''Monkeybone'' is a 2001 American

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

fantasy film directed by

Henry Selick Charles Henry Selick Jr. (; born November 30, 1952) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, production designer, and animator who is best known for directing the stop-motion animation films ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

, written by Sam Hamm, produced by Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe, and executive produced by

Chris Columbus Christopher Columbus was an explorer born in Genoa, Italy. Christopher Columbus or Chris Columbus may also refer to: People * Chris Columbus (musician) (1902–2002), American jazz drummer * Chris Columbus (filmmaker) (born 1958), American dire ...

, Selick, and Hamm. The film combines

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

with stop-motion animation. Loosely based on Kaja Blackley's

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

Dark Town ''Dark Town'' is a comic book by Canadian cartoonist Kaja Blackley. It was illustrated by Vanessa Chong and published by Mad Monkey Press. Plot A man, Jacques De Bergerac, is in a coma after being in a car accident. He finds himself in Dark Tow ...

'', the film stars an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast t ...

led by

Brendan Fraser Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...

Bridget Fonda Bridget Jane Fonda (born January 27, 1964) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Godfather Part III'' (1990), '' Single White Female'' (1992), '' Singles'' (1992), '' Point of No Return'' (1993), '' It Could Happen to You ...

, and

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

with

Rose McGowan Rósa Arianna "Rose" McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress. After her film debut in a brief role in the comedy '' Encino Man'' (1992), McGowan achieved wider recognition for her performance in the dark comedy '' The Doom Genera ...

, Dave Foley,

Giancarlo Esposito Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (; born April 26, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is best known for portraying Gus Fring in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'', from 2009 to 2011, and in its prequel series ''Better Ca ...

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for playing Karen Walker on the NBC sitcom '' Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award ...

Lisa Zane Lisa Zane (born Elizabeth Frances Zane; April 5, 1961) is an American actress and singer. Personal life Zane was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Thalia and William George Zane Sr., founders of a medical technical school. Her family's ...

Chris Kattan Christopher Lee Kattan () (born October 19, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2003. He played Doug Butabi in '' A Night at the Roxbury'', Bob on the first four seasons of '' The ...

Bob Odenkirk Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his role as Saul Goodman on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). For the latter, he has re ...

, an uncredited

Thomas Haden Church Thomas Haden Church (born Thomas Richard McMillen; June 17, 1960) is an American actor. After starring in the 1990s sitcom ''Wings'' and playing the lead for two seasons in '' Ned & Stacey'' (1995–1997)'','' Church became known for his film work ...

, and the voice of John Turturro. Theatrically released on February 23, 2001 by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

, the film was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

and received generally negative critical reviews.

Plot

Stuart "Stu" Miley is a disillusioned cartoonist whose comic character, a rascal

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...

named Monkeybone, is getting an

animated series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

and merchandise, at the constant pestering of his agent and friend, Herb. He plans on proposing to his girlfriend, Julie McElroy, a sleep institute worker who helped him deal with his nightmares by changing his drawing hand, but one night, Stu falls into a coma following a car crash before he can do so. His spirit is taken to Down Town, a surreal and carnival-themed

limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin ''limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Europ ...

-like landscape populated by mythical beings and figments of its visitors' imaginations, even Monkeybone. Stu and Monkeybone 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 party being hosted by the God of Sleep and ruler of Down Town

Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: means 'sleep') also spelled Hypnus is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was a deare ...

. 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 made by Julie that causes nightmare inducement to living creatures. 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 such as

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...

Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and ...

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer ...

and

Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...

. Hypnos reveals to Stu that he and the denizens of Downtown thrive on nightmares and made a deal with Monkeybone to spread the Oneirix amongst the living in exchange for getting Monkeybone his body to have a life of his own, since he's 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 growing wary due to “Stu’s” new behavior. Stu manages to escape with the help of Miss Kitty, a catgirl waitress he befriends, and confronts Death to convince her to send him to back to the living world to stop Monkeybone. Death complies, giving him an hour to do so by putting him in the body of an organ donor with a broken neck. 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 flees in panic. Stu finally confesses his love and regrets to Julie for never getting a chance to propose to her. Stu manages to use Monkeybone’s origin characteristics to cause him to panic which culminates in the two of them battling one another on a giant Monkeybone balloon, which is soon shot down by a police officer, causing the duo to fall from the sky and back into Down Town. Back in Down Town, the citizens below cheer on Stu and Monkeybone's fight as they descend from the sky before being caught by a giant robot controlled by Death. Monkeybone is then placed back in Stu’s mind by Death, claiming it is where he belongs before she sends Stu back to his proper body. Once Stu is, he and Julie reunite and share a kiss as the still-infected Herb emerges from a nearby fountain and telling everyone to remove their clothes, revealing a riot of monkeys.

