Monkey (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Monkey is the dubbed English language version of the Japanese television series , based on the classic sixteenth century Chinese novel Journey to the West
by Wu Cheng'en
. It was originally produced by Nippon Television
(NTV) and International Television Films in association with NHK
.
The series 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 north-west 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 was produced by the BBC
and broadcast in the United Kingdom in November 1979, and in Australia (on ABC Television) in 1980. 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 by Fabulous Films Ltd in early 2004 by the original actors following a successful release of the English dubbed series on VHS
and DVD
. The missing 13 episodes were shown on Channel 4
in the United Kingdom on 8 September 2004.
Besides Australia and the UK, Monkey has also aired in New Zealand
and is available on DVD.
The show aired in Uruguay (dubbed into Spanish) in the early 1980s. Monkey has not been screened in the United States, although Saiyūki was screened on a local Japanese-language TV station in California
during the early 1980s. Saiyuki also aired in Hawaii around the same time, although the version that was aired was neither dubbed nor subtitled.
, the title character, is described in the theme song as being "born from an egg on a mountain top"; a stone egg and thus he is a stone monkey, a skilled fighter who becomes a brash king of a monkey tribe, who, the song goes on to claim, was "the funkiest monkey that ever popped". He achieved a little enlightenment
, and proclaimed himself "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven". After demanding the "gift" of a magical staff from a powerful Dragon king
, and to quiet the din of his rough antics on Earth, Monkey is approached by Heaven
to join their host, first in the lowly position of Master of the Stable (manure disposal), and then - after his riotus complaints - as "Keeper of the Peach Garden of Immortality". Monkey eats many of the peaches, which have taken centuries and millennia to ripen, becomes immortal and runs amok. Having earned the ire of Heaven and being beaten in a challenge by an omniscient, mighty, but benevolent, cloud-dwelling Buddha
, Monkey is imprisoned for 500 years under a mountain in order to learn patience.
Eventually Monkey is released by the monk Tripitaka
in 630 CE, who has been tasked by the Boddhisatva Guan Yin to undertake a pilgrimage from China to India to fetch holy scriptures. The pair soon recruits two former members of the Heavenly Host who were cast out and turned from angels to "monsters", as a result of Monkey's transgressions: Sandy
, the water monster and ex-cannibal, expelled from Heaven after his interference caused Heaven's Jade Emperor's precious jade cup to be broken, and Pigsy
, a pig monster consumed with lust and gluttony, who was expelled from Heaven after harassing the Star Princess Vega
—the Jade Emperor
's mistress—for a kiss. A dragon, Yu Lung, who was set free by Guan Yin after being sentenced to death, eats Tripitaka's horse. On discovering that the horse was tasked with carrying Tripitaka, it assumes the horse's shape to carry the monk on his journey. Later in the story he occasionally assumes human form to assist his new master, although he is still always referred to as 'Horse'. Monkey can also change form, for instance into a Hornet
. In Episode 3, The Great Journey Begins, Monkey transforms into a girl to trick Pigsy. Monkey's other magic powers include summoning a cloud upon which he can fly, his use of the magic wishing staff which he can shrink and grow at will and with which Monkey fights and the ability to conjure monkey warriors by blowing on hairs plucked from his chest.
The pilgrims 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, which are spoken by the narrator at the end of various scenes.
. In Japan, the first series' ending theme , which was named after the ancient kingdom of Gandhara
, was released by Columbia Music Entertainment
on October 1, 1978, backed with "Celebration". This was followed by the release of the opening theme Monkey Magic
on December 25, 1978, with A Fool on the B-side
. Godiego also released the Magic Monkey
album on October 25, 1978, comprising all of the songs that the band had composed for the first series. The album became one of the groups highest charting releases, staying at #1 on the Oricon
chart for a total of eight weeks. For the second series, the ending theme of Gandhara was replaced with "Holy & Bright", which was released on October 1, 1979 (the two sides of the single featured a Japanese language version on one side and an English language version on the other).
In the UK, BBC Records released Gandhara as a single in 1979 (RESL 66), with The Birth of the Odyssey and Monkey Magic on the B-side
. The single reached #56 on the UK Singles Chart
, eventually spending a total of seven weeks on the chart. A second BBC single was released in 1980 (RESL 81), this time featuring an edited version of "Monkey Magic", along with "Gandhara" and "Thank You Baby", but this single failed to chart. The BBC releases of Gandhara have one verse sung in Japanese and the other in English. BBC Records also released the Magic Monkey album under the simplified title of Monkey (REB 384) in 1980 but it failed to chart.
