Monkey (TV series)

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Region 2 DVD cover of Monkey, Episodes 1-3.
Region 2 DVD cover of Monkey, Episodes 1-3.

Monkey is the English language version of a Japanese television series, based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. It was originally produced by Nippon Television (NTV) and International Television Films (西遊記 Saiyūki) in association with the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation.

The series, originally titled Saiyūki, ran for two seasons of 26 episodes each. The first season ran from October 1978 to April 1979. The second season ran from November 1979 to May 1980. Both seasons had footage shot on location in northwest China and Inner Mongolia.

The show is unusual in that it was performed by Japanese actors in China and then dubbed into English. The English language version, Monkey, was produced by the BBC and debuted on British and Australian television screens in November 1979. The script for the dubbed dialogue was written by David Weir. It ran for only 39 episodes, because at the discretion of the BBC select episodes were not dubbed for the original run. These remaining episodes were dubbed in early 2004 by the original actors following a successful release of the English dubbed series on VHS and DVD. The missing 13 episodes premiered on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 8 September 2004.

Monkey has also aired in New Zealand and Australia and is available on DVD. Monkey (the dubbed version) has not been screened in the United States (for copyright reasons), although Saiyūki was screened on a local Japanese-language TV station in California during the early 1980s.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Promotional photo of Monkey.
Promotional photo of Monkey.

Monkey, the title character, "born from an egg on a mountain top", was a brash king of a monkey tribe. He achieved "enlightenment" and proclaimed himself "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven". After demanding the "gift" of a magical staff from a powerful Dragon king, Monkey is approached by Heaven to join their host in the lowly position of "Keeper of the Peaches of Immortality". Monkey being greedy eats them all, becoming immortal and running amok. Having earned the ire of Heaven and being bested in a challenge by Buddha, Monkey is imprisoned under a mountain in order to learn humility.

Eventually Monkey is released by the priest Tripitaka' in AD 630, who has been tasked by the Boddhisatva Guanyin to undertake a pilgrimage to India to fetch holy scriptures. The pair soon recruits two former members of the heavenly host who were cast out as a result of Monkey's transgressions: Sandy, the water monster and ex-cannibal, expelled from heaven after his interference caused a precious jade cup to be broken, and Pigsy, a pig monster consumed with lust and gluttony, who was expelled from heaven after harassing star princess Vega for a kiss. A dragon, Wu Lung, eats Tripitaka's horse but upon discovering the horse was carrying Tripitaka, assumes the shape of a horse to carry him on his journey; later in the story he occasionally assumes human form to assist his new master.

While the pilgrims never reach India during the course of the series, they face many perils and antagonists both human and supernatural. Monkey, Sandy, and Pigsy are often called upon to battle demons, monsters and bandits, despite Tripitaka's constant call for peace. Many episodes also feature some moral lesson, usually based upon Buddhist and/or Taoist philosophies.

[edit] Theme Song

[edit] Spoken word introduction

Each episode of the English language series begins with the following spoken word introduction:

"In the worlds before Monkey, primal chaos reigned. Heavens sought order. But the phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown. The four worlds formed again and yet again, as endless aeons wheeled and passed. Time and the pure essence of Heaven, the moisture of the Earth, the powers of the Sun and the Moon all worked upon a certain rock, old as creation. And it became magically fertile. That first egg was named "Thought". Tathagata Buddha, the Father Buddha, said, "With our thoughts, we make the World". Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch. From it came a stone monkey. The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!"

[edit] Soundtrack

Cover to the single released by the BBC.
Cover to the single released by the BBC.

In 1980, the BBC released a Monkey single on a 7 inch RESL 81. It featured three tracks, an edited version of Monkey Magic on side 1, and Gandhara and Thank You Baby on Side 2. Note: Gandhara has one verse in Japanese and the other in English.

The songs in the series were performed by the Japanese band Godiego. An album containing many of the songs from the programme - Magic Monkey - was released in Japan (and has since also been available on CD).

[edit] Cult appeal

Monkey is considered a cult classic in countries where it has been shown, especially in Australia, where its immediate widespread popularity superseded that of Japan and the UK. Among the features that have contributed to its cult appeal are the theme song, the dubbed dialogue spoken in a variety of over-the-top "Oriental" accents and the fact that the young priest Tripitaka was played by a woman.

