From: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org (Monkey Digest) To: monkey-digest@valinor.eldar.org Subject: Monkey Digest V1 #734 Reply-To: monkey@valinor.eldar.org Sender: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org Errors-To: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org Precedence: bulk Monkey Digest Tuesday, April 18 2000 Volume 01 : Number 734 In this issue: [monkey] Monkey review (Amazon.co.uk) [monkey] Comics [monkey] Monkey review (BBC Online) [monkey] The Journey To The West article RE: [monkey] Monkey review (BBC Online) [monkey] monkey Re: [monkey] comic relief Re: [monkey] Comics ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 10:38:48 GMT From: "Howell Parry" Subject: [monkey] Monkey review (Amazon.co.uk) Here's a Monkey review on the Amazon.co.uk web site (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004SC9T/o/qid=955967461/sr=2-1/026- 7358658-4615218): - --- Long before Pokemon, in the beginning there was Monkey!. Sometime during the 16th century, Wu Ch'eng-en combined ancient Chinese legends, Buddhist teaching and his own satirical humour to produce Hsi Yu Chi ("Journey to the West"), a collection of stories and fables based on the historical pilgrimage of the monk Tripitaka to India. In Wu Ch'eng-en's version, the innocent monk is accompanied by three companions, Sandy, Pigsy and Monkey, each a symbol of a different aspect of human nature. Sometime in the late 1970s (1979 to be precise), these stories reached the TV screen as Monkey!, a loose (very loose) Japanese adaptation which was subsequently re-dubbed and became required viewing for a whole generation of English-speaking schoolchildren in the early 1980s. Twenty years later, all 39 of the English episodes are being reissued on video, perhaps to reach a new generation of schoolchildren, certainly to the unmitigated delight of those now grown-up kids of the 80s. On this first tape containing the first three episodes, Monkey (played with great enthusiasm, not to mention athleticism by Japanese comic actor and former rock star Masaaki Sakai) gets into trouble at the Jade Emperor's heavenly palace. Buddha imprisons him under a mountain for 500 years after Monkey pees on her fingers (you have to see it to understand), before releasing him to accompany the boy monk Tripitaka (confusingly, a pretty actress called Masako Natsume) on his/her quest for the Indian Sutras. They pick up Sandy (Shiro Kishibe), Pigsy (Toshiyuki Nishida) and a dragon who becomes a horse along the way. And so the journey begins, as does the TV series, which quickly settles into an episodic formula of fights with demons, constant bickering between the main characters and liberal doses of pop Buddhism. The appeal of Monkey! is easier to experience than explain. This children's show is an occasionally surreal blend of Oriental fable, knockabout martial arts, Buddhist philosophy, and slapstick comedy. The frequent comic fight scenes are accompanied by a 70s disco-fusion soundtrack, and a narrator (English voice: Frank Duncan) uses gaps in the action to deliver inscrutable snippets of wisdom ("Even a starving camel is still bigger than a horse", "Does love mean labour even for the carp-hearted?"). Best of all, though, is the dialogue: without regard to any lip-synch niceties the English script (by David Weir) is full of idiomatic delights, jokes and double entendres ("I can use it as well", says Monkey of his staff that grows from a tiny stick into a big pole. "Ooh, I never doubted it passionate primate", purrs the Dragon Princess into his ear, "go on, make it bigger"). All are delivered by British actors in hilariously cod-Japanese accents (distinguished thesp Miriam Margolyes is the voice of Tripitaka). Bad special effects crown the show's cheesy, retro appeal. --Mark Walker - --- Howell ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 14:15:52 CST From: "Jeremy Williams" Subject: [monkey] Comics hello, I would like to know where I could pick up some monkey comics? and also how much they would cost? I just watched monkey today still top stuff! I used to watch him all the time when I was little also wanted to be monkey. but hey can somone answer my questions? seeya Jeremy - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 16:00:46 GMT From: "Howell Parry" Subject: [monkey] Monkey review (BBC Online) I just found this bad review of Monkey on BBC Online (http://www.bbc.co.uk/movies/stayingin/topfive-stv.shtml): - --- Monkey Certificate: 12 Distributor: Fabulous Films Running Time: 130mins Formats: VHS to rent Strapline: 'The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!' The classic Japanese TV series previously shown on BBC2 that followed the adventures of the Kung Fu hero 'Monkey'. Born out of a rock, Monkey travelled through mystical lands with his chums Pigsy, Sandy, Tripitaka and of course the horse. Many twenty-somethings will have fond memories of this wacky TV series, six episodes of which have been released to buy on two separate tapes. It's fair to say though that some fans will be shocked to discover what a poor programme this is. Monkey is quite simply as thick as two short planks. All the problems that he and his friends encounter are usually made worse by his lame kung fu and bizarre temperament. Hysterically poor dubbing and some ropey special effects don't help much either. The disco soundtrack along with the occasionally witty English translation does keep things moving though. In addition the episodes do vary in quality. Kids today will not be impressed with Monkey although