Masaaki Sakai
, who plays Monkey in the series, also performed several of the songs for the series: SONGOKU, , , a Japanese version of Godiego's Thank You Baby, and .
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, (except for Sandy who inexplicably speaks with an English accent), the reasonably good synchronization of dubbing to the actors' original dialogue, the fact that the young priest Tripitaka
was played by a woman and the fact that Guan yin, who is usually depicted in statues and paintings as a female, is portrayed by a male.
Australian contemporary youth programs like alternative music show Recovery
and radio station Triple J
often made references to Monkey. Triple J interviewed the original voice actors on several occasions.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
frequently repeated, at 6pm on weeknights, the 39 episodes dubbed by the BBC. Recovery aired an episode of Monkey weekly from 1997-2000. When Recovery was put on hiatus, it was replaced with three hours of Monkey.
A stage show, based on the book Journey to the West
, was produced by the Young Vic in 2001. Written by Dublin born playwright, Colin Teevan
, Following the play's successful outing in London's West End it toured England to great acclaim. The magical musical score was composed by Ireland's, Kíla
.
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...
by Wu Cheng'en
Wu Cheng'en
Wu Cheng'en , courtesy name Ruzhong , pen name "Sheyang Hermit," was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, best known for being the attributed author of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West.-Biography:Wu was born in Lianshui, in Jiangsu...
. It was originally produced by Nippon Television
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
(NTV) and International Television Films in association with NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
.
The series 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 north-west China and Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
.
The show is unusual in that it was performed by Japanese actors in China and then dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
into English. The English language version was produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and broadcast in the United Kingdom in November 1979, and in Australia (on ABC Television) in 1980. The script for the dubbed dialogue was written by David Weir
David Weir (writer)
David Weir was a British writer, whose work was used primarily in television and film.-Early life and career:...
. 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 by Fabulous Films Ltd in early 2004 by the original actors following a successful release of the English dubbed series on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. The missing 13 episodes were shown on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom on 8 September 2004.
Besides Australia and the UK, Monkey has also aired in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and is available on DVD.
The show aired in Uruguay (dubbed into Spanish) in the early 1980s. Monkey has not been screened in the United States, although Saiyūki was screened on a local Japanese-language TV station in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
during the early 1980s. Saiyuki also aired in Hawaii around the same time, although the version that was aired was neither dubbed nor subtitled.
Plot summary
MonkeySun Wukong
Sun Wukong , also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West . In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices...
, the title character, is described in the theme song as being "born from an egg on a mountain top"; a stone egg and thus he is a stone monkey, a skilled fighter who becomes a brash king of a monkey tribe, who, the song goes on to claim, was "the funkiest monkey that ever popped". He achieved a little enlightenment
Enlightenment in Buddhism
The English term enlightenment has commonly been used in the western world to translate several Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and Japanese terms and concepts, especially bodhi, prajna, kensho, satori and buddhahood.-Insight:...
, and proclaimed himself "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven". After demanding the "gift" of a magical staff from a powerful Dragon king
Dragon King
The four Dragon Kings are, in Chinese mythology, the divine rulers of the four seas . Although Dragon Kings appear in their true forms as dragons, they have the ability to shapeshift into human form...
, and to quiet the din of his rough antics on Earth, Monkey is approached by Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
to join their host, first in the lowly position of Master of the Stable (manure disposal), and then - after his riotus complaints - as "Keeper of the Peach Garden of Immortality". Monkey eats many of the peaches, which have taken centuries and millennia to ripen, becomes immortal and runs amok. Having earned the ire of Heaven and being beaten in a challenge by an omniscient, mighty, but benevolent, cloud-dwelling Buddha
Tathagata
Tathāgata in Pali and Sanskrit) is the name the Buddha of the scriptures uses when referring to himself. The term means, paradoxically, both one who has thus gone and one who has thus come . Hence, the Tathagata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena...
, Monkey is imprisoned for 500 years under a mountain in order to learn patience.
