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1[[quoteright:286:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Monkeybone.jpg]]
2
3->''"We welcome you to Down Town and while you're in your coma,\
4This cheap and cheerful clown town will be your home sweet home-a!"''
5
6''Monkeybone'' is a 2001 film directed by Creator/HenrySelick, loosely adapted from the graphic novel ''Dark Town'' by Kaja Blackley.
7
8Stu Miley (Creator/BrendanFraser) is a cartoonist, whose life is looking up. He's recently sold the cartoon "[[ShowWithinAShow Monkeybone]]" to the network, and he's about to propose to the girl he loves. And then, he went into a coma. He wakes up in Down Town, a whimsical dreamlike place between life and death, where nightmares are big business. And guess who's waiting for him? Monkeybone, his Figment. He's stuck in Down Town, waiting, until [[Creator/WhoopiGoldberg Death]] gives him a ticket out. However, he finds out the plug's about to be pulled on him, so the pair sets out to steal an Exit Pass. However, once they've snatched it from Death, Monkeybone reveals himself as [[RageAgainstTheAuthor fed up with being just a figment]], and, with help of Hypnos, God of Sleep, uses the pass to become Stu in the real world. Hypnos plans to use Stu's body to distribute nightmare juice -- a chemical that causes nightmares in people and animals. HilarityEnsues as Death sends Stu to stop Monkeybone, in the body of a deceased Olympian.
9
10Not to be confused with ''[[VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall Monkey Ball]]''.
11----
12
13!! This movie provides examples of:
14
15* AdaptationInducedPlotHole:
16** A DeletedScene gives an origin for Stu's "Get back in the pack!" demand of Monkeybone, as his cartoon self demands it of him. The same sequence introduces Monkeybone having his thumb in his butt, which becomes a plot element in the second half of the film.
17** A different DeletedScene explains why the [[spoiler: Reaper robe Stu and Monkeybone use to infiltrate Death's abode has a green stain on it.]]
18* AdventuresInComaland: TheMovie.
19* AmazingTechnicolourPopulation: The Figments and other inhabitants of Down Town.
20* AntagonistTitle: The title character is part of the BigBadDuumvirate alongside Hypnos.
21* BadassNormal: The doctors who ''refuse'' to let the zombie organ donor escape with ''their'' organs.
22* {{Balloonacy}}: In the climax Monkeybone!Stu and Stu!Organ Donor fight while being carried away by a large Monkeybone balloon.
23* BigBadDuumvirate: Hypnos and Monkeybone. Bordering on BigBadEnsemble, as while they're working together, they have separate motives (Hypnos wants to spread nightmares, Monkeybone wants to be free).
24* BlackComedy: Used at points throughout.
25* {{Bowdlerized}}: Which kneecapped a couple of visual gags and some of the character development.
26* BrotherSisterIncest: In a DeletedScene, Monkeybone!Stu hits on Kimmy. It ends with Kimmy walking out, {{Squick}}ed, and Monkeybone!Stu [[GroinAttack clutching his crotch in pain]]. [[invoked]]
27* TheCameo: Creator/WhoopiGoldberg as Death.
28* CatchPhrase / PhraseCatcher: "Back in the pack!"
29* CelestialBureaucracy: While [[PurgatoryAndLimbo Down Town]] has the aesthetics of an AmusementParkOfDoom, the Land of Death resembles an office building from which Death keeps the Reapers and afterlife workings under control.
30* Myth/ClassicalMythology: Death and Hypnos.
31* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The nightmares are presented in black and white.
32* EarthShatteringPoster
33* {{Expy}}: Monkeybone is inspired by WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy.
34* FishOutOfWater: Monkeybone [[spoiler:in Stu's body]].
35* FaunsAndSatyrs: Hypnos appears as a satyr.
36* FourthWallShutInStory: Stuart "Stu" Miley is a disillusioned cartoonist whose comic character, a rascal monkey named Monkeybone, is getting a cartoon show. One night, Stu crashes his car after accidentally activating an inflatable Monkeybone raft, causing him to fall into a coma. His spirit ends up in Down Town, a surreal, limbo-like carnival landscape populated by human beings, strange figures, mythical creatures and figments of people's imaginations where nightmares are entertainment.
37* FurryReminder: Late in the film, audiences are reminded that, yes, cats eat rodents. In a grisly fashion from what was initially a CuteMonsterGirl.
38* GainaxEnding: The theatrical ending has a still-infected Herb coming out a fountain, [[FullBodyDisguise telling everyone to take off their clothes]] and revealing to be a group of monkeys. [[FlatWhat What?]]
39* GrandTheftMe:
40** [[spoiler:Monkeybone to Stu and Stu in a dead gymnast]].
41** [[spoiler: This is revealed to have happened historically with Creator/StephenKing, Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun.]]
42* GrievousHarmWithABody: Stu [[spoiler:as the Olympian throws ''internal organs'' at Stu!Monkeybone]]. His own.
43* GrimReaper: Separate from Death herself, who is played by Creator/WhoopiGoldberg.
44* GroinAttack: What does a dog's nightmare involve? Being fixed -- with massive garden shears. [[CatsAreMean By giant redneck cats]].
45* HumongousMecha: Death uses one towards the end to stop Monkeybone and Stu's fall and to put the former back into the latter's head.
46* ICallHimMrHappy: Young Stu's nickname for his hard-on is Monkeybone. He then names his monkey character Monkeybone too, who later literally ''becomes'' him.
47* KarmaHoudini: In the finished film, Hypnos doesn't seem to get any comeuppance for being essentially the main BigBad who wants Monkeybone to spread more nightmares among the living for the amusement of his guests, other than Stu telling Death that he knows she's mad at her brother. A Main/DeletedScene would've shown her taking care of Hypnos for the trouble he caused.