Cast

as Stuart "Stu" Miley, a cartoonist and the creator of the ''Monkeybone'' franchise. Fraser also plays Monkeybone when he is in Stu's body. *

as Dr. Julie McElroy, Stu's love interest. *

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, Hypnos' sister. *

as Miss Kitty, a catgirl living in Down Town whom Stu befriends. *

, the God of Sleep and Death's malicious brother. *

as an organ donor that Stu briefly possesses. * Dave Foley as Herb, Stu's agent and friend. *

as Kimmy Miley, Stu's sister. *

as Medusa, an inhabitant of Down Town. *

(''uncredited'') as Death's assistant who reads her the names of new arrivals in Down Town. * Sandra Thigpen as Alice * Lou Romano as Police officer who shoots down the Monkeybone balloon * Thomas Molloy as Arnold the Super Reaper, one of Death's minions. * Jon Bruno as

, one of Hypnos' prisoners who was tricked into infiltrating Death's domain before Stu. * Owen Masterson as

, one of Hypnos' prisoners. * Shawnee Free Jones as

, one of Hypnos' prisoners. * Jen Sung Outerbridge as Atilla the Hun, one of Hypnos' prisoners. * Ilia Volok as

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...

, one of Hypnos' prisoners. * Claudette Mink as Typhoid Mary, one of Hypnos' prisoners. *

as Head surgeon * Robert Wuhl (''uncredited'') as David Stone * Michael Anthony Jackson as Bug Man, an inhabitant of Down Town with the head of a male human and the body of an

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

. * Doug Jones as

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

. * Jody St. Michael as the

Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...

, an inhabitant of Down Town that wears cowboy attire. * Arturo Gil as the rat-like

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of Down Town's prison that works for Hypnos. * Frit Fuller and Frat Fuller as Three-Headed Devil, an inhabitant of Down Town depicted with three heads and three legs. *

Brian Steele Brian Steele is an American actor who has had many roles as monsters and creatures on television and in films. In 2018, he appeared as The Robot in ''Lost in Space''. Steele stands at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m). Career On television, Steele was t ...

as Jumbo, a

Ganesha Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...

-like being and the piano player at Down Town's local bar. * Leif Tilden as

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

, an inhabitant of Down Town with a large head and arms and a smaller torso and legs. * Tom Fisher as Community Service Cigarette Sweeper, a camel-like inhabitant of Down Town. * Joseph S. Griffo as BBQ Pig, a humanoid pig who is a vendor in Down Town. * Kim Timbers-Patteri as Wasp Woman, a female insectoid being that is often seen with Hypnos. * Lisa Ebeyer as Betty the Bovine, a

minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...

-like creature who is a vendor in Down Town. * Wayne Doba as Scorpion * Mark Vinello as Assbackwards * Nathan Stein as

Sea Monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are ofte ...

, an inhabitant of Down Town that has a seahorse-like head. * Ed Holmes as Buffalo Kachina

Voices

* John Turturro as Monkeybone, Stu's raunchy rascal creation and the film's titular main antagonist. *

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 Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...

. * Roger L. Jackson as Arnold the Super Reaper. * Joe Ranft as Streetsquashed Rabbit, a

roadkill Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...

rabbit that lives in Down Town. * Bruce Lanoil as Streetsquashed Raccoon, a roadkill raccoon that lives in Down Town. * Debi Durst as Streetsquashed Snake, a roadkill snake that lives in Down Town. * Phil Brotherton as Super Mansa * Jym Dingler as Community Service Cigarette Sweeper * Leslie Hedger as Assbackwards * Toby Gleason as Buffalo Kachina *

Allan Trautman Allan Trautman (born May 25, 1955) is an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Jim Henson Company. Early life He is originally from Brooklyn, New York. Trautman has a B.A. in Physics and Drama from Washington University in St. Lo ...

as BBQ Pig * Mike Mitchell as Miss Hudlapp, Stanley's teacher seen in the ''Monkeybone'' pilot. * Lou Romano as Therapist that Stanley sees in the ''Monkeybone'' pilot.

