Monkeys in Movies

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Damien
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Post by Damien »

OscarGuy wrote:I just wasn't sure if George was that good a film (are we talking the live action/animated concoction)?
It's completely animated.

Odd that I seem to be the only person here who has seen this cartoon. :D
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Post by OscarGuy »

My idea was to buy him a new movie every year on his birthday and have him grow up with good movies and not the disposable crap that permeates children's lives these days.

I had thought about the "too intense" idea relating to Wizard of Oz...but I also see the value in reading and activity...maybe a trio of gifts (if I can find them not expensive). The movie Curious George, a Curious George book and a Curious George toy of some sort...

Of course, the mother asked for clothes and such, so I may have some fairly unique offerings.
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Damien wrote:I agree with Sonic that for a little kid the Curious George movie is the ideal choice. It's very sweet, and if it's a teensy bit dull for adults, at least there's a nice Jack Johnson score for the parents to listen to. And, of course, there's the Flying Monkeys in The Wizard of Oz.

But if you want a film for him to appreciate as he gets older, the best film with a monkey prominently featured is probably Howard Hawks's hilarious Monkey Business. And when he gets older, if he's straight, he can ogle Marilyn Monroe.

If you want to traumatize the kid, there's George Romero's Monkey Shines.

And if you want to nudge him along to gay-ness, the uber-camp Maria Montez vehicle, Cobra Woman, has a prominent chimpanzee performing heroics. And there's also the most phallic snake who ever lived, as Montez dances in abandoned ecstasy before it.
And if you want him to be a reactionary, there's always "Bedtime for Bonzo".
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Reza wrote:Frankly a one year old is too young to watch, let alone understand and enjoy a film. By the second or third birthday they begin to enjoy tv or films.

Exactly. The kid's a year old. He doesn't know good film from bad film yet. He only knows what makes him laugh or cry. Let a child first be a child before we start refining his sensibilities. That will come in time.

I'll go further. I don't think children should be staring at television sets at all when they're that young, no matter what the content is. For a baby's brain to quickly develop, it should be as interactive as possible. But if it must be a movie, "Curious George" is the only one I can think of that's age appropriate. I've never seen it, but as I understand it, it's very innocent and gentle and has none of that noisy, obnoxious humor that's in so many animated films these days. The only problem I can see with that suggestion is that other people will probably think of it as well. FWIW, I was a big fan of the picture-books when I was very young.

Otherwise, maybe National Geographic or Animal Planet sells educational videos of monkeys captured in their real habitats, and maybe they have something that's specifically geared towards children where they don't have to see any intense fighting and such.




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Post by Reza »

Frankly a one year old is too young to watch, let alone understand and enjoy a film. By the second or third birthday they begin to enjoy tv or films.
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Post by Big Magilla »

Isn't The Wizard of Oz a bit intense for a one year-old?
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Post by OscarGuy »

The Wizard of Oz! I had not thought of that...who doesn't love Wizard of Oz? But Curious George might work too. I just wasn't sure if George was that good a film (are we talking the live action/animated concoction)?
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Post by Cinemanolis »

The first movie that came to my mind was "The Barefoot Executive". I used to love this film when i was about 10.
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Post by Damien »

I agree with Sonic that for a little kid the Curious George movie is the ideal choice. It's very sweet, and if it's a teensy bit dull for adults, at least there's a nice Jack Johnson score for the parents to listen to. And, of course, there's the Flying Monkeys in The Wizard of Oz.

But if you want a film for him to appreciate as he gets older, the best film with a monkey prominently featured is probably Howard Hawks's hilarious Monkey Business. And when he gets older, if he's straight, he can ogle Marilyn Monroe.

If you want to traumatize the kid, there's George Romero's Monkey Shines.

And if you want to nudge him along to gay-ness, the uber-camp Maria Montez vehicle, Cobra Woman, has a prominent chimpanzee performing heroics. And there's also the most phallic snake who ever lived, as Montez dances in abandoned ecstasy before it.
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Oh. In that case, I recommend Werner Herzog's "Even Dwarfs Started Small", the brilliant, artistic black-and-white German masterpiece (subtitled... he can learn to read, too!) with the harrowing scene of a gang of misfit dwarfs crucifying a monkey in the yard. He'll love it! He'll be reciting Auteur Theory before he learns to chew solids.



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Post by OscarGuy »

Well, I just want to teach the kid early to appreciate film, not just embrace every idiotic film that comes out...so, of course I want something intelligent that he can appreciate later, but not dumb.
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Curious George. I think that was a movie and a tv program. Show him the book, too!

And if you're sick of his monkey obsession, there's always Toy Story 3 to cure it.
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Post by Big Magilla »

Tarzan, of course.
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Post by The Original BJ »

Well, not Monkeybone.
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Post by OscarGuy »

So, my plans to give a friend's baby a movie every year on his movie has met with an obstacle.

He's turning 1 and I'm not sure I can find an age-appropriate film for him just yet. The theme for his first birthday celebration is monkeys, so I thought I'd ask if anyone knows of an excellent (as in high quality) animated film or program about monkeys that might make a good gift? And if not does anyone have a suggestion of a movie that would be good to gift for a 1-year-old?
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