The New Legends of Monkey (Episodes 1-3)
Feb. 6th, 2018 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustThe complete series on iView
If you grew up in Australia in the 1980s, chances are you grew up with Monkey Magic. You know exactly who was born from a rock on the mountaintop, and that Gandhara, they say, it was in India.
So the proposed reboot of a beloved cult classic was met with some scepticism, especially when articles popped up about whitewashing the characters. But the trailer looked promising, so I decided to check it out. I'm very glad I did.
It reminds me of a cross between Monkey and Avatar and Xena. A cheesy fun adventure with a lot of heart. And I love hearing Australian and New Zealand accents in a fantasy show.
It's actually pretty multicultural: the main characters, the supporting cast, and the background extras. Tripitaka is played by a Tongan-New-Zealander (Luciane Buchanan), Monkey by a Thai-Australian (Chai Hansen), Sandy by a French-Australian (Emilie Cocquerel), and Pigsy by a Tongan-New-Zealander (Josh Thomson).
Musings on Episodes 1-3:
* The opening voiceover owes a lot to Avatar: The Last Airbender. They even say, "Everything changed."
* I like that it's not just a retelling of the original legend, but that it's a clear tribute to the Monkey Magic version. One of the most obvious is that not only is Tripitaka played by an actress, but here the character is a girl (who is forced by necessity to disguise herself as a monk).
* Monkey is appropriately full of attitude, with a good heart.
* Sandy is practically the walking cliche of Fey Sorceress With Wild Hair (as popularised by Helena Bonham Carter). But I like her well enough, and I like the choice of genderflipping her.
* Pigsy is surprisingly nuanced and principled, considering that he's usually portrayed as the troublemaker and the comic relief.
* The Font Demon is melodramatically sinister and cool.
* Rachel House is awesome in all the things.
It's definitely a fusion, not a pure adaptation. But as someone who grew up in an immigrant family in a multicultural society - not completely fitting into either culture - a fusion speaks to me more than the original. It feels like a story made for me. I really like that this exists.
If you grew up in Australia in the 1980s, chances are you grew up with Monkey Magic. You know exactly who was born from a rock on the mountaintop, and that Gandhara, they say, it was in India.
So the proposed reboot of a beloved cult classic was met with some scepticism, especially when articles popped up about whitewashing the characters. But the trailer looked promising, so I decided to check it out. I'm very glad I did.
It reminds me of a cross between Monkey and Avatar and Xena. A cheesy fun adventure with a lot of heart. And I love hearing Australian and New Zealand accents in a fantasy show.
It's actually pretty multicultural: the main characters, the supporting cast, and the background extras. Tripitaka is played by a Tongan-New-Zealander (Luciane Buchanan), Monkey by a Thai-Australian (Chai Hansen), Sandy by a French-Australian (Emilie Cocquerel), and Pigsy by a Tongan-New-Zealander (Josh Thomson).
Musings on Episodes 1-3:
* The opening voiceover owes a lot to Avatar: The Last Airbender. They even say, "Everything changed."
* I like that it's not just a retelling of the original legend, but that it's a clear tribute to the Monkey Magic version. One of the most obvious is that not only is Tripitaka played by an actress, but here the character is a girl (who is forced by necessity to disguise herself as a monk).
* Monkey is appropriately full of attitude, with a good heart.
* Sandy is practically the walking cliche of Fey Sorceress With Wild Hair (as popularised by Helena Bonham Carter). But I like her well enough, and I like the choice of genderflipping her.
* Pigsy is surprisingly nuanced and principled, considering that he's usually portrayed as the troublemaker and the comic relief.
* The Font Demon is melodramatically sinister and cool.
* Rachel House is awesome in all the things.
It's definitely a fusion, not a pure adaptation. But as someone who grew up in an immigrant family in a multicultural society - not completely fitting into either culture - a fusion speaks to me more than the original. It feels like a story made for me. I really like that this exists.
