The cult Japanese TV show Monkey was made in Japan in the late 1970s by the Japanese TV company NTV. It was an instant hit on Japanese TV, and they decided to sell it overseas.
In the UK, the BBC took it under their wing, and helped with getting it dubbed into English. Of the 52 episodes made, 39 of them were dubbed into English. It was then screened in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Children in all these countries were hooked on Monkey, and would often play the characters at school. The 13 undubbed / missing episodes have never been seen outside Japan, and are highly sought-after by Monkey fans.
Monkey is based on the ancient Chinese story "Hsi Yu Chi", known in English as "Monkey" or "Journey To The West", which tells the story of a Buddhist priest Tripitaka, and his 3 disciples Monkey (the monkey spirit), Pigsy (the pig spirit) and Sandy (the water spirit), as they journey from China to India to fetch the Buddhist scriptures, to save the world from evil.
Monkey features lots of fighting of good against evil, lots of comedy, action, and a Buddhist moral, and because of the depth of the show, it appeals to different people at different levels. Children love the comedy and action, while adults also appreciate the Buddhist philosophy.
Monkey featured a funky soundtrack by the Japanese rock group Godiego. The most popular song on the soundtrack is the "Monkey Magic" theme song (because of this, people often mistakenly call the show "Monkey Magic", but it is in fact called simply "Monkey").
Twenty years on, Monkey has just been released on video for the first time, and it's bringing back lots of nostalgia for Monkey fans around the world. There's a plethora of Monkey web sites, and even a Monkey mailing list, for all the worldwide fans to get together and talk about "the greatest TV show ever made".
For almost anything you'll ever want to know about Monkey, check out the Monkey! web site:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8153/
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