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.
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".
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 or criminal 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 a Monkeybone doll 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 allows Stu to go back to 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 and share a kiss while a still-infected Herb emerges from a nearby fountain and tells 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.
Henry Selick's arm is seen during the film's opening sequence.
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.
Initially, the role of Stu Miley was to be played by Ben Stiller. Stiller dropped out to be in Mystery Men and was replaced by Fraser.
Much of the film's art bears a strong resemblance to that of Mark RydenâÂÂfor example, the bust of Abraham Lincoln as "The Great Emancipator". Stu's pre-therapy painting is similar to Ryden's The Birth, and according to the credits, was painted by him for the film. The animation style and the themes of the opening sequence in which Stu first encounters Monkeybone are similar to the work of Swedish cartoonist Magnus Carlsson. The film's plot is influenced by the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cool World and Beetlejuice. Many critics mark a similarity between Dark Town design and Tim Burton's style. The film contains a large number of references to a parody religion called The Church of the SubGenius. In particular, the fictional fast-food chain "Burger God" was originally a SubGenius creation. Additionally, the repeated references to Yetis, and the scene in which Stu (whose body is possessed by Monkeybone) is struck in the head with a golf club by Hypnos in a dream sequence, also echo recurring themes in the Church of the SubGenius.
Monkeybone was a failure at the box office; based on a budget of $75 million, the film grossed $5,411,999 domestically and $2,210,366 worldwide.
Critical reception to the film was mostly negative. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though original and full of bizarre visuals, Monkeybone is too shapeless a movie, with unengaging characters and random situations that fail to build up laughs." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, saying, "The movie labors hard, the special effects are admirable, no expense has been spared, and yet the movie never takes off; it's a bright idea the filmmakers were unable to breathe life into."
In a 2022 interview, Henry Selick said of the film's critical and commercial failure:
The stunt work of Joey Preston and Jay Caputo in Monkeybone was nominated for a Taurus Award for Best Work with a Vehicle. Jay Caputo was also nominated for Monkeybone in the Best High Work category for the hot-air balloon scene.
Whoopi Goldberg was nominated for a Stinker Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performances in both this movie and Rat Race.