy for a fellow amphibian".
* Nathan Stein as the Sea Monster, an inhabitant of Down Town that resembles a piscine humanoid emerging from the back of its giant seahorse-like mount with thin legs that neighs like a horse.
* Ed Holmes as the Buffalo Kachina, a bison-type Kachina that lives in Down Town. An original scene upon Stu's arrival had him asking for a cigarette instead of the Community Service Cigarette Sweeper.
* Erica Gudis, Melinda Miamor, and Caroline A. Rice as the Party Chicks, three bird-beaked women in Down Town that are first seen at Hypnos' pajama party.
* Mike Starr as Bull (''uncredited'' in the closing credits), a Texas Longhorn-type Minotaur with a Picasso art-like face who is the bartender of Down Town's Coma Bar.
* Thomas Haden Church as Death's assistant who reads her the names of new arrivals that have died and arrived in the Land of Death (''uncredited'' in the closing credits)

Henry Selick's arm is seen during the film's opening sequence.

Voices

* John Turturro as Monkeybone, a monkey who is Stu's raunchy rascal creation.
* Brendan Fraser as Stanley (''uncredited''), a character in the ''Monkeybone'' cartoon that recaps his creation of the titular character.
* Ted Rooney as voice of the Grim Reaper

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