Monkeybone (2001)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Henry Selick

Writers (WGA):

Kaja Blackley (graphic novel "Dark Town")
Sam Hamm (written by)

Release Date:

23 February 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Nightmare | Coma | Monkey | Exploding Head

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. July 17	6:25 AM	HBO
Sat. July 25	6:25 AM	HBO

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Untitled Monkeybone Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude humor and some nudity.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:LH | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Germany:12 | Hungary:16 | Ireland:15 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Ben Stiller was original cast to voice "Monkeybone" but had to step down due to complications with Mystery Men (1999).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stu wakes from the coma, his hands are outstretched in the shot of Julie. When we pan back to Stu, he reaches out and says, "Whoa baby."

Quotes:

Julie: It looks so...new.
Stu: Well that's because it is new!
Julie: But the heirloom - your grandmother's ring--
Stu: What?? You want a used ring?!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Coraline (2009)

Soundtrack:

Foxy Lady

Very surreal at times...and not nearly as bad as the critics said

Let's face it...Monkeybone is definitely not the greatest movie ever made, but it has it's points.

Stu's visit to "Downtown" while in his coma has some truly startling special effects and puppetry...there are many images and icons from popular culture that are transposed here with great comedic and nightmarish effect. The sequence in which Stu goes into the surrealist painting he himself made has an unsettling quality to it that I usually only feel with Dali or Bunuel.

Brendan Fraser is very adequate in this movie, and Chris Kattan's appearance was quite welcome, but Bridget Fonda's prodigious acting talents are wasted here.