Production

The comic book ''

'', on which ''Monkeybone'' is based, was written by Kaja Blackley, illustrated by Vanessa Chong, and published by Mad Monkey Press. The journey from comic to film was initiated by a fan of the comic and member of the San Francisco animation community (Tom "Bags" Sacchi/ChasingDragons Productions NYC) who, without Blackley's knowledge, passed a copy of ''Dark Town'' on to one of Selick's producers, Denise Rotina. Selick fell in love with the book and vigorously pursued the rights. In a letter to Kaja, he wrote: "I've never felt any project was closer to my sensibilities than this one." The initial intention was to stay true to the source material, which can be seen in early designs from Selick's company, Twitching Image. However, as the project developed, it eventually evolved into ''Monkeybone''.

Casting

Initially the role of Stuart "Stu" Miley was to be played by

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

but Stiller dropped out to be in ''

Mystery Men ''Mystery Men'' is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher (in his feature-length directorial debut) and written by Neil Cuthbert, loosely based on Bob Burden's ''Flaming Carrot Comics'', and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azari ...

'' and was replaced by Fraser.

Influences

Much of the film's art bears a strong resemblance to that of

Mark Ryden Mark Ryden (born January 20, 1963) is an American painter who is considered to be part of the Lowbrow (or Pop Surrealist) art movement.Ken Johnson"Mark Ryden: ‘The Gay 90s: Old Tyme Art Show" ''The New York Times'', May 6, 2010. Retrieved 2013 ...

—for example, the bust of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

as "The Great Emancipator". Stu's pre-therapy painting is very similar to Ryden's ''The Birth'', and according to the credits, was painted by him for the film. The animation style and the themes of the opening sequence in which Stu first encounters Monkeybone are very similar to the work of Swedish cartoonist

Magnus Carlsson Lars Magnus Carlsson (born 24 June 1974) is a Swedish singer and former member of the bands Alcazar and Barbados as well as a solo performer. Early life Magnus Carlsson was born in Borås and grew up in Fristad. He attended comprehensive up ...

. The film's plot is influenced by the films ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...

'', '' Cool World'' and '' Beetlejuice''. Many critics mark a similarity between ''Dark Town'' design and

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

's style. The film contains a large number of references to a parody religion called The Church of the SubGenius. In particular, the fictional fast-food chain "Burger God" was originally a SubGenius creation. Additionally, the repeated references to

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though original and full of bizarre visuals, ''Monkeybone'' is too shapeless a movie, with unengaging characters and random situations that fail to build up laughs." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, saying, "The movie labors hard, the special effects are admirable, no expense has been spared, and yet the movie never takes off; it's a bright idea the filmmakers were unable to breathe life into." In a 2022 interview, Henry Selick said of the film's critical and commercial failure: "I have a few feelings. I don't feel onkeybonewould ever have been a big hit as it was... they dumped the film with no publicity, not a single ad, because they just figured well it's a failure, we don't wanna help it any which way. And the funniest thing of all though was that we did get rave reviews in The New York Times, in the L.A. Times... but then for a lot of other critics they were like they're angry about this film... so I have two thoughts: it never would have been a big hit. It certainly would have done better if they advertised it a little... I would still like to do a Director's Cut because there's a lot of cool stuff that was removed... my main lesson learned is, I don't really do well in the live-action universe... I love my world of stop-motion... I went down a slippery slope to make Monkeybone, but the film that came out it's not my vision of what the film could've been, and I just don't thrive in that."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monkeybone 2000s American animated films 2001 films 2001 comedy films 2001 black comedy films 2000s fantasy comedy films 20th Century Fox films 20th Century Fox animated films 1492 Pictures films American black comedy films American fantasy comedy films American films with live action and animation American dark fantasy films American adult animated films Films about animation Films about comics Films about fictional painters Films based on Canadian comics Films directed by Henry Selick Films produced by Michael Barnathan Films with screenplays by Sam Hamm Films scored by Anne Dudley Films shot in Los Angeles Films using stop-motion animation Cultural depictions of Attila the Hun Films about Yeti Films about personifications of death Limbo Body swapping in films 2000s English-language films