Eventually Monkey is released by the monk Tripitaka
Xuanzang (fictional character)
The fictional character Xuanzang is a central character of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.For most of the novel he is known as Táng-sānzàng, the title Sānzàng referring to his mission to seek the Sānzàngjīng, the "Three Collections of Scriptures"...
in 630 CE, who has been tasked by the Boddhisatva Guan Yin to undertake a pilgrimage from China to India to fetch holy scriptures. The pair soon recruits two former members of the Heavenly Host who were cast out and turned from angels to "monsters", as a result of Monkey's transgressions: Sandy
Sha Wujing
Shā Wùjìng is one of the three disciples of Xuánzàng in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, although versions of his character predate the Ming novel. In the novels, his background is the least developed of the pilgrims and he contributes the least to their efforts...
, the water monster and ex-cannibal, expelled from Heaven after his interference caused Heaven's Jade Emperor's precious jade cup to be broken, and Pigsy
Zhu Bajie
Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three helpers of Xuanzang in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. He is called "Pigsy" or "Pig" in many English versions of the story....
, a pig monster consumed with lust and gluttony, who was expelled from Heaven after harassing the Star Princess Vega
Vega
Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus...
—the Jade Emperor
Jade Emperor
The Jade Emperor in Chinese folk culture, is the ruler of Heaven and all realms of existence below including that of Man and Hell, according to a version of Taoist mythology. He is one of the most important gods of the Chinese traditional religion pantheon...
's mistress—for a kiss. A dragon, Yu Lung, who was set free by Guan Yin after being sentenced to death, eats Tripitaka's horse. On discovering that the horse was tasked with carrying Tripitaka, it assumes the horse's shape to carry the monk on his journey. Later in the story he occasionally assumes human form to assist his new master, although he is still always referred to as 'Horse'. Monkey can also change form, for instance into a Hornet
Hornet
Hornets are the largest eusocial wasps; some species can reach up to in length. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa and are distinguished from other vespines by the width of the vertex , which is proportionally larger in Vespa and by the anteriorly rounded gasters .- Life cycle :In...
. In Episode 3, The Great Journey Begins, Monkey transforms into a girl to trick Pigsy. Monkey's other magic powers include summoning a cloud upon which he can fly, his use of the magic wishing staff which he can shrink and grow at will and with which Monkey fights and the ability to conjure monkey warriors by blowing on hairs plucked from his chest.
The pilgrims 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
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and/or Taoist
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
philosophies, which are spoken by the narrator at the end of various scenes.
Soundtrack
The songs in the series were performed by the five-piece Japanese band GodiegoGodiego
is a popular band from Japan, consisting of the Mickie Yoshino, Yukihide Takekawa, Takami Asano, Steve Fox, and Tommy Snyder...
. In Japan, the first series' ending theme , which was named after the ancient kingdom of Gandhara
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
, was released by Columbia Music Entertainment
Columbia Music Entertainment
is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as . It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK Columbia trademarks in 1931. The company changed its name to Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. in 1946. It used the Nippon Columbia name until...
on October 1, 1978, backed with "Celebration". This was followed by the release of the opening theme Monkey Magic
Monkey Magic (song)
"Monkey Magic" is the 8th single by Japanese rock band Godiego. It is internationally known as the opening theme for the 1978 television series Saiyūki, known in the west as Monkey...
on December 25, 1978, with A Fool on the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
. Godiego also released the Magic Monkey
Magic Monkey
or Magic Monkey is a soundtrack released by Godiego for the television show of the same name, known as Monkey in the west. After its initial release in 1978 as an LP and Compact Cassette, it was recognized by the Oricon as the number 1 selling record and cassette for 1979...
album on October 25, 1978, comprising all of the songs that the band had composed for the first series. The album became one of the groups highest charting releases, staying at #1 on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
chart for a total of eight weeks. For the second series, the ending theme of Gandhara was replaced with "Holy & Bright", which was released on October 1, 1979 (the two sides of the single featured a Japanese language version on one side and an English language version on the other).
In the UK, BBC Records released Gandhara as a single in 1979 (RESL 66), with The Birth of the Odyssey and Monkey Magic on the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
. The single reached #56 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, eventually spending a total of seven weeks on the chart. A second BBC single was released in 1980 (RESL 81), this time featuring an edited version of "Monkey Magic", along with "Gandhara" and "Thank You Baby", but this single failed to chart. The BBC releases of Gandhara have one verse sung in Japanese and the other in English. BBC Records also released the Magic Monkey album under the simplified title of Monkey (REB 384) in 1980 but it failed to chart.
