Monkeybone is a 2001 American dark fantasy comedy film directed by Henry Selick, written by Sam Hamm, produced by Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe and executive produced by Chris Columbus, Selick and Hamm. Combining live action with mostly stop-motion animation and loosely based on Kaja Blackley's graphic novel Dark Town, the film stars Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, Chris Kattan, Giancarlo Esposito, Rose McGowan, Whoopi Goldberg and John Turturro as the voice of the titular character. It tells the story of a cartoonist who falls into a coma, where he ends up in the otherworldly Down Town as he runs into his titular creation and tries to return to the living world while contending with an evil plot to supply Down Town with nightmares.
Theatrically released on February 23, 2001, by 20th Century Fox, the film was a box-office bomb and received generally negative critical reviews for its characters and humor, although there was some praise for the visuals. Selick later admitted his unhappiness with the final product and has since vowed to never make another live-action film again.
Plot Stuart "Stu" Miley is a disillusioned cartoonist whose comic strip series featuring a mischievous monkey named Monkeybone is becoming a media franchise at the constant pestering of his agent and friend, Herb. He plans on proposing to his girlfriend, Julie McElroy, a sleep institute worker who helped him deal with his nightmares by changing his drawing hand. One night, Stu falls into a coma following a car accident and his spirit is taken to Down Town, a surreal and carnival-themed limbo-like landscape populated by mythical beings and figments of its visitors' imaginations, including Monkeybone, who he greatly resents until they discover that people can leave Down Town when they are given permission via an "Exit Pass" from a visiting Grim Reaper.
Stu is then invited to a pajama party hosted by Hypnos, the God of Sleep and ruler of Down Town, who tells Stu that he has to steal an Exit Pass from his sister, Death, in order to awaken from his coma before the plug is pulled in accordance with a pact that he and his sister Kimmy made as children following their father's death. Stu and Monkeybone journey to Death's domain, disguised as one of her employees, and successfully manage to steal an Exit Pass while narrowly escaping a nightmare which Julie inflicts on Stu in an attempt to wake him by using "Oneirix", a chemical solution she created that causes nightmare inducement.
Back in Down Town, Monkeybone makes off with the Exit Pass, revealing that the theft was part of a plan orchestrated by Hypnos, and enters Stu's body. Monkeybone adjusts to Stu's life and plans to go ahead with the franchising. Meanwhile, Stu is imprisoned with other disillusioned figures throughout history. A visiting Hypnos reveals to Stu that he and Down Town's populace thrive on nightmares and made a deal with Monkeybone to spread the Oneirix amongst the living in exchange for him getting his creator's body all to himself, since he is fed up with being a figment.
Monkeybone is later ordered by Hypnos via a nightmare to stay on course and steals the Oneirix from the sleep institute, leaving a decoy in its place. While Monkeybone puts the chemical in farting Monkeybone dolls to be given out to the public at a charity banquet, Julie starts growing wary of "Stu's" new behavior. In Down Town, Stu manages to escape with the help of Miss Kitty, a catgirl waitress whom he befriended and confronts Death to convince her to send him back to the living world to stop Monkeybone. Death complies and gives Stu an hour to do so as she puts him in the body of an organ donor with a cervical fracture.
Stu makes it to the banquet as Monkeybone is about to propose to Julie, while Herb is exposed to the Oneirix in one of the dolls and starts hallucinating, causing him to streak in a panic when he believes his clothes are rebelling. Stu finally confesses his love to Julie while expressing his regrets of never getting a chance to propose to her. He then manages to use Monkeybone's origin characteristics to make him panic as they fight on a giant Monkeybone balloon that is soon shot down by a police officer, causing the duo to fall to their dooms.
As they fall back into Down Town, Stu and Monkeybone fight before being caught by a giant robot operated by Death, who places Monkeybone back in Stu's mind, claiming it is where he belongs. She then sends Stu back into his proper body so he can continue his work since she is a fan of it. Back in the living world, Stu and Julie reunite while a still-infected Herb emerges nearby and urges the audience to remove their clothes. The film then ends with a traditionally-animated sequence where the banquet's attendants reveal themselves to be monkeys in disguise.