Australian contemporary youth programs like alternative music show Recovery and radio station Triple J often made references to Monkey. Recovery's audience favoured the series to such a degree that they began airing Monkey regularly during their show. Ironically when Recovery was cancelled it was replaced with three hours of Monkey.

Australian radio station Triple J interviewed the original voice actors on several occasions.

[edit] Characters

Character Actor Dub actor Original Chinese name Japanese name
Tripitaka Masako Natsume Maria Warburg Xuanzang Sanzo hoshi (Genjo Sanzo)
Monkey Masaaki Sakai David Collings Sun Wukong Son Goku
Pigsy s1: Toshiyuki Nishida
s2: Tonpei Hidari		 Peter Woodthorpe Zhu Bajie Cho Hakkai
Sandy Shiro Kishibe Gareth Armstrong Sha Wujing Sha Gojo

[edit] Remakes

In 1994, Nippon TV produced another television series, based on the Journey to the West story, titled New Monkey, it ran for only one season. The series when released was considered a special effects achievement.

Hong Kong TVB made a faithful and costly TV serial adaptation of Monkey in 1996, using the original title Journey to the West. Although the Chinese version was more serious and used heavy Buddhist imagery there were numerous campy action and humour sequences, probably as a tribute to the Japanese version. The show was redubbed into English and broadcast to their English sister channel TVB Pearl.

In 1996, the BBC interviewed the executive producers Harold Chan and his wife Adrienne Kirby about whether it is still playing. They said it can still be seen on CBC in Canada and on ABC in Australia every afternoon.

In 2006, Japan's Fuji Television produced (yet) another television series, based on the Journey to the West story, titled Journey to the West. The lead character of Son Goku (Monkey) was given to Shingo Katori, a member of the pop group SMAP. This latest remake has been so successful as to break viewing records with one in three Japanese viewers watching each episode of the series (according to the Times Online Newspaper). Companies from South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and the United Kingdom are all trying to secure rights to broadcast this 11 episode first series.

[edit] Episode list

[edit] Series 1

  1. Monkey Goes Wild about Heaven
  2. Monkey Turns Nursemaid
  3. The Great Journey Begins
  4. Monkey Swallows the Universe
  5. The Power of Youth
  6. Even Monsters Can be People
  7. The Beginning of Wisdom
  8. Pigsy Woos a Widow
  9. What Monkey Calls the Dog-Woman
  10. Pigsy's in the Well
  11. The Difference Between Night & Day
  12. Pearls Before Swine
  13. The Minx and the Slug
  14. Catfish, Saint and the Shape-Changer
  15. Monkey Meets the Demon Digger
  16. The Most Monstrous Monster
  17. Truth and the Grey Gloves Devil
  18. Land for the Locusts
  19. The Vampire Master
  20. Outrageous Coincidences
  21. Pigsy, King and God
  22. Village of the Undead
  23. Two Little Blessings
  24. The Fires of Jealousy
  25. The Country of Nightmares
  26. The End of the Way

[edit] Series 2

  1. Pigsy's Ten Thousand Ladies
  2. The Dogs of Death
  3. You Win Some, You Lose Some (dubbed 2004)
  4. Pigsy Learns A Lesson (dubbed 2004)
  5. The Land With Two Suns (dubbed 2004)
  6. The House of the Evil Spirit (dubbed 2004)
  7. Am I Dreaming? (dubbed 2004)
  8. The Tormented Emperor (dubbed 2004)
  9. Between Heaven and Hell (dubbed 2004)
  10. The Foolish Philosopher
  11. Who Am I?
  12. What is Wisdom?
  13. The Fountain of Youth
  14. Better The Demon You Know (dubbed 2004)
  15. A Shadow So Huge
  16. Keep on Dancing
  17. Give and Take
  18. Such a Nice Monster
  19. The Fake Pilgrims (dubbed 2004)
  20. Pretty as a Picture
  21. Mothers
  22. The Tenacious Tomboy (dubbed 2004)
  23. Stoned (dubbed 2004)
  24. Hungry Like The Wolf (dubbed 2004)
  25. Monkey's Yearning (dubbed 2004)
  26. At the Top of the Mountain

[edit] Trivia

  • The male character of Tripitaka was played by female actress, Masako Natsume.
  • In the second episode the dubbing was a little too literal when Monkey calls a demon a poofter.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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