Masaaki Sakai
Masaaki Sakai
is a popular Japanese performer from Tokyo. He is best known to English-speaking audiences as the title star of the TV show Monkey.- Biography :...
, who plays Monkey in the series, also performed several of the songs for the series: SONGOKU, , , a Japanese version of Godiego's Thank You Baby, and .
Cult appeal
Monkey is considered a cult classic in countries where it has been shown, especially in Australia, where its immediate widespread popularity surpassed that of both 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, (except for Sandy who inexplicably speaks with an English accent), the reasonably good synchronization of dubbing to the actors' original dialogue, the fact that the young priest Tripitaka
Xuanzang (fictional character)
The fictional character Xuanzang is a central character of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.For most of the novel he is known as Táng-sānzàng, the title Sānzàng referring to his mission to seek the Sānzàngjīng, the "Three Collections of Scriptures"...
was played by a woman and the fact that Guan yin, who is usually depicted in statues and paintings as a female, is portrayed by a male.
Australian contemporary youth programs like alternative music show Recovery
Recovery (TV series)
Recovery was a music and youth interests television series broadcast by ABC TV in Australia. It was aired each Saturday morning from 9:00am to 12:00pm following Rage. It aired from 20 April 1996 to its last show on 29 April 2000...
and radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
often made references to Monkey. Triple J interviewed the original voice actors on several occasions.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
frequently repeated, at 6pm on weeknights, the 39 episodes dubbed by the BBC. Recovery aired an episode of Monkey weekly from 1997-2000. When Recovery was put on hiatus, it was replaced with three hours of Monkey.
A stage show, based on the book Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...
, was produced by the Young Vic in 2001. Written by Dublin born playwright, Colin Teevan
Colin Teevan
Colin Teevan is an Irish playwright, radio dramatist, translator and academic.Teevan has premiered works in the National Theatres of Ireland, Scotland and the Royal National Theatre in London, He has been a regular collaborator of directors Hideki Noda, Sir Peter Hall, and actors Greg Hicks, Clare...
, Following the play's successful outing in London's West End it toured England to great acclaim. The magical musical score was composed by Ireland's, Kíla
Kíla
Kíla are an Irish folk music/World music group, originally formed in 1987 in the Irish Language secondary school, Coláiste Eoin in Co. Dublin. Kila's blend of Irish traditional music and World Music with a modern rock sensibility is generally credited with breathing new life into contemporary Irish...
.
Characters
| Character | Actor | Dub actor | Original Chinese name | Japanese name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tripitaka | Masako Natsume | Maria Warburg | Xuanzang Xuanzang (fictional character) The fictional character Xuanzang is a central character of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.For most of the novel he is known as Táng-sānzàng, the title Sānzàng referring to his mission to seek the Sānzàngjīng, the "Three Collections of Scriptures"... |
Sanzō hōshi (Genjō Sanzō) |
| Monkey | Masaaki Sakai Masaaki Sakai is a popular Japanese performer from Tokyo. He is best known to English-speaking audiences as the title star of the TV show Monkey.- Biography :... |
David Collings David Collings David Collings is a British actor. He has played many different roles on various television programmes, including the leading dramatic role in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in 1964.... |
Sun Wukong Sun Wukong Sun Wukong , also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West . In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices... |
Son Gokū |
| Pigsy | s1: Toshiyuki Nishida Toshiyuki Nishida is a Japanese actor. Outside of Japan, Nishida is best known for his portrayal of Pigsy in the TV series Monkey.Toshiyuki Nishida has received ten Japanese Academy Award nominations, winning twice, for Dun-Huang in 1988 and Gakko and Tsuribaka Nisshi 6 in 1993... s2: Tonpei Hidari |
Peter Woodthorpe Peter Woodthorpe Peter Woodthorpe was an English film, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial... |