Cast Brendan Fraser as Stuart "Stu" Miley, a disillusioned cartoonist and the creator of the Monkeybone franchise. Fraser additionally portrays Monkeybone when he is in Stu's body. Bridget Fonda as Doctor Julie McElroy, a sleep therapist and Stu's fiancé. Chris Kattan as an organ donor with a cervical fracture that Stu briefly possesses in the film's climax (credited as "Organ Donor Stu"). Giancarlo Esposito as Hypnos, the malicious and satyr-like God of Sleep and ruler of Down Town. Rose McGowan as Miss Kitty, a catgirl employed as a waitress at Down Town's local bar called the Coma Bar whom Stu befriends. Whoopi Goldberg as Death, the ruler of the Land of Death and Hypnos' sister. Dave Foley as Herb, Stu's agent and friend. Megan Mullally as Kimmy Miley, Stu's sister. Lisa Zane as Medusa, an inhabitant of Down Town who performs at Hypnos' pajama party. An extended scene shows that the snakes that make up her hair are her backing vocalists. Pat Kilbane as a Burger God representative Sandra Thigpen as Alice, Julie's friend and co-worker. Lou Romano as the police officer who shoots down the Monkeybone balloon its namesake likeness and Stu fight on. Harper Roisman as Earl Biegler, an elderly visitor of Down Town who is allowed to return to the living world. Scott Workman as Arnold the Super Reaper, a partially-armored Reaper who is one of Death's minions and tries to catch Stu and Monkeybone. Mary Stein as Lulu, a woman in Down Town who is claimed at Death's domain. A deleted scene showed that she was taken from Hypnos' pajama party. Christopher Franciosa as a Reaper who takes Lulu Fred Pierce as a Reaper in Death's office Jon Bruno as Stephen King, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town who was previously tricked into infiltrating Death's domain to steal an Exit Pass as Hypnos allowed his figment of Cujo to enter King's body. Owen Masterson as Jack the Ripper, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town. Shawnee Free Jones as Lizzie Borden, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town. Jen Sung Outerbridge as Attila the Hun, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town. Ilia Volok as Grigori Rasputin, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town. Claudette Mink as Typhoid Mary, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town. Edgar Allan Poe IV as Edgar Allan Poe, one of Hypnos' prisoners in Down Town. Bob Odenkirk as a head surgeon Leon Laderach as a surgeon in a nightmare Veena Bidasha as the Statue Woman, a statue of a female on a mobile round stand who is an inhabitant of Down Town. Michael Anthony Jackson as the Bug Man, an inhabitant of Down Town who possesses the head of a male human and the body of an insect. Doug Jones as the Yeti, an inhabitant of Down Town who has a long nose and white and blue fur and employed at Down Town's local nightmare-showing movie theater. Arturo Gil as the rat-like guard of Down Town's local prison that works for Hypnos. Jody St. Michael as the Centaur, a namesake inhabitant of Down Town. Frit Fuller and Frat Fuller as the Three-Headed Devil, an inhabitant of Down Town depicted with a trio of heads and legs. Brian Steele as Jumbo, a Ganesha-like being employed as the piano player at the Coma Bar. Leif Tilden as the Cyclops, an inhabitant of Down Town with horns, a large head and arms and a smaller torso and legs. Tom Fisher as the Community Service Cigarette Sweeper, a camel-like inhabitant of Down Town. Joseph S. Griffo as the BBQ Pig, an anthropomorphic pig who is a barbecued pork vendor in Down Town. Kim Timbers-Patteri as the Wasp Woman, an insectoid inhabitant of Down Town that is often seen with Hypnos. Lisa Ebeyer as Betty the Bovine, an anthropomorphic cow who is a prize vendor in Down Town. Wayne Doba as the Scorpion, an inhabitant of Down Town with scorpion legs and tails surrounding his face. Mark Vinello as the Ass Backwards, a bizarre fish-like inhabitant of Down Town with a pair of noses, bird-like wings, a tongue-like structure beneath its jaw and reptilian legs. Nathan Stein as the Sea Monster, an inhabitant of Down Town that resembles a piscine humanoid emerging from the back of its giant and four-legged seahorse-like mount. Ed Holmes as the Buffalo Kachina, a bison-type Kachina that lives in Down Town. Erica Gudis, Melinda Miamor and Caroline A. Rice as the Party Chicks, a trio of bird-beaked women in Down Town. Mike Starr as Bull (uncredited in the closing credits), a Texas Longhorn-type Minotaur with a Picasso art-styled face who is the Coma Bar's bartender. Thomas Haden Church as Death's unnamed assistant who reads her the names of new arrivals that have died and arrived in the Land of Death (uncredited in the closing credits)
Henry Selick's arm is seen during the film's opening sequence.
Voices John Turturro as Monkeybone, a monkey who is Stu's raunchy and mischievous creation. Brendan Fraser as Stanley (uncredited), a character in the Monkeybone series. Ted Rooney as the Grim Reaper Roger L. Jackson as Arnold the Super Reaper Joe Ranft as the Streetsquashed Rabbit, a roadkill rabbit that lives in Down Town. Bruce Lanoil as the Streetsquashed Raccoon, a roadkill raccoon that lives in Down Town. Debi Durst as the Streetsquashed Snake, a roadkill snake that lives in Down Town. Phil Brotherton as Super Mansa, a dual-sided messenger on a wheeled goose living in Down Town who gives Stu an invitation to Hypnos' pajama party. Jym Dingler as the Community Service Cigarette Sweeper Leslie Hedger as the Ass Backwards Toby Gleason as the Buffalo Kachina Allan Trautman as the BBQ Pig Mike Mitchell as Miss Hudlapp, Stanley's teacher from the pilot for the Monkeybone animated miniseries. Lou Romano as a therapist that Stanley sees in the pilot for the Monkeybone animated miniseries.
Puppeteers Lee Armstrong Ernique Bilsland Julianne Buescher Robert A. Capwell Kevin Carlson Mike Elizalde Eric Fiedler Thom Floutz Loren Gitthens Michael L. Hammond as Reaper Performer Terri Hardin Hiroshi Ikeuchi Jim Kundig Leon Laderach Bruce Lanoil as Monkeybone (on-set puppeteer) Pons Maar Todd K. Minobe James Murray Bridget Oberlin Brian Roe Terry Sandin Mike P. Scanlan Wendy Schmidt Russell Shinkle Brian Sipe Michelan Sisti Dave Snyder Allan Trautman Todd Tucker Vincent A. Verdi John Weldy
Production The comic book Dark Town, on which Monkeybone is based, was written by Kaja Blackley, illustrated by Vanessa Chong, and published by Mad Monkey Press. The journey from comic to film was initiated by a fan of the comic and member of the San Francisco animation community (Tom "Bags" Sacchi/ChasingDragons Productions NYC) who, without Blackley's knowledge, passed a copy of Dark Town on to one of Selick's producers, Denise Rotina. Selick fell in love with the book and vigorously pursued the rights. In a letter to Kaja, he wrote: "I've never felt any project was closer to my sensibilities than this one." The initial intention was to stay true to the source material, which can be seen in early designs from Selick's company, Twitching Image. However, as the project developed, it eventually evolved into Monkeybone.
Casting