Cinema Toast Crunch, Ep. 1 - The Monkey's Uncle (1965)

 

First things first - I know. I know what you're thinking. 'Cinema Toast Crunch'? Was that really the best you could come up with? Yes. It was. I spent hours thinking of a decent film-related pun to serve as the title for this new series, and that was the best I could come up with. I was probably subconsciously thinking of the 90's Shibuya-kei band Cinnamon Toast Crunch (who are awesome). It's a silly title that pretty much cements the fact that I will never be taken seriously in the medium of film criticism, but then again, I'm beginning my film critiquing career by reviewing The Monkey's Uncle so I don't think being taken seriously was ever in the cards for me.

Before watching it last night, I basically knew nothing about The Monkey's Uncle. Zero. Nada. Zilch. That is, except for the opening two and a half minutes, which I already knew by heart. You see, the whole reason I watched this movie in the first place is because of the scant presence - but presence nonetheless - of the Beach Boys in their 1965 glory. If you don't know what I'm talking about, the movie opens with star of the movie Annette Funicello singing "The Monkey's Uncle", all the while being accompanied by the Beach Boys - not only do they provide the surging backing track and prime-era backing vocals, but Brian's soaring falsetto and even Mike's trademark bass vocal share the spotlight with Annette's lovely, impish lead vocals. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers, who wrote many tunes for Disney films at the time, such as Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book, but the most notable thing about the song (if you're a Beach Boys fan) is that it was produced by Brian himself! That's right, the title song to The Monkey's Uncle was produced by Brian Wilson in his prime, and it shows! Not only are the vocal arrangements sublime, but he also includes some signature instrumental touches, such as some blaring baritone saxes and Hal Blaine's hard-hitting drums. I think we're supposed to assume the Annette in this opening scene bears no relation to the character she plays in the rest of the movie, meaning this scene takes place in an entirely different universe from the rest of the film. Pretty meta if you think about it.

The Beach Boys' appearance in the opening scene was one of the movie's big selling points - you can see it advertised pretty heavily in the poster above - at a rare time when people generally weren't going to see Disney movies in theaters just on the basis of brand recognition. That said, if you go into the movie expecting some brief cameos from the band beyond that opening scene, you'll be sorely disappointed. However, I was so taken aback by what the rest of the movie contained that I hardly even cared. Because right after the Beach Boys scene, you get to see Merlin, the monkey's uncle in question, testifying in court his right to claim ownership of an actual pet monkey. Yes, this movie has an actual monkey in it. Somehow I did not know that going into the movie, but as soon as I saw the shot of Annette holding AN ACTUAL CHIMPANZEE wearing HUMAN CLOTHING I knew I was in for a wild ride. And I was right. Disney was fucking bonkers in the 60s.

 

The monkey's name is Stanley, by the way. And he's adorable. When I was a kid, I had a weird obsession with monkeys, and especially chimps. I used to have a massive collection of stuffed monkeys and I fantasized about owning a pet monkey. In fact, I loved Curious George for that reason. If you consider that one of my favorite bands back then was the Beach Boys, it's easy to conclude that this would have been easily one of my favorite movies ever if I had seen it as a kid. But I have to say, seeing it for the first time as a 22-year-old was a trip in its own right.

Stanley gets into all of kinds of silly antics. Merlin is sort of a whiz-kid who is convinced that he can teach this chimp to share the same intellectual capacities as humans. Which doesn't always go as planned. In one of the movie's earliest scenes, Merlin tries to teach Stanley how to brush his teeth properly, which results in him almost flooding the bathroom with soap water. And later on, as demonstrated in the promotional photo above, Stanley and his need to be babysat while Merlin's out on the town becomes the impetus of a love triangle of sorts between Merlin's girlfriend Jennifer (portrayed by Annette) and Stanley's babysitter Lisa (portrayed by Cheryl Miller).

That said, Stanley the chimp is surprisingly not as crucial to the movie's plot as the first half hour would lead you to believe. Which is just plain deceitful. First you're tricked into thinking this is a movie about the Beach Boys, then when that falls through you're tricked into thinking at least a goofy chimp will be the focus of the movie, but then he's relegated to comic relief status by the second act!

Sigh. The rest of the movie is still a super fun 60's teen flick though, the kind that maybe Disney should have dabbled in more often. I'm not really a Disney fan by any means, but I do have a lot of fondness for the teen Disney sitcoms I grew up watching, and this is basically a 60s version of that. ...Even if it involves college students. A large chunk of the movie involves two college principals who are seemingly constantly at heads with each other. One is eccentric and supports the equally eccentric experiments and efforts (god, that's a lot of e's) of Merlin, and another is a fuddy-duddy who thinks that... football is the root of all the juvenile hijinks taking place on the campus and thinks it should be abolished? The fuddy-duddy guy strikes up a million-dollar deal for the college that will successfully abolish football, and meanwhile the more reasonable, eccentric guy conspires to start up a ten-million-dollar deal with someone else to usurp the other guy's deal, on the condition that he finds a way to literally invent manual man-powered flight, a task which he ends up entrusting Merlin with.

Got all that? No? Don't worry, it's all a bit convoluted, but it makes for a super wild and incredibly fun ride. This is a movie that literally starts with a chimpanzee, and it only gets wackier from there. By the end you witness not one, but two of the characters accidentally falling into a pool of mud occupied by a bunch of pigs. Along the way, you get some genuinely funny (in a lighthearted, 60s kind of way) dialogue and some surprisingly engaging characters. For example, a special shoutout must be given to the two oafish jock characters, Leon and Norman (which was apparently the actors' names in real life, too!) who are so stereotypical they look like they came from a Happy Days episode, but like, in the most lovable way ever.

Okay, let's take a deep breath really quick. Inhale. Exhale. Alright. Now let's summarize some of the things this movie has to offer. Mike Love dancing. A chimpanzee who gets into hilarious antics (he even flips Merlin the bird offscreen at one point - really!). I think those two things alone are worth the price of admission.

In conclusion, it's the best Disney movie ever. Seriously, watch it. You won't regret it.