Zhu Bajie Zhu Bajie Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three helpers of Xuanzang in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. He is called "Pigsy" or "Pig" in many English versions of the story.... |
Cho Hakkai |
| Sandy | Shiro Kishibe Shiro Kishibe , born 7 June 1949, is an actor from Kyoto, Japan.He played the role of Sandy in Monkey. Before becoming an actor, Kishibe was a member of a Japanese band called The Tigers. On some songs he sang vocals. He has an elder brother, Ittoku Kishibe, who is also an actor, and a leader and bassist in The... |
Gareth Armstrong Gareth Armstrong Gareth S. Armstrong is a British actor.Armstrong was born on 28 September 1948 in Swansea, the son of a Presbyterian minister. He began his career by acting in school plays at the Bishop Gore School, Swansea... |
Sha Wujing Sha Wujing Shā Wùjìng is one of the three disciples of Xuánzàng in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, although versions of his character predate the Ming novel. In the novels, his background is the least developed of the pilgrims and he contributes the least to their efforts... |
Sa Gojō |
| "Horse" | Shunji Fujimura Shunji Fujimura is a Japanese actor from Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan. He appeared in the second series of Monkey as the horse. He appears in the Death Note live-action movie as Quillsh Wammy A.K.A... |
Andrew Sachs Andrew Sachs Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a... |
Bai Long Ma | Gyokuryū |
Series 1: 1978-79
- "Monkey Goes Wild about Heaven"
- "Monkey Turns Nursemaid"
- "The Great Journey Begins"
- "Monkey Swallows the Universe"
- "The Power of Youth"
- "Even Monsters Can Be People"
- "The Beginning of Wisdom"
- "Pigsy Woos a Widow"
- "What Monkey Calls the Dog-Woman"
- "Pigsy's in the Well"
- "The Difference Between Night & Day"
- "Pearls Before Swine"
- "The Minx and the Slug"
- "Catfish, Saint and the Shape-Changer"
- "Monkey Meets the Demon Digger"
- "The Most Monstrous Monster"
- "Truth and the Grey Gloves Devil"
- "Land for the Locusts"
- "The Vampire Master"
- "Outrageous Coincidences"
- "Pigsy, King and God"
- "Village of the Undead"
- "Two Little Blessings"
- "The Fires of Jealousy"
- "The Country of Nightmares"
- "The End of the Way"
Series 2: 1979-80
- "Pigsy's Ten Thousand Ladies"
- "The Dogs of Death"
- "You Win Some, You Lose Some" (dubbed 2004)
- "Pigsy Learns A Lesson" (dubbed 2004)
- "The Land With Two Suns" (dubbed 2004)
- "The House of the Evil Spirit" (dubbed 2004)
- "Am I Dreaming?" (dubbed 2004)
- "The Tormented Emperor" (dubbed 2004)
- "Between Heaven and Hell" (dubbed 2004)
- "The Foolish Philosopher"
- "Who Am I?"
- "What is Wisdom?"
- "The Fountain of Youth"
- "Better The Demon You Know" (dubbed 2004)
- "A Shadow So Huge"
- "Keep on Dancing"
- "Give and Take"
- "Such a Nice Monster"
- "The Fake Pilgrims" (dubbed 2004)
- "Pretty as a Picture"
- "Mothers"
- "The Tenacious Tomboy" (dubbed 2004)
- "Stoned" (dubbed 2004)
- "Hungry Like The Wolf" (dubbed 2004)
- "Monkey's Yearning" (dubbed 2004)
- "At the Top of the Mountain"
See also
- Journey to the West (TV series)Journey to the West (TV series)Journey to the West is a Chinese television series adaptation of Wu Cheng'en's Chinese classical novel of the same title. The series was first broadcast on CCTV in China on 1 October 1986....
- Monkey (novel)
- Sun WukongSun WukongSun Wukong , also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West . In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices...
- Wu Cheng'enWu Cheng'enWu Cheng'en , courtesy name Ruzhong , pen name "Sheyang Hermit," was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, best known for being the attributed author of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West.-Biography:Wu was born in Lianshui, in Jiangsu...
External links
- Monkey - Great Sage equal of Heaven - fansite Includes synopses of 52 episodes, and descriptions of the chracters, demons, and gods.
- Monkey Heaven - fansite Includes short synopses and detailed summaries of 52 episodes, airdates, and more.
- Monkey at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
(IMDb) - GodChecker page on the god Monkey
- Journey to the West - More background info on the legend
- What was Monkey Magic all about? - BBC News article assessing the show's lasting popularity
- Meet Monkey - BBC Sport Olympics page introducing Monkey as part of their Olympic Coverage