Monkey (TV series)

Monkey is the English language version of a Japanese television series based on the novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en made by Nippon Television (NTV). It is often mistakenly called Monkey Magic (which is the title of the theme song).

The series, originally titled Saiyûki, 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 English language version, Monkey, was produced by the BBC and debuted on British television screens in November 1979. The script for the dubbed dialogue was written by David Weir. It ran for only 39 episodes, becomes select episodes at the discretion of the BBC 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 Australia and New Zealand and is available on DVD. Monkey (the dubbed version) has not been screened in the United States (for copyright reasons), although Saiyûki was screened on a local Japanese-language TV station in California during the early 1980s.

Contents

1 Plot summary 2 Theme Song 3 Soundtrack 4 Cult appeal 5 Characters 6 Continuation 7 Episode list 7.1 Series 1 7.2 Series 2 8 See also 9 External links

Plot summary

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 lord, 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 630 AD, who has been tasked by the Boddhisatva Guan Yin 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, and Pigsy, a pig monster consumed with lust and gluttony. A dragon, Wu Lung, eats Tripitaka's horse, and is punished by being forced to assume the shape of a horse and carry him on his journey; he later assumes human form on occasion 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.

Theme Song

The lyrics to the theme song of the series were as follows:

Born from an egg on a mountain top,
The punkiest Monkey that ever popped,
He knew every magic trick under the sun,
To tease the gods
And everyone can have some fun.
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic ooh

What a cocky, saucy Monkey this one is.
All the Gods were angry and they punished him.
Until he was saved by a kindly priest,
And that was the start of their pilgrimage quest.
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic ooh!

Soundtrack

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).

Cult appeal

Monkey is considered a cult classic in countries where it has been shown. 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. Triple J on several occasions interviewed the original voice actors. Australian musical comedy group Tripod, which featured heavily on Triple J, released a song parodying Monkey to the theme of The Goodies.

Characters

Original Chinese name	Japanese name	Actor	English name	Dub actor
Xuanzang	Sanzouhoushi	Masako Natsume	Tripitaka	Maria Warburg
Sun Wukong	Songoku	Masaaki Sakai	Monkey	David Collings
Zhu Bajie	Chohakkai	s1: Toshiyuki Nishida s2: Tonpei Hidari	Pigsy	Peter Woodthorpe
Sha Wujing	Sagojo	Shiro Kishibe	Sandy	Gareth Armstrong

Continuation

In 1994, NTV 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.

Episode list

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

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

See also

• Journey to the West (TV series)

External links

• Monkey (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078659/) at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• Monkey Heaven (http://www.monkeyheaven.com/) - very comprehensive fan site
• GodChecker page on the god Monkey (http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/chinese-mythology.php?deity=MONKEY&ds=N)

ja:西遊記シリーズ