it's fair to say that this is still a worthwhile investment, if only for a bit of nostalgia. ** Best line: 'Does love mean labour even for the carp hearted?' - --- Howell ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 16:05:31 GMT From: "Howell Parry" Subject: [monkey] The Journey To The West article Check out this article: "PRESENT AT THE CREATION: THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST AS A CORE TEXT" http://acad.smumn.edu/ACTC/actcpapers/Berggren.html There's an interesting bit where it compares the plot of "Pigsy's in the Well" (season 1, episode 10) to Hamlet: "The parallels between events in the Kingdom of Crowcock and the plot of Hamlet have often been remarked, for both involve a young prince alienated from his mother, who has married her husband's usurper". For your reference, here's my episode synopses for this episode: 10. Pigsy's in the Well Tripitaka is visited in a dream by the restless spirit of the deceased king of the land of Cockcrow. He tells Tripitaka he was murdered by a Taoist magician and thrown into a well; for the past three years this magician has been impersonating him. With the help of the king's son, Tripitaka and his disciples set out to prove that the current king is a fake. ...and you'll find a detailed episode summary of it here: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8153/summaries_s1e10.html Howell ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 17:55:15 +0100 From: Fraser Moore Subject: RE: [monkey] Monkey review (BBC Online) > I just found this bad review of Monkey on BBC Online > (http://www.bbc.co.uk/movies/stayingin/topfive-stv.shtml): That reviewer should be strung up! ;-) Incidentally, Clive Warren was giving away (among other things) a prize of a Monkey video recently on Radio 1 (sometime between 4 and 5am). He too described it as "badly dubbed", so naturally I emailed him to correct him. :-) I think the dubbing on Monkey is very good - and much better than the (admittedly limited) other dubbed stuff I've seen... Cheers, Fraser. - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 17:36:03 GMT From: "Mighty Mouse" Subject: [monkey] monkey Hi all. I need all of Monkey on video. I have the Water Margin boxed set but can't get Monkey. Only episodes 1 to 6 or something. It used to be great back then. Running home to watch Huckleberry Finn and Friends, or if it was winter Heidi and that Frauline Rottermeyer, turning over to watch Harold Lloyd and then Monkey, and spending the rest of the night with my ZX spectrum playing Jet Pac or Atic Attack. The good old days. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 16:35:32 +1000 (EST) From: Steve Subject: Re: [monkey] comic relief > > in a totally unrelated matter, i've noticed that both monkey > > and dragonball z make heavy use of comic relief. is this a > > feature of journey to the west stories? or maybe a feature of > > japanese shows? > > thanks > > Well I've read a few different versions/translations/abridgments > of the wu cheng en journey to the west and I think they all have > comedy elements. As well as the spiritual, the adventure story > and the satire etc etc. But I guess the TV usually adds > contemporary references to humour. I don't know much about > japanese tv in genreal though so who knows? Also it seems that > there's a lot of humour in the japanese monkey, but i don't know > if this is emphasised in the dubbing into english? > > cheers > > Matt I'm sure the dubbing added in some humour, take last weeks episode (Pretty as a Picture) The village headman was watering his bonsia's and one of the villagers ran in yelling about the silk screen being changed. The headman says "What do you want.... I'm pruning my azaleas!" I don't reckon that was in the Japanese version.... Cheers, Steve - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 07:37:04 GMT From: "Howell Parry" Subject: Re: [monkey] Comics >hello, >I would like to know where I could pick up some monkey >comics? and also how much they would cost? I just >watched monkey today still top stuff! I used to watch >him all the time when I was little also wanted to be >monkey. but hey can somone answer my questions? > >seeya >Jeremy I've heard that comics exist of the stories on which Monkey was made - Journey To The West, but I'm not aware of any that were made specifically to coincide with the Monkey TV show. About these Journey To The West based comics - I don't have any specific information on where to get them - just check out Chinese / Japanese comic shops, and you might come across something. Sorry I can't be of more help, Howell ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com - --------------------------------------------------------------- + To unsubscribe, send an email to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with 'unsubscribe monkey' in the body of your message + Need help? Send an email to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org - --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of Monkey Digest V1 #734 **************************** ----------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the Monkey Mailing List digest list, send mail to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe monkey-digest To send a message to the list, send mail to: monkey-digest@valinor.eldar.org If you have any problems or questions, send mail to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org For lots more information and news about "Monkey", check out the Monkey! web site: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8153/