48* LargeHam: Creator/JohnTurturro and Creator/BrendanFraser as Monkeybone.
49* LittleBitBeastly: Miss Kitty, the waitress of Down Town's bar, is a CatGirl. She has some feline traits and mannerisms but looks mostly human, and there's a cute moment where she gives Stu supplies for his jailbreak that turn out be some cans of tuna and a bottle of cream. [[spoiler:We last see her minutes later, covering his escape by killing the rat guard and eating him]].
50* LoveIsADrug: The most depressing cover of the song ever.
51* MadeOfIron: When Death sends Stu back into his body, he awakens in the ambulance and simply gets up and reunites with Julie, his body having seemingly resisted the massive fall from the sky without a single broken bone or ill-effects.
52* MaleGaze: Monkeybone ogling and later ''diving into'' Miss Kitty's cleavage, the later of which we see from his POV. Justified in that he's supposed to represent Stu's sex drive.
53* ManiacMonkeys: Monkeybone fits this role down to a T.
54* MarshmallowHeaven: Monkeybone sure enjoys diving into cleavage.
55* TheMerch: InUniverse. Stu despises it. Monkeybone!Stu ''loves'' it.
56* MindScrew: The diving into his first drawing, among other things.
57* MsFanservice: Miss Kitty. At least until [[spoiler:she [[FurryReminder chews a rat to death]].]]
58* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Herb (played by [[Series/TheKidsInTheHall David]] [[Series/NewsRadio Foley]]) rips off his clothes after sniffing the Oneirix. The last line of the film:
59-->'''Herb:''' ''(BreakingTheFourthWall)'' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Everybody! Get. Naked.]]
60* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer shows an entirely different accident that lands Stu in a coma, where he is shown being crushed by a pipe in a phone booth, as opposed to simply crashing his car (the original plan was for Stu to have been unhurt by the crash, but then the structure he ran into would come loose and land on him while he was calling for help).
61* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The cop shooting the Monkeybone balloon causing Stu and Monkeybone's deaths when they hit the ground. To his defense, realistically that bullet hole would've made the balloon leak helium and go down slowly, but the in-universe RealLife seems to follow RuleOfFunny ToonPhysics instead resulting in the punctured balloon wildly jetting in all directions before plummeting.
62* NightmareSequence: Many, in Down Town people's nightmares are shown on TV and are considered entertainment. Furthermore the Oneirix, which is literal Nightmare Fuel, is part of the plot.
63* NotSoAboveItAll: In the animated short in the film's opening, Stanley's elementary school teacher Miss Hudlapp is a stern and no-nonsense woman who doesn't take kindly to disruptions in class. However when Monkeybone appears, grooves with her and [[https://youtu.be/tzOP-QptSxA?t=100 then tops it all off by planting a big wet kiss on her lips]], she doesn't mind one bit. In fact, [[DirtyOldWoman she responds to his kiss!]]
64* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Stu [[spoiler:borrows an ex-gymnast's body, played by Creator/ChrisKattan]]. He wakes up while ''the body is being dissected for its organs'' and runs off with the doctors in pursuit. Also, despite it having a broken neck, he can still get along with fine and even [[spoiler:do gymnastics]].
65* PajamaCladHero: When Stu and Monkeybone are invited over to Hypnos' pajama party, they're given B&W triangle-patterned pajamas that blend with the op-art interior of Hypnos' hideaway.
66* PetPositiveIdentification: Stu is resurrected as the corpse of an athlete organ donor and returns to his home. His dog comes to him while waggling his tail as if he recognizes his master.
67* PunnyName: S. Miley.
68* PossessingADeadBody: [[TheGrimReaper Death]] allows Stu (who's comatose) to possess a recently deceased body in order to pass on a final message to his girlfriend. She naturally doesn't believe in who he claims to be until he manages to produce a TrustPassword.
69* RageAgainstTheAuthor: Monkeybone himself dislikes Stu, [[spoiler: [[GrandTheftMe and steals his body]]. [[HistoricalDomainCharacter A number of historical figures suffered a similar fate]]]].
70* RogerRabbitEffect: With {{stop motion}}. It's considered the best thing about the movie.
71* ShoutOut:
72** Stu is wearing a ''[[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' wrist watch.
73** Monkeybone makes some pop culture references about [[Radio/TheLoneRanger Tonto]], ComicBook/{{Robin}}, [[Franchise/StarWars Chewbacca]] and [[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]].
74** According to this movie, Stephen King got his body stolen and possessed by Literature/{{Cujo}} and Edgar Allan Poe by a [[Literature/TheRaven raven]].
75** Death explains that she wants Stu to go back to the living world because she likes his cartoon, saying that she will "take the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone guys]] instead".
76* ShowWithinAShow: The cartoon "Monkeybone" which Stu makes.
77* SquirrelsInMyPants: The title character dives into Miss Kitty's cleavage, causing her to briefly squirm around before he escapes from the back of it.
78* SurrealHorror: There are some moments of this, especially when someone is affected by the Oneirix and during Stu's NightmareSequence where he is transformed into a carrot and is being operated on.
79* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted, as sleep therapy helps Stu to become a successful artist.
80* ToiletHumour: The Monkeybone dolls that Stu tries to sell have Monkeybone farting out yellow smoke [[spoiler:which Monkeybone quickly switches with the purple nightmare juice Oneirix]].
81* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The organ harvesters don't care that ''a corpse is walking and talking''. They just want the organs, dammit. They belong to ''them''.
82* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Well, the ''rat'' got eaten by Miss Kitty, but what happened to her after that is never mentioned in the theatrical cut. In the alternate ending, [[spoiler: Miss Kitty is shown at Hypnos' hideout showing Death where Hypnos is, so Death could punish him for causing so much trouble.]]

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