The Monkey King Featurette Delves Into the Netflix Animated Fantasy

An exclusive new featurette delves deeper into the legend of The Monkey King, the computer-animated fantasy adventure that is due to land on Netflix on Friday. Coming courtesy of the streaming giant, The Monkey King will take audiences back to a time of ancient gods and demons and, of course, the egotistical outcast known as The Monkey King. You can check out our exclusive featurette below.

Inspired by an epic Chinese tale, The Monkey King is an action-packed family comedy that follows a rebellious and charismatic monkey and his magical fighting stick on an epic quest for victory over 100 demons, an eccentric Dragon King, and Monkey’s greatest foe of all —his own ego. Along the way, a young village girl challenges his self-centered attitude and shows him that even the smallest pebble can have a big ripple effect on the pond of time.

The Monkey King is directed by Anthony Stacchi (The Boxtrolls, Open Season) and produced by Peilin Chou (Over the Moon, Abominable), and includes a cast of Jimmy O. Yang (Crazy Rich Asians) as the Monkey King, an outcast with superpowers and a big ego; Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (Watchmen) as Lin, a peasant and Monkey’s assistant; and Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) as the Dragon King, Ruler of the Eastern Sea.

The film also features Hoon Lee (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as the Jade Emperor, Jo Koy (Haunted Mansion) as Bebo, Ron Yuan (Mulan) as Babbo, Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and B.D. Wong (Jurassic World Dominion) as Buddha.

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The Monkey King Has a Long History in Chinese Literature

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The Monkey King is based on the 16th century novel, Journey to the West, which was written during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng’en. It tells the tale of the legendary pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang who, while on his travels, was given three protectors, one of them being The Monkey King.

The character now has a rich history in Chinese literature, and has appeared throughout novels and movies for centuries, most recently in the likes of the Disney+ series American Born Chinese and in the 2008 martial arts fantasy outing, The Forbidden Kingdom, in which The Monkey King is portrayed by action movie icon Jet Li.

“Early in my animation career, I had the opportunity to work in Asia and became a huge fan of Asian cinema, Hong Kong kung fu films, and especially the films of Stephen Chow,” The Monkey King director Anthony Stacchi said previously of bringing the character to life once more. “It has been a long-time dream of mine to work on a Monkey King film and bring this unique character and fantastic story to a global audience.”

The Monkey King is scheduled for worldwide release on Netflix on August 18, 2023. Netflix has plenty more to offer animation fans throughout the rest of the year, with the likes of Nimona impressing audiences back in June, along with Leo, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, and more set for release over the coming months.

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